Belfast 1969
I first went to Belfast in January 1969 soon after a Civil Rights March between Belfast and Derry had resulted in an increase in conflict between Catholics and Protestants. It was the first of many trips that I made to the city over the coming years, the last ending with my being injured in a car bomb blast.
On that first trip I was fortunate enough to meet up with a remarkable GP Dr Jim Ryan who had made tending his patients on both sides of the sectarian divide his life’s work. Through his friendship I was able to move freely among people on both sides of the religious fault line and was even invited to an IRA reunion in the International Hotel, soon to be blasted out of business.
These were ‘old’ IRA men and women who had fought against the British in the 1920’s and 30’s and spent years in prisons or prison hulks. Now in late middle age or older they were, in many cases, professional men highly respected in their community. They had no time for the Provisional IRAs – known as the Stickies – many of whom they regarded with open contempt as thugs.
My friendship with Jim Ryan saved me from what would, at best, have proved a severe beating on that first visit. While taking photographs in the Falls Road area, I suddenly found myself surrounded by a large group of very angry young men armed with clubs and iron bars who accused me of being a Protestant spy and made it clear what they proposed to do to me. I managed to persuade them to phone Jim Ryan before they started to attack me. They reluctantly agreed to this and one went off to phone from a nearby newsagents. The ten minutes I waited until they returned were among the longest of my life. Finally the youth returned with the news that Jim had vouched for me and, as swiftly as they had arrived the group disappeared down the back alleys.
The pictures show everyday life on the Falls Road (Catholic) and Shankill (Protestant) areas of the city. An Orange Order march through the city and some of the relatively minor damage – in the light of what was to come – to property. Children playing in the street. Some can be identified by the slogans that form a backdrop to their play – the majority are simply children. A few of the images have descriptions below to explain their context.
Image Number 2: Catholic GP Dr Jim Ryan greets a patient on the Shankill Road, a Protestant neighbourhood.
Image Number 6: Public house on the Falls Road.
Image Number 7: Dr Jim Ryan in a Falls Road pub after finishing his rounds.Belfast – 1969
Image Numbers 8 – 12: Home on Falls Road
Image Number 14: Falls Road residents look out through a window broken, they claimed, by Loyalists during a street skirmish between Catholics and Protestants.
Image Number 33: Dr Jim Ryan with his brother and bed ridden mother.
Image Number 53: Catholic teenager displays head wound inflicted, he claimed by the hated 'B Specials' police force.
Image Numbers 60 – 61: Residents on Protestant Shankill Road protesting about their Catholic neighbours.
Image Numbers 70 – 71: Former IRA men and women at reunion in International Hotel, Belfast. The hotel was later destroyed by a bomb.
Image Number 72: Members of the 'Old' IRA of the 20' & 30's these men, now all respectable doctors, accountants and lawyers, served between them over 1,000 years in British prisons and prison hulks. Dr Jim Ryan is far right second row.
Image Number 74: Dr Jim Ryan (rt) greets a comrade during an 'Old' IRA reunion in the International Hotel, Belfast.
Image Number 80: Falls Road resident examines a window broken, she claimed, by Loyalists during a street skirmish between Catholics and Protestants.
91 Photos
