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Republican Murals Source Analysis

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Year 11 Modern History: Republican/Loyalist Murals Source Analysis
Republican Murals:
Mural Dedicated to IRA Volunteers
Located in Ballymurphy, West Belfast, this unnamed Republican mural was created as a memorial for IRA volunteers Bobby McCruden who was shot by the army during the gun battle in Ardoyne in 1972, Pearse Jordan who was also shot by an RUC unit in 1992 and Mundo O’Rawe who was killed in 1973 off the Falls. All major historical references on this mural relate to the presented IRA members to remember the volunteers and their brave actions and deaths for the IRA and Ireland. This is clear through the English text written on the right side of the mural (fig 1) which states ‘Dedicated to Vols, Bobby Mc Crudden, Mundo O’Rawe and …show more content…

This is because the main purpose they were created was for mostly propaganda. Most murals associated with republican and loyalist groups focus on proving a point to either support them or to discourage the other party. This serves as the primary use of a mural because murals are highly visible to the public and to other members of both groups making them effective propaganda. Murals are considered as reliable sources of primary evidence but the propaganda associated with them can heavily decrease their credibility. An example of propaganda presented on a mural is figure 3 which directly blames Great Britain for causing The Great Famine. This mural is clearly biased because it completely blames Great Britain and does not focus on any other reasoning or sides of the event such as Ireland’s involvement with the event. Another reason murals are not clear historical evidence is because the presentation of the information would be altered to either convince or to appeal to a specific audience. An example of this is fig 5 which is a mural depicting King William III in a heroic pose during the Battle of the Boyne. This figure is propaganda because anyone who views this mural without prior historical knowledge of the figure would consider him to be a heroic king or war hero. To many protestants, William III was a brutal king who killed many people for his beliefs and religion. Since this mural only depicts King William III as a hero, it does not give any other information about his cruel actions thus making this mural a loyalist

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