Irish Graffiti, Now and Then. And Now
When I was 15 I went to Italy and got very excited. Part of that trip was in Rome, and you know what they say - when in Rome, read Roman graffiti.
Yes the Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain were even more impressive than Kansas City’s fountains that I had yet to see - if you can believe that - and the Forum and Coliseum, the Pantheon and St Peter’s, weren’t bad either. But it was the graffiti that excited me.
Because it was political. Or I think it was - my Italian wasn’t that good, but I had an inkling about words like “fascisto” and “bastardo”.
With the exception of the specific campaigns of “No EEC”, “Eire Nua” and “Smash H-Blocks”, and the perennial “Brits Out”, we didn’t have political graffiti in Ireland. Not of the left and right vareity anyway. And ours was always in block capitals. The stuff in Rome was fantastic because it was more than slogans - it was paragraphs, essays even, with supporting arguments.
And it was cursive.
It’s many years later now, and times are different in Ireland. So I was delighted walking out my door yesterday to see these two local examples. Yes, they’re still slogans and still printed in block capitals, but to be fair there were space considerations.
Of course seeing that there are people who want to “Smash Fascism” can’t make you feel too proud because it must mean that there’s some fascism around to be smashed. And it doesn’t even mention blueshirts.
And 8 and half years ago when I left Ireland for Kansas City the government’s immigration policy if it even existed was so inept and slow that I don’t recall there yet being a need for anybody to call for deportations to stop, least of all the fascists.
So I like this broadening of the debates written on Ireland’s street architecture. When I was growing up here in Dublin, most graffiti before U2’s wall was the kind that said you walked like a woman. In a foul-mouthed city this was very wounding. Unless of course you were a woman. Or you were in the Virgin Prunes.
Being a nostalgic sort of guy I was pleased to see that personal hard-hitting abuse hasn’t totally been replaced by political discourse.
Yes, just like I had to struggle for many years with knowing I walked like a woman, young Willo Naughton is condemned to go through many years of attempting to cope with knowing he has an egg head. Now that does make me feel proud.
See Also:
• A Photo Essay of Dublin: Walls
• A Photo Essay of Kansas City: Walls
• Photo of Dublin Legend in Kansas City
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
I remember years ago, Nicky Kelly was imprisoned after the Sallins train robbery.
There was an extensive campaign of graffiti neatly stencilled everywhere saying
“FREE NICKY KELLY”
The campaign stopped when someone started adding their bit under each one -
“with every packet of cornflakes”
Ha ha. I’d like to see more images like these of your new/old home.
Grandad - yes I forgot the Free Nicky Kelly campaign, so now you have me trying to think of other campaigns I have forgotten that prompted graffiti.
Happy - you will. I intend to populate posts much more with photos from now on.