NAM.1989-08-33-1

‘IRISHMEN AVENGE IRISH DEAD’, Londonderry, 1972-75 Oil on hardboard, signed and dated lower right, by Ralph Lillford, 1975 Associated with Northern Ireland (1969-2007). The painting takes its title from the graffiti legend above the Easter lily, on the arch to the right of the soldier. The soldier, from The Royal Welch Fusiliers, wears a flak jacket and carries a riot shield and a manpack radio. Against the dark wall his shiny cap badge could provide a target for terrorist snipers, and these were replaced by ‘subdued’ (black) badges. Fusiliers like this soldier continued to wear their hackles (feather plumes) proudly. To the right of the soldier is a sangar, a military observation post, of the type installed at strategic points in and around the city. They were originally improvised constructions of corrugated iron, wood, mesh, sacking and camouflage material which could be put up almost anywhere, to provide cover for soldiers on street look-out duty. Although the derelict house with the message 'You Are Now Entering Free Derry' refers to a specific location, the Easter lily and its slogan were taken from separate graffiti in the area. The artist described Londonderry as a beautiful town however the scene is one of desolation. Nothing habitable is left, from the burnt house with the bricked-up door just behind the soldier, to the roofless and dilapidated houses in the distance. Across the barbed wire, an echo of First World War landscapes, the central focus is an abandoned car with a wine-red sky beyond adding to the air of menace. The artist saw military service as a National Serviceman with the Royal Army Educational Corps stationed in Suez in 1953. He travelled to Northern Ireland twice in the 1970s to record ‘the Troubles’, the second time in an official capacity with a commission to draw and paint The Royal Regiment of Wales stationed in Belfast.

Northern Ireland (1969-)