From Myth to History: The Northern Irish Murals as Spaces of Memory

In Northern Ireland, myth has often occupied an interstitial space between history and memory, shaping a divided culture that has struggled to express its concerns while asserting territorial claims. For over a century, wall painting has been the primary means for segregated communities to give voice to oppression, injustice, or violence and to create memorial spaces for those who have died or disappeared. Indeed, the political evolution of the troubles can be traced in the murals that punctuate the Republican and Loyalist topography of towns such as Belfast or Derry. In a place where there are no neutral public spaces, street art plays a role in memorializing legendary figures and moments in history outside and beyond institutional control, to the point that opposing traditions claim ownership of the same historical referents. In addition to traditional heroes and symbols, some historical events have also achieved mythological status, though they have been reinterpreted and resignified in recent decades following the peace process signed by the 1998 British-Irish Agreement. Considering all these aspects, the present proposal aims to explore the evolution of mural painting in Northern Ireland to demonstrate how the Northern Irish walls, as spaces of memory, form part of an unofficial history that, relying on myths, has shaped culture and has, in turn, been shaped by it.