Beechmount Avenue is named after Beechmount House, a large estate house once owned by the family of United Irishman Henry Joy McCracken. Today it is Our Lady’s nursing home owned by the Catholic Church.
Beechmount Avenue is named after Beechmount House, a large estate house once owned by the family of United Irishman Henry Joy McCracken. Today it is Our Lady’s nursing home owned by the Catholic Church.
"RPG" stands for rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-fired, anti-tank weapon frequently utilised by the IRA against British Army armed forces. Beechmount Avenue became notorious as an area from which the IRA often launched rocket attacks, and thus renamed "RPG Avenue" - an example of Belfast's black humour!
The gable wall at the Falls Road end of Beechmount Avenue depicts a mural of young, armed Republican volunteer. The text in Irish, "Éirí amach na cásca 1916" says "Easter Rising 1916" and a plaque fixed to the wall pays tribute to local Irish Republicans who were involved in the 1916 rebellion in Dublin against British Rule in Ireland.
For more information and colour photographs of the political murals of Belfast, see the Mural Directory from Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN) from the University of Ulster.
Collusion Wall
On the right hand side of Beechmount Avenue is the Collusion Wall, depicting portraits of the 300 victims of alleged collusion between British authorities and loyalist paramilitaries.
