Frank McKelvey RHA RUA (1895-1974) Queen's Quay, Belfast Watercolour, 26 x 38cm (10.25 x 15'') Signed The Kelly Boats were a familiar sight in Belfast for over fifty years. Once the biggest coal...

Frank McKelvey RHA RUA (1895-1974) Queen's Quay, Belfast Watercolour, 26 x 38cm (10.25 x 15'') Signed The Kelly Boats were a familiar sight in Belfast for over fifty years. Once the biggest coal merchants in Belfast, the company still exists today as Kelly Fuels but the ships and family connection have gone. A book was published in 2009 by the World Ship Society and authored by W.J Harvey entitled 'Kelly's Navy: John Kelly Ltd., Belfast - A Group Fleet History of John Kelly Ltd of Belfast.' This gives a detailed historical overview of the company and provides details of over 200 vessels. The coal business was established in Queens Quay Belfast by Samuel Kelly in 1840. He first acquired a ship for transporting coal in 1861 - the Brigantine William of 108 gross tonnes. From that time until the 1980's the ''Kelly's Coal Boats'' became a common sight in coastal towns throughout the country. After Samuel Kelly's death, his son John took over the business and it became known as John Kelly Ltd in April 1911. An extensive fleet of colliers-general cargo ships was gradually built up. Six of the earliest steam vessels acquired by the company in 1890 were 'SV Balmarino,' 'SV Argestes,' 'SV Kelpie,' 'SV Gartsherrie,' 'SV Agnes C James,' and 'SS Susannah Kelly.' From 1951, it was decided to standardise the names of the fleet by renaming. Although Irish place names continued to be used, from this time they were to begin with 'BALLY.' Similar names were allocated to the new ships on order, replacing their previously allocated names. Vessels after this time included 'MV Ballyedward,' 'SS Ballymoney,' 'SS Ballymena' and 'MV Ballyloran.' The fleet was impressive and readily identifiable by the ships' black and red paint. From 1890, the Kelly brand was communicated through blue, white and red stripes on the funnel accompanied by the letter 'K' to signal the company name. They often flew red flags with the letter 'K' also. In terms of a southern counterpart, the steam driven Guinness Liffey Barges that plied the Dublin waterways, remain in the collective consciousness from a similar period 1873-1931. According to W.J. Harvey 'Although the name Kelly is still seen around Ireland in the 21st Century, it is but a distant memory of the family business and 'Kelly's Navy' in the many ports around the country in the 19th and 20th Century.' John Kelly commissioned a number of artists to produce paintings of ships from the Kelly Line. They included Frank McKelvey, J.W. Carey, Charles McAuley, J. Collins, and W.A. Hume. These were often destined for the annual Kelly calendar which had one representative painting to illustrate the calendar each year. In 1920, Frank McKelvey was commissioned by Thomas McGowan of McGowan and Ingrams to produce a number of paintings of buildings that would make up the series 'Old Belfast.' This work was carried out by McKelvey over the following two decades and features buildings in Bank Street, Ann Street, Church Lane, William Street South and Smithfield Market. The very illustrative quality of these scenes is complemented by their topographical and historical importance. S.B. Kennedy has commented that 'the streets appear at times unconvincingly empty of people.' Yet the overall objective of the commission is to represent the architecture with fidelity and this is carefully achieved. The quiet streets also give a sense of early morning, perhaps, and this adds to their intimacy and appeal. This watercolour by McKelvey of John Kelly's Offices in Queens Quay, is executed in a similar vein. Again figures are few but there are enough to add interest to the composition along with the feeding birds in the left foreground. The focus is the architecture of the terraced businesses with their names carefully reproduced above the relative premises. The main producers of John Kelly and Hugh Craig are featured on the larger adjacent premises, with the horse drawn coal cart before it. Presumably, this painting is designed to highlight the success of Kellys' who were using their fleet to bring coal to Northern Ireland for the largest merchants such as Barkley and Craig as well as for their own distribution. The listed companies include a number of other coal merchants - Hugh Craig (coal merchant, owner of steamships/colliers at Queens Quay and Royal Avenue.) [Company also recorded in the Belfast Street Directory of 1877. Hugh Craig & Co. Ltd (1891-1975) 8 Queens Quay] John Kelly, (coal merchant and owner of steamships, 10 Queens Quay) John Neill, (coal merchant, 4 Queens Quay) Alexander King Ltd, (coal merchant and steamship owners, 21 Queens Quay) James Kingsberry (coal and fuel merchants continue to operate, now based in Sydenham Road). The painting is of historical importance in providing details of architectural fabric that has since vanished. Marianne O'Kane Boal, May 2012

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