Ulster Sheep (1995) Rod Coyne (Irish, b. 1969) Acrylic on Canvas | Signed & Dated | Exhibited Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, 2001

  Rod Coyne’s Ulster Sheep is not just a painting—it is a visual indictment of sectarian manipulation, religious fervor, and the intergenerational cost of political theater. At its center looms a colossal figure, unmistakably modeled on Rev. Ian Paisley, rendered as a thunderous orator with a mouth that dominates the sky—evoking both pulpit and battlefield. Dressed in the ceremonial orange of the Protestant loyalist tradition, his massive form becomes a backdrop for a chaotic street scene below:   A child, fist raised, symbolizing either indoctrinated rage or youthful defiance A burning, overturned car, emblematic of disorder, sacrifice, or abandonment A placard, clinically stating: “This procession does not comply. Those taking part are guilty of an offence.” The title Ulster Sheep speaks plainly: this is a statement about mass behavior, herded ideology, and spiritual weaponization. Painted in 1995, it lands between the paramilitary street violence of the 1980s and the hopeful—but ten