Oral History Abroad: The Youth of Belfast

Ireland has been terrorized for the past century by political separatists, the Irish Republican Army, and guerilla warfare. Though the direct combat has died down since the turn of the century, the danger still remains and is prevalent in the everyday lives of Irish citizens. Religous warfare and political terrorism manifest themselves annually during riots that are widely publicized around the globe. Racial relations have taken a back seat in Northern Ireland as segregation based on religion increased in frequency. For William, a 21 year old Catholic student living in Belfast, having diverse opinions can be dangerous. William's life was shaped by his cultural upbringing in the Belfast area, his social interactions with peers, and the history of the warfare in Belfast.

William was born in the district of Glengormly, in the Greater Belfast area. Looking back, William thought it was a nice area to grow up, yet the people had different mindsets from his own. Glengormly is a very sports-oriented small town where everyone followed Gaelic League football that William was less than interested in as a child. Around the age of 10, William had a selectively small group of friends who were also not included in the football craze. When he was old enough, William decided to leave Glengormly and the sports oriented people behind and retreated into a secluded world of video games and movies.

To further distance himself from his fellow townspeople, William looked forward to grade school, which in Belfast is composed of the seven years of primary school and seven years of secondary school. In Ireland, students are divided into classes based on their proficiency in certain subjects. William's class, however, was separated by age and last name. His core classes, such as english and mathematics, were taken with the form class, the original people he was lumped together with at the start of the first year. Unfortunately, William was placed in a class with a group of other students who were not interested in learning. This was the only year this system applied to. The following year, the school administration realised their mistake and reinstated the old system for future classes. William's class was rated the worst in his school for ten years, but during the final two years, as the college years approached, the mood of his class changed. Students were finally interested in learning, non-sports extra-curricular activities were offered, and William thoroughly enjoyed the topics he learned about. In fact, when his class participated in a mini-business venture as a project, they won the Northern Irish regional competition and were invited to participate in the main event in the Savoy Hotel, London. He described the venture as selling "random stuff, having a laugh doing it, and raising £400." Half of their profits were donated to charity.

After graduating from secondary school, William felt immense pressure to attend a university immediately. According to a study by the Minister of Employment and Learning, Sir Reg Empley, Northern Ireland has the highest participation rate in higher education in the United Kingdom (2010). This statistic can be explained using William's expereince during his final year. Secondary schools pressure all of their students to gain acceptance to a university immediately after graduation to raise their status. It is marketed as the logical next step in education, and William did not want to deviate from that social norm. Additionally, William didn't think he could afford to take a year off before continuing at a university. Most of the jobs available require experience. Experience is learned with higher education. Higher education required money, and William had very little. According to William, he chose to the wrong university first and then took a half year off to recollect his thoughts and spent the time working full time at a supermarket. Even though William has returned to school, part of him thinks its a waste of time. During his time between univeristies, William developed a back-up plan to open a cafe in downtown Belfast. In his own words, "a degree in biological sciences won't get me a job and I now have about £18,000 of debt." Robin Wilson, who wrote an article on the student debt for the Chronicle of Higher Education, a vast majority of college students feel the same sense of hopelessness about their debt situations. Most college students do not, in fact, borrow much money to pay for their college education. Only one third of college graduates leave with no debt at all, and 65% of graduates will owe upwards of $20,000 (Wilson, 2009). Sometimes, William thinks his choice to attend the university was a mistake. "I just continually think about saving up and opening a business so I could have started earlier on that. However if I hadn't went (sic), I wouldn't have met the most interesting people, had the random experiences and generally arsed around that led me to come up with my awesome business idea."

When William moved from Glengormly to Belfast city, he made the transition with ease. However there was a strict line dividing the natives of Belfast from the rest of Northern Ireland. Since Glengormly is only a fifteen minute bus ride from the center of Belfast, William posessed the modern Belfast accent. Just beyond Glengormly, the accent drastically changes and those residents of Northern Ireland are known as "culchies." These "out of towners" stand out in a crowd and are generally not respected by the citizens of Belfast. They are, in a sense, the "rednecks" of Northern Ireland.

William experienced religious oppression when he was still in his teens. He was hanging out with a group of friends when he met a young woman. From the instant they met, they were inseparable. For two years their freindship blossomed into a young romance. Unfortunately for William, this young lady's father did not approve of their friendship. In the police database, certain areas of Northern Ireland are blacklisted as the most dangerous for police officers. Her father was a high-ranking police officer, and their Protestant family was accustomed to living in a rather rich neighborhood. William happened to live next door to one of those highly Catholic blacklisted areas. Previously, when violent riots occurred rather often, there were a great number of police officers killed in the line of duty. For the safety of her family, William and his girlfriend agreed to stop seeing one another. While this may have seemed unfair at the time, William now recognizes the danger of the situation and is thankful that his girl friend's family would not be in danger because of his actions.

In the Belfast area, one Protestant tradition is marching in the Orange parades. Not all Protestants participate, though even a small amount will cause public outcry. The Orange Order was originally established to suppress the Catholics. One area was called Ardoyne, where the orange men always march, and unfortunately, is extremely Catholic. William further explains: "Riots traditionally break out most years, but this year was particularly bad. Some kids, kids being the operative word here, dropped a breeze block on a police woman's head and nearly killed her." The riot began in Northern Belfast on July 12 and continued for three days. The news confirmed that the police woman was in stable condition in the morning. Children as young as 8 years old were videotaped participating in the violence. The Orange Order rejected a new route proposed by groups attempting to mediate during the annual march, and William plans to avoid the blacklisted areas during that time.

Religious prejudice is not just located in the urban areas but has permeated the Irish culture right down to the pubs. Though some pubs are separated by political factions of the religious groups, two have polarized businesses in Belfast. The Republicans are typically Catholic followers and would prefer Norther Ireland to separate from Britain and return to the political unit of Ireland. Unionists, on the other side of the spectrum, are typically Protestant and want to keep the link with England. William has noticed that in certain areas where the beliefs are very strong in one way or the other, the bars tend to be marketed toward that group. However, the vast majority of bars are neutral which accounts for their popularity, and only a select few enforce the separation.

A recent study by the Journal of Youth Studies used a 2006 Life and Times Survey to update their findings about the adoption of a Northern Irish identity and a positive view of community relations is increasingly common among Protestants. The surveys also showed that 36% of young Northern Irish adults considered themselves Protestants where as 17.8% identified themselves as Catholic. Adults, on the other hand, were more evenly split, 25% Protestant and 23% Catholic (Table 1). Studies further show that the Protestant religion is a rising trend, particularly among teenagers (Figure 2). When questioned on how importantly they value their national identity, 51% of the Northern Irish surveyed responded "very" or "quite important," while only 40% of the Protestants responded the same. Therefore, even though the young adults of Northern Ireland are primarily Protestant, they are not as positive about their national identity.

There is a strong sense in Northern Ireland that anyone outside of the group is "bad" or "dangerous." This violence is not as widely publicized as the sectarian killings. However, there may still be hope for younger generations. According to William, "I hang out with Protestants because they're the nicest guys you'll ever meet, even though I'm from a Catholic background." The origins of the conflicts are barely mentioned in school around grade 3, and William describes it as learning how the roles were reversed, yet most students and parents argue that it was a lie. At the annual Fresher Fair on campus, each political faction has a booth, but otherwise the students are not bothered by the propaganda. All political and religious groups do not receive funding in order to promote a unified front so the university is not seen supporting one arguement or the other. If a society requires more funding, the bursaries are based on needs rather than an automatic budget. By down-playing the differences between separate groups and treating them the same from the school-age up, William predicts that more of his peers will agree that there is a rational way to heal the differences between the Catholic Irish and the Protestant Irish populations.

William has maintained a positive attitude towards the separate religous and political factions. The militant leaders he read about in the news as a young boy have reformed and joined the peace process. William, while not personally affected by the riots or the violence, has learned to value his friends for their company rather than their ancester's religious beliefs. Once he graduates from the university, he is prepared to enter the professional world of Northern Ireland. He is a self-proclaimed Catholic British citizen, but more than that, he is a student and a friend. Religious intolerance has no place in the next generation of William's peers.





References

Empey, R. (2010, October 18). Northern Ireland’s higher education participation rates are best in UK. Department for Employment and Learning. Retrieved November 27, 2010, from http://www.delni.gov.uk/index/press-releases/press-releases-october10-december10/northern-ireland-s-higher-education-participation-rates-are-best-in-uk.htm.

Hayes, B., & McAllister, I. (2009). Religion, identity and community relations among adults and young adults in Northern Ireland. Journal of Youth Studies, 12(4), 385-403. doi:10.1080/13676260902866504.

Wilson, R. (2009). A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely. (Cover story). Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(37), A1-A22. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

The Legend of Achilles

According to myth, Achilles' mother Thetis was a sea nymph, and therefore immortal. His father Peleus, however, was not immortal, which meant that any of Thetis' children would be only semi-divine and therefore wholly susceptible to pain, mortality, and general fatalistic death.

Thetis was understandably not very pleased with the idea of her children dying, and proceeded to attempt a “Make My Children Immortal” campaign using a “Do It Yourself” home kit. This involved shoving her children into fires, dunking them in boiling tar, dropping them down dangerous rapids and lightly broiling them in casserole dishes with diced onions and lots of oil. However, Achilles was saved from this tasty fate by his father who managed to stop Thetis from charbroiling his last son.

In disgust, Thetis tried the next best option by dipping Achilles into the River Styx, which would make him immune to all axes, arrows and anything spiky enough to puncture skin. However, she held on to his ankle to do so and as a result, Achilles' heel was left untouched. Thus his dodgy heel.

No one knows why Thetis forgot, or why she didn't just dip him in holding one heel and then hold the other one so the first heel could get a dunking. But it can be assumed she certainly kicked herself after Achilles was subsequently killed to death by means of said heel being penetrated with a poisoned arrow during his daring raid in the battle at Troy.

Reflections on Lysistrata

Lysistrata is a delightful anti-war skit written by Aristophanes in 411 B.C. It was exceptionally creative for the time, written when the view towards women was bleak and gender roles ruled the communities. Greek men were more likely to go off to war than to ever acknowledge a woman with a mind of her own.

Women were not respected as members of the community, often ignored, and the general male population assumed they did not have the mental capacity to understand matters of state. However, Lysistrata threw them for a loop when she organized widespread abstinence throughout Athens and barricaded access to the city funds in an attempt to stop the war with Sparta. If only life were that simple. The women felt very bitter and resentful to have lost so many husbands, brothers, sons, and potential lovers to the constant carnage. Lysistrata’s plan worked on a very small scale, spreading to Sparta and eventually frustrating the men on both sides into submission.

At the onset of the war with Iraq, a campaign against such action was launched called The Lysistrata Project. The Project, guided by the teachings of Gandhi, seeks innovative solutions to bring peace to the world. The women in charge of the site are, as would be expected, feminists, and will most probably be using gender bias to provoke interest in their cause. This is unfortunate, that such a goodwill organization must play the gender card in modern times. For the original Lysistrata, in a time where women were not seen as equals, a revolutionary idea to bring peace would have generated much attention. Today, gender based committees are more mainstream and passed over as just another outspoken activist group.

And so, in the here and now, women have achieved equality, but what good has it done us? Today, we would never be able to achieve that which Lysistrata initiated, we are too disorganized, too easily passed off as radical feminists, and too unwilling to push the boundaries on acceptable behavior. And, let's face it, as a culture we are too addicted to sex. However, if more women would read the literature of Aristophanes and accept the beliefs of Lysistrata, we may very well see a rise in the influence of women over issues of war and peace.

Spanish Etiquette

Philip the Third was gravely seated by the fireside: the fire-maker of the court had kindled so great a quantity of wood, that the monarch was nearly suffocated with heat, and his grandeur would not suffer him to rise from the chair; the domestics could not presume to enter the apartment, because it was against the etiquette. At length the Marquis de Potat appeared, and king ordered him to damp the fires; but he excused himself; alleging that he was forbidden by the etiquette to perform such a function, for which the Duke D’Usseda ought to be called upon, as it was his business. The duke was gone out; the fire burnt fiercer; and the king endured it, rather than derogate from his dignity. But his blood was heated to such a degree, that erysipelas of the head appeared the next day, which, succeeded by a violent fever, carried him off in 1625, in the twenty-fourth year of his age.

– Isaac Disraeli, Curiosities of Literature, 1824

The Legacy of Alfred the Great

When Alfred the Great ascended the throne of Wessex in 871, the old kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England were on the brink of collapse. The Viking invaders had conquered one by one the crowns of Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia. Only Wessex survived, and pressure was mounting. His father and brothers, the rulers before him, did their best to hold back the invading forces and to hold the kingdom together. Despite growing up as the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex in this troubled time, Alfred became a seasoned warrior, a scholar, a poet, a law maker, and a loyal Christian. During his own rule, he strove to imitate the kings of the past who, as he described, “succeeded both in warfare and in wisdom.”

The Danish crisis of the late 9th century was a serious one, and led to the extinction of every Anglo-Saxon kingdom except Wessex. No longer satisfied with raiding, Danish hosts were remaining on English soil and other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were losing their independence. The Danes were able to go where they wished, raiding royal and ecclesiastical centers, and demanding hefty payments as ransom. They relied on speed, swift movement by water or by horse, raiding and retreating to their established strongholds, or taking over new bases. Every year from 867 to 879 the Anglo Saxon Chronicle records that the Danes moved from one royal estate to another and by 880 were beginning to settle down and cultivate land.

Alfred was an unlikely choice for king. He was the youngest of the four sons of King Æthelwulf, and not even mentioned during the reigns of his two eldest brothers. Only when Æthelred, his closest brother, succeeded the throne was he thrown into the dim political spotlight of the 9th century. Æthelred named Alfred the “heir-apparent,” and the two brothers commanded their military forces together against the Danish invaders in 871, winning a crucial battle at Ashmore. As the story goes, the English Christians fought the Viking invaders for more than two weeks in this area. Alfred and his men reached the battlefield before his brother, King Æthelred, and was organized better for it. Æthelred, meanwhile, was still in his tent. He would not leave until the priest finished his Mass. Alfred could not hold off the Viking army long enough to wait for Æthelred, and deployed all his Christian forces against the hostile invaders without the help of his brother. The English forces were at a disadvantage, defending themselves as the Vikings pushed from the higher position, but withstood the attacks until they were able to ultimately win the battle.

Around the year 885, Alfred recruited a Welsh monk named Asser for his court of learning and educational reforms. After an illness, Asser joined Alfred’s court and wrote a biography of his patron which became the main source of information known about King Alfred. The only known manuscript survived until 1731 when it was burned in an accidental fire at the Cotton Library.

While serving the King, Asser grew to know Alfred, to respect him and to guide him along the path of learning. "The just man builds on a modest foundation and gradually proceeds to greater things." Asser cites this quote while describing King Alfred's method of learning. The source of this quotation is unknown but likely originated with Alfred himself. Asser also describes an occasion in which Alfred had been listening as Asser read aloud a few passages from a book, since Alfred himself had not yet learned to read. Alfred asked Asser to copy the passage into a little book of quotations, which appeared so full that Asser recommended the king begin a second source for his excerpts. It is worth noting that the king himself did not copy the quotation, but requested Asser to do so, hinting that the king had not yet learned to write either. This “little book” compiled the king’s favorite Biblical passages such as prayers and psalms as well as other extracts in a handbook known as the Dicta of King Alfred. Unfortunately, the handbook itself did not survive to the present. Asser notes that after he had copied the selected passages into the King’s book, Alfred was “eager to read it at once, and to translate it into English, and thereupon to instruct many others […].”

In the year 887, Asser reports in his biography that Alfred was divinely inspired to read in Latin. For such a pious king, being able to read Latin would have enhanced his understanding of religious works and his ability to instruct others. A very small percentage of scribes and monks were educated, thanks to the Danish raids. The raiders destroyed monasteries, the centers of learning, burning manuscripts and the precious vellum on which they were written. Alfred introduces his works with a statement regarding the importance of literature, a hobby that lost most of its followers before he was born. “Therefore it seems better to me, if it seems so to you, that we too should turn it into the language that we can all understand certain books which are the most necessary for all men to know.” Pastoral Care itself gives an account of the decay of learning in Britain, and presents the king’s determination to reform the schools of Wessex. It also expresses Alfred’s effort to convince the bishops that they must lead the people to learning by following the footsteps of their forefathers. The best way to lead the people would be in their own language. Pastoral Care is widely recognized as Alfred's most important contribution to English Literature.

Another translation often accredited to King Alfred is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People written by the Venerable Bede. Bede’s history, in Alfred’s day, was treated as a standard history of the early English church; it was a recognized classic. One of its central ideas was that from the Church comes worldly prosperity. Alfred may have been particularly drawn to this piece of work because it provided the English, as a whole, with a sense of their common past. This would have provided a sense of comfort during the troubled times. In his Homily on St. Gregory, Aelfric, the abbot and scholar, refers to the Historia Anglorum, “which Alfred translated out of Latin into English.” There is further evidence of this in the manuscript itself. On the first page is written, “Historicus quondam fecit me Beda latinum, Alfred rex Saxo transtulit ille pius” which roughly translates to “the history which was written by Bede in Latin, translated by Alfred, the pious King of the Saxons.” Within the text, however, I have found certain Mercian characteristics, which call into question whether the translator was Alfred, dictating to a Mercian scribe, or whether it was translated by a Mercian on Alfred’s request. In fact, some of these stylistic and vocabulary differences have caused scholars to reject some manuscripts, like this one, as Alfred's own translations.

Aside from revitalizing education in West Saxon England, Alfred lived a well rounded life. He attended mass regularly, donated alms charitably, and showed kindness to all men, from his native population and to foreign visitors. With his extensive knowledge of literature, Alfred ruled wisely and with a sense of justice. He established the truth always during judicial hearings, especially with cases concerning those less fortunate, for whom he took special care to provide with a fair decision. His writings constantly reveal his aspirations after truth, and there is a definitively religious tone. Unfortunately, the Old English literary tradition faded until the Renaissance revitalized interest in the past. Alfred writes in the translation of Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, “I have wished to live worthily while I lived, and to leave to those who should come after me my memory in good deeds.”

During his reign, Alfred found learning dead and he restored it, education neglected and he revived it, the laws powerless and he gave them force, the church debased and he raised it, the land ravaged by a fearful enemy from which he delivered it. Alfred’s name shall live as long as mankind shall respect the past. As a king, Alfred defeated his enemy, defended the wisdom of his people, and laid the foundations of the English nation. When he died, Wessex was secure, and his descendants would spread his style of government until they could call themselves Kings of England. If reputation is a measure of success, then Alfred truly deserves to be known as “Alfred the Great.”

Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge, Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources [London: Penguin USA, 1995], 79.
Joel T. Rosenthal, "Bede's Ecclesiastical History and the Material Conditions of Anglo-Saxon Life," The Journal of British Studies 19.1 (1979): 3-7.
Judith Bennett and C. Warren Hollister, Medieval Europe: A Short History [New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2005], 103.
Benjamin R. Merkle, The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great [Waco, TX: Thomas Nelson, 2009], 61.
A. W. Ward and A. R. Waller, “Alfred and the Old English Prose of his Reign,” The Cambridge History of English and American Literature [New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2000]. www.bartleby.com/cambridge/ [Accessed December 1, 2009]