To the Beat of a Different Drum. Loyalist Youth and the culture of Marching Bands in The Contested Identities of Ulster Protestants edited by TP Burgess and G Mulvenna

This is one chapter in a book examining the contested identities of Ulster Protestants . This chapter is written by an academic and a youth worker and is based upon interviews with young members of loyalist marching bands.The important role that marching band culture plays in the lives of young working class people is highlightged in terms of community belonging and rites of passage. It highlights the transcendence of meaning of the band culture for young people, above the notion of perceived triumphalism. A tapestry of community emerges and this piece uillustrates the complexity of what culture means to the Protestant working class youth.