Sectarianism, kinship and gender: a community study in Northern Ireland

Abstract

This study examines the social organisation of a small Northern Irish town and its rural hinterland. In order to place the study in a context the first chapter discusses the tradition of British community studies particularly in relation to the two disciplines of sociology and social anthropology. Chapter two gives a general background to the research area. The community was found to be socially divided along three axes, namely sectarianism, kinship and gender. These social divisions are examined in the following three chapters. Protestant-Catholic relations at both a day-to-day level and as expressed through ritual and celebration are discussed in Chapter Three. Chapter Four discusses the close family and kin ties which exist, particularly those between parent (especially mother) and child. Relations between affinal kin, as well as between those who are not kin are also considered. Chapter Five considers the social expression of gender and the tendency of men and women to largely occupy different social domains. In particular, the caring role of women within the domestic domain is examined as it commonly constitutes a major part of their lives. Chapter Six looks more closely at how the divisions between Catholic and Protestant, kin and non-kin, and male and female are marked and maintained, and why it is considered important that these divisions be so strongly stressed. The concluding chapter considers the inter-relation of the three social divisions and acknowledges the far reaching significance of the Protestant-Catholic divide. Fieldwork for the study took twenty months. A number of methods of investigation were employed, namely a period of participant observation; structured and semi-structured interviews; and the use of diaries. These are discussed in the Appendix.

Date of Award	1989
Original language	English
Supervisor	Peter Morton-Williams (Supervisor) & SIMON HARRISON (Supervisor)