Northern Irish

ETHNONYMS: British, Scots Irish, Ulster Irish, Ulster Scots. Historical: Anglo-Irish, Celts, West Britons

Orientation

Identification. Historically, the Northern Irish inhabit the nine-county province of Ulster. In 1920 British sovereignty was retained over six of these counties (Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone) by the Government of Ireland Act. The other three counties (Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan) became part of the Irish Free State. A Protestant minority within Ireland was guaranteed political and economic viability within the six counties.

For most of the population, Irishness and Britishness are not mutually exclusive categories but matters of sentiment and conviction. In 1966, 15 percent of the Roman Catholics and 39 percent of the Protestants claimed "British" national identity while 76 percent and 20 percent, respectively, claimed "Irish." In 1978, after nine years of civil unrest, the number of Catholics asserting British identity remained at 15 percent, but the number of Protestants calling themselves British rose to 67 percent. That same year 69 percent of the Catholics but only 8 percent of the Protestants said they were Irish. Among both denominations, 62 percent considered themselves more like people in the Republic of Ireland than like people in England.

Location. Northern Ireland is located between 54° and 55°20′ N and 5°30′ and 8°15′ W. In area (13,629 square kilometers) it is approximately one-sixth of Ireland. A land boundary of some 450 kilometers separates it from the Irish republic and a sea boundary separates it from Scotland, 20.8 kilometers away. The climate is mild.

Demography. In 1986 the population was 1,578,000. The eastern seaboard, where the provincial capital Belfast is located, had a population density of 111 persons per square kilometer. Total population grew by 1.9 percent between 1981 and 1986. The age structure of Northern Ireland is younger than the rest of the United Kingdom (U.K.), 8.7 percent being under age 5 in 1986. The percentage over 65 is lower at 14.4. The birthrate is high at 18 births per 1,000 population; the national average is 9.9. Just under two-thirds of the Population is of Scots and English descent, their forebears having settled in Ulster at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The remaining third is of Irish origin. There has been continuous population movement across the Irish Sea, and many English and Scottish cities have Irish wards. There has also been extensive migration to North America.

Linguistic Affiliation. Two dialect areas—an Ulster Scots zone in the northern and eastern coastal areas and an Ulster Anglo-Irish zone in the inland central, southern, and southwestern parts—follow regional, not religious, patterns. As in the rest of the U.K. and in the Republic of Ireland, class provides the greatest distinction. Irish Gaelic persisted in the westernmost counties until the mid-nineteenth century; Scottish Gaelic dialect traces are found in Antrim. Ulster Irish is considered a cross between Scottish and Irish Gaelic. Gaelic loanwords are common in Northern Irish speech.

History and Cultural Relations

Northern Ireland was fashioned as a distinct political entity within the U.K. with its own devolved government at Stormont Castle in Belfast. In 1972, after four years of civil unrest, the Westminster government resumed direct control. The Northern Irish have strong cultural ties with Australia, Canada, and the United States because of heavy emigration to those countries. Seventeen United States presidents had Ulster forebears.

Northern Irish poets Louis MacNeice, John Hewitt, and Seamus Heaney have international reputations, as does the flutist James Galway. Many Northern Irish entertainers, broadcasters, novelists, playwrights, and filmmakers are public figures throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom. Seasonal customs in Northern Ireland reflect cultural traditions. The early Celtic Halloween is more important than the Scottish New Year, and mummers who perform folk dramas in a Scots-based dialect do so in distinctively Irish hero-combat plays.

Some sports are played within United Kingdom leagues and associations but most are within Irish leagues, including soccer and cricket. Gaelic sports include Gaelic football, hurling, handball, and camogie. The Gaelic Athletic Association lifted a ban on playing or watching non-Gaelic "foreign" games in 1971. Protestants play soccer, hockey, and cricket at school. International rugby, boxing, athletics, and darts are nondenominational.

Most cultural and social activities take place in neighborhoods and at the county level. Townlands remain important, as do local ceilidhe houses, where folktales and traditional songs are performed. Whether public houses cater only to coreligionists varies with time and place. Cinemas and dance halls are nonsegregated. In some places Catholics and Protestants patronize only shops and services controlled by coreligionists. They support each others' occasional fund-raising activities, fetes, and bazaars, although attendance at such events is almost entirely restricted to coreligionists. Everyday segregation is more acute in working-class urban areas than in small towns and country villages.

Households at the same economic level share a common culture regardless of religious affiliation. This is reflected in standards of living; family relationships; and ideas and attitudes about the role of the sexes, kin, duties of neighbors, good and bad conduct, respect, and officialdom. Nevertheless, the Northern Irish view their society as being fundamentally dichotomized.

Settlements

In 1986 Northern Ireland had the highest rate of new dwellings in the U.K. at 6.5 per 1,000 population. Housing throughout the province was 61 percent owner-occupied, 34 percent rented from local authorities, and 6 percent privately rented. The average cost of a home built in 1986, with mortgage, was 25,700 pounds. Domestic rates at 231 pounds were lower than elsewhere in the U.K.

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. The gross Domestic product (GDP) of Northern Ireland in 1986 was estimated at 6.1 billion pounds, making up 1.9 percent of that of the U.K. as a whole. The provision of public services generated a high proportion (35 percent) of this, as compared with a national average of 23 percent. GDP per head was 3,889 pounds, the lowest in the U.K. The average gross weekly earning for males was 199 pounds, the lowest in the U.K., while that of females was similar to that of most other regions.

Between 1979 and 1987, Northern Ireland had the highest unemployment rate in the U.K., with 35 percent of the Catholic and 17 percent of the Protestant male work force being unemployed. Figures for women were 15 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Social security benefits accounted for about one-fifth of average household income in 1985-1986, a higher proportion than elsewhere in the U.K. estimated government expenditure on supplementary benefits was 199 pounds per head, compared with an average of 138 pounds per head elsewhere.

While Northern Ireland clearly is a depressed region within the national economy, the eastern part of the province is more developed than the western, which apart from forestry and tourism is undeveloped. Industrialization around Belfast, migration from the western counties in the nineteenth Century due to famine, and the centralization of the economies of London and Dublin in the twentieth century led to markedly uneven regional development. Economic decline has been attributed to structural weaknesses in response to world market changes. An economy narrowly based on marine engineering, shipbuilding, and textiles (linen) employed 55 percent of the manufacturing workforce in 1949 and only 21 percent in 1986. Agriculture suffered a similar contraction from 22 percent of the total labor force in 1949 to less than 4 percent in 1986.

Industrial Arts. Manufacturing industries include engineering and allied trades; tobacco, food, and drink; textiles; and clothing. These employ 21 percent of the population. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing employ 4 percent. Agricultural holdings are small, with only 5.6 percent made up of 50 or more hectares. Dairy products, oats, potatoes, poultry, and eggs were produced on small family farms in 1949. In Response to changing demand, the economy has shifted from oats and potatoes to pigs, barley, and cattle. Between 1965 and 1985, mixed farming gave way to the growth, conservation, and utilization of grass. Cattle and milk production account for 34 and 28 percent, respectively, of the total gross output. Cattle number around 1.5 million. Store cattle are imported from the Republic of Ireland for fattening.

Legislation within the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1980 aimed at constructing a common agricultural policy brought changes to the Northern Irish economy. The number of sheep rose to around 1.3 million, but a decline in the number of pigs and poultry followed cereal-price changes. Investment in modernization, including contraction in the number of holdings, led to increased production but a smaller work force. Agricultural gross output rose from 496 million pounds in 1978 to 775.5 million pounds in 1987. State Forests occupy 5 percent of the total land area.

The declining economy is attributed to the province's distance from its markets and sources of raw materials. Transportation costs are high. Cross-border schemes between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and European Community plans hold promise for development in the west. Political unrest deters overseas investment.

Trade. About 74 percent of imports and 82 percent of exports involve trade with the rest of the U.K. Trade with the Republic represents about 12 percent of the total.

Division of Labor. Farm labor is divided along age and gender lines, with women and the elderly performing house and farmyard tasks and men and boys working in the fields. Cattle marketing is an exclusively male occupation. Hill farmers cooperate, with neighbors "swapping" labor, but more mechanized lowland farmers do not. In the nonfarming sector of the economy, young women tend to form the lower ranks in offices, businesses, and the professions, and young men tend to be more upwardly mobile.

Land Tenure. Of a total land area of some 1.3 million hectares, about 1.1 million is used for agriculture under an almost universal system of owner occupation. Superimposed on this system is the widespread practice of conacre, or seasonal letting of land. This discourages the purchase and amalgamation of land, which modern agriculture requires.

Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. Descent is bilateral with an emphasis on patrilateral kin. The household is the organizational unit of descent.

Kinship Terminology. English kinship terminology is used. Among Protestants, Christian names often descend within the family; Catholics choose saints' names.

Marriage and Family

Marriage. Marriage is Christian and monogamous. The proportion of marriages solemnized in a religious ceremony (86 percent) far exceeds the national average (59 percent in Scotland; 58 percent in Wales; 52 percent in England). The proportion of the population remarrying (8.7 percent for men and 8.2 percent for women) is the lowest in the U.K. The Illegitimacy rate (127 per 1,000) was the lowest in the U.K. in 1986 but is increasing. "Mixed" marriages between Catholics and Protestants are relatively rare, being treated as political actions and viewed with antagonism by both sides. They are more common among the upper and middle classes than among the working class, and in the poorer western rural counties than in urban working-class enclaves. Where Kinship networks do cut across the divide, they appear actively to encourage mixed marriages, as on Rathlin Island. A recent increase in integrated schooling may encourage mixed marriages.

Domestic Unit. The nuclear family is the ideal throughout Northern Irish society. Single-parent families are thought to be increasing, particularly in cities, but close kinship ties with siblings and older relatives make them less of a social problem than is the case elsewhere. Most households (61.5 percent) are made up of a husband and wife and their children. Historically, the three-generational stem household was very evident and a modern adaptation existed whereby, in place of the traditional Irish "west room," a bungalow was built nearby for the grandparental generation. Contemporary security measures have increased the familial role of grandparents in house minding, child care, etc. Sibling households are still quite common in the farming community, reflecting the high rate of celibacy and the late age of marriage. Many Households contain elderly parents and lodgers (often farm laborers), a reflection of both traditional stem-family residential structure and the modern declining economy and housing shortage. In 1947, the largest households were found among agricultural laborers (4.77), followed by farmers (4.22), factory workers (4.08), shopkeepers (3.35), pensioners (2.68) and artisans (2.60). Overall average household size was 3.96 persons.

Inheritance. Gender is the main determinant of Inheritance, but particular modes vary with class. Wealthier farming families practice "tail male" (ultimogeniture). Historically, neighboring farms were acquired for other sons, but emigration and movement into the professions have lessened the strains of inheritance. Provision of some kind is usually made for daughters.

Socialization. Socialization occurs in the home, at school, in Sunday schools, and in youth organizations, many of which are attached to churches or sociopolitical organizations. Formal education is largely in the hands of religious authorities, although a small number of schools, mainly in rural areas, are nondenominational. The recent establishment of "integrated" schooling is opposed by Catholic church leaders and parents. There are two universities: the Queens University in Belfast and the New University of Ulster in Coleraine. In 1986, 40 percent of the work force had no educational qualifications beyond secondary-school level, a higher proportion than elsewhere in the U.K.

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. The annual parades, open-air festivals, drum and fife bands, and commemorative events of sectarian organizations such as the Protestant Loyal Orange Lodge and the Roman Catholic Ancient Order of Hibernians socialize Protestants and Catholics into separate Communities, which crosscut ethnic and age divisions. Each has its own leisure facilities, dances, whist drives, bowling competitions, and the like. In the rural areas, between 30 and 40 percent of the total adult male Protestant population belongs to lodges while spouses and sons belong to ladies' committees and junior lodges or bands. Most members of rural lodges belong to skilled, semiskilled, or unskilled manual occupational categories; few professionals are involved.

Most organizations cutting across the sectarian divide have an occupational or life-experience foundation as in the Ulster Farmers Union, Young Farmer Clubs, the British Legion, and Women's Institutes. Historical or heritage societies based upon village or regional identity and including both Protestants and Catholics in their memberships are new developments.

Political Organization. The Northern Irish deviate from the British political system over one key issue: the question of the province's relation to the rest of the U.K. Voting patterns tend to map the distribution of Catholics and Protestants and there is thus a regional dimension to the vote. Antrim, north and central Down and Armagh, north and central Londonderry, and scattered areas of Fermanagh and Tyrone vote Unionist (i.e., to remain within the United Kingdom). The official Unionist party and Ian Paisley's Democratic party are the largest pro-union parties in Northern Ireland. A large Minority (around 34 percent) supports a variety of Irish nationalist and republican candidates seeking reunification with southern Ireland. These include the Social Democratic and Labor party and Sinn Fein (sometimes described as the Political wing of the illegal Irish Republican Army). Local election support for Sinn Fein has grown in recent years. The Alliance party bridges the sectarian divide, as do the small Socialist and Workers parties. Voter turnout at national and local elections is heavier than elsewhere in the U.K. After more than twenty years of civil strife, most people support constitutional politics. The Westminster government has pledged that there will be no change in Northern Ireland's constitutional status without majority consent.

Social Control. The United Kingdom is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights and legislation passed in 1973 outlawing discrimination by public bodies, Including the government, on the grounds of religious belief or political opinion. While statutory law provides the framework for social control in Northern Ireland, emergency powers were introduced in 1973, including special powers of arrest, nonjury courts, and the proscription of terrorist organizations. Internment without trial was also introduced as a temporary measure and, recently, emergency powers were extended to cover freedom of speech.

Conflict. As throughout the U.K., most disputes are Between people related by marriage. Class conflict has always been muted. Sectarianism has been a source of discrimination and violence since the seventeenth century. The IRA has contested British sovereignty over the six counties since 1920, but the Stormont government contained widespread bloodshed until 1973 when the British army was sent into the province. Loss of life from political violence between 1969 and 1985 amounted to 2,524 persons, of whom 1,507 were civilians. The use of violence as a means of overcoming Political differences has declined since the mid-1970s when the police (the Royal Ulster Constabulary) and a local militia (the Ulster Defence Regiment) took over the primary role from the British army. The IRA's campaign was thereafter Directed more specifically toward targets in England and Western Europe, and the British and Irish governments began to seek a diplomatic solution to the troubles. By 1990 more People were killed in road accidents in Northern Ireland than in "terrorist" incidents.

Religion

The population of Northern Ireland is 34.9 percent Roman Catholic and 58.2 percent Protestant. Protestants form the majority in all but two (Fermanagh and Tyrone) of the six counties. Presbyterians are most numerous in all but county Fermanagh (where most Protestants belong to the Church of Ireland), a reflection of the Ulster Scots heritage. Evangelical Protestantism came in the early nineteenth century and there are many Methodist, Wesleyan, Pentecostal, and other evangelical congregations in the west of the province. A unique Religious sect, the Cooneyites, originated in county Fermanagh.

The diocese and parish boundaries of both the Roman Catholic church and the Church of Ireland straddle the International boundary and many clergy come from the south. Educational and social organizations are closely linked to Religious bodies from the cradle to the grave. Medical care is mostly provided by the National Health Service, although some hospitals and hospices are associated with religious foundations.

Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland are "endoritualistic." With the rise of the Ecumenical Movement and in response to the cross-community challenge of continuing violence (first met by the Women's Peace Movement), barriers are beginning to fall. Baptisms, weddings, and funerals reflect the religious divide in direct involvement, but inDirectly local morality calls for the participation of coresidents and neighbors.

Bibliography

Darby, John, ed. (1985). Northern befand: The Background to the Conflict. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.

Harris, Rosemary (1972). Prejudice and Tolerance in Ulster: A Study of Neighbours and "Strangers" in a Border Community, Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Heslinga, M. W. (1971). The Irish Border as a Cultural Divide: A Contribution to the Study of Regionalism in the British Isles. Assen: Van Gorcum.

Moxon-Browne, Edward (1983). Nation, Class, and Creed in Northern befand. Aldershot: Gower.

JOAN VINCENT