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Site last updated on 24 Feb 2007

Bigots, Bombs, and Bullets

Michael Collins, David Trimble, John Hume, Ian Paisley, Edward Heath Tony Blair, Gerry Adams, "Mo" Mowlam, James Molyneaux, Lord Craigavon, the Apprentice Boys, Brian Faulkner, Lord Chief Justice John Widgery...

 Who are these people and how have they affected Northern Ireland's past, present, and future?

Sample pages

 

The author at Slieve League cliffs, Co. Donegal

Irish history is rife with struggle as the country had been beset by a series of foreign invaders and occupiers for centuries.  From the time of the Norman Invasion in the 12^th century, England controlled Ireland, but not without considerable difficulty.  Thus, while The Troubles may have bloomed in the 1960s, the seeds were planted centuries earlier. 

At the time of partition there were basically two political positions…Unionist (also known as Loyalist) and Nationalist (also known also as Republican).  Unionists believed that Northern Ireland should remain in union with and loyal to Great Britain while the Nationalists believed that it should be united with the Irish Free State as a single nation. 

Some historians say The Troubles refers to the period of violent conflict in Northern Ireland beginning with the Civil Rights marches in the late 1960s to the political resolution contained in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement  Others say that The Troubles began with Partitioning in 1922, and still others feel that they have no end date…that they continue through present day and will continue for the foreseeable future.  In addition, there is considerable disagreement regarding what the problem actually is.  Is it the result of a religious struggle? A political struggle? An economic struggle?  In fact, it is all of these wrapped up into one.

About the Author

J. Brian Kelly, whose paternal and maternal grandparents migrated to the U.S. in the late 1800s after the Great Hunger, was born in Philadelphia, PA.  He lived in Brooklyn, NY, until the age of 11 when his family moved to rural Bucks County, PA.   Educated in city and rural schools, both parochial and public, he graduated from Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, MD.  He later served twenty years in the U.S. Navy as an intelligence officer and, following military retirement, he spent 15 years with the Department of Defense.  His education and world travels gave him a well-rounded background in religion and culture.

As the author reflects ..."As I researched my book on Irish politico-military history, entitled 'Growing the Shamrock, Tuning the Fiddle,' I was particularly struck by the plight of the people of Northern Ireland as a result of the 1922 partitioning that divided the island into two sections – 1) the free and independent Irish Free State and 2) British controlled Northern Ireland.  Since then, Northern Ireland has rarely been at peace, with the most difficult period starting in the late 1960s.

This period, in typical Irish fashion, is simply understated as 'The Troubles'  but there is nothing simple about them at all.  In this book, I hope to convey a fair historical account of the roots of The Troubles and the impact that they have had on the people of Northern Ireland, particularly the young people who are, after all, both the future of Northern Ireland and the potential solution to the problem. The reader will see how Northern Ireland found herself in a vicious cycle where bigotry begot discrimination which begot violence which begot retaliation which begot more bigotry and violence."

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