Ballymurphy and the Irish War

by Ciaran de Baroid

In Easter 1970 war came to a small Belfast community. Ballymurphy has since been at the center of the Irish conflict, playing a vital role in the developments of the past thirty years. This book examines the impact of the conflict in this area of West Belfast, where today 12,000 people live in just eight housing estates. It is the story of a war told first-hand, through the words of ordinary human beings as they reveal the truth of their existence. Hailed as an immediate classic on first publication in 1989, this new edition has been completely revised to cover the events of the last decade.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ireland, History

448 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1990

Reviews

[Tiarnán · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imperfectly crafted from a literary standpoint, but this has to be up there with McCann's "War in an Irish Town" as one of the most convincing and accurate explanations of the driving force behind the Provisional IRA's nearly-30 year armed campaign against the British State: that is, the incredible and unremitting oppression inflicted by that state upon working-class nationalist communities in Northern Ireland both before and after the start of the Troubles, particularly in its earliest phase when the Army was used as an indiscriminate battering ram intended to break community spirit via actions such as internment - when eleven civilians were killed in a three day period in the Greater Ballmurphy area - or Operation Motorman, when the paratroopers ran amok in an orgy of brutality and destruction.

Rather than breaking the cohesion and resistance of communities such as Ballymuphy to the state's misrule, these actions backfired and only succeeded in strengthening it. The depth of anger and community solidarity generated as a result, cemented by the continuing harassment and violence of the Army, RUC, and British-backed loyalist gangs through the '80s and '90s, created the "sea" of popular support in which the fish of the Provisional IRA guerrillas, and later Sinn Féin, swam.

Despite its serious focus, there are plenty of humorous anecdotes scattered throughout, and one can't help but be impressed simultaneously at the depth of ingenuity of the Ballymurphy IRA, which kept on plugging away in the face of overwhelming military odds right until the end of the conflict, as well as the incredible well of patience and humour that the ordinary people of the area displayed throughout. A fantastic piece of local/oral history.

[Stina Leicht · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very information dense which is why it took me so long to read it.