Probes roots of 'Troubles'

"Rituals and Riots: Sectarian Violence and Political Culture in Ulster, 1784-1886" was originally his doctoral dissertation.

"The book isn't for the reader who is a novice to the violence in Northern Ireland," Prof. Farrell said. But he hopes to reach an audience wider than just those whose expertise is in that area.

Prof. Farrell looked at links between ordinary people involved in "street politics" and the political process of Northern Ireland through the more formal political institutions. He wanted to show how, together, they played a crucial role in the violence in Ireland during those years.

"What I looked at was the whole tradition of riots and violence from 18th-century Ireland, and how it played a role in keeping the hate and violence alive to the end of the 19th century," he said.

Rather than concentrating on what political and religious leaders did, Prof. Farrell examined the rioters themselves, arguing that the tradition of violence they created played a critical role in the formation of Ulster Unionism and Irish Nationalism during the times of some of the bloodiest riots in Ireland's history.

From the Armaugh troubles in 1784 to the Belfast riots of 1886, he found that routine confrontations led to continued outbreaks of sectarian conflict. That, in turn, helped to fuel Catholic and Protestant conflict, keeping it at the heart of discussion in Northern Ireland.

In his book, he demonstrates how lower-class attitudes spurred clashes between religious factions and, consequently, dictated the responses of government officials and the gentry of English/Irish society.

(The book won the Donald Murphy Prize for Best First Book from the American Conference for Irish Studies. One reviewer called the work "essential for an understanding of current sectarian disturbances in Northern Ireland." For more information, contact the Book House at 489-4761.)

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