Book description
More than quaint local color, folklore is a crucial part of life in
Aghyaran, a mixed Catholic-Protestant border community in Northern
Ireland. Neighbors socialize during wakes and ceilis-informal
nighttime gatherings-without regard to religious, ethnic, or political
affiliation. The witty, sometimes raucous stories swapped on these
occasions offer a window into Aghyaran residents' views of self and
other in the wake of decades of violent conflict. Through anecdotes
about local characters, participants explore the nature of community
and identity in ways that transcend Catholic or Protestant sectarian
histories. Ray Cashman analyzes local character anecdotes in detail
and argues that while politicians may take credit for the peace
process in Northern Ireland, no political progress would be possible
without ordinary people using shared resources of storytelling and
socializing to imagine and maintain community.
"Intelligent, eminently readable, highly personal without
being self-indulgent... a model for responsible, highly skilled,
humanistic field research." -New Hibernia Review
Ray Cashman is Associate Professor in the Department of English
and the Center for Folklore Studies at Ohio State University.
