2
10
21
-
https://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo24/files/original/3d9e716d7945901dcb2c3dcd89204b9f.mp3
ac02773c88f8b224126189cde148e248
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
5 Decades Project (<em>collection</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
"<strong>Forthspring</strong> has worked since 1997 to build relationships between neighbouring Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. The <strong>5 Decades Project</strong> grew out of a desire to examine these communities' very different experience of living through the 'Troubles', with the goal of developing a shared, but not agreed, account of the conflict and its impact.<br /> Experiences and memories were gathered through storytelling in small groups from the same community background, roughly structured around the 5 decades beginning with the 1960s. There were also opportunities to share and hear stories from other communities. Over 150 people have taken part." <br /> Forthspring 5 Decades Project. (2014). 'Talking About The Troubles'. (Rear cover)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Stories Collected
Non DC - Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+ interviews (leading to 80 stories in the published book)
Stories Deposited
Non DC - Number of stories deposited with Accounts of the Conflict.
6
Collection Permission Form
Non DC - Collection permission form signed and returned.
Yes (signed 12 November 2014)
Delayed Access
Non DC - Yes/No on request for delayed access.
No
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Transcription also available
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Windows Media Audio File (.WMA)
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
19 minutes 3 seconds
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
192 kbps
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Untitled Story</em><span>, by Jim (</span><em>story audio</em><span>)</span>
Description
An account of the resource
Audio recording of interview with Jim which was recorded as part of the 5 Decades Project. The project was conducted by Forthspring Inter Community Group.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Audio; MP3 Format Sound (.mp3)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Catalogue ID
Non DC - ID for the Catalogue entry that relates to this entry
2229
5 Decades
Forthspring
-
https://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo24/files/original/75137b7c3914e7f9fbf0901ec6fb213b.pdf
ad72f642c4f64d409a90982bcaf5d530
PDF Text
Text
Interviewer: Where was it you worked in [inaudible]?
Jim: Michelin, in Mallusk.
Interviewer: So, did you have any bother getting travelling back and forth?
Jim: Travelling from Andersonstown was the problem. When I started in Michelin, I was riding a
motorbike at first and I got a car because there was an opportunity to give lads a lift from
Andersonstown. Well, before the trouble began there was no bother, but then after that we were
advised to take different routes; not to have stopped as a pattern*of going, say, we could have gone up
Agnes Street, Northumberland Street, round to Millfield, over by Ardoyne; different routes. The only
comical thing was, with the lads I was travelling, if you said you were going to cut across the Shankill, it
was a no-no. [Laughter] They were very frightened of that.
Interviewer: -the Shankill.
Jim: I came from the Shankill; so it didn’t bother me, although I should have; I should have been
conscious of that. There are a lot of other cases when we were very police roadblocks, bomb scares and
so on; they were very annoying. I remember one of the tours took us two hours, going up different
routes, being turned back, and ended up going along the Shore Road towards Carrick to work our way
over towards... [Laughter] there was a wee man in the back complaining, “we’re never going to get
there, we’re never going to get there” and then the older lads told him to stop complaining or they’d
throw him out of the car. So that put him in his place, in a way. We would normally start at eight o clock
and sometimes we would normally make it in for the tea-break.
Interviewer: And what time would that be?
Jim: Ten o’ clock. The other experience was, sometimes you were driving up the Antrim Road, if you
hadn’t a full car, maybe you would have seen one of the lads out of work standing at a corner. If you’d
have pulled in to give him a lift, he tipped his heels* off the street – he thought it was a scoop. You’d
usually have to run after and shout, “David, come on, it’s us!” because at that time there was a lot of
that went on; there was cars driving about and they would have attacked people – if they knew what
side of the coin they were from, they would have attacked and so on. But everybody was tense and
nervous about cars pulling in because at that time there were also lads being lifted off the streets by
different cars just to be taken away, tortured and brutalised – you’ve heard about all that. There was
always that sort of tenseness about it. But once we got into work in the squad I worked in, there was a
mixture of Protestants and Catholics and they got on the best, no bother to working nightshifts and
helping one another. On another occasion, coming home from work, it was one particular period when
there were a lot of vigilantes; usually young lads with a scarf tied round their face about 12-14 stopping
you, playing soldiers they were, you know, in certain areas. We would have got one of the Protestant
lads would have came with us to get us through the roadblocks coming over towards the West Circular.
When we got to the other side of West Circular he would have got out, but he would have been able to
get us out of the roadblocks, ask questions, then we were okay* around the republican area of
roadblocks. Similar situation with young lads with bats – they had a place to stop you and maybe a
�hundred yards further down, if you didn’t stop, they were waiting with the stones and bricks to hammer
your car with. I wouldn’t say it happened very often, but it was something you were always aware of
and conscious of and it created that tension. The other amusing occasion I remember coming home
from Michelin, we had finished at an eleven o clock shift and I had a full car that night but there had
been two other lads left behind because their lift... somebody had phoned in and had to go on home
and it was a terrible night; teeming out of the heavens, so we squeezed them in the back seat, so there
was five in the back seat and two of us in the front. We had come down the Antrim Road and we were
stopped by the UDR – the Ulster Defence Regiment and I got out of the car to speak to the lad and he
gave me the biggest lashing about... he looked into the back of the car – what a dressing down I got
about that [INAUDIBLE] good humour to explain where we were coming from, what had happened and
so on. He then flicked up his visor which he was wearing – he says, “Alright, Stuartie, go on.” He was a
lad I worked with down at the oil refinery and he said, “if you see if the police or the army stop you,
don’t tell them we stopped you” [INAUDIBLE]
Interviewer: He let you go on.
Jim: Yeah, and the only other [INAUDIBLE] out there, there was a few farmers worked there, and I had
picked up a load of manure, fresh* manure in the boot, and the army stopped me and went round to
open the boot I said, “You picked a bad day to...” but sure enough when they opened the boot and
smelt it, away they went. I thought afterwards that I could have had anything in that boot. So, can you
remember any other that I mentioned?
Interviewer: No, most of that is presumably early- to mid-seventies.
Jim: Yeah, about that time. There were times when you didn’t know who... you had the UDR had taken
over a lot of security and sometimes you had the police; I used to get very annoyed with the police
because they used to have roadblocks – but they had the roadblocks half a mile up the road to where
they could have had the roadblocks which meant that you were always having to go up, turn back and
find another way through. That was always an annoyance. I also remember, that I used to give a lad a
lift, and he refused to carry any identificationInterviewer: There were people like that.
Jim: That was his contribution to the struggle; that he wasn’t going to cow down... which meant that
when we were stopped, everyone was told to get out of the car as soon as he wouldn’t identify
himself... we all carried identification, but everybody was told to get out of the car and it was searched
just to hold you up*, because he wouldn’t cooperate. No matter how often we appealed to him, he
wasn’t going to cow down to the forces of occupation.
Interviewer: But you said that the relationships actually within Michelin were, by and large, good.
Jim: Yeah, we were in the electrical and we were fairly well balanced in numbers because there were
five sparks and two helpers in each shift and it was just a fair mixture each time. Before we were doing
�something*, we went out socialising on occasions; we’d arranged a bit of a do if somebody was leaving
or some event, we went up to one of the pubs close at hand and had a drink together.
Interviewer: Presumably the pubs close at hand would have tended to be Protestant pubs.
Jim: Yeah they would have been, out that direction past Glengormely. The Crown* and Shamrock was
our favourite one and Chimney Corner was another place.
Interviewer: Were you working there during the Ulster Worker’s Council strike in 1974?
Jim: Yeah, I was lucky; I had damaged my finger, so I was off on the sick during most of that. I was off for
about six weeks or so, so I was very lucky in a way.
Interviewer: So you avoided that. That could well have been a difficult time.
Jim: Yeah. I found that people just wanted to get to work and get on with their work and I’m quite sure
there were some of them there that would have been active outside their working hours... but in work
there was never any... I never experienced any hostility or any bother.
Interviewer: So there was a kind of realisation that if you didn’t keep the workplace harmonious,
everybody would kind of lose out*?
Jim: I think there was a bit of good sense and thought put into that.
Interviewer: Did the Union play any part in that?
Jim: I think the union did have some restraining role, but I didn’t think they had a big enough active role
in calming situations and encouraging harmony. I think it came from the men themselves, who realised
they had to get to work and had to earn a living. I can’t remember influence, officially, from the unions.
Interviewer: In what way do you think they could’ve done more?
Jim: It’s really difficult because, you see, a lot of the unions were unbalanced in the membership. So,
they had to be very careful too, they had to walk within lines...
Interviewer: Can you not put your finger on one particular thing they might have done?
Jim: Not really. I’m reflecting and thinking back; I can’t even remember the unions where we were
working. But where we were working there was a fairly balanced workforce, which was unusual. I
remember one occasion when we were called out to the Loyalist something grouping had called for a bit
of a strike and a lot of our lads went out on strike and they were bantering; they just bantered us for not
going out with them. We thought if we weren’t going to go out before when we were called by other
sides, we weren’t going to go out because it was the UDA or whatever loyalist grouping, we weren’t
going to support that. Some of them went down the street, but there was never any ill will or feeling; it
was a bantering match, “Hey you eejits, what are you going out there for”, you know. But, as I say, we
had that relationship at least among the squads where I worked in – I never had any worries or fears
from those people about going to work. In fact, coming out on many a winter’s morning up on Mallusk
�or the hills, if your car wouldn’t start, everybody pitched in to help everyone else to get their cars
going.[INAUDIBLE] the worst of those times. The biggest problem getting to work and sometimes getting
home was the... sometimes if you were finishing at eleven, the lads would come in and say, “Lads, you
needn’t try to get through Belfast tonight” – completely * blocked with roadblocks. [Inaudible – 4:15]
and there was a back road over the hills by a place near Dromore*... anyway, there was a village and a
wee school; there was a particular route - the shortest way, we were told [INAUDIBLE] and you would
have ended up right up way over the hill and down in the back of Randalstown* [...] You had to drive on
down there and go drop the lads off [...] picked up way at the bottom of the Springfield Road, so it could
be 1 o clock in the morning before you got home at night, because of the roadblocks because coming
down there, I think, you had to go down the Antrim Road or down there onto the Shore Road [...] if they
were blocked or if there were any hold-ups, you were told to try and not go through that way.
Interviewer: That’s lovely. Thank you very much.
Interviewer: If you could just start off with this interaction, ‘a foot in both camps’?
Jim: Yeah, but you know I came from the Shankill and was married and living in the Falls, and then the
Troubles put me in an awful awkward position. It was very good before the Troubles; everything was
going quite well but when we got into these troubles I realised it was an awkward because, as I say, I
had a foot in both camps but it became that I had a place in neither because the troubles brought about
this idea you had to be identified with one side or the other, otherwise you were a traitor to your own
kind. So that left out on a sort of a limp*in a way. Although, to be quite honest I didn’t sense it at the
time it was just occasions when you would have a group of people and have joined a company, you
sensed that their conversation changed because you were not one of them – you hadn’t had a
loyalist/protestant soccer background or Gaelic hurling background. This is another thing I remember – I
remember one time whenever I was talking about playing for the boys’ brigade, lads would stand
around saying, “there’s a lad from Andersonstown playing for the boys’ brigade – how does that*
come?” So that’s when I learned just to watch what I said. In [...] company. [...] The lads would
appreciate it if you’re working with them, helping one another out. They didn’t care who you were or
what you were but there were situations when you had to be very careful who you were going to
identified with and that made it a bit awkward.
Interviewer: I’m just interested in the dynamic of that, that you had to be careful. Do you think you
learned to protect your skill set?
Jim: Yeah, you always had to [...] how to avoid being identified if you were identified, if you were
chatting about something – how do you avoid being identified with one side or the other? Because [...]
what school you came from, what football team you played for... even the dances that you went to. The
whole society was so split – sport, work, religiously, etc; it’s unbelievable how they ever lived together
and yet they were able to live together during the troubles to some extent fairly harmoniously.
Interviewer: So it was with the onset of the troubles that you felt you had to be more careful about
that? In terms of actually living in Andersonstown...
�Jim: Well, this is another aspect... see Andersonstown actually had some mixture, but Andersonstown
came along [...]* as mainly catholic, I’ll not say republican area, but you know, but the political side of
the thing [...] so when you’re in Andersonstown you had* no worries. It’s when I went to my own
family’s side; I had to be careful there [...] because they didn’t like the idea of me being a confronter*
[turn goat in?] they didn’t like it being... you know, you had to be careful...
Interviewer: And you didn’t want to put them in an awkward situation.
Jim: That’s correct.
Interviewer: That’s the only thing I’d be interested in there; the fact that it’s not just you, it’s not just
your decision.
Jim: Well, you can handle your own situation, but if you’re out in [...] well, you get the point, company.
Interviewer: You didn’t want to put the spotlight on them.
Jim: Yeah, well they could have had some criticism if one of their family had let the side down
Interviewer: It could have reflected badly on them. Thank you very much Jim.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
5 Decades Project (<em>collection</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
"<strong>Forthspring</strong> has worked since 1997 to build relationships between neighbouring Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. The <strong>5 Decades Project</strong> grew out of a desire to examine these communities' very different experience of living through the 'Troubles', with the goal of developing a shared, but not agreed, account of the conflict and its impact.<br /> Experiences and memories were gathered through storytelling in small groups from the same community background, roughly structured around the 5 decades beginning with the 1960s. There were also opportunities to share and hear stories from other communities. Over 150 people have taken part." <br /> Forthspring 5 Decades Project. (2014). 'Talking About The Troubles'. (Rear cover)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Stories Collected
Non DC - Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+ interviews (leading to 80 stories in the published book)
Stories Deposited
Non DC - Number of stories deposited with Accounts of the Conflict.
6
Collection Permission Form
Non DC - Collection permission form signed and returned.
Yes (signed 12 November 2014)
Delayed Access
Non DC - Yes/No on request for delayed access.
No
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Publication
A book, article, monograph etc.
Author
Author of the publication
Jim
Date Type
Publication, Submission, Completion date etc.
2014
Publication Title
Full title of publication, as it appears on item.
Transcript of audio interview.
Publication Status
Published, in Press, Unpublished, etc.
Unpublished
Number of Pages
5
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Untitled Story</em><span>, by JIm (</span><em>story transcript</em><span>)</span>
Description
An account of the resource
Transcript (PDF) of the audio recording of interview with Jim which was recorded as part of the 5 Decades Project. The project was conducted by Forthspring Inter Community Group.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF version of transcript
Language
A language of the resource
English
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Catalogue ID
Non DC - ID for the Catalogue entry that relates to this entry
2229
5 Decades
Forthspring
-
https://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo24/files/original/ca9e3a89546bc58482620e8064541033.mp3
0abd766ed592d5c729ead92fd265c33a
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
5 Decades Project (<em>collection</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
"<strong>Forthspring</strong> has worked since 1997 to build relationships between neighbouring Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. The <strong>5 Decades Project</strong> grew out of a desire to examine these communities' very different experience of living through the 'Troubles', with the goal of developing a shared, but not agreed, account of the conflict and its impact.<br /> Experiences and memories were gathered through storytelling in small groups from the same community background, roughly structured around the 5 decades beginning with the 1960s. There were also opportunities to share and hear stories from other communities. Over 150 people have taken part." <br /> Forthspring 5 Decades Project. (2014). 'Talking About The Troubles'. (Rear cover)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Stories Collected
Non DC - Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+ interviews (leading to 80 stories in the published book)
Stories Deposited
Non DC - Number of stories deposited with Accounts of the Conflict.
6
Collection Permission Form
Non DC - Collection permission form signed and returned.
Yes (signed 12 November 2014)
Delayed Access
Non DC - Yes/No on request for delayed access.
No
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Transcription also available
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Windows Media Audio File (.WMA)
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
47 minutes 0 seconds
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
192 kbps
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Untitled Story</em><span>, by Marion (</span><em>story audio</em><span>)</span>
Description
An account of the resource
Audio recording of interview with Marion which was recorded as part of the 5 Decades Project. The project was conducted by Forthspring Inter Community Group.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Audio; MP3 Format Sound (.mp3)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Catalogue ID
Non DC - ID for the Catalogue entry that relates to this entry
2230
5 Decades
Forthspring
-
https://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo24/files/original/5623f30d3ce8e473b36b63d569921f70.pdf
8779764402f2fe361f3d9f190695bb18
PDF Text
Text
Interviewer: You were how your mother faced some abuse because her brothers were in the army.
Marion: My brothers, yes. At the start of the troubles people abused her on the street because they
were in the army.
Interviewer: You* had two brothers.
Marion: She had two brothers in it, yes. My mother’s own daddy and my granddad on my father’s side
and my great-grandfather were all in the army, so I think my brothers were following suit.
Interviewer: Did that sort of abuse carry on orMarion: No, it stopped. Eventually they must have just got fed up, you know, and it did stop. And my
brother actually moved out when he came home from the army, he moved to live somewhere else.
Interviewer: When did you first become aware of the troubles?
Marion: I think I became aware of the troubles the night they burned the mills on the Falls. I was living
on the Antrim Road. We had slept right through the night and we didn’t know till we woke up when
somebody said the Falls road was burning – that was the first we knew. Naturally we went over to see if
our mother was alright and we saw the devastation which was awful.
Interviewer: Where did your mother live?
Marion: She lived on the Falls, she lived just off the Grosvenor road.
Interviewer: So you came over the next morning?
Marion: We came over the next morning when we heard that it was burning to see if everybody was
alright and they were. But it was just the main Falls road was the worst, you know the mills. There were
no houses burned I don’t think, I can’t remember any houses being burned. Just the bank and all the
mills right up the road. It was just like walking out of a time warp into another one; it was awful.
Interviewer: You told me a story about two men driving you to Turf Lodge, do you remember that?
Marion: Oh yes, about the wee boy not being well. My wee boy had taken a very bad eye and it was
really, really terrible but there was a wee bit of a... I don’t know what it was to this story and there was a
bus which took people down to the Royal Hospital to get blood and I went round. It was like a first aid,
and I took the wee boy round – he was only about five – and they said, “look, we’re taking people in a
bus down to the Royal – we’ll take him – you come with him” So we came with him, I came with him to
the Royal and the doctor told me to leave him here and to stay with him and we’ll get the hospital* to
see him but the doctor that they – he was a coloured doctor – he was in doing an operation. He came
out and he said, “Oh my god, what an eye” I don’t know what it was but like he’d been* punched in the
eye. So he gave him a cream but we waited that long on the doctor coming out of the theatre, when we
got out the bus had gone. So I was standing on the Falls Road with the child and it was like a ghost town
– I mean there was not one single person on that road. So, these two fellows came in a car – they were
�workmen – and they said, “where are you going?” and I said, “I’m going to Turf Lodge” and they said,
“get in, we’ll bring you up. We’re going up that way.” So they were going to Norfolk’s* so they dropped
me off and I walked on. But about a few weeks later I brought him back to the hospital as he was to go
back again and I brought him back to the hospital and it was a very strange thing because when I
brought him back, they couldn’t find the doctor. I had to give a description of the doctor – there was no
such doctor on that day, there was no such a doctor in theatre that day of that description and I stood
and argued with her and I said, “well then who treated him? Who gave him the ointment for his eye? He
definitely did get this ointment and it was a coloured doctor, a young doctor with curly hair... ” They
didn’t know anything but his eye healed up after about three days. I said, “Oh my god, was that a
guardian angel?”
Interviewer: And the two men who drove you up home?
Marion: Yeah, the two workmen. One was an elderly man and the other was a young fellow. They must
have been working but where they were working I don’t know because it was really eerie that day.
Interviewer: What time of the day was that?
Marion: It was about five o’ clock. The road – there wasn’t a bus, there wasn’t a car, there wasn’t a taxi
– nothing. And I saw the car – and I was ready, prepared to walk when they stopped and said, “Where
are you going, we’ll take you.” which was very good of them.
Interviewer: So you moved across from the Antrim Road to Turf Lodge?
Marion: We moved across from the Antrim Road to Turf Lodge.
Interviewer: And when would that have been?
Marion: That would have been about 41 years ago. We were in a rented house you see in the Antrim
Road and the housing executive got us a flat in Turf Lodge.
Interviewer: What was the difference between living on the Antrim Road and living in Turf Lodge?
Marion: It was a big difference – an awful big difference. The Antrim Road was quiet and you know,
people were going about their business whereas when we went to Turf Lodge you couldn’t get out to
the shops, there was shooting from the Springfield Road, there was shooting down into Turf Lodge.
There were times, I can’t really remember, but there were times now and again there would be shooting
from Turf Lodge, but mainly it was into Turf Lodge. It was the army. It definitely was the army because I
went out one day to the shops and a bullet missed me – I heard it whizzing past my ear. There was a bit
of a lull and my aunt lived further down. She said to me, “run now, go now” and I went to run like it was
a bad thing I done because they might have thought I was a gunman, you know, it was a stupid thing I
done but I heard the bullet actually whizzing past my ear – I was very lucky.
Interviewer: A frightening experience.
Marion: Oh, very frightening. It was.
�Interviewer: You talked about, how it was a difficult time to raise children. One of the things you talked
about a particular day [...] you talked about... when you heard the rumour, obviously you took the
children in off the streets.
Marion: Yeah, every time there was a terrible amount of rumours went round – all the time – “get the
children in, there’s going to be a gun battle” and you know, the poor kids were more often in the house
than out playing. You know, you had to try and occupy them in the house and they were wanting out –
you couldn’t get out to play football, you couldn’t take them to the park, you were afraid to out in case
you didn’t get back. My wee boy was into Star Wars and we used to buy him all the Star Wars stuff just
to keep him in. Now, he was very good at sitting in but the wee girl wasn’t; she just constantly wanted
out and it was very hard trying to keep her in.
Interviewer: What years was that? You moved into Turf Lodge about ’72... So did that go on for a long
time in terms of keeping the children in or was that after* a particular period in time.
Marion: No, that went on the whole time you were living there. It went on for years.
Interviewer: You also talked about a time when that kind of threat came very close to your family
because I think it was the result of mistaken identity but there was a gun put to yourMarion: Yes. That was when I was living up here on the Springfield Road. We were in bed one night. My
oldest son then was about sixteen or seventeen and he had bad asthma and he couldn’t sleep at night
and he got up and went to the living room and our door got kicked in. There was a dissident feud and
when we got down the stairs... my youngest son and daughter were just standing at the top of the stairs
just looking and there was a gunman lying on his stomach on the stairs. The gunman was pointing the
gun at the two wee ones. Jinky* was shouting, “Oh don’t, don’t, don’t, you’ve got the wrong house.” We
didn’t actually know at the time but there was one in the living room so whoever they were looking for
probably thought he’d be lying sleeping on the settee which my son was and when one of them shouted
to the other, “It’s not him, it’s not him; get out, get out.” So they ran into the house next door and they
said to the *girl, “what’s your name? What’s your name?” And he wouldn’t give his name – he said, “It’s
got nothing to do with you.” Then they actually put the gun to that fellows head. When we got out my
son told me they put him up against the wall with the gun to the back of his head. So he could have
been shot dead that night but we do know the house that they were... the way in which the houses
were situated – that was the mistake; they must have been told where the houses was and because of
taking the third house in one street they took the third house in the first street instead of the second
street. They got the wrong street. Luckily that night nobody was hurt or injured, however the fellow next
door to us was ready to explode, he wanted to go after them, which was a stupid thing and a temper like
he’d do an awful lot but we advised him to not go after them. They had ski masks and everything on
them. It was really, really frightening. After that we never had a bother of any sort like that.
Interviewer: It was a difficult time to raise children.
Marion: Yeah, you didn’t want them to see that. You were trying to keep them away from that; we used
to turn off the news at night if there had been a bomb or a shooting we used to just turn the news off as
�we wouldn’t have let them see it because we definitely did not want them involved. We just said to
them to keep it off until 7 o’ clock or whatever but then you had them coming into your house so you
couldn’t stop them from seeing that. And my wee ones, they were in shock for days – they asked, “Why
did that man do that?”, “what did he want?” and “who was he going to shoot? And why?” You know,
kids are curious. What do you say to them? Especially when you’re trying to keep them away from it.
Interviewer: You spoke a few times about rioting in the local area, there was rioting at the garage.
Marion: Oh, god. That was funny that night. There used to be rioting all the time and we got used to it,
we just said, “It will be over in an hour or so – they’ll get fed up and all go home to bed.”
Interviewer: Where exactly was the riot?
Marion: Just about where we are now.
Interviewer: Where was the garage situated?
Marion: I think the garage would have been about where the peace wall was.
Interviewer: On this side of the road?
Marion: Yeah. On this side, there was a derelict garage at which they were all rioting one night and we
were getting out to make sure none of ours... to get them all in. There was an old man who lived on his
own at the other side of the road and there was this single girl who went up to make sure – I think you
called him Paddy, he was a piano teacher. Paddy was alright but she got smashed up the head with a
brick. So she was lying at the corner – it was so funny and it wasn’t funny – she was lying at the corner
and the blood was pouring out of her head so her friend decided that she would go up to see if she was
alright. So she got up and she got hit and she was lying at the corner. So there were casualties on this
side of the road. Then an ambulance flies up the road, collects the injured from this side of the road,
puts them in the ambulance, goes over to the other side of the road, puts the injured from that side of
the road into the ambulance so all the rioters go in the ambulance together. We were kicking ourselves,
we were saying that that ambulance will be rocking and rolling down that road. They were beating the
hell out of each other and the next thing there were all put into an ambulance and taken to the hospital.
Through it all there were funny times but most of the time you were scared out of your wits – you really
were scared. You didn’t [...] rioting. Alright, people got injured during rioting but rioting wasn’t as
serious as shooting. It was the shooting you had to watch; once you heard the shooting that was it,
everybody came indoors and locked themselves in.
Interviewer: The rioting was really going on outside your front door then.
Marion: Yeah, it was. It absolutely was because this area was wide open and our area was wide open so
the rioting sort of ended up on the middle of the road.
Interviewer: There was no wall at that point?
Marion: There was no wall, no. Just streets and derelict buildings were shopkeepers had left.
�Interviewer: Do you remember what year that would have been?
Marion: That would have been 24 years ago – ’89. My son was born in ’88. The riots were literally
outside your front door.
Interviewer: And you had a one-year-old in the house.
Marion: We had a baby in the house, yes. One night he was in a baby walker and he actually fell down
steps and he cut his head. We picked him up to bring him to the hospital and we were coming out on to
the front of the road when somebody threw a brick so we turned to go down the back way and the army
were coming up and they said, “is there anything wrong?” I told them that there was a wee bit of rioting
up there and told them that someone just threw a brick at us. I said, “that child has already cut his head
as he fell, we’re taking him to the hospital.” So they came up and said, “It’s alright. You go on and we’ll
go up and sort this out.” So they told us just to go on down the back and get him checked out. That was
very scary too because we didn’t know how badly hurt Nathan was – we needed to get him to the
hospital quickly.
Interviewer: Who tended to be involved in the rioting?
Marion: Mainly fellows but there were girls too.
Interviewer: Who’s rioting with whom? Is it the Protestants and Catholics orMarion: It was definitely the Catholics and the Protestants.
Interviewer: It wasn’t with the army?
Marion: Oh, no, no, no. It was the two sides. The army might have came along and they’d have all
scattered but then they’d come back again when the army went.
Interviewer: So your recollection of it was that it was pretty persistent.
Marion: Oh yeah, it was nearly every night. But with the flush were it was there, you got people running
down there and thinking, “Oh these people are coming over the flush and they’re going to come down
and they’ll be in the streets.” You know, people were terrified. One night there was on really bad riot
and I mean it was terrible. Everyone was shouting and panicking and squealing. I think there were a
couple of houses wrecked that night. It was awful. It was nearly like being in the heart of the troubles
again because everybody was out in their pyjamas and slippers screaming and shouting, “get the police,
get the army, get the papers.” I don’t think anybody slept the rest of that night. To be honest with you
that peace wall was a godsend, at the time, because it kept the same sides apart and you got a night’s
sleep.
Interviewer: When did it start to go up then?
Marion: I remember them building it but I can’t remember the year.
Interviewer: But it was after Nathan was born anyway.
�Marion: Yes, it was after Nathan was born.
Interviewer: How do you think you coped all the way through the troubles?
Marion: I don’t know. I don’t know how anybody coped. I often say that even now, “How did we cope?”
and if it ever, God forbid, should happen again, should we ever cope again? I don’t think I could because
I keep saying if anything like that ever happened again I wouldn’t be here; I’d get out. When you’re
younger you can sort of make your way through it but I think as you get older you just don’t want that. I
don’t think anybody wants that for at the time it was bad enough. It’s when you’ve young children,
you’re afraid for them. It would be my grandchildren who I would worry about. I know Nathan’s very
sensible but it would be the younger grandchildren – the teenagers, it would them. But in saying that, it
wouldn’t be the troubles now you have to worry about. It’s fellows from within the community – among
each other. I think now Protestant and Catholic are starting to come together, which is a good thing, I
can see a lot of friendships being made through... but it’s coming now from within our own community.
Interviewer: You spoke about remembering some rioting down in Lanark way...
Marion: Oh yes, the protesting. We were only nine months in the street when my youngest son
witnessed a shooting – a fellow was shot dead at the top of our* street. He was actually in the garden
when the fellow was shot dead. So the people decided to get out and block Lanark way because they
said they took that route to escape and there was rioting down there and one side was coming out
because the Catholics were in Lanark way with placards and whatever. One fellow actually got knocked
down; a car sped up and hit him, so that started a full-scale riot. It was quite bad there too. Then things
seemed to settle again, you know, it was bad what happened to the fellow in our street butInterviewer: What was the name of the guy?
Marion: John Judge.
Interviewer: Was it his kid’s birthday party?
Marion: Birthday party, yes. My wee boy had been at the birthday party – he was twelve, he and his
friend. It was a terrible night because we didn’t have the railings on the top of our walls at the time and
my wall, my wall just went straight round and Jacky* was sitting on the wall with his back out towards
the Springfield Road and there was a mini-series on and I called him in and I said, “I’m going to make a
cup of tea so if you want to watch this mini-series come on in.” It was a beautiful night and both doors
were lying open and he lay down on the settee to watch this mini-series and the next thing we heard
was the shooting. So I ran out and when I was in the hall and he grabbed me by the back of the neck and
pulled me in. We stood behind a glass panel and we saw three guys come running down the street after
two other fellows who were with John Judge. They got into a car at our door and away they went. But as
soon as they went, we ran up the street and my wee girl who was about 14 at the time, she said,
“daddy, there’s somebody lying here.” He had worked in a hospital and he had done a first aid course
and approached the man to check how badly injured he was but he said, “no, he’s dead. He’s definitely
dead.” It was awful; his brains were lying beside him. They shot him in the back of the head. My wee boy
�couldn’t be found be found for half an hour and when the police came, we went up and I said, “my wee
boy was in that garden* and we can’t find him.”
Interviewer: He was at the party?
Marion: He was at the party. What happened was, when they saw the car coming they pulled on masks.
My wee boy said to his wee friend, “there’s a sneak* attack.” He told me afterwards that he thought it
was the IRA coming into kneecap somebody. They all ran in and locked my son out but he was crafty
enough to run round the side of the house and lie on his stomach and he witnessed the whole killing so
when they went away the detective came down with him and he asked, “is this your wee boy here?”
and we said, “Yes. Where was he?” he replied, “Well, he’s in shock here. He was lying round the side of
the house and from what he’s told us we need to interview him” and I said, “Well, you’ll not be
interviewing him tonight because look at the state he’s in.” My wee lad – he’s 34 now – and he has
never ever got over that. He used to wake up screaming that there was a man with a gun at the window
looking in at him. Then he was running back and forward giving statements and then we had to go as we
were all involved. The whole street was involved and it was terrible at that time too – for that girl and
her three kids too. A lot of people moved out. If you had have seen the people who moved out of that
street following that; there were about eight families that moved out. But we said, why should we move
out? We had got good houses; we had lived in dumps for years and we had got good houses and we
said, “No, we’re not going to move.”
Interviewer: There were obviously very high levels of fear. **
Marion: Oh, very. Everybody was watching everybody and no matter what stranger came into the
street, you were in with your door locked, looking out to see who they were looking for; you were afraid
to open the door. The housing executive actually put in peepholes so you could see anybody who came
to your door.
Interviewer: But they didn’t close Lanark Way.
Marion: They didn’t close it, no. It was only later I think they put the gates on because there was a lot of
protesting and people fighting to get the gates up or locking them up at a certain time of night to use it
as a getaway. [...] They never wanted the gates up originally but with the protesting going on and that
fellow being shot; they had to put the gates on. I know it’s awkward for the people because there are
good people living on this side of the road but it was just a choice of closing these people off or
someone getting shot. Which is the better option? I do feel sorry for the people here because if there is
a fire or if there’s a medical emergency it is a detour for them. It’s not fair for them.
Interviewer: When Lanark way opened up, was the wall already there?
Marion: I think it was, yeah. I can’t remember that far back but I’m near sure it was. I think both of
them were done together.
Interviewer: You were saying that one of the ways that people coped was the humour of the situation...
almost like a survival technique.
�Marion: Yes, that’s what it was. It was to make the best of what’s happening; you just went along and
tried to live normally. It was only when something happened like a bomb attack that the fear really hit
you, other than that you were trying to live as normally as you could. You were doing your shopping, you
were going to the schools – honestly I don’t know how people survived it. [...] Looking back now, you
don’t know how you did it.
Interviewer: Are there any particular moments that kind of stand out for you as more light-hearted?
Marion: There are a few things. I think people then stuck together more than people now; they would
have helped each other out. Now that it has sort of calmed down, people are living different lives and
they don’t want to know. I said to Jackie yesterday, “Wait ‘till I tell you something; people have changed
since the troubles.” And honestly, I don’t care what anybody says, there’re people who’ve lived with
mental illnesses from it. You can see it in people’s attitude and in the way they get on. I think some
people aren’t coping too well without the troubles. For all those years you were living a certain way and
you may say, overnight it stopped. So people had to change their whole attitude. If, God forbid, the
troubles crept up again, I wouldn’t be here.
Interviewer: When we were in the big group, some of the women were remembering the excitement of
the soldiers first arriving and going to discos and stuff with the soldiers. I think you said you knew lots of
girls who had been with the soldiers.
Marion: Oh, yes. I know about five from around our area who had babies to soldiers and I remember
one girl who later on became a neighbour of mine and her daddy actually went down to Albert Street
Barracks and put a poster up saying, “Please do not let this girl into the disco” – his daughter. She said
that she was raging at her daddy. But at the end of the day they’re human beings, you know, they’re like
you and I, only they’re wearing a uniform.
Interviewer: So, some of these girls actually ended up marrying and living with the soldiers?
Marion: Oh, yeah. I know one girl – my friend’s sister married a soldier and they went to England to live,
which was a very wise thing to do. She has a daughter now who is now a model. Her daughter is
absolutely beautiful. She came home with her baby to her sister’s wedding. You know, it was when
things were starting to sort of stand down. She stayed away until things did calm down and then she
came home for her sister’s wedding.
Interviewer: I suppose when you think about it, I don’t know if it was like this or not, the peculiar thing
was that when the soldiers first arrived, they tended to be welcomed by the Roman Catholic community
so you can understand young soldiers, girls, you know.
Marion: Yes, going with the soldiers.
Interviewer: Yeah, whatever way it works out. But then of course, in a relatively short period of time the
soldiers became unwelcome...
Marion: Yeah, they became the enemy.
�Interviewer: ...So that makes it difficult for girls caught up in that...
Marion: That situation. Yeah, they became targets too, then. I met one woman – a soldier was shot and
was dying – and she went out and put a pillow under his head and a blanket round him and she held him
till the ambulance came and that woman never got peace to live, but never gave in. You know, she held
her own and she lived in her house – she’s still in it. She ignored them when they shouted at her. One
day I heard her turn around and say, “Well, at least I’m a Christian and not like you; I’m not an animal.”
No matter what your feelings, how could you walk past somebody who was hurt? You couldn’t do it. She
was in the shop one day and she said, “It could have been my son. That’s the way I look at it; it could
have been my son.”
Interviewer: This is just a small thing, but you mentioned something about soldiers barracked in Beal
Feirste* school?
Marion: Yeah, just up the road here. I think that where that Owenvale home now. There were soldiers
up there.
Interviewer: And what did you call the school?
Marion: Vera Foster. In fact I think it might have been a wee bit further back – Vera Foster. I know there
was a billet* up there – they were nearly all over the place – everywhere you went you saw soldiers
billeted in the Springfield Road.
Interviewer: I remember seeing a photograph of a lookout post at the corner of Kashmir Road.
Marion: Yes, Kashmir Road. They took over – it was a doctor’s house, a large old house – and they took
that over too.
Interviewer: So you were living surrounded by soldiers.
Marion: Yeah, we were surrounded by them.
Interviewer: What effect did that have for everyday life?
Marion: If you were to pass them, there was nothing said – no words spoken. Now people might have
given them a dirty look or whatever but there was no real animosity. To be quite honest, then you were
not so much afraid when you were about because you knew they wouldn’t have let anything happen to
you. You know, you sort of felt a wee bit secure that way because there’s an army post there and you
thought, I’ll be alright walking down that road. I don’t know about anybody else but I felt more secure.
Interviewer: You were also saying to me when you were in Turf Lodge, they were the ones shooting in
at you?
Marion: Yeah, they were. Now I don’t know if people in Turf Lodge were shooting out but I just
remember that particular day when they fired in. My aunt’s cousin was shot dead by them on interment
day. He was shot up in the field that day. But then you got caught up in it too because when you heard
�that somebody has been shot dead, you think to yourself, “Oh my God, they’re bad; they shouldn’t be
doing that.” You did feel hatred but then it wore off again, you know, you say to yourself, “Well, they’re
fighting a war. He was an innocent victim but they were fighting a war.” And I believe innocent victims
were the worst off because they weren’t doing anything; the gunmen had guns in their hands, these
people hadn’t. That’s why you felt angry because they’re shooting innocent people and these other
people who are running around with the guns are getting away with it. Even now, you get these
punishment beatings and people beating each other up and these dissidents who are walking about with
guns... nobody seems to be interested in them.
Interviewer: Overall, how do you feel things are now for you, in terms of life?
Marion: Brilliant. You’ve more freedom, you can do what you want, you can go where you want – I
actually think you can speak out more. I mean, if we were downstairs and someone said something, you
wouldn’t get offended, you know, maybe a protestant woman says something, you join in, you see. You
can say, “Oh, that’s right” or “Do you know what happened on our side?” or, “Do you know what’s
happening now?” We’re all in agreement that these men are making money out of all this and we’re the
people who are taking the hassle of it all. Honestly I think that now, things are brilliant.
Interviewer: That’s not a bad note to end on.
Marion: Honestly, I sometimes say to myself, I know I’ve lived through it and all but I think it has taught
us to appreciate more – appreciate life now as it is, you know, our kids are grown up now and they have
kids of their own. During the troubles you didn’t have time to appreciate your children as you were
always saying to them, “Get you in”, “Get you up the stairs”, “Don’t you be going out”, “Where did he
go?”, “Where did she go?”, etc. You were sort of hounding your kids then, where now the kids have that
wee bit of freedom and if they are out late you’re not worried so much. We have a wee grandson who
comes to stay, he comes in at 10:30, but if he’s five minutes late it used to be, “Oh my God, where is
he?” where now you’re saying to yourself, he’ll be alright – he’s held up and you can relax. Back then if
he had been five minutes late you would’ve been ringing the hospitals but that’s all gone now. We’re a
bit happier. Even walking to work in the dark nights... we used to come up in a gang, you would say, and
nobody would have attacked us because I was the youngest and the rest were in their sixties and if
anything would have happened... I remember getting out of work early one nightInterviewer: Where were you working?
Marion: In the Royal. I said, “Can I get home early? I need to get home.” And she said, “Certainly. You
go.” She let me go and a bomb went off at Springfield Road Barracks. It went off just as I had hit* my
own house. The next night I went in she said, “Do you know something?” and I said, “What?” and she
replied, “My heart was in my mouth last night.” I asked why and she replied, “If I had been caught on
letting you leave early” to which I replied, “never mind that I could have been blown to bits!” [Laughter]
We laughed that night about that. But that was the sort of thing you did laugh about. That was the risk
you took – if I had have waited ten or fifteen minutes I could have been caught up in that. I’ve had lucky
escapes. I think that applies to everybody. People come and say to you “Wait ‘till you hear what
�happened to me; I was nearly shot” or, “I was nearly blew up” or, “I was hurt.” But you don’t have that
fear now; that fear’s gone.
Interviewer: So when you were leaving, often you would stay together in a gang.*
Marion: Oh yeah. We all worked in different places but they used to open the gate at 9:00 and let us all
out. We used to meet up and stand at 8:55 and then anyone who worked round here – we all walked up
together. I was always the last to leave because the rest all live further down. I used to walk up cut
through one of the streets and come up the back. I never ever walked the front.
Interviewer: Because that was like an interface.
Marion: That was like an interface, yeah, and you don’t know what... a riot could have started at the
drop of a hat. They locked the gate up and opened it at 9:00.
Interviewer: They locked it up just for security.
Marion: For security reasons, yeah. There were two ways in but the main one was the Falls Road
entrance. So many people came out of there and got their taxis up the road or walked up.
Interviewer: And you would have come round and walked up the Springfield?
Marion: Yes. Honestly, it was like pensioner’s convention; all hobbling up the road. And then a girl who
worked in the Royal moved up beside me, which was better for me because then I had company the
whole way up. Many a night she and I ran that road. If we had have heard a noise it was like fire coming
out of our heels. But thank God it’s all away now. It’s all gone.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
5 Decades Project (<em>collection</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
"<strong>Forthspring</strong> has worked since 1997 to build relationships between neighbouring Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. The <strong>5 Decades Project</strong> grew out of a desire to examine these communities' very different experience of living through the 'Troubles', with the goal of developing a shared, but not agreed, account of the conflict and its impact.<br /> Experiences and memories were gathered through storytelling in small groups from the same community background, roughly structured around the 5 decades beginning with the 1960s. There were also opportunities to share and hear stories from other communities. Over 150 people have taken part." <br /> Forthspring 5 Decades Project. (2014). 'Talking About The Troubles'. (Rear cover)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Stories Collected
Non DC - Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+ interviews (leading to 80 stories in the published book)
Stories Deposited
Non DC - Number of stories deposited with Accounts of the Conflict.
6
Collection Permission Form
Non DC - Collection permission form signed and returned.
Yes (signed 12 November 2014)
Delayed Access
Non DC - Yes/No on request for delayed access.
No
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Publication
A book, article, monograph etc.
Author
Author of the publication
Marian
Date Type
Publication, Submission, Completion date etc.
2012
Publication Title
Full title of publication, as it appears on item.
Transcript of audio interview.
Publication Status
Published, in Press, Unpublished, etc.
Unpublished
Number of Pages
11
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Untitled Story</em><span>, by Marian (</span><em>story transcript</em><span>)</span>
Description
An account of the resource
Transcript (PDF) of the audio recording of interview with Marion which was recorded as part of the 5 Decades Project. The project was conducted by Forthspring Inter Community Group.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2012
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF version of transcript
Language
A language of the resource
English
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Catalogue ID
Non DC - ID for the Catalogue entry that relates to this entry
2230
5 Decades
Forthspring
-
https://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo24/files/original/f4cd651e9398a94f506c6e5789bafabf.mp3
b1ca66a0427c35a8f25b717bbe2cf859
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
5 Decades Project (<em>collection</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
"<strong>Forthspring</strong> has worked since 1997 to build relationships between neighbouring Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. The <strong>5 Decades Project</strong> grew out of a desire to examine these communities' very different experience of living through the 'Troubles', with the goal of developing a shared, but not agreed, account of the conflict and its impact.<br /> Experiences and memories were gathered through storytelling in small groups from the same community background, roughly structured around the 5 decades beginning with the 1960s. There were also opportunities to share and hear stories from other communities. Over 150 people have taken part." <br /> Forthspring 5 Decades Project. (2014). 'Talking About The Troubles'. (Rear cover)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Stories Collected
Non DC - Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+ interviews (leading to 80 stories in the published book)
Stories Deposited
Non DC - Number of stories deposited with Accounts of the Conflict.
6
Collection Permission Form
Non DC - Collection permission form signed and returned.
Yes (signed 12 November 2014)
Delayed Access
Non DC - Yes/No on request for delayed access.
No
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Transcription also available
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Windows Media Audio File (.WMA)
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
15 minutes 23 seconds
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
192 kbps
Story Title
The title, if any, of the story or account.
Untitled Story, by Michael
Story Format
Main format of the story (video; audio; etc.).
Audio
Story Source
Source of where the story can be found.
http://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo/items/show/2516
Identity Provided?
Has a proper name been provided? If yes, leave blank
No; anonymous
Interviewee Forename(s)
Michael
Language Spoken
Main language spoken during the interview.
English
Interviewee Gender
Male
Age
Age of interviewee
Born 1986
Published Format
Video; Audio; Document; Image.
Audio
Themes/Topics Mentioned
Major Themes/Topics first, then sub-themes and topics.
Security Forces; Killing
Dates Mentioned
Specific dates, or ranges.
1986;
Places Mentioned
Places mentioned: cities, towns, villages, etc.
Springfield Road [Belfast, Northern Ireland];
Organisations Mentioned
Main organisations mentioned.
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC); Orange Order;
Other Keywords
Other keywords mentioned in the interview.
The Troubles; Protests; Rioting;
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Untitled Story</em><span>, by Michael (</span><em>story audio</em><span>)</span>
Description
An account of the resource
Audio recording of interview with Michael which was recorded as part of the 5 Decades Project. The project was conducted by Forthspring Inter Community Group.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Audio; MP3 Format Sound (.mp3)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Catalogue ID
Non DC - ID for the Catalogue entry that relates to this entry
2231
5 Decades
Forthspring
-
https://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo24/files/original/d206057c38440b32d34b7003f18ea5dd.pdf
36bb3c48e5713dc996e4b425a5faef3c
PDF Text
Text
So, you were born in ’86, which is actually in the midst of the Troubles. So as a child do you have any
recollections of the Troubles?
Just like ... move out of the area, whenever your parents were always very afraid to let you go far – you
always had to be within eye range of your parents where if you went round the corner to the local shop
you had to make sure you had your parents with you or someone else.
You were conscious of that?
Conscious of it, yes, but I didn’t really know why but now I know the reason why. Also like, when the
RUC or the police were on patrol – our house had a big pine tree – and whenever the police would
come, they would come into the garden and sit under it so we were taken into the house just in case
they were shot at by any paramilitaries.
So you were aware of it?
Aware of it; what you didn’t realise when you were walking by the police and there were all kids running
about with all your friends and stuff that when you were going over to the police you didn’t realise who
they were and you were looking through their guns and stuff. The next thing you’re in the house and
your mummy sees you and you get a big clip across the head.
But you were talking to the police?
Talking to them but we didn’t realise who they were...
They were letting you look through the sights – like the aim of the gun and stuff like that. It just that
growing up, me and my friends just thought, “This is a gun” as you know when people are growing up
and you see guns and you this and suddenly people are amazed at something you don’t see every day
but then as I grew and grew and grew I realised you had to walk by them and not say anything.
Did it influence your games you played as a child?
Not really. The only thing is if we were playing in the street and the police or RUC or what have you were
walking about then we’d really have to probably stop what we were doing maybe for our safety and just
to be aware of what’s going on around you because you didn’t know what was around the corner or
anything like that.
So where were you growing up?
New Barnsley. We had a police station right at the bottom – Henry Taggart – was our local police station
– coming and going every hour. And the riots and stuff outside it. I haven’t got a recollection of it,
though my grandmother does, when they had the bin lids and stuff. She’ll tell you the story of the bin
lids and the protesting and different things. When you were growing up you seen plastic bullets being
fired; a friend of mine was at the top of a lamp post and got shot in the head. He’s still alive to tell the
tale. It was just stuff like that when you actually just seen this. It was crazy when you’re grown up and
you see young people now – if they seen that, how would it affect them? It’s just good that it’s over.
�So he was up a lamp post?
He was on a lamp post. He was up... I don’t know what he was doing, but he was up the lamp post and
he got shot by a plastic bullet. This guy’s is about three or four years older than me – so he would have
been about eleven or twelve at the time.
When you look back, what do the Troubles mean to you?
I don’t really know they don’t mean anything to me really but I think about people being innocently
killed on both sides of the community and people fighting for what they believe in. When you look at it
now – you have politicians now who have been involved in these activities but now they’re all talking
together so why couldn’t that have been done so many years ago to save all the lives. You know, instead
of having so many people dead on both sides. So might not really – a wee bit of fear ‘round the family
when you were doing stuff. But it doesn’t really mean anything to me.
You were eight years old then, when the cease-fires would have kicked in for the first time in what
became known as the significant cease-fires (obviously there had been cease-fires before) do you have
any recollection of that?
Just whatever was on TV – you just seen the media. I think ‘round our way there wasn’t very much – you
did have the protests when you had the hijackings and stuff. When you had the poke van – that one
sticks in my head because when you’re a kid you all love pokes and ice cream – but it got hijacked and
you had free ice cream handed to you at the top of Whiterock. The vans got hijacked and stuff like that...
So you all got free ice cream?
Yeah we got free ice cream.
Are there no striking memories of seeing on the TV?
Yeah, I just saw it on the TV, mainly.
So when do you think you first had a sense of the troubles – that maybe this place was different to other
places like different to Dublin or different to Paris or London?
It was probably, to be honest, in primary school one day – I’m just thinking about how then you used to
ask questions, but when you’re sitting in a classroom and you’re overlooking a barracks as an eyesore
and you would see on TV another police station somewhere else or like the Gardai down south and you
have a wee house where there’s a big massive monstrosity of an eyesore in front of a main road on
Springfield Road so stuff like that really stood out. And then they had different police cars and where
they have jeeps and they have cars in England and stuff like that there and just when maybe whenever
the rioting was happening – you didn’t really see much rioting on TV but you seen it all here and the
publicity was all about Northern Ireland or Belfast or wherever else.
So there was a sense of living somewhere that was different?
�Definitely, yeah; you knew the bombings and stuff and all the hoax bomb alerts and, as I say, the
hijacking and burning of cars, the barriers at the bottom of your street not letting police in. I can’t really
remember the policing in the area from the paramilitaries but I did hear about them.
And you talked about your parents keeping a close eye on you; not letting you go too far away – keeping
you in eyesight, so therefore it must have been a worrying time for their parents. Did you have much
sense of that?
Oh, definitely because if you go away with your friends or you go away to the local play area where your
parents couldn’t see you, they’d come out looking for you – it was like signing in and out of your house;
you always had to tell people where you were going and if you didn’t tell someone it was like a big
uproar. I got a sense of, if people did disappear, they wouldn’t ring the police back then – a member of
the community would have went to the local ‘Community for Justice’ or something like that but yeah, it
definitely impacted us a lot as they weren’t adventurous, whereas nowadays you have people going into
the town and stuff and socialising in town whereas you would maybe see 50-60-70 year olds staying in
their local area, even local pubs socialising – they wouldn’t dream of even leaving West Belfast.
When you got older, like as a teenager, when you started to be old enough to socialise go out and about
– by that time did you go into the city centre?
Yeah, but you always hung about in your own area but I think as it went on people got more confident
and if you heard if one of your friends was in the town – that was brilliant. It made you confident and it
made you want to explore where you are and what else was out there. And then you’re meeting the
other community, you’re meeting different communities and ethnic minorities and you ask yourself,
“What was all the fuss about in the first place?”
It was about that stage the Good Friday agreement had come along there was a more peaceful society.
Yea, you had people from all over the world starting to come when you’re 19 or 20 and I just had a good
buzz about the whole of Belfast and going into the town and feeling safe and stuff.
So if you’re saying this is about the time you were 20, so that would be 2006 which is kind of – so you’ve
a real sense that the town is different then.
Yeah, I don’t know. See, my grandparents were from the markets so we would have spent our time in
the markets which you would only have referred to as the markets, the ‘markets’ as in St Georges
market – he would have went there as my great-grandfather was a fruit man. But that’s all we would
have really seen of the town. What I remember is my granddad walking into town and out – nowadays
he wouldn’t walk. Even going to the Orange parades – coming into town to the markets, watching all
these bands – I didn’t have a clue what was going on – he would just abandon me – so I’m sure there’s
pictures somewhere. But the atmosphere and everything’s changing –big time – around the place. The
bars were opening and the night clubs and stuff were very good; people were really enjoying themselves
instead of staying with their own company – people were actually socialising better and enjoying it.
�Though I think people then at my age didn’t really realise about it and so maybe that kicks on and I think
maybe it has kicked on from then.
That sort of takes me to the question in terms of how do you think the Troubles have actually shaped
your life?
They shaped my life... around our area there was a lot of youth clubs and stuff like that, so we would go
to the youth clubs a lot so your parents would know that you were safe. So, seeing that there and
staying in my own community and staying in my own school – I think it made people want to do it better
for the future of Belfast and Northern Ireland. I do think it’s shaped my life working here in Forsthspring
– a cross-community place - and trying to do it better for both sides of the community and even ethnics.
**** concentrate on what I want more and to be a youth worker and to go as far as a youth worker can
go. I don’t think it’s hindered me in any way – I think maybe the young people before me have been
hindered by the Troubles as in... a lot of them wouldn’t have really wanted to come into the area – like I
still know people who wouldn’t even leave the Springfield Road. So, I think there are people who shut
away and maybe don’t know what’s out there at the time and don’t know what was good for them. And
if you look, on the other hand, my great-grandfather emigrated to other countries – sometimes for the
best, sometimes for the worst – it has happened.
How do you see the future?
I’d say – I’m 27 now – I’d say between the ages of 21 and 25 it was looking very bright and really good; I
thought everything was going in the right direction but now I don’t know where it’s going to go because
there’s different things happening and the politicians aren’t strong enough. I don’t feel they’re actually
developing the country now.
Do you think there’s an element of sliding back?
Aye there is a wee small bit. Sometimes I think they’re using scare tactics and stuff like that there and
stuff like that but I just hope that they can come to the solution of going forward and stuff like that.
That would be your wish?
Hopefully, yeah.
What would you like to see in the future?
I’d like to see some of the peace walls getting smaller – I’m not saying taken away because maybe
people’s safety would be at risk. I’d also like to see more inter-community schools and youth clubs like
Forthspring – to provide more money for them. Hopefully people could live together – that would be
another wish. It would be good if people could respect each other more.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
5 Decades Project (<em>collection</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
"<strong>Forthspring</strong> has worked since 1997 to build relationships between neighbouring Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. The <strong>5 Decades Project</strong> grew out of a desire to examine these communities' very different experience of living through the 'Troubles', with the goal of developing a shared, but not agreed, account of the conflict and its impact.<br /> Experiences and memories were gathered through storytelling in small groups from the same community background, roughly structured around the 5 decades beginning with the 1960s. There were also opportunities to share and hear stories from other communities. Over 150 people have taken part." <br /> Forthspring 5 Decades Project. (2014). 'Talking About The Troubles'. (Rear cover)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Stories Collected
Non DC - Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+ interviews (leading to 80 stories in the published book)
Stories Deposited
Non DC - Number of stories deposited with Accounts of the Conflict.
6
Collection Permission Form
Non DC - Collection permission form signed and returned.
Yes (signed 12 November 2014)
Delayed Access
Non DC - Yes/No on request for delayed access.
No
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Publication
A book, article, monograph etc.
Author
Author of the publication
Michael
Date Type
Publication, Submission, Completion date etc.
2014
Publication Title
Full title of publication, as it appears on item.
Transcript of audio interview.
Publication Status
Published, in Press, Unpublished, etc.
Unpublished
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Untitled Story</em><span>, by Michael (</span><em>story transcript</em><span>)</span>
Description
An account of the resource
Transcript (PDF) of the audio recording of interview with Michael which was recorded as part of the 5 Decades Project. The project was conducted by Forthspring Inter Community Group.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF version of transcript
Language
A language of the resource
English
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Catalogue ID
Non DC - ID for the Catalogue entry that relates to this entry
2231
5 Decades
Forthspring
-
https://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo24/files/original/69a13a45d9b304b16194b72a60d639a1.mp3
29014b8184109f7dad07d31688b44651
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
5 Decades Project (<em>collection</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
"<strong>Forthspring</strong> has worked since 1997 to build relationships between neighbouring Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. The <strong>5 Decades Project</strong> grew out of a desire to examine these communities' very different experience of living through the 'Troubles', with the goal of developing a shared, but not agreed, account of the conflict and its impact.<br /> Experiences and memories were gathered through storytelling in small groups from the same community background, roughly structured around the 5 decades beginning with the 1960s. There were also opportunities to share and hear stories from other communities. Over 150 people have taken part." <br /> Forthspring 5 Decades Project. (2014). 'Talking About The Troubles'. (Rear cover)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Stories Collected
Non DC - Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+ interviews (leading to 80 stories in the published book)
Stories Deposited
Non DC - Number of stories deposited with Accounts of the Conflict.
6
Collection Permission Form
Non DC - Collection permission form signed and returned.
Yes (signed 12 November 2014)
Delayed Access
Non DC - Yes/No on request for delayed access.
No
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Sound
A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Transcription also available
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Windows Media Audio File (.WMA)
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
10 minutes 43 seconds
Bit Rate/Frequency
Rate at which bits are transferred (i.e. 96 kbit/s would be FM quality audio)
192 kbps
Story Title
The title, if any, of the story or account.
Untitled Story, by Pam
Story Format
Main format of the story (video; audio; etc.).
Audio
Story Source
Source of where the story can be found.
http://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo/items/show/2518
Identity Provided?
Has a proper name been provided? If yes, leave blank
No; anonymous
Interviewee Forename(s)
Pam
Language Spoken
Main language spoken during the interview.
English
Interviewee Gender
Female
Religion
Religion / denomination that the interviewee was brought up in.
Protestant
Marital Status
Marital status of the interviewee.
Married
Birth Country
Country of birth if mentioned (or make assessment based on interview).
Northern Ireland
Nationality
Details of Nationality / Citizenship.
British
Published Format
Video; Audio; Document; Image.
Audio
Themes/Topics Mentioned
Major Themes/Topics first, then sub-themes and topics.
Security Forces; Killing
Dates Mentioned
Specific dates, or ranges.
1971; 1971; [1970s];
Places Mentioned
Places mentioned: cities, towns, villages, etc.
Shankill Road [west Belfast, Northern Ireland];
Organisations Mentioned
Main organisations mentioned.
British Army (BA)
Other Keywords
Other keywords mentioned in the interview.
Peace Lines;
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Untitled Story</em><span>, by Pam (</span><em>story audio</em><span>)</span>
Description
An account of the resource
Audio recording of interview with Pam which was recorded as part of the 5 Decades Project. The project was conducted by Forthspring Inter Community Group.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Audio; MP3 Format Sound (.mp3)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Catalogue ID
Non DC - ID for the Catalogue entry that relates to this entry
2232
5 Decades
Forthspring
-
https://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo24/files/original/51a9dbc48af61e10a7cb01d507b8fafa.pdf
32c5ae823113c702c93cb33a2b733390
PDF Text
Text
Interviewer: You told me that you... you actually told a number of people at that talking of the troubles
meeting, that you had what you considered to be a very cross-community childhood – the Shankill,
Kashmir street...
2: That’s right.
Interviewer: The interesting thing, I think the contrast for you was that your husband didn’t really grow
up in any Catholic premise at all, actually.
2: That’s right. He grew up in – his grandmother lived in the opposite side of the Shankill, up Agnes
street, and Eddy would have spent his, as his mum and dad worked there, he would have spent his days
after school near his grannies; so that’s what he would have though as his playground as such when he
was growing up. We lived on the other side in Sugarfield Street and if you walk down Sugarfield Street
and across Cooper Street it took you straight into the Kashmir Road – and that was our playground.
There was also a place where children, both Catholic and Protestant children would have all assembled.
We called it the meadow but it was the old run-off of the mills, god knows what was in it. It was sort of
what ran out of – you know the waste from the mill ran out into it. It was really just a dirty old river with
bricks and bits of fish heads lying in it and there were two sorts of slopes or mucky banks ran down to it
– and of course that’s where we spent all of our time – wet days or dry days, it didn’t matter. The
“meadow” It was far removed from a meadow [Laughter] you know in your mind’s eye you say the word
meadow and it describes a beautiful place. It wasn’t a beautiful place but we loved it. We absolutely
loved it. So, the Catholic children from the area would have been there with the Protestant children, so
we’d have all been playing there anyway. But I remember going up the Kashmir Road to call for people,
you know, wrap their doors and I also remember swinging on the Clonard gates waiting on people
coming out of mass as you’d have called for them while they were at mass and we’d just come down
and play outside the chapel waiting on them coming out.
Interviewer: And why was it different for your husband?
2: He didn’t know any Catholics; it was just the lay of the land sort of thing.
Interviewer: And did he grow up far from you?
2: No, well Agnes Street is just five minutes walk from our house
Interviewer: But that was enough?
2: That was enough. Agnes Street runs from the Shankill up to the Crumlin Road, you know. It must have
been just a highly, a densely Protestant area, because Eddie said he didn’t meet a Catholic person until
he went to work. And he wouldn’t have been brought up in a Loyalist type of household, even though
his daddy was a country man and quite often people from the country were quite staunch in their
beliefs, you know one way or the other. But Eddie wouldn’t have had that dyed-in-the-wool Protestant
type of upbringing anyway but he had just never played with Catholic children – it wasn’t part of his
childhood.
�Interviewer: Just to go off in a completely different tack altogether, if you don’t mind. I don’t know if
you remember this or not but you told a story about a woman helping getting home by getting through
the house beside Forthspring...
2*: Yes I do, that was Sandra. I haven’t seen Sandra in years. Sandra worked in the hospital and when
the gates went up at the bottom of Workman’s Avenue – they were closed, I think at suppertime. She
was talking to me one day and saying about to get home she had to go all the way into town because
the gates were closed. So she lived round the corner there at the bottom of Woodvale Avenue and if she
was working a late shift or had to work in...
Interviewer: She was working in the Royal?
2: She was working in the Royal. When she got up to the gates then, they would have been closed – she
never knew if they were going to be closed or not, so she just always had to assume that they’d be
closed. So she had to get the bus down into town and then a bus up the Shankill Road. So it put an hour
on her working day really, you know? Whereas if she’d been able to go through the gate, you know, ten
minutes it would have taken to walk up the road here. And I happened to say to her that I knew Paddy
and May who lived in the house there, you know, they lived in the house beside Forthspring and I took
her round one night and introduced her to them. Xxxxx. But the back of their house was on the other
side of the peace line, so they had an entrance that took you out into Workman Avenue, so they said to
Sandra, “Certainly, no problem”, so she used to walk up, if the gate was locked, wrapped Paddy and
May’s door and they took her through the house and through the back door and out into Workman
Avenue [Laughter] It’s amazing, like, you know. It’s a bit like Forthspring itself; you know the front of it is
on one side of the peace line and the back of it on the other. It literally straddles the peace line.
-----------------------------------
Interviewer: You told me a very tragic event, it must be one of the earliest killings of the troubles; the
three soldiers that were killed, and it seemed so odd to you because you were laughing...
2: Yes I was laughing because I was watching Ronan, it must have been a Sunday night and Ronan and
Martins laugh-in was a big, big thing – there was nothing comparable to it here and I can remember that
particular night, my aunt Miriam was there... Do you know what year that happened?
Interviewer: I think it might have been as early as 1971 or 1972; kind of when the IRA campaign first got
started.
2: I know it was a long time ago, but our house was actually quite full; Eddies’ granny was there and my
aunt Muriel, Eddie’s son and his mummy and daddy were probably there too. I can remember we had
the light out as people used to switch the light off to watch television here, in the old days [Laughter]. I
remember us all sitting... we had quite a big television at the time, it was a 26” TV; 19 was sort of the
�standard then. I don’t know if that’s why they were over or if they were just over visiting; I’ve no idea.
But we were watching Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in and that particular night... there was an actor, I
think it was Masteranni, I’m not sure – something like that - a dark curly-haired Italian, he played some
light-hearted roles in some of the films we seen him in. But he was on this show and Goldie Hawn used
to be on but he [Masteranni] had been very good and very interesting in the show, at the end of Laughin there was always a really silly, funny thing with which they closed the show... as I say there’s this big
heart-throb actor, as he was, stopping with the dark curly hair and somebody reached out and pulled his
wig off and he was baldy! It was a bit of a shock but it was hilarious and we were all sitting doubled up
laughing while the credits were running and they interrupted the end of the programme to make the
announcement that there had been three soldiers killed over Ligoniel.
Interviewer: Yes; up on the mountains.
2: And I remember the older others telling me, as I was an awful giggler as a younger person, they were
sort of telling me shut up, you know “shut up till we hear this” and they, being sort of caught up in this
laughter and finding it hard just to stop laughing, and that’s what it was... the three soldiers it was the
strangest sensation going from being doubled up in two laughing at something to hearing the horrific
news... and two of them were brothers, two brothers and a friend. So I can remember that as clearly as
it was yesterday, though it was over forty years ago is it?
Interviewer: It is over forty years ago, yes.
2: But it was just that very strange thing of going from hilarious laughter; it wasn’t just a giggle it was
like hilarious laughter. And then they broke the news – interrupting the credits which was quite a
common thing –“We interrupt this programme...” to, you know. Sometimes it was just to call keyholders back if there’d be incendiaries or something found. You know it was quite a common thing for
programmes to be interrupted and I remember that very clearly and how sad it was, you know, and they
were very young men, they were young fellows. It’s surprising how clear a memory it still is, more than
half of my life ago
Interviewer: Thank you very much for coming.
2: No problem.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
5 Decades Project (<em>collection</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
"<strong>Forthspring</strong> has worked since 1997 to build relationships between neighbouring Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. The <strong>5 Decades Project</strong> grew out of a desire to examine these communities' very different experience of living through the 'Troubles', with the goal of developing a shared, but not agreed, account of the conflict and its impact.<br /> Experiences and memories were gathered through storytelling in small groups from the same community background, roughly structured around the 5 decades beginning with the 1960s. There were also opportunities to share and hear stories from other communities. Over 150 people have taken part." <br /> Forthspring 5 Decades Project. (2014). 'Talking About The Troubles'. (Rear cover)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Stories Collected
Non DC - Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+ interviews (leading to 80 stories in the published book)
Stories Deposited
Non DC - Number of stories deposited with Accounts of the Conflict.
6
Collection Permission Form
Non DC - Collection permission form signed and returned.
Yes (signed 12 November 2014)
Delayed Access
Non DC - Yes/No on request for delayed access.
No
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Publication
A book, article, monograph etc.
Author
Author of the publication
Pam
Date Type
Publication, Submission, Completion date etc.
2014
Publication Title
Full title of publication, as it appears on item.
Transcript of audio interview.
Publication Status
Published, in Press, Unpublished, etc.
Unpublished
Number of Pages
3
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Untitled Story</em><span>, by Pam (</span><em>story transcript</em><span>)..</span>
Description
An account of the resource
Transcript (PDF) of the audio recording of interview with Pam which was recorded as part of the 5 Decades Project. The project was conducted by Forthspring Inter Community Group.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF version of transcript
Language
A language of the resource
English
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Catalogue ID
Non DC - ID for the Catalogue entry that relates to this entry
2232
5 Decades
Forthspring
-
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
5 Decades Project (<em>collection</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
"<strong>Forthspring</strong> has worked since 1997 to build relationships between neighbouring Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. The <strong>5 Decades Project</strong> grew out of a desire to examine these communities' very different experience of living through the 'Troubles', with the goal of developing a shared, but not agreed, account of the conflict and its impact.<br /> Experiences and memories were gathered through storytelling in small groups from the same community background, roughly structured around the 5 decades beginning with the 1960s. There were also opportunities to share and hear stories from other communities. Over 150 people have taken part." <br /> Forthspring 5 Decades Project. (2014). 'Talking About The Troubles'. (Rear cover)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Stories Collected
Non DC - Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+ interviews (leading to 80 stories in the published book)
Stories Deposited
Non DC - Number of stories deposited with Accounts of the Conflict.
6
Collection Permission Form
Non DC - Collection permission form signed and returned.
Yes (signed 12 November 2014)
Delayed Access
Non DC - Yes/No on request for delayed access.
No
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Project Details
Details of the project which undertook the story-telling work.
Project Full Title
Full or official title of the story-telling project.
5 Decades Project
Date Ended
Year in which the project ended.
On-going (in 2014)
Dissemination Formats
Main dissemination formats: Web site; video on DVD; book; etc. Record all that apply.
Book; Website; Exhibition
Number of Stories
Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+
Number Deposited
Number of stories deposited with Accounts of the Conflict.
6
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
5 Decades Project (<em>project details</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
A story-telling project run by Forthspring Inter Community Group. The project team carried out interviews with over 20 people. The interviews were recorded on audio and later transcribed. The transcribed interviews formed the basis for 80 stories that appeared in an associated book, and the subset of 53 stories that appeared on the project's website. The project also produced an exhibition. Forthspring conducted further interviews in the years 2015-16 and these will be available in 2020.
Relation
A related resource
<strong>See also:</strong><br /><em>The project website:</em><br /> http://www.forthspring.org/5-decades-project.html<br /><em>The related book:</em><br /><strong>Forthspring Inter Community Group.</strong> (2014). Talking About The Troubles. Belfast: Forthspring.<br /> ISBN 978-0-9929478-1-1
Organisation
Non DC - Name of the organisation.
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Funder
Non DC - Name of the funding organisation for the work on story-telling.
Peace III
Stories Collected
Non DC - Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2012-2014
Date Formed
Non DC - The year in which the organisation was first formed.
April 2012
5 Decades
Forthspring
-
https://accounts.ulster.ac.uk/repo24/files/original/110846e863ab1acc7e23369720c468d4.pdf
a706b8ea1647c5b2b504a27749a21ffb
PDF Text
Text
TALKING ABOUT THE TROUBLES <br /><br />�Forthspring has worked since 1997 to build relationships between neighbouring Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. The 5 Decades Project grew out of a desire to examine these communities' very different experience of living through the 'Troubles: with the goal of developing a shared, but not agreed, account of the conflict and its impact. <br />Experiences and memories were gathered through storytelling in small groups from the same community background, roughly structured around the 5 decades beginning with the 1960s. There were also opportunities to share and hear stories from other communities. Over 150 people have taken part. <br />This publication contains 80 stories, drawn from individual interviews initially shared in larger groups. Participants were drawn mainly from the communities along the Springfield Road- the majority women- many of whom recalled the start of the Troubles. Accordingly, there is an emphasis on the 1970s in the stories though they stretch across the 5 Decades. <br /> <br />'Fascinating and poignant'. Claire Hackett, Duchas Oral History Archive. <br /> 'Stories that will educate, move and inspire you: Tony Macaulay, author of 'Paperboy'.<br /> <br />Comments on the 5 Decades exhibition: <br />'Interesting and informative'; 'excellent display of community history'; 'wonderful exhibition, so important our history is passed on'; 'excellent exhibition, a fine slice of oral history'; 'moving, funny and informative'; 'a real insight into people's lives'; 'captures the times'.<br /> <br />The project has been supported by the EU's PEACE Ill Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.<br /> <br />ISBN 978-0-9929478-1-1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
5 Decades Project (<em>collection</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
"<strong>Forthspring</strong> has worked since 1997 to build relationships between neighbouring Protestant and Catholic communities in West Belfast. The <strong>5 Decades Project</strong> grew out of a desire to examine these communities' very different experience of living through the 'Troubles', with the goal of developing a shared, but not agreed, account of the conflict and its impact.<br /> Experiences and memories were gathered through storytelling in small groups from the same community background, roughly structured around the 5 decades beginning with the 1960s. There were also opportunities to share and hear stories from other communities. Over 150 people have taken part." <br /> Forthspring 5 Decades Project. (2014). 'Talking About The Troubles'. (Rear cover)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Stories Collected
Non DC - Number of stories recorded as part of the project.
20+ interviews (leading to 80 stories in the published book)
Stories Deposited
Non DC - Number of stories deposited with Accounts of the Conflict.
6
Collection Permission Form
Non DC - Collection permission form signed and returned.
Yes (signed 12 November 2014)
Delayed Access
Non DC - Yes/No on request for delayed access.
No
Availability Online
Non DC - Availabilty Status (deposited, delayed, external, cain)
deposited
Publication
A book, article, monograph etc.
Author
Author of the publication
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Date Type
Publication, Submission, Completion date etc.
Publication
Publication Title
Full title of publication, as it appears on item.
Talking About The Troubles
Publisher Location
Place of publication: city / town
Belfast
Publisher
Forthspring
Publication Status
Published, in Press, Unpublished, etc.
Published
Number of Pages
104
ISBN
978-0-9929478-1-1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Talking About The Troubles (<em>book details</em>)
Description
An account of the resource
A book containing 80 stories, transcribed from interviews with over 20 individuals, related to experiences of the Northern Ireland conflict, particularly for people living close to the Springfield Road, west Belfast. The stories cover five decades beginning with the 1960s.<br /><strong>Book details:</strong><br /><strong>Forthspring Inter Community Group.</strong> (2014). Talking About The Troubles. Belfast: Forthspring.<br />ISBN 978-0-9929478-1-1
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Forthspring Inter Community Group
Relation
A related resource
<strong>See also:</strong> – the 5 Decades project website:<br /><a href="http://www.forthspring.org/5-decades-project.html" target="_blank">http://www.forthspring.org/5-decades-project.html</a>
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Forthspring
5 Decades
Forthspring