About

This thesis is an oral history of youth experience in Belfast during the Northern Ireland Conflict, 1969-1998. The focus of the thesis is on two key areas. Firstly, it historically interrogates the experiences of children and young people in Belfast during the years of the ‘Troubles’. Secondly, it critically explores the ways in which those who grew up in the violently disrupted environment of the city have since reflected upon and made sense of their experiences in the ‘post-conflict’ era. Through a close analysis of nine oral history narratives, this thesis reconsiders the ways in which children and young people living in regions to the north and west of Belfast that were heavily affected by the conflict experienced their everyday lives during the years of armed violence. Significantly, it challenges the dominant interpretation of the young as members of ‘troubled generations’; transformed by the presence of violence into tragic victims or destabilised combatants. It offers new insights into the impacts of conflict on everyday youthful life in Belfast, and the dynamics of post-conflict memory in the present.