Welcome to The Troubles: Conflict in Northern Ireland! 

 

This is a pathfinder to help researchers find audio and video sources relating to this historic conflict of the late 20th century. Also known as the Northern Ireland Conflict, this was a period of discrimination, political upheaval, and violence. From the late 1960s to the late 1990s, Irish nationalists (mostly Irish Catholics) wanted Northern Ireland to become part of Ireland; Unionists (mostly Ulster Protestants) wanted it to remain part of the United Kingdom. This was an ethno-nationalist conflict, not religious, but the opposing sides were separated by religion. The conflict was resolved by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, though the tension is still present to this day; Northern Ireland remains part of the U.K. 

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While a general audience may find some use out of this pathfinder, it is intended for an adult audience in an academic library setting. There are plenty of books, articles, news reports, etc. written about this period of history, so why audio and video sources? AV sources provide a unique and even interactive look into history, allowing the use of recorded video, images, graphics, sounds or music, and more to accompany the information being presented. The Troubles were a well-documented, decades-long struggle that many Americans may not know about; a lot of firsthand footage was recorded by Northern Irish news stations. Because it was so recent, and the repercussions of it are still felt to this day, many documentaries are even being made now. 

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Of the resources shared in this pathfinder, captions are available for most, if not all, videos; the documentaries, both on and off YouTube, have auto-generated, while the show Derry Girls has them provided on Netflix. The songs have easily searchable lyrics while the audiobooks have accompanying books. Accessibility is important for all resources, but especially for ones that deal with factual, historical information.

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How were this resources chosen? I had a few criteria that I tried to abide by when selecting which would be represented here:

• Ease of access

  • Were they free or available through a library?

• Timeliness

  • Concurrent or created in hindsight?

• Credibility

  • Firsthand interview or news report?

• Popularity

  • Critically acclaimed books, well-known music, videos with high view counts

• Availability

  • There are very few podcasts that discuss this topic, and only one relevant TV show​

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There is a wealth of information on this topic, and this pathfinder only scratches the surface. While I tried to follow this criteria, there is so much more that could have been included. That being said, with this information, any interested scholar would be well-prepared to delve deeper into this complex historical event.

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