Commemorating dead ‘men’: gendering the past and present in post-conflict Northern Ireland

Abstract

War is instrumental in shaping and negotiating gender identities. But what role does peace play in dispelling or affirming the gender order in post-conflict contexts? Building on a burgeoning international literature on representative landscapes and based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Northern Ireland between 2003 and 2006, this article explores the peacetime commemoration of the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ in order to explore the nuances of gender. Tellingly, the memorial landscapes cultivated since the inception of the paramilitary ceasefires in 1994 privilege male interpretations of the past (and, therefore, present). Gender parity, despite being enshrined within the 1998 Belfast Agreement which sought to draw a line under almost three decades of ethno-nationalist violence, remains an elusive utopia, as memorials continue to propagate specific roles for men and women in the ‘national project’. As the masculine ideologies of Irish Nationalism/Republicanism and British Unionism/Loyalism inscribe their respective disputant pasts into the streetscape, the narratives of women have been blurred and disrupted, begging the question: what role can they play in the future?

La guerra juega un papel decisivo a la hora de dar forma y negociar las identidades de género. ¿Pero, qué rol tiene la paz en disipar o reafirmar el orden de género en los contextos de post conflicto? Basándose en una creciente literatura internacional sobre paisajes representativos y en un trabajo de campo etnográfico en Irlanda del Norte entre 2003 y 2006, este artículo analiza la conmemoración, en tiempos de paz, de los “Problemas” de Irlanda del Norte para estudiar los matices de género. De forma reveladora, los paisajes conmemorativos cultivados desde el comienzo de los cese de fuego paramilitares en 1994 privilegian las interpretaciones masculinas del pasado (y, por lo tanto, del presente). La igualdad de género, a pesar de estar consagrada en el Acuerdo de Belfast de 1998, que buscó poner un fin a casi tres décadas de violencia etno-nacionalista, sigue siendo una utopía esquiva, mientras los monumentos continúan propagando roles específicos para los hombres y las mujeres en el “proyecto nacional”. Mientras las ideologías masculinas del Republicanismo/Nacionalismo irlandés y el Unionismo/Lealismo británico inscriben sus respectivos pasados en disputa en el paisaje callejero, las narrativas de las mujeres han sido desdibujadas y trastocadas, creando la necesidad de preguntarse ¿qué rol pueden tener ellas en el futuro?

Keywords:

• Northern Ireland
• gender
• conflict
• commemoration
• nationalism

Keywords:

• Irlanda del Norte
• género
• conflicto
• conmemoración
• nacionalismo

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all those who participated in this research. I would also like to thank the anonymous referees for their constructive comments as well as the editorial team of Gender, Place and Culture.

Notes

1. It is generally agreed that the Northern Ireland Troubles began in 1969. Created as a response to the Irish problem, which had dominated the political landscape in Britain for much of the nineteenth century, the partition of the island occasioned much resentment manifested in successive waves of violence. Social unrest was particularly acute in the North, intensifying throughout the 1960s to become the period which became known colloquially as the Troubles. The communal divide between Catholic–Protestant, Nationalist–Unionist and Republican–Loyalist appeared to characterise the seemingly sectarian nature of the conflict. Nationalist ideology, for example, focuses on the unification of Ireland through constitutional means. Republicanism shares this objective but has, at times, embraced an armed struggle. Both ideologies see themselves as politically, culturally and historically Irish. Unionists want to maintain the link with Britain and see themselves as politically, culturally and historically British. Loyalism, which is an inherently working-class ideology, is beginning to push for an independent Northern Ireland and distance itself from Unionism. There is also a religious dimension to this division with many Catholics seeing themselves as Nationalists and many Protestants seeing themselves as Unionists (although this is not absolute).

2. Residential space in Northern Ireland is largely segregated along religious lines and there is evidence to suggest that this has increased since the Agreement. The areas where Catholics and Protestants live side by side are called interfaces and violence is often prevalent at these points.

3. The Battle of the Boyne is extensively celebrated in Northern Ireland by the Orange Order, a Protestant religious institution. It is celebrated on the Twelfth of July following the change over from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752.

4. Locals believe that McGavigan was shot by soldiers during an exchange with the IRA (for more see McKittrick et al., 97–98; also see Irish Times, 1999).