This book vividly reconstructs the social world of upper middle-class Belfast during the time of the city's greatest growth, between the 1830s and the 1880s. Using extensive primary material including personal correspondence, memoirs, diaries and newspapers, the author draws a rich portrait of Belfast society and explores both the public and inner lives of Victorian bourgeois families. Leading business families like the Corrys and the Workmans, alongside their professional counterparts, dominated Victorian Belfast's civic affairs, taking pride in their locale and investing their time and money in improving it. This social group displayed a strong work ethic, a business-oriented attitude and religious commitment, and its female members led active lives in the domains of family, church and philanthropy. While the Belfast bourgeoisie had parallels with other British urban elites, they inhabited a unique place and time: 'Linenopolis' was the only industrial city in Ireland, a city that was neither fully Irish nor fully British, and at the very time that its industry boomed, an unusually violent form of sectarianism emerged. Middle-Class Life in Victorian Belfast provides a fresh examination of familiar themes such as civic activism, working lives, philanthropy, associational culture, evangelicalism, recreation, marriage and family life, and represents a substantial and important contribution to Irish social history.

The Other Belfast is the story of a boy's life between 1933 and 1953 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before "the troubles" officially began and Belfast became known internationally as a terrorism hot spot. It is the story of a child's struggle to bond with a distant father, to survive the schoolyards and streets where boys emulated "hard men" role models, to understand the divisions between the Irish people, and to simply be a child in a rough and tumble world. From the sublime joys of love and friendship to the terror of nighttime bombing raids by the German Luftwaffe during World War II, The Other Belfast is a journey of the spirit into a long-forgotten world as seen through the eyes of an adventurous and irrepressibly joyful child.

Annotation An exploration of children's lives through the lend of Folklore.

'Football is all very well as a game for Rough Girls but it is hardly suitable for delicate boys.' Oscar Wilde The making of Belfast's first all-female football team. This is the untold story of the Belfast women who stepped onto a pitch in society-shocking shorts and footie boots, a ball at their feet and a point to prove. They were the suffragettes of soccer. Rebels with a ball, who kept kicking their way through the outraged defence of a male-dominated game to raise thousands for those returning from war. Set in Belfast 1917 – 1921 in a city divided by war but still united by sport, the play chronicles the courage and determination of those girls. This original Belfast story based on true events will resonate with the history of the city and chime with the recent equality movements across the sports industry and the cultural sector. This ambitious, large-scale play features an impressive eleven strong female ensemble with live music creating the heartbeat of the city at the time. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at Belfast's Lyric Theatre in September 2021.

Lee Child, Eoin McNamee, and others explore the dark corners and alleyways of Belfast.

This is a groundbreaking examination of the attempts to regulate female sexuality in twentieth-century Northern Ireland, which opens up new and exciting areas of a previously neglected history. A wide-ranging study, it explores the sexual experiences of women in the context of the distinctive religious, political and social circumstances of Northern Ireland during the twentieth century. The commonality of attitudes of the Catholic Churches toward the control of female sexuality is revealed, along with the similarity of views concerning female behaviour. While the ways in which various authorities tried to control female behaviour are explored, it is also argued that women were not simply victims, but employed a variety of survival strategies and active agency, no matter how difficult their circumstances were. This work will appeal not only to an academic audience but also to non-academic readers interested in a new and exciting view of Northern Ireland’s past.

The story of three girls - Sheila, Phil and Mary - growing up into the new emerging post-conflict Belfast of money, drugs, high fashion and crime; and of their lives and loves. Sheila, a supermodel, is kidnapped. Phil is sent to prison. Mary, surviving a drug overdose, has a spiritual awakening. It is also the story of the men who matter to them - John Branagh, former candidate for the priesthood, a modern Darcy, someone to love or hate. Will he and Sheila ever get together? Davy Hagan, drug dealer, ?mad, bad and dangerous to know?. Is Phil also mad to have anything to do with him? Although from different religious backgrounds, starting off as childhood friends, the girls manage to hold on to that friendship in spite of everything. A book about contemporary Ireland and modern life. A book which both men and women can enjoy - thriller, romance, comedy, drama - and much more ....