Small Town Conflicts?

I’m wondering if anyone else from a small town in Ireland has dealt with something like this.

A few years ago I had a falling out with someone who used to be a close friend. After that people in the wider friend group basically just chose sides. Every single person in that group stayed on that person’s side and I ended up completely out of the group.

What still bothers me about it is that nobody ever actually asked me what happened or even checked in with me. People just went with one side of the story and that was that. As far as I know none of them even know my side of things because they never asked.

Looking back I honestly think a lot of it was just because they were closer with that person and they were around the group more, so sticking with them was the easier and less awkward option for everyone rather than getting involved or questioning anything.

From my side it went from being part of the group to basically being ignored by everyone overnight. There was never a proper conversation or resolution, it just became clear I wasn’t included anymore.

The small town aspect makes it harder to move on from. These are still the same people who show up at weddings, nights out, mutual friends’ events and that sort of thing. Because of that I’ve avoided certain things completely because I don’t want to put myself in a situation where it’s awkward or where I feel like nobody wants to speak to me.

My partner is still friendly with some of the people involved which makes it more complicated. They’re very non-confrontational and don’t want to create drama or make things worse. Because of that there are events they sometimes skip as well because they know I’d feel uncomfortable and they also don’t want the awkwardness of people asking questions about me.

Another thing that makes it harder is social media. Normally if I’ve had a bad falling out with people I just block or remove them and move on. Out of sight helps me get over things because I’m not constantly seeing what they’re up to. In this situation I feel like I can’t really do that because everyone knows everyone and suddenly blocking a whole group of people would probably just create more talk.

It’s been a few years now and logically I know people move on with their lives, but it still affects how comfortable I feel socially where I live.

At the same time it’s not as simple as just moving away either. When families are from the same area and people’s lives are rooted there it’s not always that easy to just leave and start somewhere else.

Has anyone else experienced something like this in a small town here? What do you actually do when you feel pushed out of a social circle but you can’t fully separate yourself from the same people and place?