Admittedly I now next to nothing about this conflict, and after watching the Vice documentary on it (wich I found lacking) I'd like to get some good information on it.
Posted Jun 26, 2012, 4:50 PM UTC
not a documentary but a few good movies: The Wind that Shakes the Barley, In the Name of the Father and Some Mother's Son. Also, you should try to find a few different sources when researching the troubles, biases run deep.
The 10 part BBC documentary Provos, Loyalists & Brits provides an excellent and thorough look at the troubles. It talks to nearly every party involved in all sides of the conflict. Would definitely recommend it.
I came here to post this, one of the best things about the troubles I've seen.
... one of the best things about the troubles I've seen.
At least some good came out of it, ha!
I own one called Irish Ways. I think it is one of the better documentaries on the subject I have seen. http://icarusfilms.com/cat97/f-j/irishway.html
The documentary series The Story of Ireland is really good and gives a decent historical background and context (eg, the plantations/cromwell etc) up to the present day, so you can really understand it.
It's tangential, but you might finish off with Irish Kings of Comedy. There's something really interesting about seeing people makes jokes about a common culture you don't share.
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
Depending on how you feel about Vice (I happen to very much enjoy their content), they put out a series not too long ago about Belfast and modern-day 'troubles,' as it were, with a pretty honest look at how the Protestant/Catholic conflict plays out today.
I probably shouldn't have linked that, as I planned on sleeping tonight rather than watching Vice videos until the sun comes up.
EDIT: Fuck, I neglected to read your post past the title. Disregard my comment.
I enjoy Vice videos. Saying that, this isn't one of their best. I wouldn't recommend it.
I watched it and it sucked. Not to take anything away from Vice, but this one was sub par. As was the one about Slab city wich was pretty much them partying with some slacker.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Historyishappening Check out that youtube channel.
There are two sections devoted to the troubles in Ireland. If you find what you are looking for and learn about it, you will quickly stopp referring it to a protestant/catholic conflict. Its less religion, more land, economics and in want of a better phrase.. tribal revenge.
Also there is an Irish republican made documentary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeATzprgCgs
One of the most interesting docs on the conflicts on Ireland was mainly to do with the border comission. It was on the BBC a few years ago and save for a BBC bias. very interesting.
Because the roots of the conflict lie in the past you should also look at the
Cromewell in ireland doc and When ireland starved doc These are RTE docs both of which can be found on youtube with a bit of typing :)
Journalist. Peter Taylor's three programs Provo's loyalists and Brits can also be found on youtube.
Nobody wants to talk about the border commission these days. I lived outside of Derry, a city that should never had been part of NI. But they gerrymandered it up so that the majority Catholic community never had control of the city. I come from a family with strong links to Sinn Fein and the IRA but I was always taught that it was a class struggle not a sectarian struggle.
Yeah my father is from Derry, The Clooney triangle on the waterside, although he left in the late 60s - for obvious reasons ;). As he left Derry, stopping off in Dublin, Liverpool, Nottingham and finally like most Irish of that generation, settling into Kilburn/Camden in North London/ After Sunday '72, my uncle joined the IRA but my father was a full blown communist and member of the now defunct communist party of Britain. He saw first hand how class (based around sectarian differences, in the north) and economics were the reasons for the inequality not just between N.I and England, but also between Northern England and Southern England. I haven't forgeten what he said about how Britain dealt with the IRA in that:
"it wasnt untill they started to attack the bigger economic targets like Manchester city centre and Canary wharf that it cemented each party into their position up to the good Friday agreement. They [the British] were more than willing to let civilians die in pub bombings as long as the financial centres were not disrupted"
I wonder if he dreamt of being a modern day (late 20th century) James Larkin and uniting the protestant and catholic working classes of the north and then the rest of Ireland and then Britain, haha.
Derry city, most of Fermanagh, south Armagh and parts of Tyrone should never have been included, but the Doc did well in exploring the reasons why it happened the way it did and its failure. It was interesting because there were also a range of views from all walks of life in and around the border. Like an Irish speaking catholic unionist and whats left of southern oranagemen in republic Ulster.
One of biggest and often overlooked victims I feel is Donegal and its people. I've wondered if it would have had better prospects being with N.I than with the republic which was strapped for cash that couldn't find the answers to deal with the west coast of Ireland and stop its depopulation while also suffering from the very powerful catholic church and its outdated position.
Derry is not just the second city of N.I and the 4th largest on the island, it is the Regional capital of the North west. However I guess we will never know.
Its interesting to see how both North and South are going to deal with this new economic hardship, and whether we will see repeats of the past. large scale emigration is already happening again :(
Just looking about, there seems to be many youtube links related to the conflict including a full upload of Michael collins