A folklorist explores the storytelling traditions of a small Irish town where local character anecdotes build community across sectarian divides.
More than quaint local color, folklore is a crucial part of life in Aghyaran, a mixed Catholic-Protestant border community in Northern Ireland. Neighbors socialize during wakes and ceilis-informal nighttime gatherings-without regard to religious, ethnic, or political affiliation. The witty, sometimes raucous stories swapped on these occasions offer a window into Aghyaran residents' views of self and other in the wake of decades of violent conflict.
Through anecdotes about local characters, participants explore the nature of community and identity in ways that transcend Catholic or Protestant sectarian histories. Ray Cashman analyzes local character anecdotes in detail and argues that while politicians may take credit for the peace process in Northern Ireland, no political progress would be possible without ordinary people using shared resources of storytelling and socializing to imagine and maintain community.

Folklore and identity in Northern Ireland

Ray Cashman is Associate Professor in the Department of English and the Center for Folklore Studies at Ohio State University.

More than quaint local color, folklore is a crucial part of life in Aghyaran, a mixed Catholic-Protestant border community in Northern Ireland. Neighbors socialize during wakes and ceilisinformal nighttime gatheringswithout regard to religious, ethnic, or political affiliation. The witty, sometimes raucous stories swapped on these occasions offer a window into Aghyaran residents' views of self and other in the wake of decades of violent conflict. Through anecdotes about local characters, participants explore the nature of community and identity in ways that transcend Catholic or Protestant sectarian histories. Ray Cashman analyzes local character anecdotes in detail and argues that while politicians may take credit for the peace process in Northern Ireland, no political progress would be possible without ordinary people using shared resources of storytelling and socializing to imagine and maintain community.

Preface: The Road to Ballymongan
Acknowledgments
1. Goals and Orientations
2. Aghyaran: A Sense of Place and History
3. Ceilis as Storytelling Contexts
4. Wakes as Storytelling Contexts
5. Local Character Anecdotes
6. The Wider Range of Storytelling Genres
7. Anecdotes and the Literary Character
8. Anecdotes and the Local Character
9. Anecdote Cycles and Personality Traits
10. Patterns and Implications
11. Storytelling, Commemoration, and Identity
Notes
Bibliography
Index