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Music on the borders of conflict

It is steeped in history, entertaining to some and enraging to others. Northern Ireland’s traditional music appears inextricably linked to the country’s bitter divide between Catholic and Protestant and is widely used as a marker of religion, ethnic identity and politics.

But a new book by a leading Northern Irish music scholar argues that the ‘politicisation’ of this traditional music is fundamentally a post-war phenomenon, which has happened as Catholic and Protestant communities have tried to distinguish themselves from each other.

‘The Musical Traditions of Northern Ireland and its Diaspora: Community and Conflict’ by David Cooper, Professor of Music and Technology at the University of Leeds, calls for a greater understanding of the characteristics and place of traditional music in the region.

Professor Cooper notes: “Despite the successes of the peace process, Northern Ireland remains a divided country, in which traditional culture is still widely used as a marker for religion and ethnic identity. This divide is often marked by music.

“For example, many in the Catholic, nationalist community regard the music of Orange flute bands and Lambeg drums as intimidatory. Equally, many in the Protestant community have distanced themselves from Irish music as coming from a different ethnic tradition, and some have rejected tunes, styles of performance and instruments because of their association with the Catholic community and the Irish Republic.”

In his book, Professor Cooper argues that Northern Ireland’s population is a hybrid of many different ethnicities, including Irish, Scottish (Catholic and Protestant), Anglo-Saxon, Viking, French (Huguenot) and Welsh and that the region’s traditional music contains elements of all these sources.

He notes: “Up until the 1950s, much of the music performed in the country areas wasn’t as politicised as it subsequently became. In fact, there’s frequently a shared underlying vernacular in traditional song, and it’s not inherently ‘Catholic’ or ‘Protestant’.

“For example, some Orange songs can be seen to use poetic forms that derive from Irish language verse – thus ultimately relating them to the ‘alien’ culture. More recently, Protestants have felt able to re-engage with traditional music through the Ulster Scots movement, now seeing it as part of their cultural tradition. Of course many Protestants and Catholics have continued to perform in an apolitical context and often together, what in earlier times would simply have been regarded as folk or country music.”

The book also considers the influence that Northern Ireland’s music has had o­n American folk music, arguing that bluegrass and country from across the Atlantic is itself a hybrid of musical styles, including those brought by people from the North of Ireland from the seventeenth century o­nwards and who have been described as Scotch Irish or Ulster Scots.

Cooper says: “American folk music has come about from a range of different people living and working together – Irish, Scottish, Dutch, Swedish, German, Afro-Caribbean and so o­n – bluegrass music draws o­n all these cultures.”

He concludes: “With the increasing espousal of a discrete Ulster Scots tradition since the signing of the Belfast (or 'Good Friday') Agreement in 1998, the characteristics of the traditional music performed in Northern Ireland, and the place of Protestant musicians within popular Irish culture, clearly require a more thoroughgoing analysis.”