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'The doctrine of vicarious punishment': space, religion and the Belfast Troubles of 1920-22

Cunningham, N.

'The doctrine of vicarious punishment': space, religion and the Belfast Troubles of 1920-22 Thumbnail


Authors

N. Cunningham



Abstract

Between 1920 and 1922, the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland was the location of intense violence between Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists arising out of the broader political conflict engulfing the island. Approximately 500 people died within the city as a result of these tensions. There existed marked spatial concentration in patterns of fatality during these original ‘Troubles’ which accompanied the creation of the Northern Ireland state. This paper will present findings from research into this period which makes use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology to analyse the spatial distribution and impact of political and sectarian deaths in the early years of the 1920s. It finds that fatalities were heavily concentrated in districts immediately surrounding the city centre and argues that these patterns were profoundly influenced by the nature of the built environment.

Citation

Cunningham, N. (2013). 'The doctrine of vicarious punishment': space, religion and the Belfast Troubles of 1920-22. Journal of Historical Geography, 40, 52-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhg.2013.01.001

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 4, 2015
Publication Date Apr 1, 2013
Deposit Date Apr 4, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Historical Geography
Print ISSN 0305-7488
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 40
Pages 52-66
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhg.2013.01.001
Keywords Ireland, Belfast, Troubles, Violence, Sectarianism, Partition, Religion, GIS.

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Copyright Statement
NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of historical geography. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of historical geography, 40, 2013, 10.1016/j.jhg.2013.01.001




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