The Last House of Ulster

Jeremy Caple is an assistant professor of history at Wilfrid Laurier
University in Waterloo.

Being a Catholic in Belfast is difficult. Bombings, random shootings,
and harassment by the military constitute daily experience in this
virtual police state. Many young men see membership in the IRA as the
only way to protect their family and homes. Survival is wrapped up in
the intensity of family relationships, and the desire on the part of
family members to create a “normal” life for themselves. Into this
environment steps a young Canadian who was raised in suburban Toronto
and who has only rudimentary knowledge of the nature or scope of the
Irish problem. For 15 years, he continues to visit the same family,
developing in the process a sense of identification and learning
first-hand the very essence of survival.

In this fascinating account of the experiences of a Catholic family in
Ulster since the beginning of the most recent “troubles,” Charles
Foran develops a keen understanding of one side of the Irish question
while at the same time trying to establish his own sense of family
through explorations of his childhood and youth in Toronto. What becomes
apparent from his discussions with members of the Irish family is that
Canada, with its multiculturalism, its relative tolerance, and its
wide-open spaces, is a model society, while Ulster, despite Foran’s
obvious appreciation of the closeness of family life there, represents
many of the worst features of an intense tribalism.