Time passing with the innocent: trauma, time and place in the Northern Irish troubles

This thesis examines the interaction between the creation and use of memory and the conceptualisation of place within the Northern Irish conflict of the late 20th century. This project will examine how place and memory interact in order to create violent conflict. First, it will examine how the construction of religious communities that acted in conflict with each other used lived spaces, through the establishment and de-establishment of "no go areas", checkpoints and development of security provisions. Second, it will examine how the concept of space is destabilised through the reconfiguration of typical structures of order, such as within prisons, or through the conscious self-destruction of lived environments. Third, it will examine how the memories of the conflict are utilised within the tourist sector at present, as sites of violence and trauma have been reconstructed in order to provide economic and social benefits for both local communities and international tourists.