TERRITORIALITY1 ON THE SHANKILL-FALLS
DIVIDE, BELFAST
F. W. BOAL
Department of Geography
Queen's University, Belfast
For myself, carthbound and fettered to the scene
of my activities, I confess that I do feel the differences of mankind, national and individual . . . . I
am, in plainer words, a bundle of prejudices—
made of likings and dislikings—the veriest thrall
to sympathies, apathies, antipathies.
Charles Lamb, quoted
by Gordon W. Allport,
The Nature of Prejudice.
Segregation, on the basis of both economic and ethnic characteristics,
is a feature of most cities. Segregation is usually measured on the basis of
the spatial distribution of individuals or households belonging to a particular economic or ethnic group. Most commonly, the actual distribution of
group members is compared to the pattern that would exist if the group
members were distributed evenly throughout the area under study—the
deviation between the actual and even distributions forming a measure
of the degree of segregation.
This type of segregation is frequently referred to as residential segregation. Associated with residential segregation, there is a second form—
activity segregation. That is, different groups not only do not live in the
same area, they also do not interact with each other. While residential
segregation has received a great deal of attention, the concomitant
activity segregation is a relatively neglected field. It is the aim of this
paper to examine both types of segregation in a small area of working-class
Belfast.
The data used in the present study is a byproduct of a larger study of
spatial activity patterns in the Belfast urban area. The latter study is
attempting to specify the nature of activity patterns for a variety of
sample groups. This larger study may be designated an output study,
following the conceptual scheme for activity systems analysis, outlined
by F. S. Chapin.2 The elements of Chapin's scheme are : i) a value system
component that operates on 2) the choice mechanism which in turn
produces 3) an activity component. Essentially his scheme utilizes choice
30
THE SHANKILL-FALLS DrVIDE, BELFAST
31
theory to convert human motivations (input) into human activity in the
city (output) with the social system mediating men's choices. Thus we
can envisage a cycle moving from motivation through choice to activity,
with feedback affecting the next round.
When one examines activities, then, one is examining output. Until
recently human geography has been heavily output-oriented with motivational aspects receiving scant attention. In fact not only have we ignored,
by and large, motivational studies, we have also ignored the study of
activities themselves. Instead, in urban geography, we have examined
the results of activity as displayed in the townscapc. The present study
examines activity patterns as features of geographic interest in their
own right. Explanation, at a fundamental behavioural level, must await
further work, probably of an inter-disciplinary nature.
BELFAST
DENSITY OF ROMAN CATHOLICS
1951
UPPER
7th
LIMIT 100V.
OCTILE
B79V.
UPPER OUARTILE 3 8 6V.
MEDIAN 9 7 V .
Figure 1.
LOWER
OUARTILE
LOWER
LIMIT O I V .
3-IV.
32
F. W. BOAL
Study A rea
The fact of religious segregation in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern
Ireland is well known. The deep lu'storical roots of the segregation have
been discussed in detail elsewhere and do not directly concern us here.3
According to Boserup and Iversen,* Northern Irish society is both polarized and ranked. Polarized communities have little or no interaction
between their distinctive component groups, ' except that the presence
of the other ethnic group functions as an external enemy, increasing group
consciousness and enhancing ideological conformity within the groups
and ideological distance between them.'5 A community which is polarized
along an ethnic dimension, is, according to Boserup and Iversen, also
' ranked in the sense that the dimension of division is not merely an
ethnic label, it is also in some respects a rank dimension.'6 In the Northern
Ireland context the ranking is one that places Protestants at the top and
Catholics at the bottom. Polarity and rankedness combine to reduce the
likelihood of group interaction to low levels, particularly when, as in this
paper, we are examing the lower socio-economic portions of the respective
groups.
Most of the previous work on religious residential segregation in Belfast
has been done by Evans7 and Jones.8 However neither explored the
extent of activity segregation. In this present paper the aim is to examine
the activity patterns in a small area of the city where the Protestant and
Roman Catholic groups are residentially segregated from each other, but
where the two groups are in close spatial proximity. At the same time
socio-economic characteristics of the two groups are held approximately
constant by investigating a working-class area. The type of study area
required was one that lay astride two major segregated residential concentrations, one Roman Catholic and the other Protestant, and where
there was continuity of residential land use. Where these conditions might
be found is suggested by Evans in his 1944 paper where he notes, when
writing about the distribution of Roman Catholics in Belfast, that:
The outstanding feature is the 90 per cent concentration in two wards,
Smithfield and Falls, and the high proportion of Catholics in the
centre of the city. The sharpest junction between districts where the
Catholics are respectively in proportion of 90 per cent and 5 per cent,
runs in a line of cleavage due west from the city centre.9
Evans had to use ward boundaries to delimit his zones. Emrys Jones
was able to produce a more spatially refined delimitation by using the
census enumeration districts employed in the 1951 census (Fig. i). 10 The
" line of cleavage " or what we will call the " Divide ", running west
from the centre is striking, with overwhelmingly Protestant areas to the
north of the line and Roman Catholic to the south- Other cartographic
THE SHANKILL-FALLS DIVIDE, BELFAST
33
techniques can also be utilized to locate the Divide. For instance, Figure
2 shows the pattern of street decorations in the area running west from
the city centre, erected for the Orange (Protestant) July the Twelfth
celebrations. The complete absence of decorations in the Falls Road
area and their concentration in the Shankill Road area are notable features.
A further, somewhat more subjective technique was also utilized. This
involved scanning the Electoral Register for the relevant part of the city
and indicating all households where at least one member had a surname
or first name that could be classified as " Roman Catholic." A large number of surnames are anglicized from the Irish, while a range of first names
also have Catholic associations (Bernadette, Sean, etc.). This method is
by no means one hundred per cent accurate but the pattern derived (Fig.
3) is a striking inverse of the decorations pattern in Figure 2.
The area finally selected for study lies between the Springfield and
Shankill Roads and lies astride the Shankill (Protestant) and Falls (Roman
Catholic) sectors. (Figs. 1-3). It covers 16.6 hectares (41 acres) and had
a population of 4922 persons at a gross residential density of 297 persons
per hectare (120 persons per acre) in 1966. The mean house valuation is
£9. A ten per cent systematic random sample of persons was drawn from
the 1967 Electoral Register, and an interview was obtained with each
person thus selected, the interview lasting from thirty to forty minutes.
An eighty-nine per cent response was achieved.
The questionnaire elicited information about general household characteristics (number of persons in house, age and sex of these persons, their
work or school location, if any) and personal information about the
interviewee which falls into two groups—site characteristics (religion,
newspapers read, name given to area, football team supported) and
activity characteristics (movement to bus stop, to grocery shop, visits and
visitor connections, and the pre-marriage addresses of interviewee and
spouse).
Site Characteristics
The initial site characteristic to be explored is that of religious affiliation.
This was necessary first to check whether the area selected met the
requirements outlined above and second to provide a detailed distribution
pattern of Protestants and Roman Catholics within the study limits.
Figure 4 shows the result obtained. The area as a whole is 44 per cent
(+5.5)11 Roman Catholic. However it is obvious that we are dealing, in
fact, with two quite distinct areas, the one (Clonard) overwhelmingly
Catholic, the other (Shankill I) overwhelmingly Protestant. The two
areas meet in a very narrow band which is almost entirely restricted to
one street (Cupar Street). On this basis three areas were finally distinguish-
34
F. W. BOAL
s
si* / / / , . •
• "*S^*««J
^•"
4: '•*• ////'///••/
,s>.^'" N > *
L*"'
/'/••'•//';'.'•
Figure 3.
" ' ^
•
•
•"" •*"*
fry
Romon Cotholic Name •
Non-Residential Areai Y/S)
I
;
1
36
F . W. BOAL
SHANKILL-SPRINGFIELD
LOCAL MORNING
SHANKILL
ROAD
NEWSPAPERS
READ
• Irish News
«_
• Belfost Newsletter /
SHAN KILL
^ .
I
/*"
/
DATA sounct-SAMHe si/sirr / •
0€C£M3£K 1967 - JAHU/Htr 19S«f*
c ••
•
•
•
•
•
•
• • •
• .
/
/
CUPAR
\ J f CLONARD
O
500
feet
Figure 4.
ed—Clonard, Shankill I and the transitional Cupar. Clonard is 98 per
cent Catholic, Shankill I 99 per cent Protestant while Cupar has a two
to one Protestant predominance.
Newspaper readership was examined to see whether there were significant differences between the Roman Catholic and Protestant territories.
The readership amongst the sample of the three local dailies was plotted.
The most interesting distribution to emerge is the readership of the
morning Irish News which was read by 83 per cent of the sample in
Clonard, but only 3 per cent in Shankill I (Fig. 5). The alternative local
morning paper, the Belfast Newsletter is not widely taken in either area.
Evidence from elsewhere suggests that the Newsletter is more of a middle
class paper in appeal. Morning newspaper readership in Shankill I concentrated on the English-based popular dailies. Irish News readership is
a very distinguishing feature of the two religious subdivisions of the study
area. The strong Roman Catholic loyalty to the paper is not surprising
THE SHANKILL-FAJLLS DIVIDE, BELFAST
5HANKILL - SPRINGFIELD
RELIGION
SHANKILL
37
ROAD
+ Roman Catholic
SHANKILL
• Protestant
I
300
f««t
Figure 6.
in that it takes an anti-Unionist line in politics and gives substantial
cover to Gaelic games and Roman Catholic church news. The third local
daily, the evening Belfast Telegraph has, spatially, a much more uniform
readership, in that it was read by 58 per cent (+9.2) in Clonard and 68
per cent (+74) in Shankill I. This common readership gives to the
Telegraph an important role as a potential integrator operating across the
religious community boundary. This role is reflected in its treatment of
local issues.
Many areas of Belfast are widely known by their local names. It was
therefore of potential value to find out what the interviewees called the
area they lived in (if they thought it had a name). In terms of area name
94 per cent of those in Clonard named the area as Clonard, Springfield or
Falls while none used the term Shankill. In Shankill I, on the other hand,
no one used the CIonard-Springfield-Falls label and JJ per cent used the
term Shankill. In the transitional Cupar 37 per cent used the ClonardSpringneld-Falls designation, 26 per cent the Shankill term while 23 per
38
F. W. BOAL
SHANKILL- SPRINGFIELD
AREA NAME
SHANKILL
ROAD
+ Springfield S. Clonard «,^ ^
x Falls
SHANKILL I
/
•
Shankill
-
No Name
c:
/ • • '
• • * . • ;
-
OCCCMBCR l96)-JANUA*r
. ^.
+ ^,+
+\
++
\
. *
*
»
* •/
CUPAR
\
+
CLONARD
q
•. ••:• ./
<p?
500
fast
Figure 6.
cent said the area they lived in had no name at all (Fig. 6). Local nomenclature clearly differentiates the various parts of the study area.
Local group loyalties are frequently linked with support for a particular
association football team. In the past, in west Belfast, support was given
to either Linfield or Belfast Celtic. With the demise of the latter club,
loyalties are now alloted mainly to Linfield or to Glasgow Celtic. Which
team one supports depends on one's religion and, in the area under consideration, one's religion indicates which area one lives in. Consequently
it is not surprising to find that in Clonard 73 per cent of football team
supporters favoured Glasgow Celtic while none mentioned Linfield. In
Shankill I, on the other hand, 74 per cent of football team supporters
favoured Linfield, with no support whatsoever for Celtic. The balance of
support in both areas was divided amongst a large number of clubs, but
again with very little overlap, Everton (Liverpool) and Distillery (Belfast)
being notable in Clonard, and Glasgow Rangers, Liverpool and Manchester
THE SHANKILL-FALLS DIVIDE, BELFAST
39
United in Shankill I. It is intriguing to note the extent to which the
polarity between the Protestant and Roman Catholic groups in Belfast
is extended to and links with similar polarities in Glasgow and Liverpool.
Activity Characteristics
The site characteristics analysed indicate the presence, within the
study area, of two distinct territories, meeting and mixing slightly on the
line of Cupar Street. Cupar Street as the dividing line is further emphasized by the fact that a political boundary runs down the middle of the
street, dividing two city wards, and two Northern Ireland parliamentary
constituencies. The constituency in which Clonard lies returns a Republican Labour member, while Shankill I helps return a Unionist. Only
at Westminster elections do the two parts of the study area find themselves
SHANKILL- SPRINGFIELD
BUS STOP USED INBOUND
TO CITY CENTRE
•f
Springflald
>
Falls Road
•
Shankill Road
SHANKILL
/
Road
"•^/-^
/"
/ •
/• •
•
•
otn souKt-stunt
SHANKILL ROAD
su**tr
•
^«y
\
•
.* * • • • • .
•*
•••
••
• : * .
*
•
x
/
•/
: • • . •• • x * j
CUPAR
^ \
^
\
+
+
J.
*
CLONARD
Z
500
f««t
Figure 7.
4?
I
F. W. BOAL
40
in the same constituency, West Belfast. This latter constituency is highly
marginal, fluctuating between Unionist and anti-«Unionist majorities.
While the site characteristics sharply differentiate the two parts of
the study area, territoriality is usually best expressed by the constraint
it has on movement. Tliis effect is clearly stated by Robert Harbinson
in his autobiographical work, No Surrender.
God ordained that even the Bog Meadows should end and had set
a great hill at their limit, which we called the Mickey's Mountain
. . . . In terms of miles the mountain was not far, and I always
longed to explore it . . . . But the Mountain was inaccessible
because to reach it we had to cross territory held by the Mickeys.
Being children of the staunch Protestant quarter, to go near
the Catholic idolators was more than we dared, for fear of having
one of our members cut off.12
SHANKILL-SPRINGFIELD
GROCERY SHOP WHERE RESPONDENT
SPENDS MOST MONEY
Shankill I Area & Protestants
in Cupar Area
•
'
Household
SHANKILL
A
y
yr
Shop
/firs
$N
\
ROAD
\
• ^
\
\
\
SHANKILL I
CUPAR
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
/
\
/
O
500
\
DATA soutcf - iii-rxr m*wr
OKftmtM mrr-j*mj*rr mm
l««t
Figure 8.
THE SHANKILL-FALLS DIVIDE, BELFAST
41
Within the study area, territoriality is visually expressed in the form of a
great variety of gable-end slogans. Many slogans, such as ' Linfield' and
' Celtic ' indicate local loyalties, but are not explicitly territorial. Other
slogans, however, have obvious territorial as well as loyalty connotations
—'Taigues [Catholics] Keep Out', 'Prods [Protestants] Keep Out',
' No Pope Here ' , ' No Queen Here ' are good examples.
We can now turn to examine some activity characteristics, to see
whether the activities are as distinctive, spatially, as the site characteristics.
For the purposes of this paper four sets of movements are examined
briefly—movement to bus stop to get bus to city centre, movement to
buy groceries, movements associated with visits to or from relations or
friends and linkages suggested by pre-marriage addresses of interviewee
and spouse.
The inner segregated districts of Belfast have almost all dominant radial
roads running through them (Shankill, Falls, Sandy Row, for instance).
These roads would appear, intuitively, to be the spines round wliich the
residential areas have developed and on which focus a significant level
of activity. The spine roads, also, of course, provide the area names in
the inner city. The main bus routes into the city centre run on the spine
roads and it is reasonable to assume that people will go to the nearest bus
stop (with equal quality of service). However in this case we are also
examining two distinct territories and therefore one might also assume
that people would be inclined to go to get the bus on their ' own ' spine
road. In fact we find that 89 per cent in Shankill I go to the Shankill
Road and 11 per cent to the Falls/Springfield while in Clonard 93 per cent
go to Falls/Springfield and 7 per cent to Shankill (Fig. 7). There is therefore a strong general bias to the ' right' spine road. However a considerable number of those who go to the Shankill road are in fact not minimizing walking distance—they are going to a more distant bus stop.
Out of 33 interviewees in Shankill I who live nearer the Falls/Springfield
stops 79 per cent go to the Shankill (all Protestants), while in Cupar, out
of 31 interviewees, 13 go to the more distant stop (Shankill) and 12 of the
13 who do this are Protestants. Thus with the bus data we can see what
seems to be two basic influences at work—minimizing trip distance and
territoriality.
The second type of activity where distance minimization can be assumed
(with equal facilities available) is the trip to the grocery shop where the
bulk of the weekly groceries is purchased. Here we find that in Shankill
I 93 per cent of the trips are made to the Shankill Road or to local shops
on the Shankill side of the Divide and 4 per cent to the Springfield Road
and local shops in Clonard (Fig. 8). In Clonard, on the other hand, 90
per cent of the trips are to the Springfield Road and local shops in Clonard
while 10 per cent of trips are to the Shankill Road (Fig. 9). Again we
F. W. BOAL
42
SHANi'.ILl - SPRINGFIELD
SHANKILL
ROAD
GROCERY SHOP WHEHE RESPONDENT
SPENDS MOST MONEY
Clonord
Area & Roman Catholics
in Cupar Area
.
Household
«
Shop
CUPAR
SOO
OJM itxjfce-Umm su»*cr
Figure 9.
observe a very strong focusing of each area on its own spine road. If we
examine the whole study area (including Cupar), we find that 6 per cent
of those living nearer the Shankill stores go to the Springfield Road while
23 per cent of those living nearer the Springfield stores go to the Shankill.
Again religion is important here, though 45 per cent of those making the
longer trip to the Shankill Road are Roman Catholics. This confirms to
some extent the locally held opinion that the Shankill Road is a more
attractive shopping area than the Falls/Springfield.
The spine roads provide the basis for quite distinctive orientations for
bus stop and grocery shop trips. The religious factor accentuates their
role. However, as the data demonstrates, there is some movement across
the Divide—about 10 per cent of trips are ' deviant' in this regard.
When we examine the third activity type, visits to and from relatives
and friends in a one week period, a much more highly segregated pattern
emerges. If we examine all visit connections of interviewees within the
study area only, the links are as shown in the table.
THE SHANKILL-FALLS DIVIDE, BELFAST
UNIT
Shankill I
Clonard
Table 1
43
% of connections within study area with
Shankill I
Clonard
Cupar
96
0
4
1
99
Visit connections within study area
0
Broadening the view beyond the immediate study area, we find that
about half of all the Shankill I visit connections fall within the Shankill
Road Protestant sector, 66 per cent of these being with relatives, while
53 per cent of the Clonard connections are within the general Falls Road
Roman Catholic sector, in this case 35 per cent being with relatives.
Two comments are relevant here, first that we are dealing with the standard working class community pattern described by Fried as "an overSHANKILL-SPRINGFIELD
VrSlT CONNECTIONS 1M WNER AREA
ONE WEEK PtRlOO
Shoriull 1 1 Pnjlt»lort» In Cupor Ann
•
•
5omplc p«f«or« with visits
Vim link
Figure 10.
lapping series of close-knit networks ",13 and second that we are dealing
with two almost mutually exclusive sets of such networks. There are
practically no visitor connections across the religious divide (Figs. 10
and 11).
The visit connections analysis can be extended out beyond the purely
local level to include connections within the Belfast urban area as a whole.
F. W. BOAL
In this case point locations, being the addresses of persons visiting or
being visited by the interviewee, were classified according to whether they
were associated with a Protestant or a Roman Catholic in the study
area. The points were then further classified as being segregated or unsegregated using a first nearest neighbour technique whereby a given
point is unsegregated if the nearest other point is of a different religious
THE SHAKKILL-FALLS DIVIDE. BELFAST
45
SHANKILL-SPRINCFIELD
VISIT CONNECTIONS
OUTSIDE SAMPLE AREAS
ONE WEEK PERIOD
Shankil 1 4 ProUtlanlt in Cupar
•
Clonanl a Roman Calnolin in Cupar •
SCCEOATtO tlUKACC *P£«S
Snanaiil 14 Proi«IUnU in Cupar
<££
Ctonard 4 Hunan Calhol^a ri C«ar(;V
fBATHCOOLC
tma>
Samplad
\ J
ftur
Figure 12.
classification. The result for point connections lying outside the immediate study area is shown in Figure 12. Eighty per cent of the points are
segregated. These segregated connections coincide with the better known
segregated residential areas of the city. Thus, with an activity where
connections are socially very meaningful, there is effectively no direct
linkage between the two main portions of the study area and even very
little indirect linkage in the urban area in general. This high level of
activity segregation in terms of visiting is further accentuated, and in
part caused by the separate school systems. Not only do Catholics and
Protestants attend different schools—the schools themselves are located
within the relevant religious sectors and consequently movement to
F. W. BOAL
46
school, as with so many other activities, is away from the Divide, not
towards or across it.
The existence of Fried's close-knit networks and of high segregation
between the two basic sets of networks (Roman Catholic and Protestant)
analysed in this paper are further demonstrated when one examines marriage linkages—the paired locations of the two marriage partners immediately before marriage. The close-knit network aspect is demonstrated
as follows : in Shankill I, in 63 per cent of the cases both partners came
from the general Shankill Road area, and in 97 per cent of the cases at
least one partner was from the Shankill. In fact in 56 per cent of the
cases sampled at least one partner was from inside the Shankill I area
itself. The Clonard sample demonstrates a similar though somewhat less
close-knit linkage system—in 44 per cent of cases both partners were from
N
P.I.-0-51
W
SHANKILL
Ambleside St
E
P. I. = 1 0 3
P. l.= 1-23
Cupar St
P. 1. = 0 - 6 3
S
N.E.
P. I.=0 • 6 2
N.w.
P. I . - 1 - 0 6
Cupar St
S.E.
P. l.=l-09
Cavendish St
'SPRINGFIELD'
•H
P. 1 = 0 - 3 7
1
s.w.
^
m
S ^Survey Area
P. {.^Perception Index
PERCEPTION
FOR "SHANKILL"
q
**•
MEDIAN RECTANGLES
AND "SPRINGFIELD" AREAS
Figure 13,
THE SHANKILL-FALLS DIVIDE, BELFAST
47
the Falls area and in 83 per cent of cases at least one partner was from the
Falls. In 46 per cent of cases at least one partner was from Clonard itself.
The segregated nature of the networks is shown by the fact that out of a
sample of 79 couples in Clonard, only one had marriage partner locational
links to the Shankill sector while out of 117 couples in Shankill I, none
had marriage partner links with the general Falls sector. This segregation
can also be demonstrated for the urban area and, to some extent, for the
whole of Ireland.
Perception
:
Site' and activity characteristics clearly differentiate the two principal
portions of the study area. It remains to inquire how the residents of the
two portions perceive the areas they live in. In this case those interviewees living in Shankill I who used the term ' Shankill' as the name of
their area were asked to state what they thought the limits of ' Shankill'
were. Likewise those living in Clonard who used the term ' Springfield'
were asked to spatially define their area. Interviewees were not asked
-
Cupar
St
S
falls ;
Rd •
I—
:
2 80-
1 60x
50-
UJ
^ 10-
5 30-
5 20-
Snugville S t /
Ambleside St
:
I
M
|
I
i
:
SURVEY
AREA
HA
s
Silvio^St/
Sidney St
Shankill Rd
l
1
Crumlin Rd
o
1
5
Y///
i
15
10
20 N
D I S T A N C E ( ' 0 0 f t )FROM CENTRE OF SURVEY AREA
SHANKILL I
"SHANKILL" PERCEPTION S - N
Figure 14.
M—•-
= Median
Limit
F. W. BOAL
48
Cupar St
CATIO
Forfar- St/
3. Cavendish St
Clonard
Gdns
Shank 11 I Rd
!
;
Sprintj f i e l d
d
1 60-
M
~ 50-
g tOlo 30SURVEY
AREA
° 20LI_I
°"
1 Q-
WA
S.W. 5
DISTANCE
1
0
f
5
( ' O O f t ) F R O M CENTRE
1
I
•
10
N.E.
OF SURVEY AREA
M—^ -Median Limit
CLONARl)
"SPRINGFIELD" PERCEPTION
S.W. - N. E.
Figure 15.
to mark the limits of their area on a map, as has been done in other
studies,14 because it was felt that, due to their general unfamiliarity with
urban street maps, this might structure their responses in some unidentifiable way. The results are summarized in Figure 13, which shows a perception median rectangle for each area, both being drawn to the same
scale. The median limits were defined using frequency counts for the
various limits named (see Figs. 14 and 15). A perception index was calculated for each direction. This was obtained by dividing the total number
of limits named in any one direction by the total number of interviewees
naming limits. The values show a much stronger perception of limits
which lie up and down the spine roads. This corresponds with the findings
of Steinitz, in Boston, Massachusetts, where he noted t h a t ' . . . the edges
THE SHANKILL-FALLS DIVIDE, BELFAST
49
of congruent form—activity districts which were reinforced by busy
paths were the strongest.15 In the Belfast case, as the activity analysis
suggests, there is much greater movement down the spine roads to the
city centre, and also up them to outlying housing estates, than across
them into ' alien ' territory.
The lateral limits of ' Shankill' and ' Springfield' are less strongly
perceived, but the strength of perception of these lateral limits is, in turn,
assymetrical. That is, the limit on the side towards the religious Divide
is much more strongly perceived than the limit away from it. This is,
in part, probably due to proximity of this limit to the study area. However the importance of the limit in the religious geography of the city
undoubtedly is a further influence. In addition, not only is the Divide
limit more strongly perceived—there is also a high level of agreement on
both sides of the Divide as to where the limit lies. It is not in the least
surprising that this agreed limit is Cupar Street (Figs. 14 and 15).
Conclusion
This paper is an attempt to define on the basis of the religious affinities
of residents, distinctive areas within a working class portion of Belfast,
and then to see to what extent selected site and activity characteristics
correspond with the underlying religious pattern. The cumulative evidence
indicates the presence of two very distinctive territories. Religion is a
strong factor in group formation even where religious residential segregation does not exist, as has been shown in a recent study of white Protestants, Roman Catholics and Mormons in the United States.1' Where the
groups are also spatially segregated, as in West Belfast, the mutual exclusiveness of the two groups becomes most marked. In the American
study cited above the term ' ethnic enclosure ' was coined. This could be
used in a territorial sense in Belfast.
The present study is both experimental and descriptive. Fundamental
explanation of the origin and maintenance of current segregation must
await further motivationally based work, though possible explanations
have been touched on elsewhere.17 In addition future public policies
towards religiously segregated residential areas need careful examination.
Should such areas be allowed to ^continue in [existence, even after redevelopment, or should urban renewal be used as a desegregating technique ?
At this stage we can only note the warning given by Herbert Gans :
Plans and policies aimed at changing people's behaviour cannot
be implemented through prescribing alterations in the physical
community or by directives aimed at builders; they must be
directed at the national sources and agents which bring about
the present behaviour,18
60
F. W. BOAL
A cknowledgmcnts
I would like to acknowledge assistance from W. J. McGaughey and Miss
J. Orr, Department of Geography, Queen's University, and from the team
of interviewers. Financial assistance was provided by the Frederick Soddy
Trust, James Munce Partnership and Queen's University.
REFERENCES
1
The use of the term 'territoriality' is suggested by M. M. Webber's stimulating
paper 'Culture, Territoriality and the Elastic Mile' Papers and Proceedings, Regional
Science Association, 13, 1964, 59-69.
2
Chapin, F. S., 'Activity Systems and Urban Structure: A Working Scheme,'
Journal of the American Institute of Planners, January 1968, 11-18.
3
Barritt, D. P. and Carter, C. F., The Northern Ireland Problem, 1962.
4
Boserup, A. and Iversen, C. 'Rank Analysis of a Polarized Community : A case
Study from Northern Ireland,' Peace Research Society (International) Papers 7,
1967, 59-76.
5
Ibid., 60.
6
Ibid., 60.
7
Evans, E. E. 'Belfast: The Site and the City,' Ulster Jour. Arch. Third Series
7, 1944, 25-9.
8
Jones, E., A Social Geography of Belfast, 1960, 172-206.
9
Evans, op. cit., 25.
10
Jones, op. cit., 196.
11
Where confidence limits are quoted they are for 95 per cent probability.
12
Harbinson, R., No Surrender, 1960, 16.
13
Fried, M., 'Functions of the Working Class Community in Modern Urban
Society—implications for Forced Relocation,' Journal of the American Institute of
Planners, 33, March 1967. 92.
14
Lee, T., 'Psychology and Living Space,' Transactions of the Bartlett Society,
2, 1963-4, 11-36 ; Willmott, P., 'Social Research and New Communities,' Journal of
the American Institute of Planners, 33, November 1967, 393-4.
15
Steinitz, C, 'Meaning and Congruence of Urban Form and Activity,' Journal of
the American Institute of Planners, 34, July 1968, 244.
16
Anderson, C. H., 'Religious Communality among White Protestants, Catholics
and Mormons,' Social Forces, 46, June 1968, 501-508.
17
Barritt and Carter, op. cit., 52-76; Boal, F. W., and Buchanan, R. H., 'Conflict
in Northern Ireland,' Geographical Magazine, 41, February 1969, 331-336.
18
Gans, H. J., The Levittowners, 1967, 289-90.