Children of the Troubles

In this remarkable second book in the Children in Conflict series, Laurel Holliday presents a powerful collection of young people's memories of growing up in the midst of violence in Northern Ireland. More than sixty Catholic and Protestant children, teenagers, and adults chronicle their coming-of-age experiences in the shadow of violence.
Each child writes with remarkable honesty and often lyrical expression. Bridie Murphy describes living with fear, waiting for the men to 'smash in the doors with a sledge hammer and then shoot whoever is in the house as they have done before.' Stephen Robinson, wounded while walking home from Secondary school, describes how it feels to be shot and survive. Their stories and poems are tragic, moving and sometimes funny and will serve as a fitting oral history for Northern Ireland's troubled past.