‘What’s the news? Nothing but bonfires’: the Eleventh Night bonfire: tradition and change

The Eleventh of July bonfire is aligned with the ‘Glorious Twelfth’ and these events demonstrate the socio-political identity of the Protestant ‘imagined community.’ It explores the historical and contemporary context of the event as it unfolds within Loyalist working-class estates. The thesis draws together concepts of ritual, symbol, invented tradition and explores how these concepts intersect in space.

Through an anthropological lens, I explore the Eleventh of July bonfires are examined as a ritualized cultural performance in the context of its nominal historical narrative and against the backdrop of Northern Ireland’s tumultuous history and within its current policy landscape.<br><br>Utilizing various social science research methods, both ethnographic and archival, it analyzes how the Eleventh of July bonfire celebration has become politicized.