Further Afield: Journeys from a Protestant past (ebook – PDF format only)

Compiled and edited by Marilyn Hyndman (1954-2022) with preface by Carol Coulter

First published 1996

Protestants in Northern Ireland are typically portrayed as unionist or loyalist, as fundamentalist Christians and members of the Orange Order. But there are many Protestants – among them feminists, gays, artists, socialists and republicans – who negate the stereotype and about whom we rarely hear.

In this book Marilyn Hyndman presents engagingly honest interviews with 40 people from Protestant backgrounds. She uncovers their complex struggles with the culture of sectarianism, public and private realities, and over questions of identity. Here are journeys of discovery and loss, of joy and sadness, and of elation and confusion. Overall, these are stories of conviction from people who have made conscious choices to break the mould.

Until her untimely death (22 Jan 2022) Marilyn Hyndman was an independent documentary film maker and a founder member of Northern Visions, a film making co-operative and media centre based in Belfast. She was a lifelong campaigner for social justice.