At Play in Belfast: Children's Folklore and Identities in Northern Ireland

All books are group efforts. That I was able to carry out and then write up my research is due in large part to the help, work, and encouragement of many people.

Had I not been accepted into the Education Abroad program as an undergraduate at the University of California at Santa Barbara,I would not have visited Belfast in 1991. Support for my initial trips as a graduate student to Northern Ireland was provided by the UC Berkeley Department of Anthropology in the form of Lowie/Olson funds. My research in 1996–97 was funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the UC Berkeley Vice-Chancellor for Research, a UC Berkeley Humanities Graduate grant, and further Lowie/Olson funds.

In Belfast, the students, staff, and parents at the five schools I visited deserve far more than thanks. By welcoming me into their schools they made my research possible.I will always be grateful.

I must thank the Department of Social Anthropology at Queen's University, Belfast, for its gracious hospitality to a floating researcher. Hastings Donnan was a particular help in getting me official status as a visiting researcher, facilitating my access to the libraries, computer labs, and other university resources. David Wilson welcomed me into the weekly proseminar, helping me to continue to feel like an anthropologist even during.

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