“For the Most Part We Played Rebel Songs”

This chapter analyses the place of nationalist music in the civil rights movement of the late 1960s in Northern Ireland. The place of nationalism in the global ‘long 1968’ is still the subject of debate, with important implications for the coherence and the nature of the movement. In Northern Ireland especially, the presence or absence of nationalism is vital in understanding the way in which the protests so quickly gave way to violence. This chapter analyzes the various musical cultures expressed during the civil rights protest, including nationalist ones. Thus, it argues that nationalism remained an important part of the protesters’ ideology.