Identification in Belfast
I.R.A. Bombing
Identification in Belfast - meaning Summary
Grief Amid Political Violence
"Identification in Belfast" presents a speaker confronting the aftermath of an I.R.A. bombing, describing the grim, bureaucratic process of identifying a dead boy. Domestic details—the boy's blonde hair singed, a box of trick matches carried even at mass—anchor the shock. The speaker's unsuccessful attempts to light a match become the moment of recognition. The poem compresses private grief and public violence, showing how a trivial personal object serves as proof of identity.
Read Complete AnalysesThe British Army now carries two rifles, one with rubber rabbit-pellets for children, the other's of course for the Provisionals.... 'When they first showed me the boy, I thought oh good, it's not him because he's blonde— I imagine his hair was singed dark by the bomb. He had nothing on him to identify him, except this box of joke trick matches; he liked to have them on him, even at mass. The police were unhurried and wonderful, they let me go on trying to strike a match... I just wouldn't stop—you cling to anything— I couldn't believe I couldn't light one match— only joke matches... Then I knew he was Richard.'
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