The long weekend of July 10-12, 2010 was particularly important to Northern Ireland because it contained two controversial holidays of religious and political consequence.

The first is Eleventh Night, on which Unionist Protestants ignite massive bonfires throughout the city for historical and very contemporary political reasons. Because Eleventh Night fell on a Sunday in 2010, the bonfires were not lit until midnight, compressing the bonfires and the events that follow them into an unusually tightly-wound day.

As many bonfires still burned, The Twelfth began. On the holiday, members of the Orange Order, composed of Northern Ireland's Unionist Protestant population and other supporters, march throughout the city to celebrate a 17th century Protestant victory over Catholics. Among the traditional routes used are those which run adjacent to the city's Republican Catholic neighborhoods.

The marches are not well received in the Catholic communities, particularly given centuries of conflict and the more recent Troubles. While local organizations sponsor youth football tournaments and other events designed to provide alternatives to challenging the marches, riots often follow the parades. In 2010, youth engaged the police in the streets for nearly a week.

This developing series focuses on those events of Eleventh Night and The Twelfth, contextualizing them against a backdrop of the physical elements of Belfast that reflect the city's often starkly segregated landscape. It will be updated in 2012.