https://doi.org/10.1177/1532708619886330 Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies 1–11 © 2019 SAGE Publications Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1532708619886330 journals.sagepub.com/home/csc Original Article Chris leans over to me. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this Tom, but it’s always the Protestants that lead things. Catholics never lead.” “Right? Why is that?” I ask. “It’s coz they’re too used to being bummed by priests. They just do what they’re told.” Catholics and Protestants have always had a troubled rela- tionship in Northern Ireland. In the late 20th century, Northern Ireland endured a conflict in which more than 3,700 people were killed and more than 40,000 people were injured. Communities fled to the perceived safety of segre- gated neighborhoods which functioned as both an organiza- tion of space and a system of ethnic classification (Hughes, Campbell, Hewstone, & Cairns, 2007; Shirlow, 2001). Catholics and Protestants lived separately, used different symbols, and contested, rather than shared, territory (Brewer & Teeney, 2015). In a contemporary society, segregation is still a component of Northern Irish life, as politics, educa- tion, housing, employment, leisure, and sport all function within a sectarian context (Dixon et al., 2019; McVeigh & Rolston, 2007; Stevenson et al., 2019). Yet, while sectarian- ism still occurs sporadically in the form of violence and ter- ror, the bulk of sectarianism occurs in everyday life practices (Cairns, 2000). This article aims to illustrate how discourses of sectari- anism are perpetuated within a popular sector of contempo- rary Northern Irish society: the rugby club. Sport plays an important role in the reproduction of sectarian divisions in Northern Ireland, and rugby union, with British origins and All-Ireland status, offers a complex site for individuals to negotiate (Bairner, 2003; Maguire & Tuck, 2005). At Ballycross RFC (a pseudonym), a Northern Irish rugby club where I conducted a season-long ethnography, sectarianism is a significant characteristic of the culture and informs most interactions in some way. For many of the young men, playing for Ballycross RFC is the first period of sustained contact with members of the “other” group. Chris’ joke above is illustrative of typical Ballycross RFC sectarian banter that continually high- lighted differences between members of the two majority communities. Performing for the Protestant majority, he light-heartedly disparaged the Catholic culture, attempting to provoke a reaction from the Catholic minority. At the same time, he established his heterosexuality, perpetuating the prevalent story of pedophilia in the priesthood, and by extension, Catholicism itself. Yet, this article attempts to provide a more critical theorization of the complexities of sectarian discourses in Northern Ireland than a reductive model of oppression. Rather, it aims to illustrate how sec- tarian discourses of humor were used constantly, to both reinforce and maintain group boundaries, and to alleviate tension and serve as a form of bonding. 886330CSC XX X 10.1177/1532708619886330Cultural Studies <span class="symbol" cstyle="symbol">↔</span> Critical MethodologiesKavanagh research-article 2019 1 University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand Corresponding Author: Thomas Kavanagh, University of Waikato, Gate 1, Knighton Road, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand. Email: tomk@waikato.ac.nz “It’d Just Be Banter”: Sectarianism in a Northern Irish Rugby Club Thomas Kavanagh 1 Abstract Nearly two decades after the Good Friday Agreement, sectarianism still functions to structure much of the Northern Irish society. While this is often considered in terms of high-profile cases of sectarian violence, most sectarian behavior occurs in everyday practices. This article explores how sectarianism is expressed and understood within the context of a Northern Irish rugby club. I conducted a season-long ethnography using participant observation, focus group discussions, and semistructured interviews to gain an understanding of the particular context which framed the sectarian discourses at the club. Rather than a purely oppressive model, Ballycross RFC showcased how the sectarian climate of the Northern Irish society can be used and experienced in a multitude of ways. Keywords sectarianism, Northern Ireland, ethnicity and race, ethnography, ethnographies, methodologies, rugby