This study investigates the structural and social origins of the sectarian discord between Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland. Denis P. Barritt, writing under the sponsorship of the Irish Association for Cultural, Economic, and Social Relations, provides a diagnostic framework for understanding the deep-seated antagonism that defines the region. The text utilizes a sociological approach to analyze how historical and institutional factors perpetuate division within the population.

Experts recognize this work as a foundational sociological examination of the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland. Readers frequently note the clinical and objective tone maintained by the author throughout the analysis of sensitive communal relations.