Séamus Ó Tuama, principal of Bunscoil Phobal Feirste, has published a book combining his family's history with the story of Belfast's Irish-speaking community. The book, titled 'Belfast: Béal Feirste: A Family Story of a Community's Struggle', was released in March.

Ó Tuama began the project after the sudden death of his father, Diarmuid Ó Tuama, in 2023. The elder Ó Tuama was a prominent figure in Belfast's Irish-language community and had a long association with Bunscoil Phobal Feirste. After his father's death, Séamus spent weeks in his office going through papers and research his father had been working on, including a draft history of Belfast from an Irish-language perspective dating back to the Plantation era.

Séamus Ó Tuama said he wanted to incorporate his father's story into that broader historical narrative as a tribute. The writing process took him to archives in Cork, the Military Archives in Dublin, the British military archives in London, and Glasgow. His research uncovered details about ancestors including Daniel, a British Army soldier from Cork who was stationed in Cairo, married a Belfast woman, and was an Irish speaker and Catholic. Another ancestor, Paddy, was a member of the Fianna, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and the Irish Volunteers, and opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

The book examines periods of poverty, suffering, and conflict in Irish history, including the Great Famine, anti-Catholic pogroms in Belfast, and wars. It concludes with a focus on the revival of the Irish language in Belfast and Diarmuid Ó Tuama's role in that movement. Ó Tuama said the project helped him understand his own position as a man, father, and son. Local historians Tom Hartley and Fearghal Mac Bhloscaidh assisted with accuracy and dating.

The book is available for purchase now.