University of Pennsylvania folklorist Henry Glassie has been the last ten years studying the Northern Irish community of Ballymenone. Glassie sees the conflict and history of this community as a microcosm of Ireland's at large, and says he wanted to present the "workaday reality" of average people. His study has been compiled into the book "Passing the Time in Ballymenone: Culture and History of an Ulster Community," and contains stories, songs, and Glassie's own descriptions and analyses.