Conflict, identity and immigration have been issues in Northern Ireland for over 700 years. Listen as I read on BBC Radio Ulster from book 3 in my Belfast Ghosts trilogy, Matthew’s Twin, of a working class man who begins having flashbacks to a past life as a soldier in Ulster during the Scottish conquest of Ireland in 1315AD.

Last month marked 711 years since Edward Bruce’s conquest of Ireland, beginning in May 1315. Scottish garrisons arrived at Latharna, now modern day Larne in Northern Ireland. From there, they moved to Carraig Fearghas (Carrickfergus) and surrounded the Norman Castle positioned on the ‘Rock of Fergus’.

My novel involved a huge amount of historical research, as it is over two decades since I finished working as a field archaeologist. For those reading my blog who don’t know, I studied archaeology and palaeoecology from Queen’s University Belfast. Although I no longer work as an archaeologist (I changed career to teach English in Japan more than two decades ago, and have pretty much been in secondary education ever since) I am an advocate of lifelong learning and like to keep any research I do for my books as accurate as I can.

Matthew’s Twin is available to buy from Waterstones, Foyles, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and more.

Posted by on June 17, 2026 in Books, Reading and tagged , , , , , .

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About Leilanie Stewart

Leilanie Stewart is an award-winning author and poet from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She writes ghost and psychological horror, as well as experimental poetry. Her writing confronts the nature of self; her novels feature main characters on a dark psychological journey who have a crisis and create a new sense of identity. She began writing for publication while working as an English teacher in Japan, a career pathway that has influenced themes in her writing. Her former career as an Archaeologist has also inspired her writing and she has incorporated elements of archaeology and mythology into both her fiction and poetry. In addition to promoting her own work, Leilanie runs Bindweed Anthologies, a creative writing publication with her writer husband, Joseph Robert. Aside from publishing pursuits, Leilanie enjoys spending time with her husband and their lively literary lad, a voracious reader of sea monster books.

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