Gombeen man
Encyclopedia
A Gombeen Man is a pejorative
Hiberno-English
term used in Ireland for a shady, small-time "wheeler-dealer" or businessman who is always looking to make a quick profit, often at someone else's expense or through the acceptance of bribes. Its origin is the Irish
word "gaimbín", meaning monetary interest
. The term referred originally to a money-lender and became associated with those shopkeepers and merchants who exploited the starving during the Irish Famine
by selling much-needed food and goods on credit at ruinous interest rates.
:
The Famine's gombeen men were universally Irish Catholics, as their customers were, and the phrase is almost always intended without any religious or ethnic context.
Crime writer Kyril Bonfiglioli wrote a dark short story called The Gombeen Man about just such a character in the late 70s.
This excerpt is from "The Crock of Gold," by James Stephens: "... the women were true to their own doctrines and refused to part with information to any persons saving only those of high rank, such as policemen, gombeen men, and district and county councillors; but even to these they charged high prices for their information, and a bonus on any gains which accrued through the following of their advices."
More generally, "gombeen" is now an adjective referring to all kinds of underhand or corrupt activities and to the mindset possessed by those engaged in such activities. In Irish politics
, it is used to condemn an opponent for dishonesty or corruption, although its definition has become less precise with time and usage and it can also imply pettiness and close-mindedness. Alternative modern parlance for a gombeen man is someone "on the make". It is also used to described certain Independent politicians who are seen to prioritize their constituents needs, no matter how trivial, over national interests.
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
Hiberno-English
Hiberno-English
Hiberno-English is the dialect of English written and spoken in Ireland .English was first brought to Ireland during the Norman invasion of the late 12th century. Initially it was mainly spoken in an area known as the Pale around Dublin, with Irish spoken throughout the rest of the country...
term used in Ireland for a shady, small-time "wheeler-dealer" or businessman who is always looking to make a quick profit, often at someone else's expense or through the acceptance of bribes. Its origin is the Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
word "gaimbín", meaning monetary interest
Interest
Interest is a fee paid by a borrower of assets to the owner as a form of compensation for the use of the assets. It is most commonly the price paid for the use of borrowed money, or money earned by deposited funds....
. The term referred originally to a money-lender and became associated with those shopkeepers and merchants who exploited the starving during the Irish Famine
Irish Potato Famine (1845–1849)
In Ireland, the Great Famine was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration between 1845 and 1852. It is also known, mostly outside Ireland, as the Irish Potato Famine...
by selling much-needed food and goods on credit at ruinous interest rates.
Cultural significance
The despised image of the gombeen as an usurious predator on the poor was immortalized in the poem The Gombeen Man by Irish poet Joseph CampbellJoseph Campbell (poet)
Joseph Campbell was an Irish poet and lyricist. He wrote under the Gaelicised version of his name Seosamh Mac Cathmhaoil...
:
The Famine's gombeen men were universally Irish Catholics, as their customers were, and the phrase is almost always intended without any religious or ethnic context.
Crime writer Kyril Bonfiglioli wrote a dark short story called The Gombeen Man about just such a character in the late 70s.
This excerpt is from "The Crock of Gold," by James Stephens: "... the women were true to their own doctrines and refused to part with information to any persons saving only those of high rank, such as policemen, gombeen men, and district and county councillors; but even to these they charged high prices for their information, and a bonus on any gains which accrued through the following of their advices."
More generally, "gombeen" is now an adjective referring to all kinds of underhand or corrupt activities and to the mindset possessed by those engaged in such activities. In Irish politics
Politics of the Republic of Ireland
Ireland is a parliamentary, representative democratic republic and a member state of the European Union. While the head of state is the popularly elected President of Ireland, this is a largely ceremonial position with real political power being vested in the indirectly elected Taoiseach who is...
, it is used to condemn an opponent for dishonesty or corruption, although its definition has become less precise with time and usage and it can also imply pettiness and close-mindedness. Alternative modern parlance for a gombeen man is someone "on the make". It is also used to described certain Independent politicians who are seen to prioritize their constituents needs, no matter how trivial, over national interests.
Recent use
- "We want to be free to pursue our grievances in our own way so that we will not have to go like gombeen men and women to the doors of politicians" -- Máirín QuillMáirín QuillMáirín Quill is a former Irish Progressive Democrats politician. She was a Teachta Dála for Cork North Central from 1987 to 1997....
, Dáil debate, 1987. - "Goodbye Gombeen Man", a Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times (UK)The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
headline from 1994, which was referred to in a more recent GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
article. - "As a Dubliner I have no problem with the principle of decentralisation but I do not want it to cost excessive amounts of money and to be the type of gombeen initiative that the Minister of State, Deputy ParlonTom ParlonTom Parlon is a former Irish Progressive Democrats politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Laois–Offaly constituency from 2002 to 2007 and was also the Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works...
, who has just left the committee, projected" -- Richard BrutonRichard BrutonRichard Bruton is an Irish Fine Gael politician and has been a Teachta Dála for the Dublin North Central constituency since 1982. He was appointed as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation on 9 March 2011...
, Dáil committee debate, 2003. - "Bertie AhernBertie AhernPatrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
yesterday turned the tables on one of the most trenchant critics of the Government's decentralisation programme, Professor Ed Walsh, and also lashed the 'gombeen' opposition to the plan." -- Fionnán Sheahan, Irish ExaminerIrish ExaminerThe Irish Examiner, formerly The Cork Examiner and then The Examiner, is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country...
, 2004.
Sources
- RTFRich Text FormatThe Rich Text Format is a proprietary document file format with published specification developed by Microsoft Corporation since 1987 for Microsoft products and for cross-platform document interchange....
: Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service Debates 10 December 2003 (Burton). - Dáil Éireann parliamentary debates, 28 October 1987 (Quill).
- Ahern turns tables on decentralisation critic, Irish Examiner, 10 June 2004 (Sheahan).