Plastic Paddy
Encyclopedia
Plastic Paddy is a slang term used to describe some members of the Irish
diaspora
, or those with no ancestral connection to Ireland, who appropriate
(often stereotypical) Irish customs and identity. A Plastic Paddy may know little of actual Irish culture, but nevertheless assert an Irish identity. The term is pejorative
ly used to refer to people on the basis of their perceived lack of authenticity as Irish
.
and an Irish passport
are often labelled as Plastic Paddies. The term came into common use in the 1980s when it was frequently employed as a term of abuse by recently-arrived middle class Irish migrants to London
. Hickman (2002) states; it ‘became a means of distancing themselves from established Irish communities.’ And the use was a part of the process by which the second-generation Irish are positioned as inauthentic within the two identities, of Englishness and Irishness.
. Within an Irish context the term is used as a reaction to and defiance of the diaspora-based celebration and increasing commercialisation and sponsorship of St. Patrick’s Day as being demeaning to the Irish. It can also be used in a derogative term for Irish people who support English football teams,; while Irish journalists have used use the term to describe Irish bars in Sydney, Australia with the “minimum of plastic paddy trimmings” .
First generation Irish-English model Erin O'Connor
was called a "plastic paddy" in Ireland due to her parents’ choice of forename and non-Irish birth despite them both being Irish citizens. The Killarney Active Retirement Association audaciously displayed a banner promising to "Chase the plastic Paddy out of Ireland" in the Kerry 2005 St Patrick's day celebrations while chasing leprechauns away.
writes that "plastic Paddy" was a term used to "deny and denigrate the second-generation Irish in Britain" in the 1980s, and was "frequently articulated by the new middle class
Irish immigrants in Britain, for whom it was a means of distancing themselves from established Irish communities." According to Bronwen Walter, Professor of Irish Diaspora Studies at Anglia Ruskin University
, "the adoption of a hyphenated identity has been much more problematic for the second generation Irish in Britain. The Irish-born have frequently denied the authenticity of their Irish identity, using the derogatory term plastic paddy, and the English regards them as "assimilated" and simply "English."
The term has been used to taunt non-Irish born players who choose to play for the Republic of Ireland national football team
, fans of Irish teams, who are members of supporters clubs outside of Ireland, and other Irish individuals living in Great Britain
. A study by the University of Strathclyde
and Nil by Mouth
found the term was used abusively on Celtic
and Rangers
supporters' Internet forum
s in reference to Celtic supporters and the wider Catholic
community in Scotland. In August 2009, a man from Birmingham, England received a suspended sentence after making derogatory comments to a police officer, who was of Irish origin. The prosecutor said the man had made racist remarks about the officer, including accusations that the officer was a "Plastic Paddy".
Alex Massie
wrote in National Review
:
Australia
n songwriter Eric Bogle
wrote and recorded a song titled "Plastic Paddy". In Spiked
, Brendan O'Neill uses the term to describe "second-generation wannabe" Irishmen, and writes that some of those guilty of "Plastic Paddyism" (or, in his words, "Dermot-itis") are Bill Clinton
, Daniel Day-Lewis
, and Shane MacGowan
. British Mixed martial arts
fighter Dan Hardy
has called American fighter Marcus Davis
a "Plastic Paddy" due to Marcus' enthusiasm for his Irish ancestry. In the book Why I Am Still a Catholic: Essays in Faith and Perseverance by Peter Stanford
, the television presenter Dermot O'Leary
describes his upbringing as "classic plastic paddy", where he would be "bullied in a nice way" by his own cousins in Wexford for being English "until anyone else there called me English and then they would stick up for me."
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
diaspora
Irish diaspora
thumb|Night Train with Reaper by London Irish artist [[Brian Whelan]] from the book Myth of Return, 2007The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa,...
, or those with no ancestral connection to Ireland, who appropriate
Cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. It describes acculturation or assimilation, but can imply a negative view towards acculturation from a minority culture by a dominant culture. It can include the introduction of forms of...
(often stereotypical) Irish customs and identity. A Plastic Paddy may know little of actual Irish culture, but nevertheless assert an Irish identity. The term is pejorative
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...
ly used to refer to people on the basis of their perceived lack of authenticity as Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
.
Usage
People who were not born in Ireland, and who did not grow up in Ireland, but nonetheless possess Irish citizenshipIrish nationality law
Irish nationality law is the law of the Republic of Ireland governing citizenship. A person may be an Irish citizen through birth, descent, marriage to an Irish citizen or through naturalisation. Irish nationality law is currently contained in the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship...
and an Irish passport
Irish passport
Irish passports are issued by the Consular and Passport Division of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin, Ireland.-Physical appearance:...
are often labelled as Plastic Paddies. The term came into common use in the 1980s when it was frequently employed as a term of abuse by recently-arrived middle class Irish migrants to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Hickman (2002) states; it ‘became a means of distancing themselves from established Irish communities.’ And the use was a part of the process by which the second-generation Irish are positioned as inauthentic within the two identities, of Englishness and Irishness.
Ironically, both English hostility when faced with the spectre of Irish identities, and Irish denials of authenticity of those same identities, utilizes the pejorative term ‘plastic paddy’ to stereotype and undermine processes ‘of becoming’ of Irish identities of second-generation Irish people. The message from each is that second-generation Irish are ‘really English’ and many of the second-generation resist this.Hickman (2002) Irish Journal of Sociology
Usage in Ireland
The term plastic paddy is used by the Irish media as a term for an outdated image of Ireland and Irish culture as seen and promoted by the non-Irish citizens including the Irish diasporaIrish diaspora
thumb|Night Train with Reaper by London Irish artist [[Brian Whelan]] from the book Myth of Return, 2007The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa,...
. Within an Irish context the term is used as a reaction to and defiance of the diaspora-based celebration and increasing commercialisation and sponsorship of St. Patrick’s Day as being demeaning to the Irish. It can also be used in a derogative term for Irish people who support English football teams,; while Irish journalists have used use the term to describe Irish bars in Sydney, Australia with the “minimum of plastic paddy trimmings” .
First generation Irish-English model Erin O'Connor
Erin O'Connor
-Early life:Erin O'Connor was born and brought up in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, England and went to Brownhills Community School . She was raised Catholic and her father is from Ballycastle, Northern Ireland...
was called a "plastic paddy" in Ireland due to her parents’ choice of forename and non-Irish birth despite them both being Irish citizens. The Killarney Active Retirement Association audaciously displayed a banner promising to "Chase the plastic Paddy out of Ireland" in the Kerry 2005 St Patrick's day celebrations while chasing leprechauns away.
Britain
Mary J. HickmanMary J. Hickman
Mary Hickman is Professor of Irish Studies and Sociology at London Metropolitan University. She is also the director of the Institute for the Study of European Transformations. She was a member of the Irish Governments Task Force on Policy Regarding Emigrants . She has been Visiting Professor at:...
writes that "plastic Paddy" was a term used to "deny and denigrate the second-generation Irish in Britain" in the 1980s, and was "frequently articulated by the new middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
Irish immigrants in Britain, for whom it was a means of distancing themselves from established Irish communities." According to Bronwen Walter, Professor of Irish Diaspora Studies at Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University is one of the largest universities in Eastern England, United Kingdom, with a total student population of around 30,000.-History:...
, "the adoption of a hyphenated identity has been much more problematic for the second generation Irish in Britain. The Irish-born have frequently denied the authenticity of their Irish identity, using the derogatory term plastic paddy, and the English regards them as "assimilated" and simply "English."
The term has been used to taunt non-Irish born players who choose to play for the Republic of Ireland national football team
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
, fans of Irish teams, who are members of supporters clubs outside of Ireland, and other Irish individuals living in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. A study by the University of Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
and Nil by Mouth
Nil by Mouth (charity)
Nil by Mouth is a registered Scottish anti-sectarian charity based in Glasgow and working across Scotland. It was established in 2000 by David Graham, Louise Cumming and Cara Henderson Nil by Mouth is a registered Scottish anti-sectarian charity based in Glasgow and working across Scotland. It was...
found the term was used abusively on Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
and Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
supporters' Internet forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s in reference to Celtic supporters and the wider Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
community in Scotland. In August 2009, a man from Birmingham, England received a suspended sentence after making derogatory comments to a police officer, who was of Irish origin. The prosecutor said the man had made racist remarks about the officer, including accusations that the officer was a "Plastic Paddy".
Alex Massie
Alex Massie (journalist)
Alex Massie is a Scottish journalist. A former Washington correspondent for The Scotsman, he has also written for The Daily Telegraph, Scotland on Sunday, The New Republic, The Daily Beast, The Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy, National Review Online, The Sunday Telegraph, The New York Times ,...
wrote in National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
:
When I was a student in Dublin we scoffed at the American celebration of St. Patrick, finding something preposterous in the green beer, the search for any connection, no matter how tenuous, to Ireland, the misty sentiment of it all that seemed so at odds with the Ireland we knew and actually lived in. Who were these people dressed as Leprechauns and why were they dressed that way? This Hibernian Brigadoon was a sham, a mockery, a Shamrockery of real Ireland and a remarkable exhibition of plastic paddyness. But at least it was confined to the Irish abroad and those foreigners desperate to find some trace of green in their blood.
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n songwriter Eric Bogle
Eric Bogle
Eric Bogle is a folk singer-songwriter. He emigrated to Australia in 1969 and currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia.-Career:...
wrote and recorded a song titled "Plastic Paddy". In Spiked
Spiked (magazine)
Spiked is a British Internet magazine focusing on politics, culture and society from a humanist and libertarian viewpoint.- Editors and contributors :...
, Brendan O'Neill uses the term to describe "second-generation wannabe" Irishmen, and writes that some of those guilty of "Plastic Paddyism" (or, in his words, "Dermot-itis") are Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
, and Shane MacGowan
Shane MacGowan
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...
. British Mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
fighter Dan Hardy
Dan Hardy
Dan Hardy is an English professional mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2004, Hardy fought in various promotions such as Cage Force and Cage Warriors before signing a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2008. He was...
has called American fighter Marcus Davis
Marcus Davis
Marcus Paul Davis , is an Irish-American mixed martial artist. He currently fights as a welterweight. He was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 2 on Spike TV. He holds notable wins over Chris Lytle, Paul Taylor, Jonathan Goulet, and Shonie Carter.-Boxing career:Marcus began boxing at 14...
a "Plastic Paddy" due to Marcus' enthusiasm for his Irish ancestry. In the book Why I Am Still a Catholic: Essays in Faith and Perseverance by Peter Stanford
Peter Stanford
Peter James Stanford is an English writer, editor, journalist, and presenter. An alumnus of St Anselm's College, Birkenhead, he was the editor of The Catholic Herald, and a regular contributor to the New Statesman....
, the television presenter Dermot O'Leary
Dermot O'Leary
Dermot O'Leary is an English television and radio presenter. He established himself as a presenter of Big Brother's Little Brother on Channel 4 before moving on to The X Factor on ITV. O'Leary has also presented on the BBC and has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2...
describes his upbringing as "classic plastic paddy", where he would be "bullied in a nice way" by his own cousins in Wexford for being English "until anyone else there called me English and then they would stick up for me."
See also
- MockneyMockneyMockney is an affected accent and form of speech in imitation of Cockney or working class London speech, or a person with such an accent...
- More Irish than the Irish themselvesMore Irish than the Irish themselves"More Irish than the Irish themselves" is a phrase used in Irish historiography to describe a phenomenon of cultural assimilation in late medieval Norman Ireland....
- Wannabe
- Cultural cringeCultural cringeCultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is an internalized inferiority complex which causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries...
External links
- UK suffers from Plastic Paddy syndrome
- http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27838Man Who's 1/16 Irish Proud Of His Irish Heritage (satirical article from The OnionThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
)]