abstruse and insecure? irish immigrant identity in modern scotland

This article was downloaded by: [Eindhoven Technical University]On: 21 November 2014, At: 15:02Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Social Identities: Journal for theStudy of Race, Nation and CulturePublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/csid20

Abstruse and Insecure? IrishImmigrant Identity in ModernScotlandJoseph M . BradleyPublished online: 25 Aug 2010.

To cite this article: Joseph M . Bradley (1996) Abstruse and Insecure? Irish Immigrant Identityin Modern Scotland, Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture, 2:2,293-310, DOI: 10.1080/13504639652349

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504639652349

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information(the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor& Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warrantieswhatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions andviews of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. Theaccuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independentlyverified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liablefor any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages,and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly inconnection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/csid20

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080/13504639652349

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504639652349

Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Social Identities, Volume 2, Number 2, 1996 293

Abstruse and Insecure?Irish Immigrant Identity in Modern Scotland

JOSEPH M. BRADLEYGlasgow Caledonian University

ABSTRACT: This paper will look at the religious and political identitie s that for manypeople have come to characterize Scottish football. Such a characterization is particularlyevident in the case of the two major clubs in Scotland; the ’Old Firm’ of GlasgowRangers and Celtic. Nonetheless, Scotland is not unique in its sport acquiring an extra-sporting dimension and football in particular often has broader political resonance. AsHoberman opines (in Sugden and Bairner, 1993, p. 10), sport has no intrinsic valuestructure, but it is a ready and flexible vehicle through which ideological associations canbe reinforced. Put another way, sport can become an important pointer to features of thewider society. It can reflect both the positive and negative features of a society as wellas feed aspects of those features. For many people, sport, particularly football, hasacquired the capacity to become both a source for, and a reflection of, important social,political and cultural identities . This article argues that such identitie s are intrinsic toScottish football. Football is also symptomatic of the ongoing conflicts of identity thathave become important to Scottish life, especially since the influx of Catholic immigrantsfrom Ireland began in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Background

From around the 1870s, football began to have a significant role in Scottish life.In the last years of the century, Celtic Football Club became a primary symbolfor the then growing Irish immigrant community in the west of the country.This paper will discuss aspects of the social and political role that Celtic FootballClub has played for the Irish in Scotland. It will also focus on Celtic as a meansto look at some important features of the relationship between the immigrantCatholic Irish and native Scots Protestants; a relationship primarily distinguishedby the respective groups’ religious identities.

For many people who have written on religious identity in Scotland, theconcept of sectarianism has been a crucial one. The first section of this paperwill highlight some of the problems with that concept. Second, I will discussfacets of the histories of Rangers and Celtic Football Clubs. Some features of theethno-religious cleavage which has developed between Celtic and other elementsin Scottish football will be reflected upon in the third part of the paper. The

1350–4630/96/020293–19 © 1996 Journals Oxford Ltd

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14

294 Joseph M. Bradley

penultimate section will look at contemporary Irish identity in Scotland, whilethe concluding part will provide a context for that identity.

Sectarianism

Many academic and popular works recognize the deep lying nature ofProtestantism within Scotland. For Gallagher (1991, pp. 19–43),

Presbyterianism was not just a state religion but, for more than threecenturies, defined Scots to one another and to the rest of the world.

Nonetheless, although some authors refer to the anti-Catholic nature of muchof Scottish Protestantism, to date there has only been limited reference to theimpact this has made on modern Scottish society. There has also been littleacademic attention paid to the consequences of Irish Catholic immigration toScotland in the decades following the great Irish famine of the mid-nineteenthcentury as well as the Protestant-Catholic cleavage which evolved from theresultant social, religious and ethnic mix.

Where attention has been given to this area of study, it has often been partial.One of the key problems with much of the literature is that it operates with anarrow understanding of religious identity using sectarianism as a key concept.As such, most authors ignore the multi-faceted nature of religious identity inScotland. For example, although an important work, Gallagher adopts suchlanguage in his book, Glasgow: the Uneasy Peace:

If sectarianism is still capable of a last hurrah in Scotland, the evidencepresented in these pages suggests that it will not be on the same scalewitnessed in Northern Ireland. (1987, p. 354)

Murray’s popular look at religious cleavage in Scottish society uses a similarterminology:

Scotland’s segregated education system is still the biggest hurdle toovercome in the elimination of sectarianism. (Murray, 1984, p. 275)

Similarly, Scottish newspapers have over the years consistently referred tosectarianism in reporting on issues from Irish political demonstrations to debateson the controversial subject of Catholic schools in Scotland. In its Scottishcontext, sectarianism has been utilized as a concept to ‘explain away‘ areas ofScottish life which have remained unaddressed or obscured. Of course, the useof the term ‘sectarianism’ is appropriate in a number of instances, certainlywhen applied to narrow mindedness, bigotry and intolerance. However, theterm has evolved to become a catch-all and evasive phrase to describe manyaspects of religious, national, political and cultural identities in Scottish society.It also serves to hide the identity of the Irish in Scotland.

Of course, some of these commentators might be partly motivated by a wishto see a more secular society. Gallagher‘s support for Scottish nationalist ideasfor example, may have affected some of his conclusions, because he wishes tosee established a new Scottish identity which will not be cross-cut by religiouscleavage. For Gallagher, the Irish have already taken too long to equipthemselves with an identity for living in Scotland (Gallagher, 1991, pp. 19–43).

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Abstruse and Insecure? Irish Immigrant Identity in Modern Scotland 295

Whether seeing such a proposition in a like sense to Gallagher, or simplyidentifying the conditions for their argument, this point is made more explicitlyby Ritchie and Dyer:

It would be even more helpful to the separatist cause if the Catholiccommunity could also lose its religious and political faith, allowing areinvented national community {and identity} to transcend historicdivisions. (Glasgow Herald, 25 September 1991)

This paper will demonstrate that Irish identity has often been marginalizeddue to the predominant use of the term sectarianism in relation to ethnic andreligious identity in Scotland. This also leads us to the question of why footballin Scotland says something important about this marginalization and theresultant abstruse nature of immigrant identity.

The ’Old Firm’

By the end of the 1880s, football was a popular game throughout Britain. InGlasgow, Brother Walfrid, a member of the Catholic Marist Order and some ofhis Irish-Catholic immigrant compatriots saw in the development of the gamean opportunity to raise money and feed the poor (largely immigrant Irish) of theeast end of the city.

At the time of Celtic’s founding, the vast majority of Catholics in the countrywere from Ireland and the words Catholic and Irish were interchangeable in thewest of Scotland. All the club’s founders were expatriate Irishmen or of Irishstock, and the new club’s support was drawn largely from the swelling Irishcommunity in Glasgow. The donations to charity frequently included some toexclusively Irish causes such as the Evicted Tenant’s Fund, then an importantaspect of Irish nationalist politics. Off the field, the national question was ofcrucial importance to Celtic’s founders as it was to many in the immigrantcommunity. Club officials, players and supporters alike, were often involved inpolitics — supporting Irish Home Rule, campaigning for the release of Irishpolitical prisoners, opposing what they viewed as British imperialism in the BoerWar in South Africa and supporting the contentious petition for Catholic schoolsto be maintained within the state system.

Although Irish football clubs existed in other parts of Scotland, antagonismtowards manifestations of Catholicism and Irishness alienated these footballclubs and many were forced to go out of existence (Finn, 1991). However, it wasthe successes of Celtic, as well as good organisation and an apt location, whichenabled them to become established (Campbell and Woods, 1986, pp. 11–26).Although they were to become the most significant of the Irish teams inScotland, Celtic’s presence and subsequent success also caused them problems.In 1896 Celtic and Hibernian (an Edinburgh side which had also emerged fromthe Irish community there) were top of the Scottish league, prompting anewspaper, Scottish Sport, to note the dominance in Scotland of two Irish teamsand asking where was the Scottish team that could challenge them (Murray,1984, p. 31).

The most noteworthy counter to the success of Celtic was Glasgow Rangers.Finn opines that like many Scottish clubs, from its earliest days Rangers had a

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


significant Protestant and increasingly anti-Catholic and anti-Irish character.Although Rangers had existed for around fifteen years before Celtic their earlyyears had not been marked by any significant degree of success. Nonetheless,a steady growth in their winning of trophies and finances meant that Rangersgradually answered the question asked by Scottish Sport. Rangers, through theirability to halt the Irish dominance of Scottish football, assumed a pre-eminentrole in defending native prestige. They attracted the strongest attention in the‘sporting‘ battle with Celtic. Football enthusiasts naturally liked success and thisattracted many people to support Rangers. Invariably the nationalist or ethnicdimension to this particular rivalry proved potent to many Rangers fans. Therivalry that emerged between the two clubs led to them being labelled the ’OldFirm’, a half admiring and half distasteful sobriquet which reflected the amountof money that was being generated in matches between the clubs.

It was perhaps inevitable that the early successes of the Irish football club inthe west of Scotland, which enhanced the self-image of that community, addedanother dimension to the antagonism shown towards Irish immigrants. Theintolerance displayed towards Irish Catholics in Scotland was partly reflected inthe development of football. Most football clubs grew out of pre-existing socialrelationships and many had political, national and religious dimensions to them.As a result, a complex mixture of sport, culture, tradition, nationalism, religionand politics were closely linked to the establishment and evolution of manyclubs in Scotland, but particularly, Rangers and Celtic. Both clubs symbolize theinter-relationship between religious identity and society in Scotland.

Fans, Supporters and Followers: Symbols of Identity

In 1988 the following ‘football letter‘ appeared in Scotland‘s most popularSunday newspaper, The Sunday Mail:

On holiday in Scotland, I watched football in Aberdeen, Dundee,Edinburgh and Glasgow and it was first class. Certainly better thananything I‘ve seen down here. The only thing that puzzled me was whenCeltic played Dundee at Parkhead the home fans {Celtic‘s} were allwaving the Republic of Ireland flag. How confusing! (1 May 1988)

At an national level, such ’confusions’ are also manifest. After a Scotlandversus Poland international match during May of 1990, the following letterappeared in the Daily Record:

I stood on the East Terracing {the traditional Celtic end of the nationalstadium}, puzzled by the sound of silence when Flower of Scotland {theunofficial Scottish national anthem} was played. I didn‘t realise there wereso many Polish immigrants in Scotland for the only spark round me waswhen Celtic double-act Dziekanowski and Wdowczyk were on the ball.(26 May 1990)

Because of their repetitiveness and thematic consistency such letters can beviewed as typical of a widespread perception that Celtic fans have little affinityfor the Scottish national team as well as other things Scottish. My survey of 1990

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


(Bradley, 1995) which asked Celtic fans which international side they supportedshowed that none indicated a preference for Poland.

Although identifying with the Scottish national team is seen by the widercommunity (including the media) as being ‘natural‘, this is not the view of Celticfans. Indeed, my survey evidence confirms this, with most Celtic fans beingantagonistic towards or ambivalent about, the fortunes of the Scottish nationalside; almost 55% say they ‘never‘ attend the Scottish team matches. This incontrast to the 85–90% of other Scottish clubs fans who either always orsometimes attend the games of the national team. In fact, a majority of Celticfans (52%) state that they support the Republic of Ireland. Such findings reflectthe diverse character of the game in Scottish society, and are a more subtleindicator of an identity infrequently recognized in Scotland, except in sectarianterms.

Celtic fans have long made known their Irish allegiances. As one of the club’smost famous players and managers, Jimmy McGrory made clear in hisdescription of a Celtic celebratory dinner in 1936; the toasts were to St Patrickand Our Homeland, while the night was rounded off with the singing of theIrish National Anthem (McGrory, 1975, p. 88). On tour of the USA in 1931, thehosts of the club requested that Celtic play under the flag of the Irish Republicand be introduced to the sound of the Irish National Anthem, such was theirassociation with Ireland (Rangers had previously played in the USA for Scotlandand the Union Jack, see Murray, 1984, p. 66). Irish patriotic songs, ballads andemblems have a significant role among the Celtic support.

Nonetheless, the Irishness of Celtic has been a matter of disdain for otherelements in Scotland. Just as Hibernian’s Irishness had given them problemswhen they applied to join the Scottish League, the pressure upon Celtic toremove their ’offending’ Irish symbols and associations has long been a featureof Scottish society. The importance of symbols has been crucial to peoplethroughout history. Indeed, Elliott and Hickie referring to the importance ofsymbols in the Northern Irish conflict state that ’the demand is for the other sideto give up its symbols or ideology’ (1971, p. 72). This notion has a bearing onIrish symbolism in Scotland.

In 1952 the traditional flying of the Irish national flag at Celtic Park came tothreaten the place of Celtic in Scottish football. Celtic’s official club historian intheir centenary year states that ’an attempt was made to force Celtic out ofbusiness if they would not agree to remove the Irish flag from their homeground’ (Wilson, 1988, p. 94). The controversy arose after spectator trouble inthe match between Celtic and Rangers in January of that year. After somerecommendations of the Magistrates’ Committee of Glasgow Corporation inrelation to future crowd disturbances, the Scottish Football Associationeventually decided that, among other things, both clubs avoid the display of anyflag or emblem which has no association with this country or the game. Thereality was that Celtic was the only club that flew a flag which could beconstrued as having nothing to do with Scotland. They also had shamrocks ontheir corner flags and had a reserve strip which incorporated a large shamrockon its breast. Robert Kelly, the Chairman of Celtic, saw this as an attack upon

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


the nature of the club as well as upon the Irishness of Catholics in Scotland. Intwo speeches to a lay Catholic organization, Kelly stated:

It is necessary that Catholics should become more and more organized,because at present in the west of Scotland they are not making theirpresence sufficiently felt in proportion to their number.

We have no need to be ashamed of our fathers, nor have we any cause tobe ashamed that those founders {of Celtic} came from that country thathas provided protagonists for liberty wherever they have settled. (Wilson,1988, pp. 97–98)

Celtic were ordered to take down the flag or be suspended from football inScotland. The SFA adopted the recommendations by a vote of 26 to 7, thusshowing the strength of feeling against Celtic. With the support of the Celticfollowers, Kelly did not comply with the order and was determined to protectthe identity of the club; the Irish flag would remain or Celtic would indeed stopplaying. At one point Kelly considered introducing gaelic games to Celtic Parkif the SFA instruction was to be carried out.

Nonetheless, the SFA lacked recourse to their own laws in enforcing theirdemand. Most clubs eventually waned in their attack on Celtic recognizing thatthe income generated by them was a major factor in Scottish football’s vibrancy.The furore eventually died down and Celtic continued to fly the Irish flag,though its presence, viewed as a symbol of sectarianism, remains a point ofcontroversy for many in Scotland.

Although historically an Irish club, Celtic’s involvement in Scottish footballallowed for the participation of the Catholic community in a popular facet of thelarger society. Football and Celtic were thus avenues for interaction andintegration with the host community, despite the ethnic competitiveness of thegame itself. Nonetheless, the example of the flag has become a symbol of a non-recognition of the immigrant population (now mainly Scottish born) by the hostcommunity. For many Catholics, this example showed them that neither theirCatholicism nor their Irishness were acceptable to significant sections of society.They believed that all vestiges of Irishness had to be removed if acceptance wasto be possible. No reference was made during the debate in relation to Rangerspolicy of refusing to sign Roman Catholic players. Indeed, for some sections ofthe Catholic community the lack of attention to this matter equated with a formof endorsement or acceptance of the policy. For many Catholics and Celticsupporters, it seemed that an opportunity had emerged to challenge the natureof Celtic, and thus part of the identity of the immigrant population of westcentral Scotland. In time, such pressures would invariably impact upon theIrishness of Catholics in Scotland.

Anti-Irish and anti-Catholic feeling in Scotland has rarely been uniform. Formany individuals, organisations and communities, it is a complex and differ-entiated phenomenon. Also, for other Scots, it has no part to play in their lives.Nonetheless, the history of ethno-religious cleavage in Scotland has meant thatopposition and prejudice towards the immigrant community has been wide-spread, has clearly had a wider resonance in Scottish society and has not beenrestricted to the Irishness of Celtic or the club’s followers.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


Cooney asserts that as late as 1938 the Church and Nation Committee of theChurch of Scotland emphasised; ’the elementary right of a nation to control andselect its immigrants’ (1982, p. 19). The debate which had resulted in such a wayof thinking was conducted solely with Irish Catholics in mind. In fact, Brown(1991, pp. 19–45) states that from around the time of the Education Act(Scotland) 1918, until the outbreak of the Second World War, there was an’official’ Presbyterian campaign against the Irish Catholic community inScotland. This campaign was both institutional and popular, and is viewed byBrown as an attempt at ’marginalizing, and even eliminating an ethnic minoritywhose presence was regarded as an evil, polluting the purity of Scottish raceand culture’ (p. 21).

The pre-Second World War period seems to have been fertile for suchactivities as well as a time when they were acceptable to and supported by, thewider society. Such sentiments found expression in popular literature, forexample in the works of Andrew Dewar Gibb (later to become Regius Professorof Scots Law at Glasgow University) and of journalist George Malcolm Thomson(see Gallagher, 1987, pp. 168–72). Political activists, like Alexander Ratcliffe andJohn McCormick, gained success at the ballot by declaring similar anti-Irish andanti-Catholic opinions. Other significant political figures at the time reflectedthese widespread feelings regarding the Irish in Scotland. Lord Scone believedthat

culturally the Irish population ... has not been assimilated into the Scottishpopulation. It is not my purpose to discuss now whether the Irish cultureis good or bad, but merely to state the definite fact that there is in thewest of Scotland a completely separate race of alien origin practicallyhomogeneous whose presence there is bitterly resented by tens ofthousands of the Scottish working-class. (Hansard, 261, 24 November 1932,p. 245)

More recently, in 1989 ex-British Cabinet minister, Norman Tebbit,demonstrated a comparable attitude when he suggested a novel type of crickettest (or loyalty test). Asian immigrants’ integration could be tested by askingwhich cricket team they supported; England or Pakistan/India. He went on tosuggest

that those who continue to cheer for India and Pakistan, are wanting inBritishness ... that the only satisfactory way to be an Asian in Britain wasto cease being Asian. (quoted by Ignatieff, Sunday Observer, 16 September1990)

The cricket test, in its form as a ’football test’, has also been applied regularlyby the Scottish/British press in the 1980s and 1990s as it became common forsecond and third generation Irish to represent and support the Republic ofIreland in international football.1 Depreciative comment has characterized thesuccess of the Irish football team. The logic underpinning this discourse wasexposed by a respected British journalist:

the assertion that we are one people, has always been a lie used to justifythe unjust dominance of one group (whites, Protestants or Anglo-Saxons,

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


for example) over the society as a whole. (Lively, Sunday Observer, 22 July1990)

Such cases, which in themselves might be seen as insignificant and normallyunrelated comment, could be repeated many times and reflect an historicallywell developed broad ideological and attitudinal position. Although today theovert statements and activities of half a century ago are unlikely to gain thecurrency they once had, this is largely due to the growth of a secular societywith its cultural and social implications (including a political correctness whichinvolves popular conceptions of ’liberalism’), and also, to social and politicalprogress made by the offspring of the Irish in Scotland. Although thepublications and assertions of some Protestant Churches, organizations andindividuals are clearly anti-Irish and anti-Catholic (See Bradley, 1995), contemp-orary and more widespread antagonisms are of a generally more subtle nature.Nonetheless, in its present recycled form it remains a feature of modern societywhich continues to have an impact upon Irish identity in Scotland.

One recent example emerged from a writer to The Glasgow Herald newspaper,when replying to a Celtic supporter’s attack on Ranger’s supposed anti-Catholicpractices. He wrote:

I suggest that, when the flag of a foreign and frequently hostile state,whose constitution impudently claims sovereignty over part of the UnitedKingdom, and whose land and people the present pope has declared tobe ’Mary’s Dowry’, no longer flies from the mast-head of ’Paradise’, theremay be, I say only may be, less ’bigoting’ in the stands of Ibrox.(Campbell, Glasgow Herald , 5 May 1990)

The foreign state is the Republic of Ireland, Mary is the Virgin Mary andParadise is the colloquial Celtic language for Celtic Park. In such views, religion,politics and football are compounded. In addition, in this example, the idea isforwarded that manifestations of Irishness and Catholicism are to blame for’sectarianism’ in Scotland.

The presence of the Irish flag at Celtic Park continues to invite antagonisticcomment.2 A number of Scottish sports writers have criticized its presence.When Rangers fans became notorious in riots at stadia in England in the late1960s and 1970s, and the discussion of football hooliganism took on a sectariandimension, the Scottish press frequently balanced discourse of Rangers ’noCatholics’ policy with mention of the symbols of Celtic (as well as Catholicschools). For example, in the wake of Rangers supporters rioting in Birminghamin 1976, The Daily Record, recognizing that too strong a criticism might harmtheir mainly Protestant readership, and despite the fact that events had takenplace in England, tempered their editorial criticism of rioting fans by stating thatCeltic should be ’willing to be recognized as a sporting bastion of Catholicism.They must bear a share of the guilt’.3

Since the re-emergence of the ’Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, Celticsupporters’ associations with Ireland and with Irish nationalism have been givenfresh impetus for many who are hostile to both. In Scotland, and in Britaingenerally, antagonism towards many things Irish is further fuelled by a popularperception of the Irish nationalist cause solely characterized as one of mindless

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


violence. Contributing to this assessment is a deficiency in analysis characterizedby a lack of reference to either history or context.

Celtic fans and Catholics’ association with favouring a united Ireland(Bradley, 1995; Mitchell, 1992) is at odds with many in the Scottish population,and decidedly in opposition to those groups who are distinctively Protestant. Avast number of Celtic supporter and associated functions traditionally involvesreference to patriotic and nationalist singing. The main sentiment is one of apolitical and cultural aspiration to Ireland as an independent and re-unitedcountry. The mixture of opinions with regards to how ’the cause’ of Ireland ispursued involves a number of strands of support for Irish nationalism(traditional, militant, constitutional, etc).4

Non-Celtic supporters do not always share social and political attitudes.However, it is at all times the Celtic, and thus the overwhelmingly ‘Catholic‘team‘s support5, which is distinct. Celtic provides the platform on which manyCatholics relate to their ethnic-religious identity and the community to whichthey belong and, just as importantly, the one to which they do not. Almost fourin five of male Catholic mass attenders surveyed, from all classes, ages andeducational backgrounds, mentioned Celtic as the football team which theysupported. Even among the few women football supporters, over three in fiveCatholics named Celtic as their favourite soccer side. Similarly, other ‘Catholic’organizations have close contact with Celtic; so 96% of the members of the IrishRepublican political solidarity movement and the Irish cultural bodies surveyednamed Celtic as their favourite football club.

Aspects of Contemporary Irish Identity

In the three centuries following the Reformation the Scottish Catholic Churchencouraged a low profile in all spheres of political and social life. The Churchmade up around 1% of the Scottish population in 1791 but, in the main due toIrish immigration to Scotland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, thatpercentage rose until Catholics numbered 446,000 in 1901, and almost 800,000today — around 15–16%. The Irishness of the immigrant community proved tobe a problem even for the indigenous Catholics of Scotland. The incomers’poverty and their predilection for Irish politics (which remain a part of theBritish political landscape) upset the safe margins of society that ScottishCatholics had come to be tolerated within.

As some of the issues in relation to Celtic Football Club have shown,arguments over Irish identity in Scotland remain a cause for contention andconfusion. The editorial staff of a number of Catholic newspapers periodicallycriticize Catholics who express Irishness, especially if it is seen as being at theexpense of a Scottish identity. After one such newspaper attack upon the Irishin Scotland (Scottish Catholic Observer, 19 October 1990), a number of readersanswered back:

Not for a long time have I witnessed the heritage of possibly 90% ofCatholics in Scotland being so overtly dismissed and disregarded, if notindeed attacked ... Most of my own social experiences here in Scotland are

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


still very much of an Irish kind. (Scottish Catholic Observer, 2 November1990)

How close one wants to stay to one’s roots is of course a personaldecision and the ethnic Irish certainly don’t need any lectures on ’valuingIrish ancestry above a Scottish birth’. It is hardly the function of aCatholic paper nor indeed of the Church to tell people where theirloyalties should lie. Too many people in the Church in Scotland areashamed of, and want to hide our Irish ancestry, this is why we neverhear them decrying those of Italian or Polish descent who are not all thatbothered about a Scottish birth either. (Scottish Catholic Observer, 16November 1990)

Over the past few decades Celtic Football Club literature has also been notedfor comment on the wider nature of these questions. While the Celtic fanzineNot The View (November 1990, no. 24), makes small reference to Celtic’s Irishorigins and stresses its intention to ’studiously avoid’ the emotive subject ofIreland (itself a reflection of the difficulty over things Irish in Scotland), analternative Celtic fanzine, Tiocfaidh Ar La is dominated by both the Irishness ofthe Club and the militant Irish nationalist tradition of large numbers of the fans.Since the 1960s the Celtic View has also reflected some elements of the debate(for example, 3 August 1966 and 2 December 1987). Questions relating to Celticfans’ lack of attachment to the Scottish international side were also echoed intwo Celtic pre-match programmes during 1991.

It was a little sad some Celtic supporters, Scots born and bred, seemedcompletely non-plussed by Scotland’s achievement {in reaching theEuropean Championship Finals} and that a number of these people wouldhave been happier to see the Republic of Ireland reach Sweden. Thisreflects on no-one. Certainly it is only right in view of Celtic’s many tieswith Ireland that supporters should feel an affinity with the Republic ofIreland and want them to do well, but surely this should not be inpreference to the place of their birth. (Celtic Programme, 30 November1991)

If a Celtic fan wishes to support Scotland, Ireland or both then good luckto him/her...but the highs and lows of the Scottish side hold little interestfor many of us. If we wish the Irish success then we’re quite entitled todo so. (Celtic Programme, 14 December 1991)

One of the most significant factors affecting Irish identity in Scotland, andone that is in itself related to Scottish/British anti-Catholicism, has been thehistoric relationship between Ireland and Britain. Although many Catholicsmaintain links with their country of origin, the historical hostility and alienationthey have experienced within this relationship along with a re-cycled version ofearlier British colonial attitudes towards Ireland and the Irish, have given riseto much, if not most, of the uncertainty with respect to Irish identity.

In the last century and in the early decades of the twentieth century, muchanti-Irishness in Britain was viewed in genetic terms (Miles, 1982). Early in thiscentury, a cartoon published in a Scottish football newspaper depicted two Old

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


Firm players in a bar playing pool. The cartoon portrayed the Celtic player as’typically’ Irish, dumb with grotesque and brutish facial features. The Rangersplayer was handsome and with intelligent looking eyes. The cartoon wascaptioned ’Apes and Aryans’.6

Although there are fewer examples of this kind of racism today, in recentdecades antagonism towards Celtic reflects the fact that the content of theprevious stereotype has been adapted so that the emphasis is upon socio-cultural rather than genetic factors. Nonetheless, and crucially, the form andcontent retain the consequence of identifying the minority both as the ’problem’and as the originators of that ’problem’. As Finn says of anti-black prejudice inthe USA, its present emphasis is on socio-cultural factors rather than on genetic(1991, p. 73). In other words, racism, which had at its centre a conception ofblacks as racially inferior, remains an aspect of life in the USA, but its form,relevance and force will be subject to conditions and circumstances. As aconsequence, racist discourse has also changed.

In a related sense, much of the religious ’problem’ in Scotland is viewed assectarian, and many of the social and political attributes of Catholic and Irishidentity in Scotland are judged through a discourse of sectarian concepts andlanguage. As a result, not only are Celtic Football Club and their supportregularly seen as sectarian, but also, Catholic schools, Irish symbols in Scotland,support for a united Ireland, and occasionally, the historically strong linksbetween Catholics and the Labour Party are also viewed in these terms.Therefore, the origins of sectarianism in Scotland is located with Irish Catholicimmigrants, in how they have contributed to change in the socio-political make-up of the country, how they lack affinity for important elements of Scottish andBritish nationhood and how their institutions, beliefs and practices areimpediments to Scottish progress.7 In a football sense, this is evident in thecriticism frequently levelled at the many Celtic supporters who do not giveallegiance to the Scottish team.8

However, many Catholics in Scotland also have an identity in relation to bothIreland and Scotland which varies in intensity and emphasis depending oncircumstance and environment. ‘Irishness‘, for a large number of people, hasbecome privatized and is ‘reduced‘ in many cases to support for Celtic, StPatrick‘s celebrations, calling children by Irish forenames and retainingsuppressed political feelings on the ‘Irish‘ problem. The formative influences ofthe Irish identity have changed. Part of the reason for this however, is that thereexist few structured means of expressing ‘Irishness‘. It is an identity ofteninsecure and with little sense of future. This community can be either Irish orScottish in certain settings, but on the whole its members find it difficult todefine and articulate their identity.

Identity itself can often be a source of confusion, inconsistency and evenanxiety. Individuals may find it difficult to define their identity, its origins anddevelopment. In addition, to a greater or lesser degree we are also culturalhybrids (Martin, 1995). Nonetheless, the inability or desire not to articulate anIrish background is partly the result of Scotland/Britain‘s relationship withIreland over a period of hundreds of years, and partly as a result of constantexposure to a dominating indigenous culture and identity. Irish identity in

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


Scotland has been shaped by the immigrant‘s experiences. Over and above theCeltic football experience, the Irish, like immigrants in many other countries,have often thought that the best way to survive was to keep a low profile.

Much Irish identity in Scotland stands out as Catholic. A sense of thisidentity continues to act as a reference in a political and cultural sense. Keyesstates (1976, p. 208),

While ethnic groups are based fundamentally on the idea of shareddescent {in this case religion is an intricate part of this ‘sharing‘}, theytake their particular form as a consequence of the structure of intergrouprelations.

With Protestantism being a key to much Scottish identity, these relations havebeen almost exclusively of a Protestant/Catholic type. In addition, Britishcolonialism in Ireland is crucial to our understanding of modern Irish identityin Scotland. Davey states (1983, p. 8),

For centuries Britain had a master servant relationship with their colonialsubjects in different parts of the world. Not only was the relationshipeconomically and politically exploitative but Britons convinced themselvesthat the subjugation of other cultures was a moral necessity ... Now,having laid down the white man‘s burden, it is still thought natural forwhites to expect preferment over blacks, and the disadvantaged positionof the non-white immigrant is taken as natural.

We can thus consider Britain’s long colonial relationship with Ireland aspersistently undermining Irish identity (religion, culture, language, etc.).

Hickman (1990, p. 257), argues that the wider process of ‘incorporationentailed pressure on the Irish to deny their Irishness or to be invisible and silentabout their identity‘. She sees the efforts by the indigenous Catholic Church inBritain to lessen and restrict the Irish identity of their recent Catholic flock assuccessful to the point at which the Irish joke (in which the Irish are portrayedas stupid and ‘thick‘) is acceptable and there is a contemporary widespreadassociation of violence and the IRA with all things Irish. In relation to theNorthern Ireland conflict the process of debate is stunted and aborted and theresult is a silencing of discussion and political and cultural activity by innuendoand association.9 Therefore, people with certain deviant identities becomemarginalized. Self perceptions of Irishness are thus devalued. This reinforces aprocess of conformity and assimilation (rather than integration).

Hickman (1990) demonstrates how British government policy, allied with theintentions of the English Catholic hierarchy, strove to lessen the Irishness, de-politicize, as well as increase the class respectability of, the massive numbers ofIrish offspring in Britain. In Scotland, this process was reflected in the cases ofBishop Murdoch and Bishop Scott and the ‘The Free Press‘ controversy.10 Aconservative, Catholic community, which referred little to its heritage, was oneof the social and political goals of the hierarchy. There has always been little orno reference to Ireland in a British school curriculum that stresses a commonAnglo-Saxon and Scottish heritage. In the past, ‘the teaching of subjects otherthan religion differed very little in Catholic elementary schools‘ (Hickman, 1990,

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


p. 176). Thus, if the British and/or Scottish identity was being reinforced via theeducation system for the indigenous population, it invariably had a significanteffect upon the Irish identity, while, in the longer term, possibly alsoundermining Catholicism itself.

The colonial aspect of the relationship between Protestant/British andCatholic/Irish identities is crucial to any analysis which seeks to make clear thecomplexities of these identities. Colonialism cannot exist unless the conquerorsees himself as superior and the conquered as inferior. In this relationship thenative will invariably be conscious of his/her low self-esteem and inferiority, ifthe wisdom of the colonist is held up to be truthful and persuasive. Justificationof discrimination will be sought; denigration of the native culture, religion,language and identity is an inevitable outcome. Curtis stresses that thisdenigration is tied up with British colonialism and its corollary of Britishsuperiority and native inferiority. She cites examples of this ‘anti-Irish racism‘as far back as the twelfth century and rising to peaks at the times of overtIrish/British conflict. Almost inevitably, this attitude has relevance for today‘sdiscord in Northern Ireland. In fact, Curtis (1984, p. 79–96) argues that:

Just as in previous centuries, the Irish are regularly depicted in the pressand on television as stupid, drunken and backward.

The writer concludes with reference to the contemporary Irish joke in Britishsociety:

In a situation where the Irish are constantly denigrated, and where thewar in the North is blamed on Irish ‘irrationality‘ rather than Britishpolicy, it is scarcely surprising that the centuries-old, anti-Irish joke hasflourished once again.

Such a consciousness pervades many references to Ireland by both Scots andBritish commentators. Davey (introduction, 1983) highlights similar prejudice inthe treatment of black/brown immigrants in English society. He argues that:

their cultures are negatively evaluated and they are under constantpressure to adopt British habits, customs and values which they areassured will make a better way of life for them.

The relationships between Britain and Ireland and Protestants and Catholicshave always involved the domination of one group over another. Conflict hasbeen present from the very first manifestations of this assertion of power, whichaimed at eventually subordinating the Irish/Catholics and taking away theirmeans of expression. Conflict is a result of domination. The British/Protestantssought to establish, through the course of the conflict, the foundations of theirdomination and tried to impose the legitimacy and universality of their normsand cultures on the subordinated group. In the Scottish context, the relationshipof domination/subordination was reinforced because the subordinate Catholicgroup was a minority immigrant group considered as deviants by the majorityProtestant community.

In Scotland, Irish and Catholic identities have been undermined by thedominance of the Protestant group. Certainly, the conclusions of Hickman and

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


of Curtis suggest that large numbers of Irish people have underplayed theirIrish, and in some circumstances Catholic, identity. Likewise, while the writerwas carrying out the empirical part of this study some interviewees expressedtheir inhibitions in calling their children by Irish/Catholic forenames. In someinstances, the Irish part of their identity was too difficult for them to recognize,they were inclined more towards a Scottish name or a name that had little to dowith a conscious identity. In other cases however, the reason that ‘my childwould never get a job‘ or ‘I don‘t want to be bigoted‘ were forwarded as therationale for such decisions.

Despite the strength of Irish identity in Scotland, this identity becomes lessclear if we explore the cultural nuances involved. The vast majority of Catholicsare not Scottish in the same ways as the host community, but they are alsounsure of what their Irishness involves. This uncertainty is one of the reasonswhy it is only in the context of Celtic and football that many people feelconfident enough to display this aspect of their identity and reject the culturaland national orthodoxies. Ironically, a great deal of the disdain and antagonismtowards the immigrant community has been channelled into the footballenvironment.

Negative attitudes towards Irish identity may also have damaged thereligious practice of the Catholic Irish community. At the very least, it seems tohave reduced the cultural barriers against Catholic secularization (Catholicschools can be seen from the Catholic perspective as staving off the worst effectsof secularization). This analysis has some substance because the Irish culturalbodies and Celtic fans surveyed in 1990, who are the two groups with the‘greatest‘ levels of Irish consciousness, are both seen to contain large proportionsof individuals with high levels of Catholic church attendance.

Hickman stresses that ‘ideologies of superiority and inferiority alwaysaccompany colonization‘ (1990, p. 18). Despite its variations, the Protestant/Catholic relationship in Scotland today can be viewed partly as an extension of,and, subsequently a different setting for, the British–Scots/Irish colonialrelationship.

In Perspective

In the recent past there has been a tendency among some commentators onreligious identities and cleavage in Scotland to misunderstand their origins,significance and implications. This has resulted in a predominance in the use ofthe term sectarianism, a term lacking in context and penetration. However, it hasalso been a term in virtue of which the blame for many of the ethno-religiousproblems within Scottish society has been directed towards the Irish and theIrishness of the immigrant community. Therefore, in the context of Britain’scolonial relations with Ireland and the Irish, it has also had an ideological edgefor the continued marginalization and eradication of Irish identity.

Football in Scotland is a way of displaying affinity, but also separatenessand distinctiveness, that is identity. In Scotland, identity has, in part, beentransposed onto the rivalry between football teams, and the hostility which canresult from the conflict of identities is experienced in their sharpest forms in thefootball arena. Ideas concerning proximity, salience and circumstances are also

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


important to football. For a number of people, football raises the intensity ofthese identities because in this environment they are not subsumed. Football isa competitive situation by nature and in Scotland extra-religious features aredrawn into, and limited by, that competition.

Celtic is a substantial cultural activity that represents a symbol of acommunity otherwise indefinite and differentiated in its Irishness. For theCatholic Irish community, Celtic is the greatest single ethno-cultural focusbecause it provides the social setting and process through which thecommunity’s sense of its own identity and difference (a matter also clearlystated to them by the supporters of many other clubs) from the indigenouscommunity is sustained in and through a set of symbolic processes andrepresentations. In view of the antagonism and prejudice experienced by theIrish Catholic community in the late nineteenth century, the emergence of Celticactually allowed Catholics to participate in more aspects of the wider society.Although they retained their identity as Irish and Catholics, as a club thatrefused to embrace an exclusive identity Celtic showed that the immigrantcommunity were willing to integrate.

Celtic Football Club has obviously only become a focus for the display ofIrishness since the club was founded; drawing towards itself many of theemotions, sentiments and passions which might otherwise have been displayedelsewhere. Certain dimensions of anti-Catholicism developed within Scottishfootball in response to this social, cultural and political phenomenon. A Celticmatch against a number of other clubs involves the ’ceremonial reaffirmation ofmemories of past {and present} hostilities and unfinished business {and} is apowerful strategy of identity building’ (Rokkan and Urwin, 1983, p. 89). ForRangers and Celtic fans in particular, games are often viewed as opportunitiesfor para-political expression. Rivalry between the fans of both clubs (as well asbetween Celtic and other clubs) corresponds in a sense to the much largerreligious and colonial rivalries that are centuries old.

Dr Joseph M. Bradley is at the Social Sciences Department, Glasgow CaledonianUniversity , Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow, G4 OBA.

Notes

1. Such comment was particularly evident during the 1988 EuropeanChampionships and the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.

2. During current research among Scottish international football support acommon focus for dissatisfaction has been the presence of the Irish flag atCeltic Park.

3. Daily Record editorial, 13 October 76. Such was also the case in the late 1950swhen Glasgow’s Evening Citizen almost crashed financially after thepublication of an article critical of the Orange Institution. ’A readershipboycott ensued which caused such panic that Donald MacDonald, then ajournalist on the paper, recalls that nothing was written about the Order inthe Glasgow press for many years to come’, see Gallagher, 1987, p. 256.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


4. See Tiocfaidh Ar La and vocal support from large areas of the stadium. Thisis also clear from interviews with supporters. In addition, one Republicanpublication stated recently, ’one of our best areas for sales is Glasgow, so wewere surprised to find 60 copies of our last issue returned unsold. However,our puzzlement turned to sympathy when we read the accompanying note.’Enclosing some unavoidable returns which would have been sold atParkhead if Celtic hadn’t done so poorly this season’ (The Captive Voice,3 (2).

5. The survey found that the active Celtic support is 94% Catholic and 4%Protestant.

6. The Scottish Referee, 3 February 1905. Similar more recent commentdenigrating the Irish has originated from some writers in Glasgow and westof Scotland newspapers. See The Irish Post, 27 February 1993 for two suchreports.

7. See Ritchie and Dyer, The Herald, 25 and 26 September 1995. Another writeron the Irish in Scotland and the religious divisions therein also supportedthis idea in an interview with the author.

8. A further example of this kind of thinking is to be seen in a number ofarticles by The Herald ’s main sports journalist, James Traynor, in which heargues for a ’united’ support for the Scottish team. The appeal is essentiallyaimed towards Rangers fans’ Ulster-Loyalist culture and to Celtic fans’ Irishidentity. However, it is an appeal which exemplifies a lack of understandingof religious and ethnic identity in Scotland. Irish identity and anti-Catholicism are construed as opposites and therefore both are condemnedin the guise of ’neutrality’ and ’unity’. Despite its high claim (and one whichis a popular one), Traynor fails to recognize cultural and ethnic diversityand seeks to marginalize a large proportion of the Irish community byinvalidating their identity. Of course, in addition, Rangers fans are entitledto have a British identity above or alongside that of a Scottish one. A similarview was expressed by the same writer in a later column (22 August 1994,Sports Section, p. 9) which argued that Rangers in Europe in 1994 should besupported by everyone in Scotland. Everyone had to set aside their ’triviallittle loyalties’ while ’only the most bigoted’ would not allow themselves tosupport Rangers.

9. For example, in the wake of the IRA pub bombings in Birmingham, a DailyExpress feature on 23 November 1974, stated, ‘Today in Birmingham, if youare called Sean or Patrick, you do not boast about it‘). Sensationalistreporting of IRA violence creates and sustains an anti-Irish hysteria, whichin turn, undermines relations and perceptions in many communities (TheBritish Press Council upheld a complaint in early 1991 against the News ofthe World, ruling that the paper‘s assertion that ‘the IRA had murdered 2,758men, women and children since the present troubles in Ireland began wasinaccurate and misleading‘. The paper was criticized also for not publishinga correction until 15 weeks later. The correction of course being that violencein Northern Ireland has arguable origins whilst these deaths and others havebeen caused not only by the IRA, but also by loyalist/unionist and British

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


some of this anti-Irishness might be viewed as inevitable. Nonetheless, anhistorical and cultural perspective demonstrates that IRA atrocities are notrequired to give rise to anti-Irish sentiment, which it is argued here has itsroots in the justification of British colonialism in Ireland.

10. See Handley, 1964, and also Bernard Aspinwall, in Devine (ed.), 1990, p. 91.He says that the Catholic Church has acted as a far more integrating forcethan critics allow. Hickman is also of the belief that the Catholic Church inEngland/Britain was actually a vital instrument in this strategy (p. 150).

References

Aspinwall, B. (1986) ’Popery in Scotland: Image and Reality, 1820–1920’, ScottishChurch History Society Records, Vol. XX11, part 3, pp. 235–57.

Bradley, J.M. (1995) Religious Identity in Modern Scotland: Culture, Politics andFootball, Aldershot: Avebury.

Brown, C. (1987) The Social History of Religion in Scotland Since 1730, London:Methuen.

Brown, S.J. (1991) ‘Outside the Covenant’: the Scottish Presbyterian Churchesand Irish Immigration, 1922–1938, The Innes Review, XL11 (1, Spring): 19–45.

Brown, T.N. (1976) ‘The Origins and Character of Irish-American Nationalism‘,in L.J. McCaffrey (ed.) Irish Nationalism And The American Contribution, NewYork: Arno Press.

Bruce, S. (1985) No Pope of Rome: Anti-Catholicism in Modern Scotland: Edinburgh:Mainstream.

Campbell, T. and P. Woods (1986) The Glory and the Dream: the History of CelticFC, 1887–1986, Edinburgh: Mainstream.

Cooney, J. (1982) Scotland and the Papacy, Edinburgh: Paul Harris.Curtis, L. (1984) Ireland: the Propaganda War, Pluto Press.– (1988) Nothing but the Same Old Story: the Roots of Anti-Irish Racism, 5th edn,

London: Information on Ireland.Davey, A. (1983) Learning to be Prejudiced: Growing up in Multi-Ethnic Britain:

Edward Arnold.De Santis and Benkin, R. (1980) ’Ethnicity Without Community’, Ethnicity , 7 (2,

June).Devine, T.M. (ed.) (1991) Irish Immigrants and Scottish Society in the Nineteenth and

Twentieth Centuries, proceedings of the Scottish Historical Studies Seminar:University of Strathclyde, 1989/90, Edinburgh: John Donald publishers Ltd.

Elliott, R.S.P. and J. Hickie (1971) Ulster: a Case Study in Conflict Theory,Longman.

Finn, G.P.T. (1991) ‘Racism, Religion and Social Prejudice: Irish Catholic Clubs,Soccer and Scottish Society — 1. The Historical Roots of Prejudice’, TheInternational Journal of the History of Sport, 8 (1): 72–95.

– (1991) ‘Racism, Religion and Social Prejudice: Irish Catholic Clubs, Soccerand Scottish Society — 2 Social Identities and Conspiracy Theories‘, TheInternational Journal of the History of Sport, 8 (3): 370–97.

– (1994) ‘Faith, Hope and Bigotry: Case Studies of Anti-Catholic Prejudice inScottish Soccer and Society‘, Scottish Sport in the Making of the Nation; Ninety-Minute Patriots, Leicester: University Press.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14


Gallagher, T. (1981) ‘Catholics in Scottish Politics‘, Bulletin of Scottish Politics,1 (2).

– (1987) Glasgow: the Uneasy Peace, Manchester: University Press.– (1991) ‘The Catholic Irish in Scotland: in Search of Identity’, in T.M. Devine

(ed.) Irish Immigrants and Scottish Society in the Nineteenth and TwentiethCenturies , Edinburgh: John Donald.

Handley, J.E. (1964) The Irish in Scotland, Glasgow: John S. Burns & Sons(incorporating both (1943) The Irish in Scotland 1798–1845 and (1947) The Irishin Modern Scotland, Cork: University Press).

– (1964) The Celtic Story, London: Stanley Paul.Hickman, M. (1990) ‘A Study of the Incorporation of the Irish in Britain with

Special Reference to Catholic State Education: Involving a Comparison of theAttitudes of Pupils and Teachers in Selected Catholic Schools in London andLiverpool’, unpublished PhD, University of London.

Inglis, J. (1982) ‘The Irish In Britain: a Question Of Identity’, Irish Studies inBritain , 3 (Spring/Summer).

Keyes, C.F. (1976) ‘Towards a New Formulation of the Concept of EthnicGroup’, Ethnicity , 1 (3, September).

Kirkcaldy, J. (1981) ‘Irish Jokes: No Cause For Laughter‘, Irish Studies in Britain,2 (Autumn/Winter).

Maley, W. (1939) The Story of Celtic, printed Glasgow: Villafield Press.Martin, D.C. (1995) ‘The Choices of Identity‘, Social Identities , Journal for the Study

of Race, Nation and Culture, 1 (1): 5–20.Miles, R. (1982) Racism And Migrant Labour, Routledge and Kegan Paul.Mitchell, J. (1992) Religion and Politics In Scotland, presented at a seminar on

Religion and Scottish Politics, University of Edinburgh.Murray, B. (1984) The Old Firm: Sectarianism, Sport and Society in Scotland,

Edinburgh: John Donald.– (1988) Glasgow‘s Giants, 100 Years of the Old Firm, Edinburgh: Mainstream.McCaffrey, J. (1979) ‘Politics and the Catholic Community Since 1878‘, in

McRoberts (ed.) Modern Scottish Catholicism, 1878–1978, Glasgow: Burns.McGrory, J. (1975) A Lifetime in Paradise, edited by G. McNee, published by the

authors.McNee, G. (1978) The Story of Celtic, an Official History, 1888–1978, London:

Stanley Paul.McRoberts, D. (ed.) (1979) Modern Scottish Catholicism, 1878-1978, Glasgow:

Burns.O’Tuathaigh, M.A.G. (1985) ‘The Irish in Nineteenth Century Britain: Problems

of Integration, in Swift and Gilley (eds)Rokkan, S. and Urwin, D. (1983) Economy, Territory and Identity: Politics of West

European Peripheries, London: Sage.Sugden, J. and Bairner, A. (1993) Sport, Sectarianism and Society in a Divided

Ireland , Leicester: University Press.Tajfel, H. (ed.). (1981) Social Identity And Intergroup Relations, Cambridge:

University Press.Walker, G. and T. Gallagher (eds) (1990) Sermons and Battle Hymns; Protestant

Popular Culture in Modern Scotland, Edinburgh: University Press.Wilson, B. (1988) Celtic, a Century with Honour, London: Willow Books.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Ein

dhov

en T

echn

ical

Uni

vers

ity]

at 1

5:02

21

Nov

embe

r 20

14

abstruse and insecure? irish immigrant identity in modern scotland

Documents