Brigid, words, terms and slurs

I have written before on how the power in Irish magic, and indeed Brigid’s power, comes from words. But as I was recently browsing Wikipedia, as one does, I came across two entries. One on Ethnic slurs and one on Religious slurs. So, of course I dived in!

Term	Where used	Aimed at	Explanation
Bog / Bogtrotter / Bog-trotter	United Kingdom, Ireland, United States	Irish people	A person of common or low-class Irish ancestry.
Culchie	Ireland	Rural Irish people	Applied by townspeople or city folk as a condescending or pejorative reference to people from rural areas.
Dogan, dogun	Canada	Irish Catholics	19th century on; origin uncertain: perhaps from Dugan, an Irish surname.
Fenian	Northern Ireland, Scotland	Irish Catholics	Derived from the Fenian Brotherhood.
Jackeen	Ireland	Dublin people	Believed to be in reference to the Union Jack, the flag of the United Kingdom. By adding the Irish diminutive suffix -een meaning little to Jack thereby ¨meaning "Little Jack" and implying "little Englishmen". It was more commonly used to separate those of Anglo-Irish heritage from those of Gaelic heritage. While the term is applied to Dublin people alone; today, it was applied in the past as a pejorative term against all city dwellers and not just those in Dublin.
Knacker	Ireland	Irish Travelers
Lundy	Northern Ireland	Irish People	A unionist that sympathies with Nationalists in Northern Ireland. The name emanates from Robert Lundy, a former Governor of Londonderry during the Siege of Derry in 1688, who is reviled as being a traitor to protestants and as such, an effigy of him is burned each year.
Mick		Irish people
Paddy	United Kingdom	Irish people	Derived from Pádraig/Patrick. Often derogatory; however, the sister of Lord Edward FitzGerald, a major leader of the United Irishmen of 1798, proclaimed that he was "a Paddy and no more" and that "he desired no other title than this".
Paddy wagons		Irish people
Pikey / piky / piker	United Kingdom	Irish Travellers, Romani people, and vagrant lower-class/poor people	19th century on; derived from "turnpike".
Plastic Paddy	Ireland	Estranged Irish People	Someone who knows little of Irish culture, but asserts their 'Irish' identity. Can refer to foreign nationals who claim Irishness based solely on having Irish relatives. Often used in the same sense as poseur and wannabe.
Prod	Northern Ireland	Northern Irish Protestants
Shelta	Ireland	Irish Travellers	Derived from siúilta, which means "The Walkers" in Irish.
Shoneen	Ireland	Irish People	Irish Person who imitates English Customs. It means "Little John" in Irish language, referring to John Bull, a national personification of the British Empire in general and more specifically of England.
Smoked Irish/Smoked Irishman	United States	Black people	A 19th-century term intended to insult both blacks and Irish but used primarily for black people.
Taig (also Teague, Teg and Teig)	United Kingdom (primarily Northern Ireland)	Irish nationalists	Used by loyalists in Northern Ireland for members of the nationalist/Catholic/Gaelic community. Derived from the Irish name Tadhg, often mistransliterated as Timothy.
Tinker / tynekere / tinkere / tynkere, -are / tynker / tenker / tinkar / tyncar / tinkard / tynkard / tincker	Britain and Ireland	Lower-class people	An inconsequential person (typically lower-class) (note that in Britain, the term "Irish Tinker" may be used, giving it the same meaning as example as directly below).
	Scotland and Ireland	Romani people	Origin unknown – possibly relating to one of the "traditional" occupations of Romanis as traveling "tinkerers" or repairers of common household objects.
	Scotland	Native Scottish people	A member of the native community; previously itinerant (but mainly now settled); who were reputed for their production of domestic implements from basic materials and for repair of the same items, being also known in the past as "travelling tinsmiths", possibly derived from a reputation for rowdy and alcoholic recreation. Often confused with Romani people.
West Brit	Ireland	Irish people	Directed at Irish people perceived as being insufficiently Irish or too Anglophilic.
Wigger / Whigger / Wigga (meaning white nigger)	United States	Irish people	Used in 19th-century United States to refer to the Irish. Sometimes used today in reference to white people in a manner similar to white trash or redneck. Also refers to white youth that imitate urban black youth by means of clothing style, mannerisms, and slang speech. Also used by radical Québécois in self-reference, as in the seminal 1968 book White Niggers of America.
Hun	United Kingdom, Ireland	Christian Protestants, especially Glasgow Rangers supporters	Used by Irish republicans against Protestant unionists, especially by Glasgow Celtic supporters against those of Glasgow Rangers
Left-footer	United Kingdom	Roman Catholics	An informal phrase for a Roman Catholic, particularly in the armed forces. Derived from a belief that Irish laborers kick their shovels into the ground with their left foot.
Papist	Northern Ireland, North America, U.K. in general	Roman Catholic	Usually Irish Catholic; online often used generically for any Catholic

I’m experimenting with the table above to see how it works. But if it doesn’t, I’ll see about getting it as an attachment or something.

There were a few interesting things I noticed as part of this exploration so I’m going to explore them here.

Brigid and words

Now, we know that Irish magic comes from the use of words. Brigid was a magic user and a poet. Claiming things by naming them, the power of your word, that sort of thing. So it should be no surprise that words play a large part in the Irish understanding of the world.

And while the majority of these terms are historical, they still have power today. Hence the need to investigate.

Now, the old phrase “an image speaks a thousand words” is apt here. But equally, someone has spoken the words “the Irish are no better than apes” for this image to mean something to someone.

Please understand, this is a historical picture. I’m not saying this is the way of the world today. There is certainly some anti-Irish sentiment in certain parts of the world alright, but honestly, later arrivals to the racism game (and earlier arrivals to the racism game) have top billing. Not us.

Are these words offensive?

I doubt anyone who is Catholic ever really found the term “Papist” offensive. Seriously, it’s an accurate description. It’s only a term of derision if you disdain the religion and someone calls you something you’re not. And honestly, I get it. But it was a way of marking someone as “other” and therefor open to ridicule, bad treatment, violence or death. Usually with little to no repercussions.

“Culchie” is a word I wear with pride as a country dweller of Ireland; yet Jackeen or West Brit are deeply offensive in most circles in Ireland. Particularly if you consider the historical roots of the terms. “Bogger” is less affectionate than culchie, but not really offensive… to most people. You do get some people living in rural towns that would be most offended at being referred to as a “bogger”. That’s more notions that Brigid and words though. Well, in my opinion.

Paddywagons is an interesting one. Linked to the police vans apparently. The vans were used primarily for picking up drunk Irish people (of all genders and none discernible,). The idea being that Irish men were all called Paddy of course. I mean Patrick or Padraig are very popular names in Ireland. Even now. But people get very lazy about things like this. But coming back to Brigid and words – this is how stereotypes build. Consistent reinforcement using language. People used Mick in the same way as Paddy, again through the vigorous use of Michael as names for men in Ireland. They didn’t manage to linked the name to anything else though.

Aimed at specific types of Irish people

“Knacker” is offensive. The Irish Travellers had (and have) a lot to do with horses, but this is the idea they’d try to swindle people by selling old worn out horses as new and fresh. (Please note: I said idea there. Not that this was common practice at all! Ok? Don’t go tarring an entire people with a casual sentence in a blog that you’re taking out of context etc. The whole point of this article is words have power. And Brigid cares what words we use. So pay attention.) Horses were slaughtered in the “knacker’s yard” and the bodies “processed for use” as one website put it. (I’m not linking it, it’s not a nice site! And even linking to it might give power to it. Which Brigid would not approve of.)

I’m less familiar with “pikey”, seeing as it’s mostly in use in England, but I think it’s as offensive at least as “knacker”. Comes from the habits of Travellers of camping on turnpikes, as best I can make out? But really. The people involved prefer the word Travellers to be used, so why not use it?

A couple of really offensive ones

Now, there are two terms on the list that come from the US and are used for black people. It’s no wonder certain elements of the Irish linked their plight with the black people – at least before the Irish became white anyway. The 19th and early 20th century really proved that particularly brand of racism had nothing to do with skin colour. Not really…

But here we go. And no, I’m not typing out the really offensive word. I don’t care, your brain can fill in the missing letters very easily, unfortunately.

“Smoke Irish/ Smoked Irishman”. Seriously. They used this as an insult for both black people and the Irish. As in, the only difference between the black people and the Irish was colour. And so, both should be equally insulted. Not to mention the violence inherent in the word smoked. I’m not sure if that was intentional or not, but it certainly comes across loud and clear to me. Think of the power in words, the magic in words, Brigid’s magic.

A really horrible one now.

“Wi**er”. The two letters missing are “g”‘s. Honestly I can’t even type it. White n-word. And look, I’m not being coy here, but that word is not for me to use. Even in the context of this discussion. So I’m not going to. Again, used in the US. Linking Irish people and black people.

Ones to have a laugh at

Laughing is an important part of spirituality, with Brigid and her words no less than anywhere else. So here’s a few to have a giggle about.

“Plastic Paddy” has come to mean, in recent enough years, someone who is acting out Irish culture, but doesn’t really get it. Think giant leprechauns on Paddy’s Day. Going on the piss on Paddy’s Day. Wearing of the green. The Irish in Boston are more Irish than the Irish in Ireland.

Yup, have heard all of these in my life time. It’s laughable. Now there’s nothing wrong in going on the piss on a bank holiday. I did it myself when I was young and had the money and the energy. But saying getting drunk is an inherent part of Irishness? Well now, that would be problematic. We have had enough troubles in the country with alcohol, without adding more power to those words. And yes, Brigid did brew ale. Wine is mentioned all over the place in the old tales. But alcoholism is a major problem in this country. So, don’t be joking about it ok?

“Left-footers” comes from the British Army I think. I also thought it was because Catholics genuflect on the other foot than Protestants. But apparently not. It’s more because the Irish dug with the left foot on the shovel? Who knew these things. Again though – not something I’d be overly worried about in modern times.

Why to use or not use these words?

Well, it comes back to Brigid, words and power. By using these words, we give power to the imagery and ideas behind the words. It’s not great to be connecting an entire people to the death of animals or horses (knackers). Linking police vans to one nationality is downright dangerous. Although the Irish in the US are more likely to be in the police force, if I understand correctly, these days.

I’ve tried to bring across during this post that while some of these terms can seem delightfully antiquated in modern times, it’s not always the case. Call someone a Fenian or a Taig in the wrong parts of the North of Ireland and I don’t fancy your chances.

And spread it out. I used the terms linked to Irish people here, because I feel more confident talking about those terms. But what other terms enter general usage that maybe we should be re-considering because of the power behind the words?