This paper argues that Celtic Football Club has played a central organising role in establishing a common identity for Catholics of Irish descent in Scotland. Concentrating on evidence taken from discourse in the public media, it draws attention to reactions to this identity by other population groups. Such responses, which are frequently ferocious in the degree of rejection they express, highlight the effects of Celtic's role. It provides a public arena within which Irishness can be expressed; at the same time, it draws fire from hostile elements in the social setting. Tensions within the Irish community about their common identity may in part be responses to these reactions.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AllisonL.1986. The Politics of Sport. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
2.
BradleyJ. M.1995a. Ethnic and Religious Identity in Modern Scotland:. Aldershot: Avebury.
3.
BradleyJ. M.1995b. ‘Intermarriage, Education, and Discrimination’ in DevineT. M., (ed.), St Mary's Hamilton: A Social History 1846–1996. Edinburgh: John Donald.
4.
BrandJ.1978. The National Movement in Scotland: London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
5.
BrownS. J.1991. ‘Outside the Covenant: The Scottish Presbyterian Churches and Irish Immigration, 1922–1938’ in The Innes Review, Volume XL11, No. 1, Spring, pp.19–45.
6.
CampbellT.WoodsP.1986. The Glory and The Dream, The History of Celtic FC, 1887–1986. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing.
7.
CooneyJ.1982. Scotland and the Papacy. Edinburgh: Paul Harris.
8.
CurticeJ.GallagherT.1990. ‘The Northern Irish dimension’ in JowellR.WitherspoonS.BrookL. (eds.), British Social Attitudes; the 7th Report. Aldershot: Gower Publishing.
9.
CurticeJ.SeawrightD.1995. ‘The Decline of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party 1950–1992: Religion, Ideology or Economics?’ in journal of Contemporary British History, Autumn, Vol. 9. No. 2, pp.319–342.
10.
CurtisL.1984. Ireland The Propaganda War. London: Pluto Press.
11.
CurtisL.1988. 5th edition. Nothing But The Same Old Story: The Roots of Anti-Irish Racism. London: Information on Ireland.
12.
DevineT. M. (eds.) 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.
13.
DevineT. M. (eds.) 1995. St Mary's Hamilton: A Social History, 1846–1996. Edinburgh: John Donald.
14.
DochertyG.ThomsonP.1975. 100 Years of Hibs 1875/1975. Edinburgh: John Donald.
15.
ElliottR. S. P.HickieJ.1971. Ulster: A Case Study In Conflict Theory. London: Longman
16.
FinnG. P. T.1990–1994. Series of papers lodged with Jordanhill Library, Strathclyde University on the role of conspiracy in anti-Catholicism in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
17.
FinnG. P. T.1991a. ‘Racism, Religion and Social Prejudice: Irish Catholic Clubs, Soccer and Scottish Society - (1) The Historical Roots of Prejudice’ in The International Journal of the History of Sport, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp.72–95.
18.
FinnG. P. T.1991b. ‘Racism, Religion and Social Prejudice: Irish Catholic Clubs, Soccer and Scottish Society - (2) Social Identities and Conspiracy Theories’ in The International Journal of the History of Sport, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp.370–397.
19.
FinnG. P. T.1994a. ‘Faith, Hope and Bigotry: Case Studies of Anti-Catholic Prejudice in Scottish Soccer and Society’ in JarvieG.WalkerG. (eds.). Scottish Sport in the Making of the Nation; Ninety-Minute Patriots. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
20.
FinnG. P. T.1994b. ‘Sporting Symbols, Sporting Identities: Soccer and Intergroup Conflict in Scotland and Northern Ireland’, in WoodI.S. (ed.) Scotland and Ulster. Edinburgh: Mercat Press.
21.
GallagherT.1987. Glasgow The Uneasy Peace. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
22.
GallagherT.1991. ‘The Catholic Irish in Scotland: In Search of Identity’ in DevineT. M., (ed.). Irish Immigrants and Scottish Society in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Edinburgh: John Donald.
23.
HandleyJ. E.1964. The Irish in Scotland: Glasgow. John S Burns and Sons. This book incorporates both The Irish in Scotland 1798–1845 and The Irish in Modern Scotland. Cork University Press, 1943, 1947.
24.
HickmanM.1990. ‘A Study of the Incorporation of the Irish in Britain with Special Reference to Catholic State Education: Involving a Comparison of the Attitudes of Pupils and Teachers in Selected Catholic Schools in London and Liverpool’, PhD thesis, University of London.
25.
HickmanM.1995. Religion, Class and Identity: The State, the Catholic Church and the Education of the Irish in Britain. Aldershot: Avebury.
26.
HillD.1989. Out Of His Skin: The John Barnes Phenomenon. London: Faber and Faber.
27.
HobermanJ.1984. Sport and Political Ideology. London: Heinemann.
28.
JarvieG.WalkerG, (eds.). 1994. Scottish Sport in the Making of the Nation; Ninety Minute Patriots. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
29.
KendrickS.1989. ‘Scotland, Social Change and Polities’, in McCroneD.KendrickD.StrawP. (eds.). The Making of Scotland: Nation, Culture and Social Change. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
30.
KuperS.1994. Football Against the Enemy. London: Phoenix.
31.
MackayJ. R.1986. The Hibees, The Story of Hibernian Football Club. Edinburgh: John Donald.
32.
McFarlandE. W.1990. Protestants First: Orangeism in 19th Century Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
33.
McGroryJ.1975. ‘A Lifetime in Paradise’, in McNeeG. (ed.). A Lifetime in Paradise, Glasgow: G. McNee.
34.
MedhurstK.1987. The Basques and the Catalans. London: The Minority Rights Group Report, No 9.
35.
MitchellJ.1992. ‘Religion And Politics In Scotland’. Unpublished paper presented to Seminar on Religion and Scottish Politics, University of Edinburgh.
36.
MoorhouseH. F., 1986. ‘Repressed Nationalism And Professional Football: Scotland Versus England’, in ManganJ.SmallR. (eds.). Sport, Culture, SocietyLondon: E. and F. N. Spon.
37.
MoorhouseH. F.1987. ‘Scotland versus England; Football and Popular Culture’, in International Journal of Sport, Vol. 4, pp.189–202.
38.
MuirheadRev. I. A.1973. ‘Catholic Emancipation in Scotland: The Debate and the Aftermath,’Innes Review, Vol. 24, No. 2, Autumn, pp.103–120.
39.
MuirheadRev. I. A.1973. ‘Catholic Emancipation: Scottish Reactions in 1829’Innes Review, Vol. 24, No. 1, Spring, pp.26–42.
40.
MurrayB.1984The Old Firm: Sectarianism, Sport and Society in Scotland, Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers Ltd.
41.
MurrayB.1988. Glasgow's Giants, 100 years of the Old Firm. Edinburgh: Mainstream.
42.
FarrellO.P.1971. Ireland's English Question. London: Batsford.
43.
TuathaighOTuathaighM. A. G.1985. ‘The Irish in Nineteenth Century Britain: Problems of Integration’, in GilleyS.SwiftR. (eds.). The Irish in the Victorian City.London: Croom Helm.
44.
RokkanSUrwinD.1983. Economy, Territory and Identity: Politics of West European Peripheries. London: Sage.
45.
ShawD.1985. ‘The Politics of Futbol’ in History Today, Vol. 35, Aug. pp.38–42.
46.
SugdenJ.BairnerA.1986. ‘Northern Ireland; Sport in a Divided Society’, in AllisonL.The Politics Of Sport. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
47.
WalkerG.GallagherT.1990. (eds.). Sermons and Battle Hymns; Protestant Popular Culture in Modern Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
48.
WatsonM.1985. Rags to Riches. The Official History of Dundee United. Dundee.
49.
WilsonB.1988. Celtic, A Century with Honour. Glasgow: William Collins.
