A guide to Irish racial slurs - from Cat-lick to Mackerel Snapper, the worst Irish insults

Don't forget the term 'bróg' when it comes to describe an Irish accent. It is actually derogatory. Bróg is the Irish word for shoe and the English would say that the Irish would speak english like they had a shoe in their mouth.

Samsams; Please accept my apology. I am sorry that my comment directed to you about the origin of 'Plastic Paddy' was rude to you personally. However the origin of the label is as attributed and originally directed at second/third generation born in Britain.

Hairymollie..Are you thick stupid or what? Nobody is going to keep a record of your scribblings.And don't mind your kindly claim your comment bullsh*t and your thank you.You are far from polite on this forum and you will be treated as such.You insulted that person with your comment below and you don't even see it.But I'll educate you to the Irish mindset.Don't you worry.You might be perplexed.But you won't be confused by the Irish mindset anymore.

MODERATOR;- For the RECORD I did not submit the comments posted below at; Aug 06, 2012, 11:46 PM EDT....beginning " This article is insipid..." Would whoever wrote this comment kindly claim it? Thank you.

Samsams; No Plastic Paddy originally refered to the Irish in Britain - you Irish born dont really know much about the Irish in the UK. In fact I read one Irish journalist say that the term referred to west brits in Ireland. English Irish or whatever the UK is having to bail you out - having destroyed the state our grandparents struggled to create. Hickman (2002) Irish Journal of Sociology;- The name, "Paddy", is a diminutive form of Padraic ("Patrick") and, depending on context, can used either as an affectionate or a pejorative reference to an Irishman. People who were not born in Ireland, and who did not grow up in Ireland, but nonetheless possess Irish citizenship and an Irish passport are often labelled as plastic Paddies.[7] 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.[8][9] 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.[9][10] 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.;

This article is insipid. It reads as if it was written by a fifth grader with help from dimwitted parents. I have no idea who Cathy Hayes is other than someone pretending to be a journalist. With all the interesting things happening in the world today, Irish Central has scraped the bottom of the barrel to have come up with this tripe. Aside from being meaningless, it lacks any creativity, isn't at all funny, makes me wonder what point she was trying to make and how long it took her to come up with this nonsense. It's drivel. A blank page would have been more apropos.

"Plastic Paddy - Term used by the Irish describing those who grew up in the a foreign country (specifically the UK) and still identify as being Irish." Errr.. no. This term is used to refer to a certain percentage of Irish Americans who seem to be fanatical about their heritage yet have a very cliched view of Ireland. People with Irish roots from Britain, in general, tend to have a much more realistic perspective of the place naturally because of the geographical and cultural proximity and don't tend to identify with the "homeland" as strongly. I've never heard a person from the UK being called a plastic paddy. Ever.

@Curitiba: Quote:"Why, for instance, are there such a plethora of insults against the Irish, and yet Irish people had no corresponding slurs to throw back at the... Ulster Protestants, etc?". Just a few that are regularly used to get ya started!... Hun, Jaffa, Snout, Orange B*****d, Black Protestants, Souper, Billy Boy, Left-Legger.

strange any term can applied to the irish but as soon as the N word is mentioned it is censored - so much for freedom of speech !

Come on Cathy I dare you, next chapter about American insults to American's be they white, black, yellow or green, you have so many nationalities over there. This should be fun. I really think you/Cathy made up most of those so called insults yourself.

Interesting perspective, sirpeter.

Curitiba.Of course it is to do with power but mostly their media spread these monikers.What media did the native Irish have in the 19th century when pejorative terms were all the rage and casually excepted?The English controlled the media in the countries they colonised.But you would be mistaken if you think these countries didn't have pejorative terms for the English.Can you read or understand African languages?All the European languages?All the Asian languages? Who knows what monikers they had for the English.We can't understand or read their languages to see.We live in the English speaking world and read almost everything in English.That's why you only think it was only the Australians and the Americans who thought up monikers for them.You read English.But if you understand languages you will understand how versatile the English language is when it comes to pejorative terms.The reality is English is made up of loads of languages.Even Irish~ Example:Adjective~Smashing = Very good.Comes from the Irish "Is maith sinn" Meaning something is good or went well.Say "Is maith sinn" quickly and you can hear the word smashing.

Well, yes, you are right, it's not a good thing to take on a victimisation complex. However, while many younger Irish people today think that they are universally loved wherever they go, they seem to be completely unaware that prejudice was a reality for their parents' and grandparents' generation who had to emigrate, and who were not universally loved. Also, oppression of the indigenous Irish by the settlers in the North is within living memory for many. I don't think that every individual insult needs to be discussed, just the fact that there are so many. Why, for instance, are there such a plethora of insults against the Irish, and yet Irish people had no corresponding slurs to throw back at the Anglo-Americans, the English, Scottish, Ulster Protestants, etc? For instance, the English colonised the world, created pejorative terms for everyone they encountered, yet the only people that have thought up monikers for them are the Australians and the Americans. Is it to to with power? Can the more powerful group insult the less powerful as they like, and the less powerful group are so afraid of incurring the wrath of the other, they dare not?

Curitiba.This is not an Irish paper/website.This is an Irish American site.No newspaper would publish an article like this.This is the work of Cathy Hayes.She also printed the same article on Black Talk Radio Network.A site that tells every black person that the world is against them. This article also promotes victimization in the mind of the Irish/Irish American persons modern day psyche.There is no point to this article other than to promote feelings of victimization in the Irish psyche.To feel victimized is a very dangerous thing for any nation/ethnic group/person.So you want to discuss how victimized we are?Well we are NOT victimized and Cathy Hayes can fu*k off.

sirpeter: I think as Irish people we should be able to discuss the stereotypes and racial insults that other people level at us. Whether you personally want to talk about it is another matter. Some people don't want to discuss these things, some people do, it's a personal choice. It would be different if this article appeared in the Daily Mail, for instance, as it is not an Irish paper.