Yesterday, there was some really important news on Planet Fitba.
Something that will undoubtedly happen and has not just been agreed “in principle”.
Of course, I’m referring to Celtic’s wise decision to acknowledge the club’s ethnicity by travelling to Leeside for a game against Cork City in July.
The match will be held at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the GAA ground.
On the same day as the announcement, German sportswear giant Adidas launched new merchandise celebrating Celtic’s Irish roots.
We have gallant allies in Europe.
No doubt this apparel will sell well among our exiled children in America.
Last summer, with no Champions League qualifiers to play, the Scottish champions were able to go Stateside for a celebration of Irish America.
It was a huge success by any metric, and I’d like to give a hat tip to the people at Celtic who had the imagination and drive to see it through.
I’m convinced many EPL clubs would love to have that cultural intro to the US market.
Anyone who denies the Parkhead club’s place in the Irish diaspora is really trying too hard.
Indeed, it is that ethnicity that makes Celtic culturally special.
Moreover, your humble correspondent contends that nativist hostility to the club’s Irishness has characterised how football officialdom in Fair Caledonia has treated it since being founded in 1888.
That’s what makes this era of dominance all the sweeter.
The sight of Adam Idah back on his home turf playing what the Palestinian kids call “the freedom sport” also gladdens my heart.
In many ways, Celtic was founded as a GAA club that decided to play soccer because of the specific circumstances extant in Victorian Glasgow.
Given that the objective was to bring in crowds to raise money to feed the hungry, it made sense to play the game that the locals liked.
The rest is unbroken history.
Celtic’s next league match at Paradise is against the nativist neighbours, and it’s the day before Saint Patrick’s Day.
A dominant victory by the club formed by Irish immigrants would be highly appropriate.
Our day has nearly come: St Patrick’s Festival Parade Saturday 08 March 2025
Venue: Blythswood Square to Merchant Square 11am -12pm
That’s great news.
Undeniable Irish rotts but ill guarantee that if we played Liverpool or ManU etc in the Avia stadium our support would be vastly outnumbered.
Of course we would ! what is the point of your reply ?
What is the point of your statement? The Irish especially Dubs moan, quite rightly about English opression in the past and the general disdain that John Bull still has for Ireland, yet they support English Teams.
In the great city of Glasgow and the surrounding area there are very few of the population without some Irish blood flowing through their veins, yet as you’ve said many times Phil, it is one of the few cities in the World that doesn’t have a St Patrick’s Day Parade. What a reflection that is on the past and present City fathers and the police. The number of Orange walks that wynd through the City streets is now actually more than is allowed to walk through Belfast these days.
The justification for this in the past was, that the police couldn’t cope with the disorder created by anti Irish Catholic bigots. What really was happening is that the Police had no stomach to arrest the hooligan bigots if they attacked a St Patrick’s Day Parade.
I’m a proud Glaswegian of more or less 100% Irish Descent. I’m now an Octogenarian ,but can still remember well starting work at 15 and being called a wee Fenian Barstxrd.It only lasted a few weeks until I learned to stand up for myself. The ould Irish temper came in handy at times.
It is Scotlands shame that the ethnic group who have contributed so much to Scottish Society has never been appreciated or recognised. It is no wonder that so many of us have supported our Irish/Scottish Football team The Great Glasgow Celtic with fervour and pride.
My father told me that my Grandfather whose family came from Derry was one of the volunteer labourers who helped clear the ground and build the original Celtic Park. He died before I was born, but the support for our Team is now onto the 5th generation of the family since those early days.
Great story that Michael. I enjoyed reading that 😊 ☺️
Like yourself from a young age (Born 1955), told I were a “Fenian Barstool” and to go back home where you belong. Joined the Merchant Navy in ‘1977’ found warmer welcomes in foreign lands when my surname were made known, especially on the West Coast of Canada and the US Southern States.
Thirty eight years later (2015) aged 60, retired out here in Asia, Thailand. Live in a village with 8 large, loving dogs and a lot of subsistence farming, not once have I been told by the locals to “Go back home”.
Feel more Irish than Scots, have Mulligan, Connor, Daley as family ancestry. The best wee bigoted country in the world can stay where it is.
Lovely read Michael x
Great post Michael. My great uncle Michael McBride from Dalry in Ayrshire who died at the battle of Loos in 1915 was Celtic to his very core. He used to travel up to Parkhead for matches, and every time I visit the ground I think of that founding generation and silently bless them.
Professor Michael O’Neill, Nottingham
Glad that you liked that wee bit of Family history, I’m sure that many many families across Scotland have much the same history. We and the team we support are part of the mainstream in Scotland these days and in some small pockets of the country that fact is resented even more. YNWA.
Thoroughly enjoyed that Phil. As a proud Scot with Irish Catholic ancestry, it fills me with pride that my club from the East end of Glasgow still maintains a close link with the good people of the Emerald Isle.
Here’s to a big win pre Paddys day HH ☘️☘️
Some great memories from Irish bhoys who like myself (1950) supported the Celtic football club through thick and thin. In Belfast a Celtic scarf was worn with defiance and caution as police were highly sensitive to green and white. It’s no surprise St Patrick’s day is body swerved by council/police in Scotland,
their lack of courage in tackling religious issues is a fact not history.