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{{short description|Pejorative term for an Irish person who admires British customs}} {{short description|Pejorative term for an Irish person who admires British customs}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{About|the derogatory term|the local newspaper in Cornwall|The West Briton}}
] poster from 1913 contrasting a proud, independent '']'' with a craven, dependent ''West Britain'']] ] poster from 1913 contrasting a proud, independent '']'' with a craven, dependent ''West Britain'']]
'''West Brit''', an abbreviation of West ], is a ] for an Irish person who is perceived as ] in matters of culture or politics.<ref>{{cite news | title=All kinds of things can get you called a West Brit these days | newspaper=The Irish Times | date=21 March 2013 | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/all-kinds-of-things-can-get-you-called-a-west-brit-these-days-1.3753446 | access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=McNamee | first=Michael Sheils | title=Would you take offence at being called a West Brit? The term has a muddled history | website=TheJournal.ie | date=28 November 2019 | url=https://www.thejournal.ie/west-brit-ok-derision-offensive-insult-2351409-Sep2015/ | access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref> '''West Britain''' is a description of Ireland emphasising it as subject to British influence.<ref>{{cite web | last=Reilly | first=Gavan | title=McGuinness blames 'West Brit' influence for references to IRA past | website=TheJournal.ie | date=28 November 2019 | url=https://www.thejournal.ie/mcguinness-blames-west-brit-influence-for-ira-references-231533-Sep2011/ | access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref>
{{Use British English|date=October 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}

'''West Brit''', an abbreviation of West ], is a ] for an Irish person who is perceived as ] in matters of culture or politics.<ref>{{cite news | title=All kinds of things can get you called a West Brit these days | newspaper=The Irish Times | date=21 March 2013 | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/all-kinds-of-things-can-get-you-called-a-west-brit-these-days-1.3753446 | access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=McNamee | first=Michael Sheils | title=Would you take offence at being called a West Brit? The term has a muddled history | website=TheJournal.ie | date=28 November 2019 | url=https://www.thejournal.ie/west-brit-ok-derision-offensive-insult-2351409-Sep2015/ | access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref> '''West Britain''' is a description of Ireland emphasising it as under British influence.<ref>{{cite web | last=Reilly | first=Gavan | title=McGuinness blames 'West Brit' influence for references to IRA past | website=TheJournal.ie | date=28 November 2019 | url=https://www.thejournal.ie/mcguinness-blames-west-brit-influence-for-ira-references-231533-Sep2011/ | access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref>


==History== ==History==
"West Britain" was used with reference to the ] which united the ] and the ] into the ]. Similarly "]" for ] used after the 1603 ] and the ] connected it to the ] ("]"). In 1800 Thomas Grady, a Limerick ], published a collection of ] called ''The West Briton'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Grady |first=Thomas |title=The West Briton: Being a collection of poems, on various subjects |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ClPOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP7 |access-date=8 February 2016 |date=1800 |publisher=Printed by Graisberry and Campbell for Bernard Dornin |location=Dublin}}</ref><ref name="Barrington1844">{{cite book |last=Barrington |first=Jonah |author-link=Jonah Barrington (judge) |title=Historic Records and Secret Memoirs of the Legislative Union Between Great Britain and Ireland |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n0QNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA385 |via=Google Books |access-date=8 February 2016 |date=1844 |publisher=Colburn |location=London |page=385 |chapter=Ch. XXIV}}</ref> while an anti-union cartoon depicted an official offering bribes and proclaiming "God save the King & his Majesty's subjects of west Britain that is to be!"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Geoghegan |first1=Patrick M. |title='An Act of Power & Corruption'? The Union Debate |jstor=27724771 |journal=History Ireland |date=2000 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=22–26: 25 |url=https://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/an-act-of-power-corruption/ |issn=0791-8224}}</ref> In 1801 the Latin description of ] on the ] was changed from {{lang|la|MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX}} "King of Great Britain, France and Ireland" to {{lang|la|BRITANNIARUM REX}} "King of the Britains", dropping ] and describing Great Britain and Ireland as "the Britains". "West Britain" was used with reference to the ] which united the ] and the ] into the ]. Similarly "]" for ] used after the 1603 ] and the ] connected it to the ] ("]"). In 1800 Thomas Grady, a Limerick ], published a collection of ] named ''The West Briton'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Grady |first=Thomas |title=The West Briton: Being a collection of poems, on various subjects |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ClPOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP7 |access-date=8 February 2016 |date=1800 |publisher=Printed by Graisberry and Campbell for Bernard Dornin |location=Dublin}}</ref><ref name="Barrington1844">{{cite book |last=Barrington |first=Jonah |author-link=Jonah Barrington (judge) |title=Historic Records and Secret Memoirs of the Legislative Union Between Great Britain and Ireland |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n0QNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA385 |via=Google Books |access-date=8 February 2016 |date=1844 |publisher=Colburn |location=London |page=385 |chapter=Ch. XXIV}}</ref> while an anti-union cartoon depicted an official offering bribes and proclaiming "God save the King & his Majesty's subjects of west Britain that is to be!"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Geoghegan |first1=Patrick M. |title='An Act of Power & Corruption'? The Union Debate |jstor=27724771 |journal=History Ireland |date=2000 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=22–26: 25 |url=https://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/an-act-of-power-corruption/ |issn=0791-8224}}</ref> In 1801 the Latin description of ] on the ] was changed from {{lang|la|MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX}} "Of Great Britain, France and Ireland King" to {{lang|la|BRITANNIARUM REX}} "Of the Britains King", ending ] and describing Great Britain and Ireland as "the Britains".


] MP ] (later Lord Monteagle of Brandon) said on 23 April 1834 in the ] in opposing ]'s motion for ], "I should prefer the name of West Britain to that of Ireland".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a7661 |title=Rice, Thomas Spring |last=Hourican| first=Bridget |work=] |publisher=] |access-date=7 February 2016 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1834/apr/23/repeal-of-the-union-adjourned-debate#column_1194 |title=Repeal of the Union—Adjourned Debate |date=23 April 1834 |work=Hansard House of Commons Debate |volume=22 |at=Col. 1194 |access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref> Rice was derided by ] later in the same debate: "He tells us, that he belongs to England, and designates himself as a West Briton."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1834/apr/25/repeal-of-the-union-adjourned-debate#column_57 |title=Repeal of the Union—Adjourned Debate—Fourth Day |date=25 April 1834 |work=Hansard: House of Common Debate |volume=23 |at=Col. 57 |access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref> Daniel O'Connell himself used the phrase at a pro-Repeal speech in Dublin in February 1836:<ref>{{cite book |last=Fagan |first=William |title=The Life and Times of Daniel O'Connell |page=496 |url= https://archive.org/stream/lifetimesofdanie02faga#page/496/mode/2up |volume=II |date=1847 |publisher=J. O'Brien |location=Cork}}</ref> ] MP ] (later Lord Monteagle of Brandon) said on 23 April 1834 in the ] in opposing ]'s motion for ], "I should prefer the name of West Britain to that of Ireland".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a7661 |title=Rice, Thomas Spring |last=Hourican| first=Bridget |work=] |publisher=] |access-date=7 February 2016 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1834/apr/23/repeal-of-the-union-adjourned-debate#column_1194 |title=Repeal of the Union—Adjourned Debate |date=23 April 1834 |work=Hansard House of Commons Debate |volume=22 |at=Col. 1194 |access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref> Rice was derided by ] later in the same debate: "He tells us, that he belongs to England, and designates himself as a West Briton."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1834/apr/25/repeal-of-the-union-adjourned-debate#column_57 |title=Repeal of the Union—Adjourned Debate—Fourth Day |date=25 April 1834 |work=Hansard: House of Common Debate |volume=23 |at=Col. 57 |access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref> Daniel O'Connell himself used the phrase at a pro-Repeal speech in Dublin in February 1836:<ref>{{cite book |last=Fagan |first=William |title=The Life and Times of Daniel O'Connell |page=496 |url= https://archive.org/stream/lifetimesofdanie02faga#page/496/mode/2up |volume=II |date=1847 |publisher=J. O'Brien |location=Cork}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The people of Ireland are ready to become a portion of ], provided they be made so in reality and not in name alone; they are ready to become a kind of West Britons, if made so in benefits and justice; but if not, we are Irishmen again.}} {{blockquote|The people of Ireland are ready to become a portion of ], provided they be made so in reality and not in name alone; they are ready to become a kind of West Britons, if made so in benefits and justice; but if not, we are Irishmen again.}}


Here, O'Connell was hoping that Ireland would soon become as prosperous as "]" had become after 1707, but if the Union did not deliver this, then some form of Irish home rule was essential. The Dublin administration as conducted in the 1830s was, by implication, an unsatisfactory halfway house between these two ideals, and as a prosperous "West Britain" was unlikely, home rule was the rational best outcome for Ireland. Here, O'Connell was hoping that Ireland would soon become as prosperous as "]" had become after 1707, but supposed that if the Union did not deliver this, then some type of Irish home rule was essential. The Dublin administration as performed during the 1830s was intermediate between these two possibilities.


"West Briton" next came to prominence in a pejorative sense during the ] of the 1880s. ], who founded ''The Leader'' in 1900, used the term frequently to describe those who he did not consider sufficiently Irish. It was synonymous with those he described as "Sourfaces", who had mourned the death of the ] in 1901.<ref name="DPML">{{cite news|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FKX/is_3-4_38/ai_111265622/pg_1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924042124/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FKX/is_3-4_38/ai_111265622/pg_1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-09-24 |work=Eire–Ireland: Journal of Irish Studies |title=D.P. Moran and the leader: Writing an Irish Ireland through partition |date=2003}}</ref> It included virtually all ] Protestants and those Catholics who did not measure up to his definition of "Irish Irelanders".<ref name="DPML" /> The term "West Briton" became used next pejoratively during the ] of the 1880s. ], who founded the publication ''The Leader'' in 1900, used the term frequently to describe those who he did not consider sufficiently Irish. It was synonymous with those he described as "Sourfaces", who had mourned the death of the ] in 1901.<ref name="DPML">{{cite news|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FKX/is_3-4_38/ai_111265622/pg_1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924042124/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FKX/is_3-4_38/ai_111265622/pg_1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-09-24 |work=Eire–Ireland: Journal of Irish Studies |title=D.P. Moran and the leader: Writing an Irish Ireland through partition |date=2003}}</ref> It included virtually all ] Protestants and those Catholics who did not measure up to his definition of "Irish Irelanders".<ref name="DPML" />


In 1907, Canon R. S. Ross-Lewin published a collection of loyal Irish poems under the pseudonym "A ] West Briton", explaining the epithet in the foreword:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ross-Lewin |first1=R. S. |title=Poems |date=1907 |publisher=McKern |location=Limerick |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/poemsrosslewin00rossiala/page/n8 |accessdate=9 May 2019 |chapter=Preface}}</ref> In 1907, Canon R. S. Ross-Lewin published a collection of loyal Irish poems using the pseudonym "A ] West Briton", explaining the epithet in the foreword:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ross-Lewin |first1=R. S. |title=Poems |date=1907 |publisher=McKern |location=Limerick |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/poemsrosslewin00rossiala/page/n8 |accessdate=9 May 2019 |chapter=Preface}}</ref>


{{blockquote|Now, what is the exact definition and up-to-date meaning of that term? The holder of the title may be descended from ]s and ]s and ]. He may have the greatest love for his native land, desirous to learn the Irish language, and under certain conditions to join the ]. He may be all this, and rejoice in the victory of an Irish horse in the "]", or an Irish dog at "]", or an Irish ] team of ] giants at Glasgow or Liverpool, but, if he does not at the same time hate the mere Saxon, and revel in the oft resuscitated pictures of long past periods, and the horrors of the ] he is a mere "West Briton", his Irish blood, his Irish sympathies go for nothing. He misses the chief qualifications to the ranks of the "Irish best", if he remains an imperialist, and sees no prospect of peace or happiness or return of prosperity in the event of the Union being severed. In this sense, ], ] and hundreds of others, of whom all Irishmen ought to be proud, are "West Britons", and thousands who have done nothing for the empire, under the just laws of which they live, who, perhaps, are mere descendants of ], and even of Saxon lineage, with very little Celtic blood in their veins, are of the "Irish best".}} {{blockquote|Now, what is the exact definition and up-to-date meaning of that term? The holder of the title may be descended from ]s and ]s and ]. He may have the greatest love for his native land, desirous to learn the Irish language, and under certain conditions to join the ]. He may be all this, and rejoice in the victory of an Irish horse in the "]", or an Irish dog at "]", or an Irish ] team of ] giants at Glasgow or Liverpool, but, if he does not at the same time hate the mere Saxon, and revel in the oft resuscitated pictures of long past periods, and the horrors of the ] he is a mere "West Briton", his Irish blood, his Irish sympathies go for nothing. He misses the chief qualifications to the ranks of the "Irish best", if he remains an imperialist, and sees no prospect of peace or happiness or return of prosperity in the event of the Union being severed. In this sense, ], ] and hundreds of others, of whom all Irishmen ought to be proud, are "West Britons", and thousands who have done nothing for the empire, under the just laws of which they live, who, perhaps, are mere descendants of ], and even of Saxon lineage, with very little Celtic blood in their veins, are of the "Irish best".}}


]'s 1924 collection ''Portraits: real and imaginary'' included "A West Briton", which gave a table of West-Briton responses to keywords:<ref name="Boyd">{{cite book |last1=Boyd |first1=Ernest Augustus |title=Portraits: real and imaginary, being memories and impressions of friends and contemporaries; with appreciations of divers singularities and characteristics of certain phases of life and letters among the North Americans as seen, heard, and divined |date=1970 |orig-year=1924 |publisher=George H. Doran |location=New York |pages=–145 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/portraitsrealima00boyd |accessdate=9 May 2019 |chapter=A West Briton |isbn=9780403005284 |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref> Ernest Augustus Boyd's 1924 collection ''Portraits: real and imaginary'' included "A West Briton", which gave a table of West-Briton responses to certain words:<ref name="Boyd">{{cite book |last1=Boyd |first1=Ernest Augustus |title=Portraits: real and imaginary, being memories and impressions of friends and contemporaries; with appreciations of divers singularities and characteristics of certain phases of life and letters among the North Americans as seen, heard, and divined |date=1970 |orig-year=1924 |publisher=George H. Doran |location=New York |pages=–145 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/portraitsrealima00boyd |accessdate=9 May 2019 |chapter=A West Briton |isbn=9780403005284 |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref>
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==Contemporary usage== ==Contemporary usage==
"Brit" meaning "British person", attested in 1884,<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of Brit |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brit |website=www.merriam-webster.com |accessdate=29 April 2019 |language=en}}</ref> is pejorative in Irish usage, though used as a value-neutral colloquialism in Great Britain.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McArthur |first1=Tom |title=An ABC of World English Brit to Creole |journal=English Today |date=17 October 2008 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=21–27 |doi=10.1017/S0266078400000122 |s2cid=144074032 |doi-access=free }}</ref> During ], among nationalists "the Brits" specifically meant ].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wall |first1=Richard |journal=Bells: Barcelona English Language and Literature Studies |date=2000 |volume=11 |pages=249–256: 254 |url=https://www.raco.cat/index.php/Bells/article/viewFile/102923/149271#page=6 |format=PDF |title=Intra-lingual translation: Irish English–standard English}}</ref> "West Brit" is today used by Irish people, chiefly within Ireland, to criticise a variety of perceived faults of other Irish people: "Brit" meaning "British person", attested in 1884,<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of Brit |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brit |website=www.merriam-webster.com |accessdate=29 April 2019 |language=en}}</ref> is pejorative in Irish usage, though used as a value-neutral colloquialism in Great Britain.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McArthur |first1=Tom |title=An ABC of World English Brit to Creole |journal=English Today |date=17 October 2008 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=21–27 |doi=10.1017/S0266078400000122 |s2cid=144074032 |doi-access=free }}</ref> During ], among nationalists "the Brits" specifically meant ].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wall |first1=Richard |journal=Bells: Barcelona English Language and Literature Studies |date=2000 |volume=11 |pages=249–256: 254 |url=https://www.raco.cat/index.php/Bells/article/viewFile/102923/149271#page=6 |format=PDF |title=Intra-lingual translation: Irish English–standard English}}</ref> "West Brit" is used presently by Irish people, chiefly within Ireland, to criticise a variety of perceived faults of other Irish people:
* "Revisionism" (compare ] and ]): * "Revisionism" (compare ] and ]):
** Criticism of ]. (State policy is to praise the patriotism of rebels up to the ], while condemning later ] as antidemocratic.) ** Criticism of ]. (State policy is to praise the patriotism of rebels up to the ], while condemning later ] as antidemocratic.) {{citation needed|date=October 2023}}
** highlighting perceived benefits of ] ** highlighting perceived benefits of ]
** downplaying British actions during historical events in Ireland such as the ] ** downplaying British actions during historical events in Ireland such as the ]
** Antipathy to ]s. ** Antipathy to ]s.
* ]: following ]; admiration for the ]; support for the ] rejoining the ] or becoming a ]; highlighting positive British influence in the world, past or present * ]: following ]; admiration for the ]; favouring the ] rejoining the ] or becoming a ]; emphasizing positive British influence in the world, past or present.
* ]: appearing embarrassed by or disdainful of aspects of ], such as the ], ], ], or ] * ]: appearing embarrassed by or disdainful of aspects of ], such as the ], ], ], or ].
* ]: Opposition or indifference to a ]; showing political support for ] * ]: Opposition or indifference to a ]; showing political endorsement for ].
Not all people so labelled may actually be characterised by these stereotypical views and habits. Not all people so labelled may actually be characterised by these stereotypical opinions and habits.


Public perception and self-identity can vary. During his ] campaign, ] candidate ] criticised what he called West Brit elements of the media, who he said were out to undermine his attempt to win the election.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.thejournal.ie/mcguinness-blames-west-brit-influence-for-ira-references-231533-Sep2011/ | title=McGuinness blames 'West Brit' influence for references to IRA past|date=11 September 2011|work=The Journal|accessdate=11 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/mcguinness-launches-attack-on-media-2358135.html | title=McGuinness launches attack on media|date=21 September 2011|work=The Independent|accessdate=21 September 2011|location=London|first=David|last=McKittrick}}</ref> He later said it was an "off-the-cuff remark" but did not define for the electorate what (or who) he had meant by the term.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/martin-mcguinness-backtracks-after-lsquowest-britrsquo-jibe-16052812.html | title=Martin McGuinness backtracks after 'west Brit' jibe|date=21 September 2011|work=The Belfast Telegraph|accessdate=21 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/mcguinness-declines-to-define-west-brit-521768.html | title=McGuinness declines to define 'West Brit'|date=23 September 2011|work=Irish Examiner|accessdate=23 September 2011}}</ref> Public perception and self-identity can vary. During his ] campaign, ] candidate ] criticised what he termed West Brit elements of the media, who he said were out to undermine his attempt to win the election.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.thejournal.ie/mcguinness-blames-west-brit-influence-for-ira-references-231533-Sep2011/ | title=McGuinness blames 'West Brit' influence for references to IRA past|date=11 September 2011|work=The Journal|accessdate=11 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/mcguinness-launches-attack-on-media-2358135.html | title=McGuinness launches attack on media|date=21 September 2011|work=The Independent|accessdate=21 September 2011|location=London|first=David|last=McKittrick}}</ref> He later said it was an "off-the-cuff remark" but did not define for the electorate what (or who) he had meant by the term.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/martin-mcguinness-backtracks-after-lsquowest-britrsquo-jibe-16052812.html | title=Martin McGuinness backtracks after 'west Brit' jibe|date=21 September 2011|work=The Belfast Telegraph|accessdate=21 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/mcguinness-declines-to-define-west-brit-521768.html|title=McGuinness declines to define 'West Brit'|date=23 September 2011|work=Irish Examiner|accessdate=23 September 2011}}</ref>


Irish entertainer ], who spent most of his career working for the ] in Britain, described himself as a West Brit: "I'm an effete, urban Irishman. I was an avid radio listener as a boy, but it was the BBC, not ]. I was a West Brit from the start. I'm a kind of child of ]. I think I was born to succeed here ; I have much more freedom than I had in Ireland."<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/terry-wogan-interview-i-m-a-child-of-the-pale-i-think-i-was-born-to-succeed-here-1.2516954 |title=Terry Wogan interview: 'I'm a child of the Pale. I think I was born to succeed here' |date=31 January 2016 |work=] |access-date=31 January 2016}}</ref> He became a dual citizen of Ireland and the UK and was eventually ] by ]. Irish TV and radio presenter ], who spent most of his career working for the ] in Britain, described himself as a West Brit: "I'm an effete, urban Irishman. I was an avid radio listener as a boy, but it was the BBC, not ]. I was a West Brit from the start. I'm a kind of child of ]. I think I was born to succeed here ; I have much more freedom than I had in Ireland".<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/terry-wogan-interview-i-m-a-child-of-the-pale-i-think-i-was-born-to-succeed-here-1.2516954 |title=Terry Wogan interview: 'I'm a child of the Pale. I think I was born to succeed here' |date=31 January 2016 |work=] |access-date=31 January 2016}}</ref> He became a dual citizen of Ireland and the UK and was eventually ] by ].


The '']'' columnist Donald Clarke noted a number of things that may prompt the application of a West Brit label, including being from Dublin (or south Dublin), supporting UK-based football teams, using the phrase "]", or voting for ].<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/all-kinds-of-things-can-get-you-called-a-west-brit-these-days-1.3753446 | title = All kinds of things can get you called a West Brit these days | newspaper = ] | date = 12 January 2019 | accessdate = 12 November 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/fine-gael-is-still-haunted-by-west-british-moniker-despite-its-role-in-republic-38012808.html | publisher = Independent News& Media | website = independent.ie | title = Fine Gael is still haunted by 'West-British' moniker - despite its role in republic | date = 14 April 2019 | accessdate = 12 November 2020 }}</ref> The '']'' columnist Donald Clarke noted a number of things that may prompt the application of a West Brit label, including being from Dublin (or south Dublin), supporting UK-based football teams, using the phrase "]", or voting for ].<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/all-kinds-of-things-can-get-you-called-a-west-brit-these-days-1.3753446 | last=Clarke | first=Donald | title = All kinds of things can get you called a West Brit these days | newspaper = ] | date = 12 January 2019 | accessdate = 12 November 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Meehan |first=Ciara |url = https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/fine-gael-is-still-haunted-by-west-british-moniker-despite-its-role-in-republic-38012808.html | publisher = Independent News& Media | website = independent.ie | title = Fine Gael is still haunted by 'West-British' moniker - despite its role in republic | date = 14 April 2019 | accessdate = 12 November 2020 }}</ref>


==Similar terms== ==Similar terms==
''Castle Catholic'' was applied more specifically by Republicans to middle-class Catholics assimilated into the pro-British establishment, after ], the centre of ]. Sometimes the exaggerated ] ''Cawtholic'' was used to suggest an accent imitative of British ]. ''Castle Catholic'' was applied more specifically by Republicans to middle-class Catholics assimilated into the pro-British establishment, after ], the main office of ]. Sometimes the exaggerated ] ''Cawtholic'' was used to suggest an accent imitative of British ].


These identified ]s whose involvement in the British system was the whole aim of O'Connell's ] of 1829. Having and exercising their new legal rights under the Act, Castle Catholics were then rather illogically being pilloried by other Catholics for exercising them to the full. These identified ]s whose involvement with the British system was the purpose of O'Connell's ] of 1829. Having and exercising their new legal rights according to the Act, Castle Catholics were then rather illogically being criticised by other Catholics for exercising them to the full.


The old-fashioned word '']'' (from ]: ''Seoinín'', diminutive of '']'', thus literally 'Little John', and apparently a reference to ]) was applied to those who emulated the homes, habits, lifestyle, pastimes, clothes, and ] of the ]. ]'s ''English As We Speak It in Ireland'' defines it as "a gentleman in a small way: a would-be gentleman who puts on superior airs."<ref>{{cite book |first=P. W. |last=Joyce |author-link=P. W. Joyce |title=English As We Speak It in Ireland: Rabble to Yoke |page=321}}</ref> The Irish historian and academic, ], defined a "shoneen" as a person "of native Irish stock who committed the unforgivable sin of aping English or West-Briton manners and attitudes".<ref>{{cite book | first = F. S. L. |last = Lyons | authorlink = F. S. L. Lyons |date = 1973 | title = Ireland Since the Famine | publisher = Fontana Books | isbn = 9780006332008 | page = 233}}</ref> The old-fashioned word '']'' (from ]: ''Seoinín'', diminutive of '']'', thus literally 'Little John', and apparently a reference to ]) was applied to those who emulated the homes, habits, lifestyle, pastimes, clothes, and opinions of the ]. ]'s ''English As We Speak It in Ireland'' defines it as "a gentleman in a small way: a would-be gentleman who puts on superior airs."<ref>{{cite book |first=P. W. |last=Joyce |author-link=P. W. Joyce |title=English As We Speak It in Ireland: Rabble to Yoke |page=321}}</ref> The Irish historian and academic, ], defined a "shoneen" as a person "of native Irish stock who committed the unforgivable sin of aping English or West-Briton manners and attitudes".<ref>{{cite book | first = F. S. L. |last = Lyons | authorlink = F. S. L. Lyons |date = 1973 | title = Ireland Since the Famine | publisher = Fontana Books | isbn = 9780006332008 | page = 233}}</ref>


Similar to Shoneen, another variant since c. 1840, '']'' ('Little Jack'), was used in the countryside in reference to Dubliners with British sympathies; it is a pun, substituting the nickname ''Jack'' for ''John'', as a reference to the ], the British flag. In the 20th century, ''jackeen'' took on the more generalized meaning of "a self-assertive worthless fellow".<ref name="oed">{{cite book |chapter=jackeen |title=Oxford English Dictionary |title-link=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=2nd |editor-last1=Simpson |editor-first1=John |editor-last2=Weiner |editor-first2=Edmund |date=1989 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford}}</ref> Similar to ''shoneen'', another variant since c. 1840, '']'' ('Little Jack'), was used in the countryside in reference to Dubliners with British sympathies; it is a pun, substituting the nickname ''Jack'' for ''John'', as a reference to the ], the British flag. During the 20th century, ''jackeen'' took on the more generalized meaning of "a self-assertive worthless fellow".<ref name="oed">{{cite book |chapter=jackeen |title=Oxford English Dictionary |title-link=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=2nd |editor-last1=Simpson |editor-first1=John |editor-last2=Weiner |editor-first2=Edmund |date=1989 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford}}</ref>


==Antonyms== ==Antonyms==
The term is sometimes contrasted with '''Little Irelander''', a derogatory term for an Irish person who is seen as excessively ], ] and ], sometimes also practising a strongly conservative form of Roman Catholicism. This term was popularised by ].<ref>{{cite book |title=Sean O'Faolain's Irish Vision |first=Richard |last=Bonaccorso |publisher=SUNY Press |date=1987 |page=29}}</ref> "]" had been an equivalent term in British politics since about 1859.<ref>p. 676 Ashman, Patricia ''Little Englanders'' in ''Historical Dictionary of the British Empire, Volume 2'' edited by James Stuart Olson and Robert Shadle Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996</ref> The term is sometimes contrasted with '''Little Irelander''', a derogatory term for an Irish person who is seen as an ], ] and ], while sometimes also practising ]. The term was popularised by ].<ref>{{cite book |title=Sean O'Faolain's Irish Vision |first=Richard |last=Bonaccorso |publisher=SUNY Press |date=1987 |page=29}}</ref> On the ] program '']'' between 1978 and 1982, sketch comedian ] satirised "Little Irelanders", by playing a bigoted ] member who waved his ] around while verbally attacking his pet hates.
"]" had been an equivalent term in British politics since about 1859.<ref>p. 676 Ashman, Patricia ''Little Englanders'' in ''Historical Dictionary of the British Empire, Volume 2'' edited by James Stuart Olson and Robert Shadle Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996</ref>


An antonym of ''jackeen'', in its modern sense of an urban (and strongly British-influenced) Dubliner, is ], referring to an unsophisticated Irish person who resides in the countryside.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Hiberno-English |last=Dolan |first=Terence Patrick |publisher=Gill & Macmillan |year=2006 |isbn=9780717140398 |location=Cork |pages=70}}</ref> An antonym of ''jackeen'', in its modern sense of an urban (and strongly British-influenced) Dubliner, is ], referring to an unsophisticated Irish person who resides in the countryside.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Hiberno-English |last=Dolan |first=Terence Patrick |publisher=Gill & Macmillan |year=2006 |isbn=9780717140398 |location=Cork |pages=70}}</ref>

Latest revision as of 10:51, 31 October 2024

Pejorative term for an Irish person who admires British customs

This article is about the derogatory term. For the local newspaper in Cornwall, see The West Briton.
Gaelic League poster from 1913 contrasting a proud, independent Éire with a craven, dependent West Britain

West Brit, an abbreviation of West Briton, is a derogatory term for an Irish person who is perceived as Anglophilic in matters of culture or politics. West Britain is a description of Ireland emphasising it as subject to British influence.

History

"West Britain" was used with reference to the Acts of Union 1800 which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Similarly "North Britain" for Scotland used after the 1603 Union of the Crowns and the Acts of Union 1707 connected it to the Kingdom of England ("South Britain"). In 1800 Thomas Grady, a Limerick unionist, published a collection of light verse named The West Briton, while an anti-union cartoon depicted an official offering bribes and proclaiming "God save the King & his Majesty's subjects of west Britain that is to be!" In 1801 the Latin description of George III on the Great Seal of the Realm was changed from MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ FRANCIÆ ET HIBERNIÆ REX "Of Great Britain, France and Ireland King" to BRITANNIARUM REX "Of the Britains King", ending the claim to the French throne and describing Great Britain and Ireland as "the Britains".

Irish unionist MP Thomas Spring Rice (later Lord Monteagle of Brandon) said on 23 April 1834 in the House of Commons in opposing Daniel O'Connell's motion for Repeal of the Union, "I should prefer the name of West Britain to that of Ireland". Rice was derided by Henry Grattan later in the same debate: "He tells us, that he belongs to England, and designates himself as a West Briton." Daniel O'Connell himself used the phrase at a pro-Repeal speech in Dublin in February 1836:

The people of Ireland are ready to become a portion of the empire, provided they be made so in reality and not in name alone; they are ready to become a kind of West Britons, if made so in benefits and justice; but if not, we are Irishmen again.

Here, O'Connell was hoping that Ireland would soon become as prosperous as "North Britain" had become after 1707, but supposed that if the Union did not deliver this, then some type of Irish home rule was essential. The Dublin administration as performed during the 1830s was intermediate between these two possibilities.

The term "West Briton" became used next pejoratively during the land struggle of the 1880s. D. P. Moran, who founded the publication The Leader in 1900, used the term frequently to describe those who he did not consider sufficiently Irish. It was synonymous with those he described as "Sourfaces", who had mourned the death of the Queen Victoria in 1901. It included virtually all Church of Ireland Protestants and those Catholics who did not measure up to his definition of "Irish Irelanders".

In 1907, Canon R. S. Ross-Lewin published a collection of loyal Irish poems using the pseudonym "A County of Clare West Briton", explaining the epithet in the foreword:

Now, what is the exact definition and up-to-date meaning of that term? The holder of the title may be descended from O'Connors and O'Donelans and ancient Irish Kings. He may have the greatest love for his native land, desirous to learn the Irish language, and under certain conditions to join the Gaelic League. He may be all this, and rejoice in the victory of an Irish horse in the "Grand National", or an Irish dog at "Waterloo", or an Irish tug-of-war team of R.I.C. giants at Glasgow or Liverpool, but, if he does not at the same time hate the mere Saxon, and revel in the oft resuscitated pictures of long past periods, and the horrors of the penal laws he is a mere "West Briton", his Irish blood, his Irish sympathies go for nothing. He misses the chief qualifications to the ranks of the "Irish best", if he remains an imperialist, and sees no prospect of peace or happiness or return of prosperity in the event of the Union being severed. In this sense, Lord Roberts, Lord Charles Beresford and hundreds of others, of whom all Irishmen ought to be proud, are "West Britons", and thousands who have done nothing for the empire, under the just laws of which they live, who, perhaps, are mere descendants of Cromwell's soldiers, and even of Saxon lineage, with very little Celtic blood in their veins, are of the "Irish best".

Ernest Augustus Boyd's 1924 collection Portraits: real and imaginary included "A West Briton", which gave a table of West-Briton responses to certain words:

Word Response
Sinn Féin Pro-German
Irish Vulgar
England Mother-country
Green Red
Nationality Disloyalty
Patriotism O.B.E.
Self-determination Czecho-Slovakia

According to Boyd, "The West Briton is the near Englishman ... an unfriendly caricature, the reductio ad absurdum of the least attractive English characteristics. ... The best that can be said ... is that the species is slowly becoming extinct. ... nationalism has become respectable". The opposite of the "West Briton" Boyd called the "synthetic Gael".

After the independence of the Irish Free State, "West British" was applied mainly to anglophile Roman Catholics, the small number of Catholic unionists, as Protestants were expected to be naturally unionists. This was not automatic, since there were, and are, also Anglo-Irish Protestants favouring Irish republicanism (see Protestant Irish nationalism).

Contemporary usage

"Brit" meaning "British person", attested in 1884, is pejorative in Irish usage, though used as a value-neutral colloquialism in Great Britain. During the Troubles, among nationalists "the Brits" specifically meant the British Army in Northern Ireland. "West Brit" is used presently by Irish people, chiefly within Ireland, to criticise a variety of perceived faults of other Irish people:

Not all people so labelled may actually be characterised by these stereotypical opinions and habits.

Public perception and self-identity can vary. During his 2011 presidential campaign, Sinn Féin candidate Martin McGuinness criticised what he termed West Brit elements of the media, who he said were out to undermine his attempt to win the election. He later said it was an "off-the-cuff remark" but did not define for the electorate what (or who) he had meant by the term.

Irish TV and radio presenter Terry Wogan, who spent most of his career working for the BBC in Britain, described himself as a West Brit: "I'm an effete, urban Irishman. I was an avid radio listener as a boy, but it was the BBC, not RTÉ. I was a West Brit from the start. I'm a kind of child of the Pale. I think I was born to succeed here ; I have much more freedom than I had in Ireland". He became a dual citizen of Ireland and the UK and was eventually knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

The Irish Times columnist Donald Clarke noted a number of things that may prompt the application of a West Brit label, including being from Dublin (or south Dublin), supporting UK-based football teams, using the phrase "Boxing Day", or voting for Fine Gael.

Similar terms

Castle Catholic was applied more specifically by Republicans to middle-class Catholics assimilated into the pro-British establishment, after Dublin Castle, the main office of the British administration. Sometimes the exaggerated pronunciation spelling Cawtholic was used to suggest an accent imitative of British Received Pronunciation.

These identified Catholic unionists whose involvement with the British system was the purpose of O'Connell's Emancipation Act of 1829. Having and exercising their new legal rights according to the Act, Castle Catholics were then rather illogically being criticised by other Catholics for exercising them to the full.

The old-fashioned word shoneen (from Irish: Seoinín, diminutive of Seán, thus literally 'Little John', and apparently a reference to John Bull) was applied to those who emulated the homes, habits, lifestyle, pastimes, clothes, and opinions of the Protestant Ascendancy. P. W. Joyce's English As We Speak It in Ireland defines it as "a gentleman in a small way: a would-be gentleman who puts on superior airs." The Irish historian and academic, F. S. L. Lyons, defined a "shoneen" as a person "of native Irish stock who committed the unforgivable sin of aping English or West-Briton manners and attitudes".

Similar to shoneen, another variant since c. 1840, jackeen ('Little Jack'), was used in the countryside in reference to Dubliners with British sympathies; it is a pun, substituting the nickname Jack for John, as a reference to the Union Jack, the British flag. During the 20th century, jackeen took on the more generalized meaning of "a self-assertive worthless fellow".

Antonyms

The term is sometimes contrasted with Little Irelander, a derogatory term for an Irish person who is seen as an extreme nationalist, Anglophobic and xenophobic, while sometimes also practising Traditionalist Catholicism. The term was popularised by Seán Ó Faoláin. On the RTÉ program The Live Mike between 1978 and 1982, sketch comedian Dermot Morgan satirised "Little Irelanders", by playing a bigoted Gaelic Athletic Association member who waved his hurley around while verbally attacking his pet hates.

"Little Englander" had been an equivalent term in British politics since about 1859.

An antonym of jackeen, in its modern sense of an urban (and strongly British-influenced) Dubliner, is culchie, referring to an unsophisticated Irish person who resides in the countryside.

See also

References

  1. "All kinds of things can get you called a West Brit these days". The Irish Times. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  2. McNamee, Michael Sheils (28 November 2019). "Would you take offence at being called a West Brit? The term has a muddled history". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  3. Reilly, Gavan (28 November 2019). "McGuinness blames 'West Brit' influence for references to IRA past". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  4. Grady, Thomas (1800). The West Briton: Being a collection of poems, on various subjects. Dublin: Printed by Graisberry and Campbell for Bernard Dornin. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  5. Barrington, Jonah (1844). "Ch. XXIV". Historic Records and Secret Memoirs of the Legislative Union Between Great Britain and Ireland. London: Colburn. p. 385. Retrieved 8 February 2016 – via Google Books.
  6. Geoghegan, Patrick M. (2000). "'An Act of Power & Corruption'? The Union Debate". History Ireland. 8 (2): 22–26: 25. ISSN 0791-8224. JSTOR 27724771.
  7. Hourican, Bridget. "Rice, Thomas Spring". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  8. "Repeal of the Union—Adjourned Debate". Hansard House of Commons Debate. 23 April 1834. Col. 1194. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  9. "Repeal of the Union—Adjourned Debate—Fourth Day". Hansard: House of Common Debate. 25 April 1834. Col. 57. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  10. Fagan, William (1847). The Life and Times of Daniel O'Connell. Vol. II. Cork: J. O'Brien. p. 496.
  11. ^ "D.P. Moran and the leader: Writing an Irish Ireland through partition". Eire–Ireland: Journal of Irish Studies. 2003. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  12. Ross-Lewin, R. S. (1907). "Preface". Poems. Limerick: McKern. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  13. ^ Boyd, Ernest Augustus (1970) . "A West Briton". Portraits: real and imaginary, being memories and impressions of friends and contemporaries; with appreciations of divers singularities and characteristics of certain phases of life and letters among the North Americans as seen, heard, and divined. New York: George H. Doran. pp. 140–145. ISBN 9780403005284. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  14. "Definition of Brit". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  15. McArthur, Tom (17 October 2008). "An ABC of World English Brit to Creole". English Today. 1 (2): 21–27. doi:10.1017/S0266078400000122. S2CID 144074032.
  16. Wall, Richard (2000). "Intra-lingual translation: Irish English–standard English" (PDF). Bells: Barcelona English Language and Literature Studies. 11: 249–256: 254.
  17. "McGuinness blames 'West Brit' influence for references to IRA past". The Journal. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  18. McKittrick, David (21 September 2011). "McGuinness launches attack on media". The Independent. London. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  19. "Martin McGuinness backtracks after 'west Brit' jibe". The Belfast Telegraph. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  20. "McGuinness declines to define 'West Brit'". Irish Examiner. 23 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  21. "Terry Wogan interview: 'I'm a child of the Pale. I think I was born to succeed here'". Irish Times. 31 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  22. Clarke, Donald (12 January 2019). "All kinds of things can get you called a West Brit these days". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  23. Meehan, Ciara (14 April 2019). "Fine Gael is still haunted by 'West-British' moniker - despite its role in republic". independent.ie. Independent News& Media. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  24. Joyce, P. W. English As We Speak It in Ireland: Rabble to Yoke. p. 321.
  25. Lyons, F. S. L. (1973). Ireland Since the Famine. Fontana Books. p. 233. ISBN 9780006332008.
  26. Simpson, John; Weiner, Edmund, eds. (1989). "jackeen". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  27. Bonaccorso, Richard (1987). Sean O'Faolain's Irish Vision. SUNY Press. p. 29.
  28. p. 676 Ashman, Patricia Little Englanders in Historical Dictionary of the British Empire, Volume 2 edited by James Stuart Olson and Robert Shadle Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996
  29. Dolan, Terence Patrick (2006). A Dictionary of Hiberno-English. Cork: Gill & Macmillan. p. 70. ISBN 9780717140398.
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