Plastic Paddy

Plastic Paddy is a slang expression for the cultural appropriation evidenced by unconvincing or obviously non-native Irishness.[1][2] The phrase has been used as a positive reinforcement and as a derogatory term in various situations, particularly in London but also within Ireland itself. The term has sometimes been applied to people who may misappropriate or misrepresent stereotypical aspects of Irish customs.[3] In this sense, the plastic Paddy may know little of actual Irish culture, but nevertheless assert an Irish identity.[4] In other contexts, the term has been applied to members of the Irish diaspora who have distanced themselves from perceived stereotypes and, in the 1980s, the phrase was used to describe Irish people who had emigrated to England and were seeking assimilation into English culture.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ "Time for Irish to stop calling Irish Americans Plastic Paddies". IrishCentral.com. 25 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Irish American tired of being mocked and called a "Plastic Paddy" in Ireland?". IrishCentral.com. 11 April 2017.
  3. ^ Michael Hugh Walker (17 March 2016). "Americans - especially Macklemore - take note: real Irish people aren't impressed by your St Patrick's Day craic | Voices". The Independent. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  4. ^ John Nagle (2004). "Is 'Everybody Irish on St. Paddy's'? Ambivalence and Conflict on St. Patrick's – A Research Report into People's Attitudes into St. Patrick's Day 2004" (Report). Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University Belfast.
  5. ^ Arrowsmith, Aidan (1 April 2000). "Plastic Paddy: Negotiating Identity in Second-generation 'Irish-English' Writing". Irish Studies Review. 8 (1). Routledge: 35–43. doi:10.1080/09670880050005093. S2CID 145693196.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Walter was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hickman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).