Adam Smith, regarded by many as the father of modern economics, once observed that crop failures caused dearth but that it took “the violence of well-intentioned governments” to convert “dearth into famine.” Throughout the 19th century, governments, social-reformers and subsistence –dwellers learned the enormous human cost that resulted when the poor were left to starve.
Ireland suffered regular famine for more than a century before when what became known as THE Irish Famine first struck the country in 1845. The potato blight travelled across Europe before arriving in Britain and then Ireland, but in most places the links between those who were suffering and those who were in a position to alleviate that suffering were sufficiently established to ensure dearth did not become cataclysmic famine. Not so in Ireland.
The famine lasted until the 1850s, a million starved to death. Nothing would ever be the same again. The blight returned in 1879 but by then the Celtic population of Ireland, who suffered disproportionately in earlier famines, were politically better represented and had structures in place to ensure those in need were assisted. As a result, the 1879 blight caused great hunger but cost fewer lives.
Brother Walfrid lived through the famine of the 1840s. The community who 125 years ago today decided to form a football and athletic club in order to feed the starving either lived through the same hardship, or were the progeny of those who did. All were informed by the actions across the water in 1879. Squalor, disease and starvation afflicted Glasgow, as it did many of the newly industrialised cities of the world. Walfrid and his colleagues were not going to stand idly by and hope for the best.
Celtic Football Club was not the only institution established in those years to cater for the poor. Across Britain others campaigned for clean water, sanitation, better working conditions and occasionally health care, but Celtic were quite unlike any others.
Football had caught the public imagination and benefited from the increased availability of leisure time in the early 20th century. Brother Walfrid could just as easily established a musical troupe to raise funds. If so, there would be no Celtic. Those who met in St Mary’s hall had seen how successful other football clubs were becoming and decided to copy their ways. They watched how successful Hibernian, from Leith, had become and decided Glasgow’s east end would be equally fertile ground.
Hundreds of other football clubs were formed in the 19th century but no others had the unique story of Celtic. If you listen to modern brand consultants you will hear them talk about establishing a legend for your brand. Adorn it with positive, aspirational sentiment that people want to be a part of. Whenever I hear this kind of talk, or watch a business try to position itself along these lines, I think of how getting the foundations right on day one set our club out on this enormous journey.
No one was trying to establish a brand in 1887, in fact, those in charge of the club seemed immune to the concept for over a century, but all of the positive sentiment which is persistently associated with Celtic can be traced back to that meeting at St Mary’s, even down to what might have seemed like small detail. Unlike Hibernian, Celtic would not be a club for members of a church or parish, this would be a club who wanted all members of society to work with, support and play for. From conception, the message of social responsibility was evangelised.
The world is enormously different today than it was back then, and our community reflects those changes, but anyone who counts himself a Celtic fan is a product of the club’s history. You are here for a reason.
Tomorrow night’s opponents proclaim they are ‘more than just a football club’. In their case that is correct, but this is a truism for most football fans. Few will say, ‘Although I turn up every week, there’s nothing special about this place’. Those who understand how much more Celtic are than just a club, know that it is no longer the responsibility of Brother Walfrid, now it is yours and mine. We have the enormous responsibility to take care of that 125-year heritage and, if possible, enhance it. That’s the challenge every time you get your ticket out your pocket, you scribble on a blog, or you’re asked to assist someone in need.
What an enormous privilege.
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Paul67,
Very nice article.
It is indeed a privilege to be a part of the world wide support and that entails.
Happy Birthday Celtic, you are a very unique, very beautiful lady and are showing your age very well! :)
Hail Hail
CultsBhoy
Thanks for suggesting that we submit our ‘top 5’ Celts of all time – should have made it 50!
A nice alternative to a ‘poppy debate’ ‘tho!
HH!!
Jinkyredstar –
50 years? Shirley yer nae that aul’?
Ah, wait a minute, you are!!
Ulryc
… No Craig Whyte in anbody’s top five…. so far – he was 7 th on my list beaten by P67 …just :-)
Mort, This is a quiz you cannot win, how could you leave out, Jinky, Big Jock, Willie Maley, John Thompson, Mcgrory, Tully, the list goes on and on. What a Club, what a History, Hail Hail
Paul another class article well done.
Corkcelt
No right or wrong answers but everyone wins!!
In no particular order –
George Connelly
Brian McClair
Henrik Larsson
Jimmy Johnstone
Lubo Moravcik.
Getting carried away her.. But indulge me..
If we were to name the top 5 most I fluential figures in Celtic’s history in 10 year’s time. Would Murray or Whyte feature??
Beautiful piece, Paul. I am much moved by your insight into the heart of Celtic Football Club. I stand proudly by your side to hail the ethos of its origins, its glorious untarnished history and the continuance of its global good works. Your words are our Celtic prayer.
A very happy 125 to all the Celtic family and to any others who embrace its fundamentally universal principles. Though I am unable to be present, I will most certainly be praying with everyone at St. Mary’s tonight.
Hail Hail
I am glad Celtic is in such good shape and run with integrity in an era of greed in the game,140,150 and 200 years of existence will come and go for Celtic and unless there is a total collapse in western society,Celtic F.C will still be one of the biggest names in football,honouring its roots,in 500 years.
Poppy debate time.
Which genus is best, Papaver or Eschscholzia? (thumbsup)
CultsBhoy – If we were to name the top 5 most I fluential figures in Celtic’s history in 10 year’s time. Would Murray or Whyte feature??
They wouldn’t feature now. (thumbsup)
Paul McStay
Henrik Larsson
Tommy Burns
Neil Lennon
Darius Dziekanowski (I was young, very young and he seemed to score whenever my Dad took me to paradise)
My selection for the ‘top 5’ Celtic players – those I actually saw play:
Jimmy Johnstone
George Connelly
Bobby Murdoch
Bobby Lennox
Henrik Larsson/Kenny Dalglish/Lubo Moravcik (equal)!
HH!!
I seem to recall it was writers in the NTV fanzine that were the first to start seriously questioning the dead clubs finanical shenanigans.Murrays smoke and mirrors.
CQN was certainly to the fore in recent years followed by RTC.
Meanwhile the MSM were enjoying trips out to SDM french villa.
Cosgrove ,Spence ,Speirs and English realised the way the wind is blowing and have jumped on the bandwagon.
Everytime Cosgrove would speak about Celtic in the past he would go on about Henrik being a dirty player . Apparently he got his retaliation in first against a St Johnstone clogger.
O.K. Cultsbhoy if everyone wins, I am going to nominate the following 5 names that epitomises Celtic to me,
,
Johnny Doyle,
John Thomson,
Tommy Burns,
Jinky
Neil Lennon
30.5 hours.
1829 minutes.
1828 minutes
No love for Vince the Parrot?
May he squawk in peace. (thumbsup)
Top 5 players for me in my time-
Paul McStay
Henrik Larsson
Paul Lambert
Tommy Burns
Mo Johnstone
tinhatcsc
1827 minutes
” philvisreturns
13:09on
6November,2012
Poppy debate time.
Which genus is best, Papaver or Eschscholzia? (thumbsup)”
Or…..
Montgomery or Delevingne??:)))
Murray or Whyte .
No .
Leave them to whom they belong .
1826 minutes
My top 5 Huns of all time:
1. David Murray
2. Craig Whyte
3. David Greir
4. Martin Bain
5. Ally McCoist
All made significant contribution to demise of Hun FC and in so doing paved the way to endless European income for Celtic.
1825 minutes
Lennon n Mc…Mjalby, we don’t need any antagonism or controversy on a day like today.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
TET
On Cosgrove and co.
I think the role of Cosgrove, Thomson, Spence and Gordon in relation to the internet bampots is understimated. Without these guys to take bampot thinking into the mainstream arena the term bampot would have had its original meaning.
The msm,particularly the red tops and the red top thinking they infected the BBC with, had their megaphones and megaphone messages all ready. “Scotland needs a strong Rangers”, “punished enough” etc if shouted often and loud enough would have become accepted thinking and history would have been different.
But the aforementioned were the megaphones to take the bampots’ messages mainstream, refute the red top message and put us where we are.
I for one am grateful for their involvement and could not give a toss for previous errors of judgement as I might see them.
Cults
Alistair Johnson (sp) had the chance to pay the tax bill and keep them in existence,he has to make the top 5 huns.
Superb article Paul.
Celtic really are more than a club.
Cultsbhoy,
My top 5 are those who directly influenced me during my lifetime only:
Kenny Dalglish
Billy McNeill
Paul McStay
Fergus McCann
Henrik Larsson
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
Lennon n mc
I did switcher on AJ but ruled him
Out for reducing their bank debt with Lloyds…
Geordie Munro – Montgomery or Delevingne??:)))
Elizabeth Montgomery from Bewitched was quite fetching, back in the olden days. The two Darrens were definitely punching above their weight there.
I could never understand why Darren was such a petty control freak. Who cares if the wife does the housework by magic instead of scrubbing it for hours? As long as my dinner’s on the table when I come home, I don’t care if the satanic dark arts were involved in making the gnocchi. (thumbsup)
cork
He might have became a traitor but in the context of a favourite player of mine at the time he certainly was that.
Without Brother W and Fergus we would not be here… That’s all Zim saying … Remember no wrong answers …but some more right than others .. Lol!