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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paulsatim is neil lennon, 12:19
Good man
Top 5 CQN’ers in no particular order and after two minutes thought, no offence to anyone I missed.
Paul67
SFTB
BRTH
MWD
Philbhoy
WELL, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT???
31 hours….
I had resigned myself to a gallant defeat tomorrow night but given the way the Club historically responds to history we might get a draw, which would be excellent.
My Top 5 in 125:
Walfrid/Glass/Maley/Stein/Mccann.
Philvis, I’m not really into that.
Ach maybe I shouldn’t gnocchi it till I try it.
John Thomson
Willie Fernie
Tommy Callaghan
George Connelly
Scott Brown.
Centralandwestfifebias csc
Geordie Munro – I ziti what you did there. (thumbsup)
Geordie Munro
They are not CQN’ers!
Keep up man!
:0)
Out of 30 odd requests for a retweet on twitter only one responded
Aye the kids are alright
Philbhoy
There ARE wrong answers on your list… And some serious omissions.. Ha!
Worried we both put MWD on our lists. He’s a megalomaniac as it is..
Oops, actually less than 30 hours now….
philvisreturns @ 13 43.
My addled ol ‘ brain thinks that Tutti Frutti was the German version
Cultsbhoy
I included MWD because am feart eh him!
Hey canamalar – leave them kids alone. (thumbsup)
of an Italian game show called Colpo Grosso .
I could be wrong
Dont like the look of this Dutch MIB fot tomorrow, has a bit of history with Barca in CL
South Of Tunis – Thanks for that mental image of Angela Merkel dourly-yet-efficiently jiggling her homely Teutonic bits when the “ching ching! ching ching!” music comes on… (thumbsup)
twentyfirstofmaynineteenseventynine
Officiated them 4 times and Barca have won 3 and drew 1.
He tends to favour them falling down but not the opposition when they do it.
1) Alec McNair
2) Jimmy McGrory
3)Patsy
4)Jinky
5) Danny
Jobo , gonnae stop it ,
all your are reminding me is that tomorrow night at 7:45 pm I will be on the M6 heading home with No1 son from a motorsport day while No 2 son will be at the game with my brother, who is happily standing in for me using my ticket !!! kids dont you love them when dates clash !!!!!
Good, well-timed article, Paul.
I strongly object to the suggestion that there was a FAMINE in Ireland in the 1840’s.
fam·ine (fmn)
n.
1. A drastic, wide-reaching food shortage.
2. A drastic shortage; a dearth.
An Gorta Mor was no FAMINE.
The years of the potato blight were times of plenty in terms of food.
They were years of surfeit.
They were years of RECORD food exports from Ireland with grain crops more bounteous than ever before.
To deliberately refuse to use this bounty to feed a starving population was an act of GENOCIDE.
The Great Hunger was a deliberate strategy to eliminate a perceived problem for the British government. To decimate a perennially rebellious & troublesome native population.in just the same way that they dealt with the Scottish ‘trouble-makers’ through driving them from their homes in the infamous Clearances.
We should never allow ourselves to be conned into calling this genocide in Ireland a famine.
A Son of Dan
What…? No Zheng Zhi…!
Top 5 players ( who I actually saw)
Bobby Lennox
Jinky
Paul mcstay
Danny mc grain
Henke
Top five celts off the field
Brother walfrid
Willey maley
Big jock
Fergus
Tommy burns
Only IMHO
happy birthday CELTIC
how old do I feel when I realise the fantastic times singing” happy birthday to you ” in the jungle is a quarter of a century ago sheesh!!
Philvis tells his wife to – turn on the light Dear
McNair
Are you Alec or is/ was that your Da?
I almost put my beloved Da- as without him… Well there would be no me .. And certainly no Celtic in my life!
Celtic Da’s rule!!!!!
A near impossible task for My Top 5 but..
Jinky
Buzz-Bomb
Yogi (Original)
KD
Henke
Must haves in any Celtic team Bertie ,Bobby Murduch, Danny McGrain, Paul Mcstay, George Connelly, Paddy Crerand . Lubo, Nakamoura, Roy Aitken , Peter Grant, Tommy Burns, and of course Billy and big Jock.
Far too hard, I have not even mentioned Joe McBride, Steve Chalmers Willie Wallace and dozens more.. God bless each and every one.. for They wore the Hoops with pride. Hail Hail.
asonofdan
We’ll just have to keep them out of our penalty box all night, no worries
Cheers for that auldheid.
The other thing that irritates me on the subject is the constant mentioning of div 3 attendances.
Some fail to realise that a full house at ibrox, no matter what league they play in, gives very little back to Scottish football in comparison to what they gain.
The real loss comes in the form that they can’t charge as high for home tickets
Top Five Players ( Actually Seen )
1. Jimmy Johnstone
2. Bobby Murdoch
3. Kenny Dalglish
4. Henrik Larsson
5. Bobby Lennox
Kilbowie Kelt – I hate it when people misuse the word “decimate”.
To decimate literally means to remove a tenth of something. It comes from the old Roman Army practice of killing one tenth of the soldiers in a unit, as a punishment and pour encourager les autres.
If it’s decimation the British government was after, they wildly overshot the mark. If they were engaged in a secret plan of genocide, it failed miserably, since there are more Irish people around than ever. (thumbsup)
Not many articles written
about Celtic can capture
my feelings in words,
Thankyou Mr Paul67,
Great post!
philvisreturns
Angela Merkel ?
Q’ing for a pizza last week .-
Tele blaring behind the counter — the News —- up comes film of Angela Merkel — Guy making the pizzas announces —— ” I’d work all day , every day , if that was waiting at home for me “
Oh Dear
Top Five Players ( Never Seen )
1. Jimmy McGrory
2. John Thompson
3. Patsy Gallagher
4. Charlie Tully
5. Jimmy Quinn
Philbhoy..
Sowee
I can’t chose a top 5. I love too many.
Now ask me about a bottom 5 ……….;p
glasgowdave, aye, doesn’t seem like 25 years.
CultsBhoy, ha, indeed! Craig deserves the seat in front of me.
Auldheid, well put.
Lennybhoy, it sure is.
Dublinbhoy, absolutely.
hen1rik, thanks.
Arty, very well put, thank you.
roybhoy, we sure are.
thomthethim, yes, well put.
TB&F, it sure is. Thanks.
RRC, cheers.
whitecrook tim, looking forward to hearing him.
DougC, agree.
Lawrenzo, thank you.
Kilbowie Kelt, aye, indeed. This was often the way of famine, even during the last century.
SUNNI CAMLACHIE, you are very welcome.
Jinky
Henrik
Kenny D
Paul Mc
Lubo