The british isles and Ireland.

Terry · 01-09-2006 3:03pm #1

do you see Ireland as part of the british isles, or are you as digusted as me by the term?
dicksuss.

aidan_walsh · 01-09-2006 3:05pm

Isn't it only about 7/8 weeks since we had this particular festival of flame and troll?

Big Ears · 01-09-2006 3:07pm

It's a geographical location which we technically are part of , who really cares ?

Caco · 01-09-2006 3:07pm

I don't like it, I don't like the fact that it sigbifies that Ireland is part of Britain.
But it doesn't bug me too much because it just seems like a term people use from time to time- not really an official thing! (Or am i wrong- is it on maps and such)

darkman2 · 01-09-2006 3:08pm

I dont use this term at all. I find it, as an Irish person, atagonistic and just blatantly wrong. I just say 'these Islands'.:)

Ruu_Old · 01-09-2006 3:10pm

Big Ears wrote:

It's a geographical location which we technically are part of , who really cares ?

Agreed, thats all it is and doesn't bother me really.

Pal · 01-09-2006 3:15pm

The British Isles is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Continental Europe. It includes Ireland and Great Britain, and the Isle of Man, but usually excludes the Channel Islands. Also included are the thousands of small islands off the coast of both the larger islands such as Shetland and Orkney.

Conclusive enough for me.
The British Isles is a geographic location.
Nothing more, nothing less.

Why get worked up about it ?

Terry · 01-09-2006 3:21pm

aidan_walsh wrote:

Isn't it only about 7/8 weeks since we had this particular festival of flame and troll?

i don't remember. also, the search sucks, so i don't feel like spending 20 minutes looking for a dead thread.

Why get worked up about it ?

because i have little else to do.

Archeron · 01-09-2006 3:23pm

Pal wrote:

Conclusive enough for me.
The British Isles is a geographic location.
Nothing more, nothing less.

Why get worked up about it ?

Agreed. Geographical nametags dont upset me in any way.

petes · 01-09-2006 3:30pm

It doesn't bother me.

ziggy · 01-09-2006 3:38pm

This post has been deleted.

connundrum · 01-09-2006 3:41pm

It bothers me immensly, but obviously not enough for me to put together a decent argument.

Last week I had a Swedish girl try to tell me that the Isle of Mann is as much a part of Ireland and Northern Ireland is*. That bothered me.

*The conversation context was 'Whats your favourite county in Ireland' and she wouldn't accept that Derry could be an answer.

r3nu4l · 01-09-2006 3:47pm

It bothers me because at one time we were a part of the British Empire but now that we are no longer, we should not accept the word British as having anything to do with Ireland. The term should be confined to history like our membership of the Empire.

It would probably be easier to break away from the term altogether if we had a United Ireland* but the fact that a good chunk of our island is British makes it easier to keep the term.

Maybe it bugs me more because I live in Britain, who knows? [Googles phrase 'geopsychopathology'];)

*This is not a call to arms for you nutters out there

Terry · 01-09-2006 3:51pm

connundrum wrote:

It bothers me immensly, but obviously not enough for me to put together a decent argument.

Last week I had a Swedish girl try to tell me that the Isle of Mann is as much a part of Ireland and Northern Ireland is*. That bothered me.

*The conversation context was 'Whats your favourite county in Ireland' and she wouldn't accept that Derry could be an answer.

there are some who would argue that the isle of man is actually part of Ireland.
no idea why though.

aidan_walsh · 01-09-2006 3:54pm

i don't remember. also, the search sucks, so i don't feel like spending 20 minutes looking for a dead thread.

Fair enough.

To play nice, it bothers me about as much as it bothers me that I am typing this in a language called "English". Which is to say, not at all.

Gurgle · 01-09-2006 3:54pm

julep wrote:

do you see Ireland as part of the british isles, or are you as digusted as me by the term?

This disgusts you?

You need to either:
a) get out more

or

b) read the news more

cooker3 · 01-09-2006 3:55pm

I couldn't care less, it's geographic term
It simply doesn't matter.

jebuz · 01-09-2006 3:56pm

doesn't bother me, why should it, its just a name. the majority of people would know that we're independant of britain, mind you i'd wouldn't include the americans in that majority!

quote from an american guy when i was over there for the summer...

"ireland eh, that sure must have been some drive"

daveirl · 01-09-2006 3:56pm

This post has been deleted.

Hellm0 · 01-09-2006 3:59pm

Whilst I have no problem with the definition, I'm not disputing that Ireland is a part of an arcapeligo which includes England and other Islands, I dont really like the label "British Isles".
Just as I dont really like the term "Great Britain". What the hells so great about it*.
I guess I just dont like the use of language is all. I'm sure they wouldnt like it we the term was changed to "Irish Isles" tommorow.

Just to note I have no problem with the english people, but rather with the lingering condescending humor towards the Irish that some english people I have encountered maintain.

mike65 · 01-09-2006 4:00pm

I almost get the feeling this was started with the express intention of getting it kicked into Thunderdome by a pissed off AH mod!

Mike.

Pal · 01-09-2006 4:03pm

connundrum wrote:

Last week I had a Swedish girl .

What do you mean you 'HAD' her ?
Details please.

Terry · 01-09-2006 4:03pm

Gurgle wrote:

This disgusts you?

You need to either:
a) get out more

or

b) read the news more

ok. maybe it doesn't really disgust me.
it just irks me.

i remember watching some award thingy and michael palin was being interviewed. he was asked what he thought the chances were of british people winning. he said that he thought colin farrell had a good chance of winning. the interviewer pointed out that colin farrell is Irish and palin's response was something along the lines of 'Ireland is part of the british isles, therefore colin farrell is british'. that kind of pissed me off.

Pal · 01-09-2006 4:05pm

Go and have a few beers. Enjoy the match tomorrow. Chill out for the weekend. Don't worry about it.

Terry · 01-09-2006 4:05pm

mike65 wrote:

I almost get the feeling this was started with the express intention of getting it kicked into Thunderdome by a pissed off AH mod!

Mike.

you would be wrong.
i'm hungover and my brain is not fuly functional. i probably should have worded it better.
i will also lock the thread if it descends into an anti-british campaign.

r3nu4l · 01-09-2006 4:08pm

My problem is that they don't seem to know what they are themselves...

"Hi I'm specifically English/Scottish/Welsh but generally categorized as British. That is, someone from the British Isles, a citizen of Great Britain also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."

"I'm from England, you know, Britain, the UK" How many names do these people want for themselves. It's all historical so that they can seem grander than they are, big name for a small island etc...

Just my 2 cents, again

EDIT, not being anti-British here julep, this is something I've asked English people about because they seem to interchange the terms quite regularly when they mean different things.

mike65 · 01-09-2006 4:08pm

Hellm0 wrote:

Whilst I have no problem with the definition, I'm not disputing that Ireland is a part of an arcapeligo which includes England and other Islands, I dont really like the label "British Isles".
Just as I dont really like the term "Great Britain". What the hells so great about it*.
I guess I just dont like the use of language is all. I'm sure they wouldnt like it we the term was changed to "Irish Isles" tommorow.

Just to note I have no problem with the english people, but rather with the lingering condescending humor towards the Irish that some english people I have encountered maintain.

Try doing some research

Origins and Nomenclature

The term 'Great Britain' was first widely used during the reign of King James VI of Scotland, I of England to describe the island, on which co-existed two separate kingdoms ruled over by the same monarch. Though England and Scotland each remained legally in existence as a separate state with its own parliament, collectively they were sometimes referred to as Great Britain. In 1707, an Act of Union joined both states. That Act used two different terms to decribe the new all island state, a 'united Kingdom' and the 'Kingdom of Great Britain'. The former is generally though not universally regarded as a description of the union rather than its name. Most reference books describe the all-island kingdom that existed between 1707 and 1800 and the Kingdom of Great Britain.

So its a term of clarification (or not!) not bragging.

Another possible defintion

Great Britain may well be a translation of the French term Grande Bretagne, which is used in France to distinguish Britain from Brittany (in French: Bretagne), which had been settled in late Roman times by Romano-Celtic troops from Maximus' army and later by refugees from Roman Britain, who were then under attack by the Anglo-Saxons. Since the English court and aristocracy was largely French-speaking for about two centuries after the Norman Conquest of 1066, the French term naturally passed into English usage. The Normans being descendants of Vikings who had occupied the area of Normandy for some time demanding land and tithes from Gaul in exchange for peace and no more invasions.

Either way thats another chip that can be removed from the Irish shoulder!

Mike.

BendiBus · 01-09-2006 4:09pm

connundrum wrote:

The conversation context was 'Whats your favourite county in Ireland' and she wouldn't accept that Derry could be an answer.

In fairness, few people would accept Derry was the answer to that particular question

JaysusMacfeck · 01-09-2006 4:09pm

I said No. If I had a choice I would abolish the term. But it's here to stay so I don't really care.

Lets face it, England tried to change Ireland's name to "West Britain". We could have been stuck with that.

punky · 01-09-2006 4:14pm

Does annoy me a wee bit.
But not as much as when I hear Irish people say 'The UK' instead of 'Britain'. We never used to say 'The UK' but I hear it more and more often these days.

ultanmac · 01-09-2006 4:19pm

I think the fact that it is a geographical term dosn't stop it from being offensive. If the Iberian penninsula was called the "Spanish penninsula", the portuguese would be pretty hacked off. Politics doesn't always dictate national identity, the notion that we're "island people" is influenced by geography, and we should determine our own geographical identity.

The british isles and Ireland.

do you recognise the term 'british isles' in reference to Ireland? 572 votes

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