West Brit - History

History

The term originates from 19th century Ireland and has evolved over the years. Nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell used it in the British House of Commons in 1832:

"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 Briton if made so in benefits and justice; but if not, we are Irishmen again."

"West Brit" came to prominence in the land struggle of the 1880s. D. P. Moran, 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 mourned the death of the Queen Victoria. It included virtually all Church of Ireland Protestants and those Catholics who did not measure up to his definition of "Irish Irelanders".

In the early years of the Irish Free State, the term was used to indicate those who had a friendly attitude towards the United Kingdom and to be afraid to cut ties with what had become a foreign country. The term was applied mainly to Roman Catholics, as Protestants were expected to be naturally unionist (although this was not automatic, since there were, and are, also Anglo-Irish Protestants favouring Irish republicanism (see Protestant Irish nationalism).