Sean Campbell

Author: 'Irish Blood, English Heart: Second-Generation Irish Musicians in England'; Series Adviser: 'Guth: Musical Sons of the Irish Diaspora' (TG4)

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@irishinbritain Thank you so much for this very kind account of the day. It was an absolute delight to co-host this event with @MuseumoftheHome and @StudiesofHome. We're already planning a follow-up event. Huge thanks to @IrelandEmbGB, @AngliaRuskin and David P. Kelly for supporting this project

[Irish in Britain @irishinbritain]

An engaging, creative, thought-provoking symposium yesterday at the Museum of the Home: Irish Blood, English Hearth: creativity, identity & the migrant Irish home organised by David Kelly & Prof Sean Campbell
Hugely insightful presentations+ reflections shared by audience members

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@Smiths_history " ... they're still there" (2.56-3.02). I first learnt of this lyric in a Melody Maker pamphlet on the band (I think written by Simon Reynolds) around 1989-90. I had definitely wondered if the title of the new album was a self-conscious echo of this line.

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@fallon_donal The writer of the article that you cite (JB) has of course a long history of authoring such pieces. See p. 25 of 'Irish Blood, English Heart' for examples. In 1984, she told Time Out: 'I hate the Irish, I think they're appalling' (‘Red devil’, Time Out, 17–23 May 1984, p. 27).

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@fallon_donal Fully agree. Coogan, like MacGowan and Rowland, identified as partly (or wholly) Irish long before they became 'celebrities'. The rest of the 2nd-gen identified similarly. It would be odd if they didn't identify to some extent with the country of their parents and wider families.

[Donal Fallon @fallon_donal]

Pointing out Shane MacGowan was born in Kent, or Kevin Rowland was born in Staffordshire, isn't the great 'gotcha' people think.

For many of the second generation Irish, being born in a stable didn't make them a horse. If you can't understand that, Ireland must be a mystery.

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@DanMulhall I think these identities are articulated differently due to the diff accommodations of being Irish in the US & Irish in Britain. A hyphenated identity is lived out by millions born in Britain to Irish parents. But no umbrella designation, other than '2nd-gen' or '[city]-Irish'.

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@MaryKenny4 And part of a longer story of 2nd-gen Irish musicians (Lydon/Smiths/Dexys/Pogues/Oasis) and dual identity. I tried to explore this in 'Irish Blood, English Heart' book (Cork) & TV doc 'Guth' (TG4). Very pleased to be speaking on it at @EPICMuseumCHQ in Aug https://t.co/vHz1C3zQOx

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@RalphMcLeanShow Just finding out about this now, Ralph. It is desperately sad news. I i/viewed Barry in 2019 for an article I wrote for Études irlandaises. He was hugely generous with his time & incredibly insightful. An enormous figure in UK publishing & real gentleman. He will be sorely missed

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@spiderstacy @kittyempire @O2ApolloManc @kittyempire666

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@tobytyke69 @poguesofficial @StickInTheWheel Sounds incredible. Please forgive the prosaic question: do you happen to know what time the gig finished?

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@Smiths_history I found out, while researching my book 'Irish Blood, English Heart', that this gig was definitely at Trinity College. The gig and venue were mentioned in a couple of articles shortly afterwards. See, for example, Hot Press, 27 January 1984, p. 16; Irish Times, 23 May 1984, p. 10.

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@Smiths_history This i/view echoes a phrase that M had used in Melody Maker in Sept 87. There, he had said: "I'm the only person I know who can take a day-trip to Carlisle and get emotional about what he sees". Here, he says: "for me, a trip to Carlisle is an emotional experience". Why Carlisle?

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@simon_price01 @thecure @learnandsing @MaryRobinsonCtr @BallinaFringe @spellboundclub Nice to see your Cure book making an oblique appearance on today's BBC News at Six, resting on @KieranMaguire's bookshelf during his interview about the Man City trial

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@DrMaryBurke @theirishfor Yes, McDonagh very relevant. 'I always felt somewhere kind of in-between [Irish and English]. I felt half-and-half and neither ... I’m happy having a foot in both camps. I’ve come to a place where the ambiguities are more interesting than choosing a strict path and following it'.

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@IveaghGael @theirishfor So if you are born in England of Irish parents, you are generally called second-generation Irish. Second-generation here means the offspring of parents who were born elsewhere. First-generation Irish generally refers to Irish-born migrants. See this doc: https://t.co/eT4K2R95FR.

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@MabonMedrod @theirishfor As Shane was born (and educated) in England he was included as 2nd-gen. He often described himself, in the 80s, as 'having Irish parents' or being 'from an Irish family' (i.e. as someone of Irish descent, rather than as Irish-born). Perhaps something like 1.5 gen would be better?

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@realjohncarvill @theirishfor The original title was Irish Blood, English Heart? However, the question mark didn't look right in the sleeve design, so was removed. Using the song title was clearly just a shorthand to evoke the issue of Irish-English identity among second-generation Irish rock
& pop musicians.

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@IveaghGael @theirishfor Obvs Shane's view of himself changed in the post-Pogues period and he began to see himself less as 2nd-gen or London-Irish. And there's an argument that as he spent so much time in Tipp between 1 & 5 that he might be considered as (what 1 sociologist) called 1.5 generation (2/2)

[Sean Campbell @SPGCampbell]

@IveaghGael @theirishfor In the book I used a standard definition of second-generation and included Shane as he was born (and educated) in England. In the 80s Shane often described himself as 'having Irish parents' or being 'from an Irish family' and was often seen as 2nd-generation or London-Irish (1/2)