Irishness, gender, and place

National identities are profoundly gendered, yet difference is subordinated to unity. In this paper the largely unacknowledged intersections of Irishness and gender in Britain are explored. It is argued that Irishness has at least two distinct dimensions, each gendered in ways reflecting the colonial relationship between Britain and Ireland. One is the 'roots' of the collectivity, mediated through the diaspora experience. The second is the construction of Irishness by Britishness, characterised as male, middle class, Home Counties, Anglican Protestant, and white. Irish women are positioned in relation to these hegemonic values and are racialised both by invisibility and by exclusion.