Limerick men join exhibition to end 'damaging' Irish stereotype

A NUMBER of Limerick ‘Paddys’ are taking part in an international exhibition that aims to put a “damaging stereotype” about the Irish to bed.

The Paddy Irishman Photography Project by photographer Ross O’Callaghan portrays Irish men called Paddy, Pat, Padraig, Patrick or any variation of the name, to reframe the often derogatory pejorative, ‘Paddy Irishman’.

Ireland’s Strongest Man, Pa O’Dwyer from Rathkeale, and Limerick musician, Paddy Mulcahy took part in the photo exhibition when it was launched in New York City last year.

Mr Mulcahy travelled to New York for the launch last year and also marched in the city’s famed St Patrick’s Day parade.

Joining the two men as part of this year’s expanded photo exhibition is Limerick-based art college graduate, Paddy Critchley, an up-and-coming fine art painter who did an event last summer at the opening of his first solo exhibition, The Ragged Trousers, with Sean McKenna of The Mary Wallopers.

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Since graduating from Limerick School of Art and Design in 2021, Paddy Critchley has exhibited at The Hunt Museum and Limerick City Gallery of Art, where his work was accessioned to the permanent collections, and at Dunamaise Arts Centre.

He was the recipient of the De Veres Art Award for Work of Distinction at the 191st Annual RHA Exhibition for the painting Nature Morte (After Beckett). Paddy also runs the Ballad Sessions in Charlie Malone’s Pub in Limerick city, which encourages the sharing of folk music from archives and keeping stories alive.

Speaking about this new step in the project’s work, photographer Mr O’Callaghan said: “Paddy Irishman is an enduring and damaging stereotype about the Irish, started in colonial times but still alive today.

“Increasingly, it projects that Irish identity is exclusively white and straight and that doesn’t reflect contemporary Ireland. It needed to change, so we trademarked it.

“There are thousands of real Irish men from diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, sexualities many with inspiring stories of resilience and achievement, called Paddy. All proud to be Irish in a new Ireland, a young nation with an ancient history where we are as proud of our heritage and history as we are of the ordinary stories of regular people. These are the real Paddy Irishmen,” Mr O’Callaghan added.

The full suite of portraits including the seven new Paddies can be viewed online at paddyirishmanproject.com.