Irish creative agency The Brill Building and photographer Ross O’Callaghan have teamed up to reclaim an outdated slur and represent the true diversity of Irish men.
Titled The Paddy Irishman Project, the initiative involved the agency claiming worldwide rights to the phrase, which has long been used to impose the image of a drunk, straight, white men as the face of the country's male population.
At the heart of the campaign are seven stunning Paddy Portraits by O’Callaghan, which reflect the true diversity of cultures, ethnicities, sexualities and careers of contemporary Irishmen.
To mark St. Patrick’s Day 2024, The Paddy Irishman Project has secured the worldwide rights to the phrase ‘Paddy Irishman’ with the copyright confirmed in Ireland’s primary diaspora territories, the UK, Australia, Europe and the United States of America. Securing worldwide copyright of the phrase ‘Paddy Irishman’.
Since the 1800's the word ‘Paddy’ has been a slur on Irish males, a shorthand for a drunk, or a punchline of a ‘Paddy Irishman’ joke. This image, which is exclusively straight and white, doesn’t reflect the multiculturalism of today’s Ireland. So, in order to retire the stereotype, The Brill Building and photographer Ross O’Callaghan secured the worldwide trademark for ‘Paddy Irishman’. The securing of the Worldwide copyright of ‘Paddy Irishman’ is part of an ongoing creative collaboration - ’The Paddy Irishman Project’ - featuring a series of portraits taken by Ross which reflect the diversity of cultures, ethnicities, sexualities and careers of contemporary Irishmen.
In the latest step for photographer Ross O’Callaghan’s exploration of a new narrative of Ireland with Irish creative agency The Brill Building, seven new ‘Paddy Portraits’ have been revealed, and worldwide rights to the phrase ‘Paddy Irishman’ have been secured, in a major step on the road to retiring the tired trope of the phrase ‘Paddy’, an offensive terms for a person of Irish descent.
Read more at Shots: https://shots.net/news/view/the-brill-buildings-paddy-portraits
