With bus loads of wonderful Americans pouring through the streets of Killarney and Temple Bar every year, it has come to a shocking realisation that a great evil has taken over the lands of Ireland and it is beginning to spread. A darkness that dares to tint the fair Emerald Green of our beloved Isle forever, it is a threat that we are taking very seriously, so much so we even got up off our asses and were all set to do something about it but then we found out Marcus Campbell did it for us so we went back to playing Pokémon Black!
The problem is the confusion over a very basic word… ‘Paddy’, we celebrate St. Paddy’s Day, it is a Paddy Wagon, people from Ireland are Paddys… we are not and have never been Pattys, it is not a Patty Wagon and we don’t celebrate Patty’s Day!
Over at paddynotpatty.com Marcus is singlehandedly trying to correct this mistake and ensure that people learn the correct and real pronunciation of the word before it is too late!
With St. Patricks day just around the corner we grab Marcus for a chat about his work, what drives him bananas about Patty sayers and his obsession with arcade games…
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name’s Marcus and I’m a 32-year-old web developer living outside Vancouver, BC, Canada with my wife, two wee lads and a pair of cats. I spend an inordinate amount of time watching hockey, drooling over Apple products and building snarky little single-message websites.
Where did the idea for the website, paddynotpatty.com come from?
Maybe it was the lack of sleep and patience from dealing with a 18-month-old, or maybe it was just the booze, but it was less than a week before Saint Patrick’s Day 2010, I’d seen one-too-many “St. Patty” on the Internet and I finally cracked. Within a few hours, I’d bought the domain, thrown a rant together and linked to it on my own Twitter account. By the day itself, thousands upon thousands of like-minded souls were pouring in.
Living where I do, you’re exposed to a lot of the media from south of the border. It’s shocking how ubiquitous the misuse of Patty is. When you see such a large proportion of people profess their pride in their Irish heritage, or having a love for Ireland, and then not having a baldy notion about something as seemingly mundane and obvious as the fact that no one in Ireland proper would dare call any Patrick “Patty”, well, it’s jarring. What’s next? Jessie Christ?
Are you an Irish man yourself?
Aye, I’m Northern Irish. I was actually born in Toronto to Nordies and then reared in Belfast, so I’m really a crypto-Canuck. It’s hard to describe how odd it is to go from being the Canadian kid in Belfast to the Irish man in Vancouver. Always at home, and yet always the immigrant. Like The Littlest Hobo.
Do you think this bizarre and horrifying Patty phenomenon is an American thing only or has it spread to the rest of the world?
There’s no doubt, aye, it’s mainly contained to the States. Now, I wouldn’t want to tar everyone with the same brush; the US is a massive place and there’s plenty of folk there—a lick of Irish in them or not—that know to get it right and want to fight the good fight.
It is spreading and that’s puts the chills in me. For every 100 “St. Patty’s” you see pop up in the US, there’s probably a fistful in Canada and one or two in England and Australia. Hell, I thought Ireland was free of the scourge and that hope was shattered this very week by some wee girl in Newry. Newry!
Are there any other misconceptions about the Irish that really drive you mad?
Oh god, aye. Especially being from the North. People still have the idea that Ireland is like The Quiet Man via Darby O ‘Gill via The Devil’s Own via Libya. Céilis, shebeens, Arran sweaters, flat caps, hordes of red-headed kids, drinking because of the hordes of red-headed kids, peat, potatoes, the IRA, bombs, guns, tanks and being blockaded by “The British” out of the American War of Independence… or Star Wars.
Not that I can fault them, because there’s a taste of truth to even the daftest stereotype, but put it altogether and it’s like expecting Canadians to be Polite French-speaking First Nation Lumberjack Mountie hosers that play hockey all the time, wrestle bears, club seals and live on the prairie beside Ann of Green Gables.
Then there’s the folk that are just impressed I can speak English; or the others that are mighty confused that I sound odd and indistinct, but not like the Lucky Charms leprechaun.
What’s the worst thing about St. Patrick’s day? (Don’t say the hangovers!)
Apart from the deluge of Patties, of course, the worst thing about St. Patrick’s Day is having to work through it.
When I used to get it off back home, the worst thing was having to work the next day. (Well, I technically didn’t say the hangovers, right?)
The worst thing as a kid was not getting it off, then being pressured into attending the bloody Ulster Schools Cup final when you had no interest in rugby.
Sense a theme brewing? (Is that a booze pun?)
Honestly, there’s not too much to moan about. It may be damned superficial, and people might not know their Patties from their Paddies or their arses from their elbows, but there’s still something amazing about people all around the world celebrating Ireland. I can’t think of another place that receives as much goodwill.
What are you own plans for St. PADDYS day this year?
For St. Patrick’s Day proper? Not much. Maybe if the kids aren’t wailing like banshees or bouncing off the walls, I can enjoy a pint, a curry chip and a good acerbic scour through Twitter.
Other than that, I hope to head to Vancouver’s Celtic Fest parade that weekend — back after a year’s break for the Winter’s Olympics — and a mate has offered to cook us up some good stodge, which sounds wonderful: Paddy’s Day Grub
Finally if you were trapped in an Arcade for eternity, what one game would you play to pass the time?
If you seriously had to play an arcade game for all eternity, there’s only one logical choice: Tetris. Now I’m not the biggest fan and I don’t have a copy handy on any machine, but it’s really the only game that would stand the test of time.
That aside, I’ve fond memories of spending a relative eternity throwing far too much money into Knights of the Round & Blood Bros. in Portrush, Golden Axe & Commando in Millisle and WWF WrestleFest & Street Fighter II in Dundonald.
To get behind the cause and fight for Paddys everywhere be sure to visit, www.paddynotpatty.com
