GOVAN, a name synonymous with many things – shipbuilding, heavy industry, the auld ‘SouGen’ and even Rab C. Nesbitt, Glasgow’s very own philosopher of unemployable proportions.
But something that it ought to be more remembered for and associated with is, of course, its connection to Celtic FC and, historically speaking, its Irish cultural roots.
Over the next few weeks, a further exploration of the Irish and ‘Tim-ness’ of Govan will be published and the proceeding piece which you are about to read, constitutes Chapter 1 of this mini series.
To the Govan-ites and beyond, I hope you enjoy.
Govan: A Very Brief Historical Bio
There have been tremendous official and unofficial histories of Govan which have been conducted over the years and it is not my intention to critique this but instead to change the direction slightly by focussing on the Celtic culture and Irish history of Govan and the surrounding areas for the moment.
Somehow, this has managed to escape any great official historical record as far as my knowledge base is concerned.
Clearly their exists excellent local knowledge of the Irish and Tim-ness of Govan but with no great formal recording. The proof for this is to be seen with the realisation that the average footballing aware Glaswegian considers Govan to be a ‘Rangers area’ – in reality, as the next few weeks worth of writing will prove, this is a misconception of mammoth proportions and, for want of a better word, a complete nonsense.
In regards to my research it should be remembered however that, such has been the tremendous input of the Govanite, past and present, via Twitter and email over the last week or so, that in all honesty, I feel a book or much greater researched body of work could easily be produced regarding this topic.
So as you read on, bare in mind that this is an initial attempt – as I have previously mentioned, a mere scratch at the surface of a great body of content.
Lastly, the use of the phrase Tim or Tim-ness will be used widely within my writing but, ideally, I would ask the readers to fully engage with this phrase and offer up debate and critique regarding what the word Tim actually means to them – Celtic, as we all know, are not and never have been a ‘closed shop’ and so to the nature of the definition of Tim-ness is not closed either.
What does being a Tim mean to you?
Answers on a green and white postcard please!
Sean McDon
REMEMBER, this a preview of the wider piece only. To continue to read The Green and White of Govan, Part 1: The History Edition by Sean McDon please visit his own website…
https://seanmcdonorg.wordpress.com
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