The colleen and the crafting of Irishness

Evolving national identity in McClinton’s Colleen Soap advertisements, 1910–1923

Bibliographic Data

ID6431374
AuthorsLauren O’hagan (0000-0001-5554-4492, Orebro universitet Fakulteten for humaniora och socialvetenskap, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume33
Issue3
Pages315-344
Publication date2025-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueIrish Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0967-0882 • E-ISSN: 1469-9303
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09670882.2025.2532382
OpenAlexW4412685176
LanguageEN
References cited30

This article explores how McClinton’s Colleen Soap used the figure of the colleen to craft Irishness in its marketing through advertisements in the British and Irish press (1910–1923). Using visual social semiotic analysis, it examines the co-deployment of language, image, colour, typography, layout and composition to articulate and negotiate representations of Irishness and its evolution over time. Ultimately, it reveals the various ways in which Irish identity was self-fashioned and presented to both British and Irish audiences, drawing on contemporary political issues and the concept of “civilised whiteness,” thus demonstrating the fluid, fragile and sometimes fictitious nature of national identity. McClinton’s Colleen Soap, therefore, serves as a rich case study for examining how Irishness was continuously reinvented, reimagined and remarketed, and how a small Ulster company navigated its relationship with the British Empire during a turbulent period in its history

Advertising · Aesthetics · Art · Business · Identity (music · SOAP · Sociology · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Irish and British Studies · Philippine History and Culture · Scottish History and National Identity

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