By the 19th century, Montreal had become the central center of economic activity, where businesses set up their factories and their wealthy owners settled their families. Griffintown, in particular, became a magnet for Irish emigrants fleeing unrest in their native Ireland. Whether fleeing the cholera crisis or famine, the new Irish arrivals would go a long way toward becoming Griffintown's growing working-class population. It was not an ideal residential neighborhood and instead became a "busy downtown working-class neighborhood", where Irish emigrants worked on the Lachine Canal immediately after arriving in Montreal. The newly arrived Irish population was at an economic disadvantage and did not necessarily receive high wages for the amount of work they devoted to the canal. From there was born a well-established perception of the Irish in Montreal. The view of the middle classes towards them mostly contained negative connotations, the image of a poor group, of a sickly condition, of a barbaric nature. Notable tension between classes is reflected in participation in sporting activities. At a time when working class Griffintown was labeled with many prejudices, perhaps more positive memories, such as the popularization of sports in Irish industrial working class neighborhoods, could alleviate these presumptions. Sports such as lacrosse and hockey were used by the upper class to disempower working-class communities, but also served as a tool of empowerment for the latter. This essay will examine the role of sport in allowing working class Irish people to display their worth through a strong sense of masculinity, increasing their morale while building a certain level of respectability and social status; while overcoming negative assumptions about their community. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"? Get the original essay The Montreal Shamrocks, Canada's first large-scale hockey team, act as truly the first primary symbol of Canadian nationalism, but for the Irish community, it was a way to display one's manly prowess on stage. In the article “Imagining a Canadian Identity Through Sport: A Historical Interpretation of Lacrosse and Hockey,” Robidoux explains the reasoning behind the need for a distinct Canadian sport. Canadians are seeking to create their own identity and disassociate themselves from Britain, which could explain why Canadian soil has all but forgotten about cricket. The sport is a non-contact sport and represents “the civil expression of masculinity”. Ironically, a less popular sport in today's society has followed suit: lacrosse. The Montreal Shamrocks Lacrosse Club was the foundation of the Shamrocks hockey team. It focused on “physical superiority, body awareness”, borrowed during colonization by the French because of “their craze for First Nations masculinity”. George Beers, a middle-class dentist, took the lead in promoting lacrosse as Canada's national sport. After promoting in newspapers and writing an entire book in favor of its inclusion as Canada's national sport, he finally wrote the first set of rules for the game. This new and improved sport "benefited both the mind and soul.” This clearly eliminates or limits the physical aspects at the origin of the sport, leading to the interpretation that violence and brutality were not part of aideal of middle-class masculinity. As Robidoux mentions, the Montreal Shamrocks LC were “social misfits” and part of the working class: they were quite the opposite. The Shamrocks lacrosse team created a distinct change among other teams in the league. The players, from working class backgrounds, were mostly Catholic and often disagreed with Beers' rules of the game on "Anglo-elite values". On the ground, they completely ignored these new norms, a sign of revolt against their social superiors, but this can also be interpreted as a demonstration of their fearlessness, their machismo and an attempt to challenge the weakening of their character. Being more violent, aggressive and physical is precisely what Beers wanted to get out of the sport, as it was considered a primitive form of play associated with indigenous tribes. In this sense, the working class Irish who were part of the lacrosse team were seen as barbaric and this image was therefore relayed to the rest of Montreal's Irish working population. Griffintown and other Irish neighborhoods represented a large portion of the working-class Irish population that was on the lacrosse team. Shamrocks LC support factor. Their fans were “loud and verbally offensive” towards the “soft play” of the middle class, again in a sign of disgust for their superiors. The type of "manly" behavior that fans were exposed to certainly influenced them, as it was not uncommon for fights to occur between fans in the middle of a match. For example, some “Irish [Shamrocks fans] attacked supporters of the opposing team during a game between the Shamrocks and another Montreal team” in order to distract the opposing team, wanting to win, whatever the means. One might even mention the importance of a muscular Christianity for the Irish working class. This notion aims to illustrate teamwork and perseverance through recreational activities, but also to “achieve salvation” while being healthy.11 In this case, hockey and lacrosse are used as tools to develop such characteristics in men. For example, St. Ann Parish in Griffintown “still operated sports teams for boys” in the 1950s, demonstrating how sport had long become important within the religious community and its connection to a certain ideal. of masculinity and virility. throughout. This undoubtedly gave them a sense of pride and further strengthened their Irish identity. In a diary written by a British traveler named Michael Buckley, he recalled that the Montreal Irish were extremely involved in the game of lacrosse. He notes their perseverance in practice and their desire to achieve “glory.” Interestingly, this sport brought no monetary rewards, but working-class Irish men still took time, despite their limited schedules, to adapt to the position in which the men were posed. Players aim to show off muscle definition and lift their chest. This image clearly illustrates a strong feeling of virility in their calm participation. As Buckley notes, "They were all artisans and had little time for such laborious entertainment as lacrosse." This indicates that sport was more than just a physical activity, but rather acted as a distraction from their busy daily lives, thus boosting morale, which was often quite low. Likewise, it also served as a way to entertain their own community, as "thousands of people must assemble...after paying fifty cents perperson ". Lacrosse, and later hockey, became a means of entertainment and amusement for most members of the Irish community. Being involved in sport meant that even if one was part of the Irish working class, one would still exude great respectability as a man, even if it was respect coming from the lower classes of the Irish. For Irish lacrosse athletes from working class or poorer backgrounds in Montreal, it was a way for them to gain a kind of respectability and break down the barrier that separated them from the middle class or bourgeoisie. . The idea of ​​coming out on top, regardless of the type of violent, aggressive or physical play practiced, was certainly not a quality of the middle-class gentleman's game that one can observe in other teams, where most players were economically superior. . Chi-Kit Wong is very emphatic when he states that, unlike hockey, lacrosse developed as a "manifestation of working class culture." There was an attempt to bring lacrosse into the mainstream of "English culture", trying to eliminate the "undesirables", making it only accessible to the elite. Essentially, lacrosse is certainly, as Robidoux says, “an identifiable expression of who they were as men,” but also a way of making themselves visible to the upper classes, particularly for the Irish of Montreal17. After lacrosse, hockey became the main sport that Canada nationalized and made its own. Over time, the gentlemanly game encouraged by members of the bourgeoisie and middle class quickly faded away. The “violent and aggressive style stands out from other bourgeois pastimes”. Many sports writers were not very receptive to hockey because it "was unsuitable for gentlemen." The ideas of roughness and physicality that were previously looked down upon in lacrosse were now glorified and praised, newspapers were very active in reporting on sports, criticizing roughness, but also praising their abilities. The Montreal Shamrocks hockey club was an organization that represented not only the Irish as a whole but also the values ​​of the community. It is clear that lacrosse and hockey played a role in raising certain expectations from working-class groups, but also in sparking a certain level of animosity and rivalry between them and the middle class. This is an example of the type of journalism surrounding sports, this article is titled “Lacrosse: Shamrocks Badly Beaten”. This piece is interesting because of the vocabulary used, the writer clearly associates the sport of lacrosse, but also the title of the Shamrocks, with the Irish class, showing to what extent they have shown themselves worthy of this sport. However, the Torontonian also degrades the Montreal Shamrocks by saying: “It only took Toronto two minutes to demonstrate their superiority. » One could interpret a feeling of class difference and prejudice between the two communities. The rivalry between the two teams is clear, but more importantly, the opposition between the classes is evident. The power of sport clearly intersects with the lives of Irish-Montrealers, whose social status has begun to change. While lacrosse began as a working-class sport and slowly transformed into a middle-class sport, hockey quickly became an institutionalized sport and became quite common in schools of higher learning. Naturally, this creates opportunities for the Irish community, working class or otherwise, to develop into a more respectable social class and appear reputable to others outside their circle. In the