Talk:The Westies
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[edit] Revisions Made / Revisions Needed
In terms of revisions needed, there needs to be a disambiguation article identifying these three: Westie criminal gang of New York; Westie criminal gang of Dublin, Ireland; Westie as synonym for dog breed West Highland White Terrier.
There also needs to be far more material on who the Westies were and what they did that made them notorious. When I found the stub, it contained just a little about the end of the gang. I was able to clarify and expand that, and add a little of the history of the gang's origin. However, I did not cover specifics of the gang's most horrific activities (gruesome murders, among other things) which ought to be here. The fate of the incarcerated Westies should be covered in more detail also.
In terms of revisions made, I altered this stub to more accurately reflect the double-crosses between the leaders of the Westies that resulted in the gang's 1985 demise, based on the detailed history in "Paddy Whacked" by T.J. English. I also pulled the unverifiable tangential reference to 1930's Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll as a "lone gangster" and an early Westie. I could find nothing to indicate that he used the Westie name and I could find material indicating he worked with crew, not alone. -- Lisasmall 04:24, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] NOTICE
The next time someone erases half of the entire page, please leave some justification. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.142.210.188 (talk • contribs).
[edit] members
Can articles be made for the Mobsters in the westies members section? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Richard Rowe (talk • contribs).
[edit] Irish???
Unless somebody is actually born in Ireland, could the word Irish-American be used? The word Irish gets flung around irresponsibly by Irish-Americans whose ancestors were undoubtedly Irish, but whose culture and lifestyle is decidedly American.
Secondly, some of the style of this article leaves much to be desired; phrases like "on the lamb" may not be understood by a reader who is not familiar with the slang of this milieu!--PeadarMaguidhir 19:29, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
- Yes. Despite being highly Americanized, it is important to identify them as Irish-American. At this point in New York City’s criminal underworld, nationality was usually a given. Ethnicity, however, often provided extensive influence for cultural division. During the 1970s, Manhattan was a collage of unassimilated ethnic enclaves where cultural differences displayed by the original immigrant groups were preserved through strong community tradition.
- For instance, while living in a American neighborhood that has fiercely resisted all outside influence since the potato famine still won’t make you culturally identical to an off-the-boat Irishmen. It is guaranteed to make you a lot different from the unassimilated equivalents of other ethnicities (for example: Americans of Italian heritage living in NYC’s Little Italy will be a little different).
- No one is trying to say these people are completely culturally Irish, just that their Irish ancestry has shaped their identity enough to distinguish themselves from Americans of other ethnic heritages.
- Oh, and read the Wiki page on Irish-American for more on this definition. Thedeparted123 04:33, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
