“These Youngsters Change All These Traditions”1: A Perspective on “Outlaw” Motorcycle Clubs in Ireland

Abstract

Like the motorcycle itself, the leather jacket, specifically the black leather jacket, often symbolises rebellion, at least to the observer. Ever since Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin appeared in Wild One, this association has held good but, ironically, this image is usually portrayed front-on. In fact, motorcyclists wear leather a priori for safety reasons (see Ballard 1995); the real symbol of rebellion sported by Brando and his cohorts was worn on their backs - the which expressed their gang membership. It is a of this style which identifies the wearer as an Outlaw, a rebel or 1%er. In the course of the last fifty years the identity of the has gradually emerged and crystallised. One writer claims: The 1947 Hollister, California, Fourth of July motorcycle races and hill-climb proved to be the first major gathering of a new breed of motorcyclists Legend maintains that it was one particular gang, the Booze Fighters, who initiated the trouble. In this they seem to qualify as the first organised motorcycle outlaws. It wouldn't be until three years later, in the small California town of Fontana that the Hell's Angels would be founded (Farren 1985, 39). Hell's Angels is the archetypal club, with an international network, new chapters being granted a charter before being able to run. At present there is no chapter of the Hell's Angels in Ireland, but there are other clubs established on a similar model. American clubs are the subject of a study which illustrates many parallels between clubs there and those running in the British Isles (Hopper and Moore 1983). There are several synonyms by which structures are known. Generically they are also referred to as backpatch or simply patch clubs, and as organisations. Names of individual clubs are jealously guarded, and one organisation with members in England but not in Ireland calls itself simply the Outlaws, so to use the term Outlaw generically can sometimes lead to misunderstandings among members of different clubs. Patch and backpatch refer to the devices worn by members, which will be described in detail below, while refers to Motorcycle Club, a type of shorthand defining these clubs as opposed to organisations. MCC or Motor Cycle Clubs in Northern Ireland, as in other parts of the United Kingdom, are usually associated in some way with the British Motorcycle Federation. Members will often wear patches or badges identifying their affiliation, but these are usually small pieces of fabric worn on the sleeve [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 1 OMITTED]. Motorcycle events are often advertised with a rider that MCs may attend by prior arrangement only. MCs may be characterised by nonconformity, although individual members of such clubs may readily concede that a degree of nonconformity or individualism is a characteristic shared much more widely within the motorcycle world. The paradox between the sense of individualism and the urge to join and to belong to a is also perceived and acknowledged by some members. There is a strong perception among many motorcyclists in Northern Ireland that the issue of religious segregation is irrelevant, transcended by a shared and profound passion for the motorcycle and all that it represents. Members of clubs have a strong sense of brotherhood. This sense is also shared by members of some other clubs, for example the National Chopper Club (a chopper is a customised motorcycle). One member of this organisation remarked, ... the NCC is as much into brotherhood as an club (Mutch 1992, 56). In some cases, MC members may live co-operatively, as in a commune. In this broad context the NCC is itself an interesting club. A member explained, tread a very thin line between and straight biker. We can't be categorised (ibid.).(2) This point is also reflected in the style of identificatory or badge worn by members which, while not composed according to the formula worn by Outlaws, is displayed on the back of the jacket [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2 OMITTED]. …