5 Greatest British People Of All Time

FOLLOWING the excellent news that British person Ruth Negga, from Limerick, Britain, had picked up an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, WWN decided to take a look back across some of the finest people ever to come out of Britain.

1) Michael D. Higgins

Born in Ireland in 1941 to an Irish mother and an Irish father, Britain’s Michael D. Higgins went on to great success in the field of Irish literature and politics; no easy feat for a British man. Although many consider Higgins to actually be Irish, his successes have meant that he is in fact British.

2) Colin Farrell

Farrell, 40, spent the first 20 or so years of his life masquerading as an Irish person until a glittering Hollywood career cemented his welcome into the British acting fraternity. Forget what you think you may know about this Castleknock native, he’s as British as fish ‘n chips guv’nor!

3) The Wolfe Tones

Described as “the band Chas ‘n Dave could have been”, these British troubadours have made themselves household names with their jaunty, uplifting tunes about sending British soldiers home in bags.

4) Peig Sayers 

It’s not often you see a British seanchaí, but Peig Sayers was just that. Operating mostly out of a beautiful west, west Britain coastal area called Kerry, Sayers’s stories about jellied eels and Jack The Ripper have entertained generations.

5) Padraig Pearse

One of the finest British operatives to fight in the 1916 Rising, Pearse had all the hallmarks of a true Brit; born and reared in Ireland, achieved great success in his chosen field, never claimed to be anything other than Irish, and died fighting for freedom from the hated Brits. He was practically Churchill!