Holligan

A Holligan is a member of the 17th February 2010 Guardian Rumour Mill who contributed to place the blog on the front page of the Guardian Unlimited News website for having the largest number of entries of that day. The final count for the blog was 1340 comments.
History
It started much like any other rumour mill, with an inoccuous post by UrbanAchiever at 09:09 on 17 February 2010 - Yay! Rumours!!!
Nobody could have guessed this was the beginning of history.
1338 comments, 71 hours and 50 minutes later, usualsuspect83 signed off with a perfectly enigmatic Carry on
The topics were varied, although resolutely staying off-thread. They ranged from the how Noah dealt with the socially awkward problem of choosing who to leave out from the Three Bears, to how a famous meat snack defies the laws of physics by incorporating 145% pork into it's product. No stone was left unturned, no list left uncompleted. Charades kept the troops amused, while their minds were constantly stimulated with challenges such as hangman.
The phrase holligan was first used by octavian4, a member of the Comment is Free community to describe this band of keyboard warriors as they bravely spanned the Guardian blogs to incorporate a Film review blog into the marathon attempt which was even noted in the next Rumour Mill.
This is a notable point as the work produced by the Holligans should also include crossovers to other blogs of that day.
Whilst these men and women walk amongst us, unknown and shunning the hero status they surely deserve, all the contributors to the epic can be recognised by the discrete m attached to their avatar. Another important 'tell' is if you mentioned there was a rumour that Nadir Belhadj was going to Barcelona to a Holligan, it would be the first they'd heard of it.
This was not without sacrifice. Dissertations were put aside, financial empires were left unattended, dogs remained un-walked, teeth unfilled. Computer networks crashed due to the size of the blog, and countless partners were abandoned for the duration of the challenge.
Their work goes beyond the Rumour Mill as they seek to increase awareness of all things Holligan. They continue to appear in the most unexpected places, and even occasionally using their power for good, actively supporting charitable organisations.
They have coined many phrases, including Swaffelling and proved what a small group can achieve, never once questioning whether they should be attempting the seemingly impossible.
The 17th February 2010 will be spoken of whenever an obstacle seems unsurmoutable, whenever everything tells you that this is not the right way forward.
Credit should be given to the moderators of these blogs who recognised that history was in the making and as such allowed a great deal of leeway in quality and relevance than is normally expected.
The Holligans are also in support of the Dunwood Park community.
What does it mean to be a Holligan
Zuma75 - 17 February 2010, 7:16pm

No matter if we don't get any recognition, no matter if nobody thinks we're worth commending (or recommending), no matter if (start 'Land of Hope and Glory about now, then continue reading) the "powers that be" think that we're nothing but a bunch of comment obsessed weirdos with nothing better to do than post inane witterings on a football rumour page. It doesn't matter if the "cool" people over on Chatterbox look down on us, just because we haven't played Bioshock 2 for five consecutive days without sleep. We can all hold our heads up high today gentlemen, because today, of all days, Wednesday the 17th of February 2010, all of us achieved something great with our lives. Something that will be passed down from generation to generation of commenters, sometimes in hallowed whispers, whispers of the day that a few good men came together as one and made a difference. You can all sleep soundly in your beds this very evening people, for never again will they mock us, never again can they say "oh those Millers, they've never done anything with their lives", well you know what? We f***ing DID today. The sun shone and we stood with proud faces held towards the skies and screamed "WE CAN MAKE THE HOME PAGE!!" And you know something else? We did just that. In one, glorious, footballer/chocolate bar punfest interspersed with top fifties, 1980s cartoons and Pepperamis we did it. And the world was a better place. God bless you Millers, each and every one.

SockPuppetry - 18 February 2010, 7:48 pm
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered -
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that shares his posts with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That milled with us upon Saint Holligan's day.
Who are these Holligans?
Key Holligans include unofficial leader MenCallMePhil, AndrewFyffe, ChuckSchick (look carefully at his hat), clivenxy, UrbanAchiever, usualsuspect83, wooderson, zuma75, VivaZapta, theloanraver, wallwall, DjembaDjemba19, IgnatiousJ/HarryWotton, doozler, Blason, Iainthedentist, JohnBT, prankmonkey, buchanstackle, FredSmithstwang, greatunclebulgaria, Raycun, shedendexile, coldcut, corleon, SockPuppetry, the103, adidassamba, birdistheword, LinusvanPelt,Hibernica, Alexrules, tomgliv, Superallymac, Digitalbob, MrTwarbydon, FormicaAtomica, yetanothergunner, VcynicAl, torresbounce, Capaddona, Proetcontra, DevastatinDave, greatunclebulgaria, metalmicky, abc161172, jkhd, Ruprict, dpeapod79, wooablackbetty, Bogdanov, CeterisParibus, AllChipsNoPie, TangerineWeems, billy3buttocks, webofdeceit, Smunker, GeeDizzle, Mark550, CaveatLector, rustledust, torps, nastylittleman, liviya, Colinnnnnnnnn, bornblue.
The author of the original article and the Holligans 'man on the inside', Mr Paul Doyle managed to secrete a message to his prodogies on 19 February 2010:

Hello IgnatiusJ
Probably a bit late for me to join in the melee, but I must say that I do salute you and your comrades' strength, your courage and your indefatigability. Hail al-nonsense.
Cheers
paul
"we're all asleep and this is what the mill looks like when we're dreaming"
SockPuppetry, 18 February 2010, 3:23pm

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu