Crossword Genius

Flag male amongst female Gaels, perhaps (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

irishmen

'gaels perhaps' is the definition.
(Gael can mean a speaker of a Gaelic language)

'flag male amongst female' is the wordplay.
'flag' becomes 'iris' ('iris' can be a synonym of 'flag'**).
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'amongst' indicates putting letters inside (I've seen this in other clues).
'female' becomes 'hen' (hen is a kind of female).
'm' inserted inside 'hen' is 'hmen'.
'iris'+'hmen'='IRISHMEN'

(Another definition for irishmen that I've seen is " Shrine I'm adapting for sons of Cathleen Ni Houlihan".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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