Pitiful Irishman with work ethic (8)
I believe the answer is:
pathetic
'pitiful' is the definition.
('pathetic' can be a synonym of 'pitiful')
'irishman with work ethic' is the wordplay.
'irishman' becomes 'pat'.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'work' indicates an anagram.
'ethic' is an anagram of 'hetic'.
'pat'+'hetic'='PATHETIC'
(Other definitions for pathetic that I've seen before include "Derisory" , "Wretched" , "Poignant or hopelessly inadequate" , "Sort of fallacy" , "Tip cheat - truly sad" .)