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This book examines the development of a nationalist agenda within Irish sport and searches for a definition of nationalism in this context. The question of what Irish nationalism is, and what forces shape it, has stretched the minds of generations of Irish historians and political scientists. For some the answer has been found within the realms of political history, while others have examined how the cultural impact of Irish literature and drama has shaped nationalism. These genres relied on elites, be they political or literary, within Irish society to understand the evolution of nationalist thinking and the operation of nationalism as an ideal. Sport offers a new way of looking at nationalism as it offers mass-consumed low culture as a vehicle. Since the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in 1884 through to the current popularity of soccer, sporting events have been played by tens of thousand and watched by hundreds of thousands of Irish people both at home and as part of the diaspora. This means that sport has a greater resonance and meaning for the experience of the multitude of the Irish in stark contrast to the operation of Dublin-centred politics and literature. This book defines sporting nationalism through the experience of Gaelic games and soccer as examples of mass spectator sport. The choice of a mass spectator sport which a nation chooses to support will demonstrate the perceived place of that nation within the world and the trends prevalent within its society, thereby intrinsically defining the state of its nationalism.
Sport has played a central role in modern Ireland's history. This collection of chapters, contributed by some of Ireland's most preeminent historians, showcases the richness and complexity of Ireland's sporting heritage. This book was published as a special issue of Sport in Society.
Sir Shane Leslie once wrote that 'Country life was entirely organized to give nobility and gentry and demi-gentry a good time.'0Throughout Ireland and Britain the country house was a centre of hospitality, entertainment and leisure, with the hosting of house parties, soirees and balls. Pastimes included photography, painting, astronomy and taxidermy. Outdoors the parkland was used for a variety of sporting activities including archery, cricket, croquet and shooting, as well as local sports events, and beyond the demesne activities included hunting, horse racing and yachting. In Ireland demesne lands were developed as golf courses and estates offered land to the nationalist-dominated Gaelic Athletic Association for football and hurling.0This volume provides fresh and original insights into how leisure and sport underpinned the social hierarchy of country houses and their local communities in Ireland and Britain in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
Consides the relationship between sport, national identities and gender in a contemporary Irish context
This is the first book to examine all the main sports played in Ireland over a period of nearly 250 years, from the beginning of the 17th century to the onset of the Famine. In this era, medieval sports (such as archery and falconry) gave way to new forms of recreation, or were restructured (hunting) in a way that met modern needs. It also witnessed the emergence of new sports - including horse racing - the continued popularity of fighting sports (boxing and wrestling) and the pursuit of a variety of blood sports (cockfighting and bull baiting), controversial in their own day, which are now thoroughly discredited. Team sports were less dominant than they are now, but hurling, football, and commons (similar to shinty) were played, and they are an important part of the story, as are a variety of minority sports including bowling, cricket, tennis, and handball. The book will be of compelling interest to historians of sport, sports people, social historians, and all those with an interest in sport and the emergence of a civil society. In November 2015, this book received a Special Commendation Prize for Irish historical research from the National University of Ireland. *** "For readers looking for a history of Irish horse racing or other sports and activities of the Emerald Isle, there is much to find in this book. For others interested in a more general study of how a society as a whole makes choices -- economically, politically, and socially -- about what it deems acceptable and not in terms of sport and recreation, as well as what factors and forces act behind and surrounding such choices in a nation's sport history, James Kelly's 'Sport in Ireland' offers a detailed and interesting case study." -- H-ARETE / Sport Literature Association, October 2014 *** ..".Kelly has produced a worthy and well-researched introduction full of vivid detail and valuable insight....will be of interest to sportspeople, social historians, and historians of sports. Recommended." - Choice, Vol. 52, No. 4, December 2014 [Subject: Sports History, Irish Studies]Ã?Â?Ã?Â?Ã?Â?Ã?Â?
Irish sportswomen have been breaking the mould for a very, very long time. In 1956, Maeve Kyle became our first female Olympian, and in 1978 rally driver Rosemary Smith broke the country’s land-speed record! Through the 1990s and 2000s we had world champions in Sonia O’Sullivan, Derval O’Rourke and Olive Loughnane, and more recently, the fantastic Katie Taylor, Kellie Harrington and Annalise Murphy have been among those who have put Irish sportswomen on the map. This book breaks the mould once more, as a first ever compendium of stories for children about our best contemporary sportswomen. With a fairytale touch, RTɒs Jacqui Hurley tells the stories of women who have proved that being a girl is not a barrier to sporting success. Each story is one of overcoming big challenges, and the role models celebrated here are sure to inspire the next generation of Irish sportswomen. Featuring twenty-five dazzling athletes, and with delightful drawings by five wonderful female Irish illustrators, Girls Play Too is a celebration of some of our brightest and best sporting stars, and of all that you can achieve if you try your best and never give up on your dreams.
In the early 1900s, the Olympic Games track and field throwing events were dominated by a group of Irish-born weight throwers representing the United States. Of immense size and with a larger-than-life presence, these athletes came to be known as the “Irish Whales.” In The Irish Whales: Olympians of Old New York, Kevin Martin shares the untold story of these Irish American athletes who competed with unparalleled distinction for the United States. James Mitchell, John Flanagan, Martin Sheridan, Pat McDonald, Paddy Ryan, and Con Walsh won a total of eighteen medals in the Olympic Games between 1900 and 1924 and completely dominated the world stage in their chosen athletic disciplines. They were lionized in the American and Irish press and became folk heroes among Irish-American immigrant communities. Almost all of these men were further distinguished by their membership in the fabled Irish American Athletic Club of New York and careers with the New York Police Department. The story of the Irish Whales is the very embodiment of the American Dream and exemplifies the triumph of many Irish emigrants in the New World. Featuring a wonderful collection of original photographs, The Irish Whales tells the dramatic stories of these international athletes and their extraordinary sporting successes.
Jerrold Casway coined the phrase "The Emerald Age of Baseball" to describe the 1890s, when so many Irish names dominated teams' rosters. But one can easily agree--and expand--that the period from the mid-1830s well into the first decade of the 20th century and assign the term to American sports in general. This book covers the Irish sportsman from the arrival of James "Deaf" Burke in 1836 through to Jack B. Kelly's rejection by Henley regatta and his subsequent gold medal at the 1920 Olympics. It avoids recounting the various victories and defeats of the Irish sportsman, seeking instead to deal with the complex interaction that he had with alcohol, gambling and Sunday leisure: pleasures that were banned in most of America at some time or other between 1836 and 1920. This book also covers the Irish sportsman's close relations with politicians, his role in labor relations, his violent lifestyle--and by contrast--his participation in bringing respectability to sport. It also deals with native Irish sports in America, the part played by the Irish in "Team USA's" initial international sporting ventures, and in the making and breaking of amateurism within sport.
In Ireland's Call BBC journalist Stephen Walker charts the fascinating stories of 40 Irishmen who swapped the sports field for the battlefield - household names who gave up their blossoming careers to volunteer for the Great War. Using rare archive letters, memoirs and newspaper reports, this compelling book features the stories of sportsmen whose lives were tragically cut short in the mud of the Somme, the despair of Ypres and the heat of Gallipoli. It chronicles the remarkable achievements of Irish international footballers and rugby players, athletes, GAA stars, cricketers, hockey players and a record-breaking Irish champion golfer. A century on, their sacrifices and those of a generation of Irish sporting heroes, are finally and faithfully recorded in this unique and evocative account.
Drawing together the strands of music, sport, and popular culture under the umbrella of 'Ordinary Life, ' this engaging new book takes the reader on an entertaining journey through modern Ireland, celebrating the many unique expressions of 'Irishness.' From the folk roots of popular culture in the song The Night Larry Was Stretched, to the showbands and community building among U2 fans; from the Riddle of Ravenhill and the 1954 Irish Rugby International, to The Lion of Lahinch - an IRA man's appearance at the Walker Cup. Everyday life is explored in Corner Boys in Small Town Ireland, while a historical dimension follows the Irish railroad workers to Cuba in 1835. Bringing it back to the present is a chapter on the fascination with talk radio and its development in Ireland, and the general recycling of Irish popular culture. This lively collection contributes to the study of Irish Cultural Studies, and meets the growing interest in Irish music and sports studies in an entertaining and cutting-edge fashion. Accessible for a wide audience, the book captures the spirit of Irish life with examples of events and emotions shared by everyone