Sport has played a central role in modern Ireland’s history. Perhaps nowhere else has sport so infused the political, social and cultural development and identity of a nation. During this so-called ‘Decade of Centenaries’ in Ireland (2014 to 2024) recently there has been an exponential growth in interest and academic research on Ireland’s sporting heritage. This collection of chapters, contributed by some of Ireland’s most preeminent sport and social historians, showcases the richness and complexity of Ireland’s sporting legacy. Articles on topics as diverse as the role of native Gaelic games in emphasising the emerging cultural nationalism of pre-Revolutionary Ireland, the contribution of Irish rugby to the broader British war effort in World War 1, the emergence of Irish soccer on the international stage, and the long running battle to gain official recognition within international athletics for an independent Irish state, are presented. This work’s intention is to illustrate some of the latest and most vibrant research being conducted on Irish sports history. This book was published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

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?

This book is the first to deal with physical culture in an Irish context, covering educational, martial and recreational histories. Deemed by many to be a precursor to the modern interest in health and gym cultures, physical culture was a late nineteenth and early twentieth century interest in personal health which spanned national and transnational histories. It encompassed gymnasiums, homes, classrooms, depots and military barracks. Prior to this work, physical culture’s emergence in Ireland has not received thorough academic attention. Addressing issues of gender, childhood, nationalism, and commerce, this book is unique within an Irish context in studying an Irish manifestation of a global phenomenon. Tracing four decades of Irish history, the work also examines the influence of foreign fitness entrepreneurs in Ireland and contrasts them with their Irish counterparts.

"It has often been argued that 'modern' leisure was born in the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the outbreak of World War One. Then, it has been suggested, that if leisure was not 'invented' its forms and meanings changed. Despite the recent expansion of the literature on Irish popular cultures - perhaps most strikingly sport - the conceptions, purposes, and practical manifestations of leisure among the Irish during this critical period have yet to receive the attention they deserve. This collection represents an attempt to address this. In twelve essays that explore vibrant expressions of associational culture, the emergence of new leisure spaces, literary manifestations and representations of leisure, the pleasures and purposes of travel, and the leisure pursuits of elite women the collection offers a variety of perspectives on the volume's theme. As becomes apparent in these studies, all manner of activity, from music to football, reading to dining, travel to photography, dancing to dining, visiting to cycling, child's play to fighting and attitudes to these were shaped not just by the drive to pleasure but by ideas of class, respectability, improvement and social control as well as political, social, educational, medical and religious ideologies." --

The first history of sport in Ireland, locating the history of sport within Irish political, social, and cultural history, and within the global history of sport. It studies the relationship between sport and national identity, how sport influences policy-making in modern states, and the ways in which sport has been colonized by the media.

This title examines 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 recreations, or were restructured (hunting) in a way that met modern needs.

The untold story of a group of Irish cities and their remarkable development before the age of industrialization A backward corner of Europe in 1600, Ireland was transformed during the following centuries. This was most evident in the rise of its cities, notably Dublin and Cork. David Dickson explores ten urban centers and their patterns of physical, social, and cultural evolution, relating this to the legacies of a violent past, and he reflects on their subsequent partial eclipse. Beautifully illustrated, this account reveals how the country’s cities were distinctive and—through the Irish diaspora—influential beyond Ireland’s shores.