Sport and Ireland: A History - Hardcover

Rouse, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198745907 ISBN 13: 9780198745907

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2015

Synopsis

This is 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. Sport and Ireland demonstrates that there are aspects of Ireland's sporting history that are uniquely Irish and are defined by the peculiarities of life on a small island on the edge of Europe. What is equally apparent, though, is that the Irish sporting world is unique only in part; much of the history of Irish sport is a shared history with that of other societies.

Drawing on an unparalleled range of sources - government archives, sporting institutions, private collections, and more than sixty local, national, and international newspapers - this volume offers a unique insight into the history of the British Empire in Ireland and examines the impact that political partition has had on the organization of sport there. Paul Rouse assesses 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 and has colonized it in turn.

Each chapter of Sport and Ireland contains new research on the place of sport in Irish life: the playing of hurling matches in London in the eighteenth century, the growth of cricket to become the most important sport in early Victorian Ireland, and the enlistment of thousands of members of the Gaelic Athletic Association as soldiers in the British Army during the Great War. Rouse draws out the significance of animals to the Irish sporting tradition, from the role of horse and dogs in racing and hunting, to the cocks, bulls, and bears that were involved in fighting and baiting.

About this title

Review:

Condensing the history of Irish sport into a digestible book is an immense challenge and the result is dense, exhaustively detailed in parts, and massively ambitious. Yet Rouse boils it down without the subject losing any of its depth or complexity. Take it carefully. Take it slowly. Some achievement; some book. (Michael Foley, Sunday Times Ireland)

A brilliantly researched survey that does justice to political, social and cultural contexts, and sets the bar high for historical writing on sport. (Diarmaid Ferriter, Books of the Year 2015, Irish Times)

Fascinating and invaluable. (Ardal O'Hanlon, Books of the Year 2016, Irish Times)

very informative, not only on the development of these sports but also on their social, political and cultural contexts (Hugh McFadden, Books Ireland)

Sport and Ireland is a landmark publication for a number of reasons. It is not a book of great games and famous players but rather a beautifully written book that offers social history at its best. It is the history of the island and its people through the lens of sport. If we accept that in Irish history sport has been the passion of the masses, then to understand the Irish is to explore those leisure-time hours that they have devoted to their games and pastimes. This book is more than simply a history of sport: it is a scintillating history of the nation. (Mike Cronin, The Irish Times)

[A] superb exploration of the evolution of sport in Ireland ... Rouse's book is fascinating for juxtaposing [several] sporting movements together ... a perceptive alternative to history of social change within Ireland, as viewed through the prism of sports. (Dermot Bolger, Irish Mail on Sunday)

... rather than a dry accounting of the waxing and waning of pastimes, Rouse gives a sense of what it was like to be present at these events ... his new book is a masterpiece. (Irish Examiner)

A great read. (Colm O'Rourke, Irish Independent)

This book is destined to be the benchmark and reference tool ... A masterpiece. (Michael Moynihan, Irish Examiner)

This is a book which cannot be recommended highly enough not just for sport fans but for those with a keen interest in social history. It uses sport to tell the story of who we are ... Paul Rouse's achievement in this magnificent book is to remind us that sport is more than games. (Doctrine & Life)

About the Author:

Paul Rouse is a lecturer in the School of History at University College Dublin. He has written extensively on the history of sport in Ireland for more than twenty years. A former award-winning journalist with Prime Time Investigates on RTÉ television, he regularly contributes to current affairs and sports programmes on radio and television, as well as writing in the press.

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0198745907
• ISBN 13: 9780198745907
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400