Author Biography
Alan Bairner is Reader in the Sociology of Sport at Loughborough University having previously held the post of Professor in Sports Studies at the University of Ulster. He is a co-author (with John Sugden) of Sport, Sectarianism and Society in a Divided Ireland (1993) and author of Sport, Nationalism and Globalization: European and North American Perspectives (2001). From 2000 to 2001 he was a member of the ministerial advisory committee which was charged with creating a strategy for the future of soccer in Northern Ireland.
Description
This book brings together the work of a numbers of scholars who have an interest in the historical, social and political significance of sport in Ireland. It contributes not only to wider debates about Irish history, society and politics and but also to the steadily growing body of work devoted to understanding the role of sport in the shaping of modern societies. In terms of history, the book takes the reader from the late nineteenth century and the origins of modern sport, through the formation of the Irish Free State to the divisions that have so adversely affected Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. The book also allows readers to consider the relationship between sport, national identities and gender in a contemporary Irish context together with the role that sport can play in terms of conflict and conflict resolution.
Sport and the Irish
- an introduction, Alan Bairner
Part 1, Histories
- 1 Sport and Ireland in 1881 Paul Rouse
2 The early years of Gaelic football and cricket in County Westrneath, Tom Hunt
3 Rugby's imperial connections, domestic politics and colonial tours in Ireland before 1914, Neal Garnham
4 The Irish Free State and Aonach Tailteann, Mike Cronin
5 The Aonach Tailteann, the Irish press and gendered symbols of national identity in the 1920s and 1930s, Louise Ryan
6 Gaelic games and the Irish immigrant experience in Boston, Paul Darby
Part 2, Identities
- 7 Rugby union and national identity politics, Jason Tuck
8 Sport, identity and Irish nationalism in Northern Ireland, David Hassan
9 Northern Catholic fans of the Republic of Ireland soccer team, Gareth Fulton
10 Sport, Irishness and Ulster Unionism, Alan Bairner
11 Football supporters, rivalry and Protestant fragmentation in Northern Ireland, Jonathan Magee
Part 3, Issues
- 12 The Irish and the globalisation of sport, Thomas Carter
13 Some reflections on women's sports in Ireland, Katie Liston
14 Sport, leisure and territory in Belfast, Peter Shirlow
15 Sport and community relations in Northern Ireland and Israel, John Sugden
Notes, References, Index.
"As a non-specialist but keen reader of work being done on Irish sport and its vexed relationship with identity politics, I can easily recommend Sport and the Irish. For more knowledgeable readers ... this volume likely represents a major achievement bringing together diverse perspectives and methodologies."
Canadian Journal of Irish Studies Fall 2004
"the reader starts his journey in the late nineteenth century and, having travelled through the turbulent years of both the Republic and the North, emerges at a point where those concerned with the sociological aspects of sport seek to sue their expertise to help others."
Emigrant Online Jan 2005
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