Sport, the Media and Ireland

Sport occupies a central position in Irish social and cultural life, yet has been relatively marginal within the academy. Significant research has been undertaken by individual scholars, and various important books have been published recently – for example Paul Rouse’s Sport and Ireland; Mike Cronin et al.’s The GAA: A People’s History; and Conor Curran’s Irish Soccer Migrants. However, there are currently no collections or monographs devoted to the interrelationships between sport and media in an Irish context. This collection of essays redresses this gap. Drawing together scholars from across the humanities and social sciences, it argues that sport and sport media offer an invaluable lens through which to examine social and cultural change and continuity in Ireland. Chapters vary in focus from debates about sports broadcasting rights and the futures and interrelationships of national organisations like the GAA and RTÉ; to academic and journalist perspectives on women, media and sport in Ireland; to sport’s representation in television and advertising. Chapters focusing on ‘northern’ emigrant footballers George Best, James McClean and Charlie O’Hagan, ‘second generation’ Irish fans of Irish sport media in Britain, and Irish fans of British based sport media highlight the roles of sport in the complexities of ‘Irish’ identity and its interplay with ‘British’ identity. In addition to examining the current ‘state of play’ of sports research in Ireland, our intention is that this book will become a key resource for future scholarship.