Sport and the Irish

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.

"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

• 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.