13 articles in this issue
Katie Liston,Helena Byrne,Maeve O’Riordan
Katie Liston
This piece, first delivered as a keynote address, examines the role of honour and shame in understanding the many stories of women's involvement in sport in Ireland from the eighteenth century onwards, and especially in the modern era. While women's sport... see more
Maeve O'Riordan
Hunting was an elite social pastime accessible to both men and women, of the correct social class, throughout the period 1860-1914. Female involvement in this sport preceded their widespread involvement in other sports and pastimes such as tennis and cycl... see more
Stuart Gibbs
This article looks at the early development of women’s football in Ireland, examining the cultural impact of the first women’s matches, and how this early heritage has laid foundations for future developments. Women took to playing association football no... see more
Helge Faller
Women’s football in Ireland started in 1895 when the British Ladies’ Football Club (BLFC) visited Belfast for the first time and was followed by a tour the next year, which included some matches labelled ‘Ireland vs. England’. After two decades of silence... see more
Diarmuid O'Donovan
This study examines the contribution made by Íde Bean Uí Shé to the game of camogie, particularly in her native county of Cork. Camogie is a team game, devised by female members of the Gaelic League in 1904 who wished to participate in fields sports in a ... see more
Hayley Kilgallon
In 1967 a county Cork farmer wrote to the Sunday Independent (Dublin) to express his hope that the Gaelic Athletic Association (G.A.A.) would ban women from attending the upcoming All-Ireland finals. The G.A.A is a male-only organisation, he argued, and t... see more
Conor Heffernan
In 1949 the Irish branch of the Women’s League of Health and Beauty travelled to Stockholm, Sweden to take part in the second annual Lingiad Festival. Created the previous decade to celebrate the gymnastic system of Per Henrik Ling established in the earl... see more
James Carr,Martin J. Power
In this piece we document how a football club has proved to be an important mechanism of integration for young Muslim women in Ireland. As has been evidenced elsewhere,[1] and discussed in this piece, Islamophobia is a reality in Irish society, whether as... see more
Nora Stapleton
The challenges facing women and girls in sport have a long history and many interventions to address these challenges have occurred over the years. It is well documented that these challenges no longer simply apply to female’s active participation in spor... see more
Rachael M.J. Telford,P.J. Kitchin,David Hassan
With surfing debuting at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (postponed from summer 2020 due to the COVID 19 global pandemic) it is timely to consider surfing and the national identifications women in Ireland may have with this sport. As Lee Bush states, ‘with so lit... see more
John Greene
This piece reflects on my professional and personal involvement in sport, as editor of a national newspaper and coach of a girls' youth team at my local GAA club. In so doing, it highlights some of the prejudices I saw first-hand while coaching teams whic... see more
Louise Nealon
Louise Nealon is a writer from county Kildare. She plays corner back for her local camogie club, Cappagh GAA. This piece based on a presentation given at a conference entitled, Sidelines, Touchlines and Hemlines: Irish Women in Sport, in Dundalk County Mu... see more