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From Novelty Act to National Association: The Emergence of Ladies' Gaelic Football in the 1970s
[journal article]
Abstract 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 the presence of women at Croke Park would take... view more
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 the presence of women at Croke Park would take up 'valuable space'. His letter generated many outraged responses from both men and women, all arguing against his opinion and illustrating that women played a vital role within the sporting community - whether as supporters, sandwich-makers or jersey-washers. The responses highlighted how people in Ireland were reconsidering the role of women in the public sphere more generally in the late 1960s. The emergence of ladies' Gaelic football as a 'serious' sport for women in the 1970s is reflective of this changing society. Current Irish sports historiography is considerably lacking in its examination of the space women occupied in modern sport in Ireland. This piece will draw on newspapers and archival material to examine the emergence of what came to be known as ladies' Gaelic football in the late 1960s and early 1970s and to analyse the debates about the changing position of women in sport and society at this time. In so doing, this piece will aim to bring the historiography of women in Irish society in conversation with the growing historiography on sport in Ireland.... view less
Keywords
woman; sports; soccer; sports club; sports association; twentieth century; role image
Classification
Women's Studies, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies
Social History, Historical Social Research
Free Keywords
Irish society; Ladies' Gaelic Football Association; Ladies' Gaelic football
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
p. 113-130
Journal
Studies in Arts and Humanities, 7 (2021) 1
ISSN
2009-8278
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0