Overview

This study is the first book-length academic treatment of rugby football in Ireland. Covering the period from the game's origins in Ireland in the 1870s through to the onset of professional rugby in the twenty-first century, this book seeks to examine Munster rugby within the context of broader social, cultural and political trends in Irish society. As well as providing a thorough chronological survey of the game's development, key themes such as violence, masculinity, class and politics are subject to more detailed treatment. Since the turn of the twenty-first century rugby football in Munster has seen extraordinary growth in terms of popularity and cultural significance. The Munster rugby team in particular has become a hugely important provincial institution through which regional identity has been expressed on the international stage. This book will detail and analyse the game's evolution in Munster from its origins in the 1870s through to the dawn of the professional era in the 2000s. Focusing mainly on the game's two centres of popularity in Limerick and Cork cities, this book will display how contrary to popular myth, rugby football rarely expressed any kind of unitary, coherent identity throughout the province. The game was centred on clubs and was highly adaptable to local conditions throughout its history. In addition, the often fractious internal politics of the game within the province, reflecting the game's contrasting social development in Limerick and Cork, will also be discussed. Drawing on the unpublished records of the game's provincial and national administrative bodies and a comprehensive survey of the provincial press, this book will show how one sport served multifarious roles in terms of class, culture and politics in Munster.

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9781859184806

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Reviews

Liam O' Callaghan's book is a remarkable contribution to the serious historiography of Irish Sports. Munster rugby as a special phenomenon has attracted much attention from sports writers and social commentators but this is a comprehensive study on an altogether different scale. It is extensively researched from an impressive array of sources and is painted on a wide social and cultural canvas. It reminds us that the historical treatment of sports is not an optional frill but an investigation of a mainstream human activity. The Author sets the absorbing story of Munster rugby in a wide comparative context in these islands. In the province itself, factors of class, culture and politics are constantly brought into play. In this respect, the different situations in Cork and Limerick are carefully distinguished, and the fortunes of prominent clubs in both cities are dealt with in detail. While the social background enriches and illuminates the rugby story, the reverse is also true. The book is at once scholarly and popular, and makes for fascination reading, and by no means only for the rugby aficionado. All in all it is establishes a standard in this particular genre which will be difficult to equal. John A Murphy Emeritus Professor of Irish History UCC

Author Information

Liam O'Callaghan is in the Health Sciences Department, Liverpool Hope University, UK

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