Enshrined in Blood the Naming of Gaelic Athletic Association Grounds and Clubs

Abstract

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is undoubtedly the most important sporting body in Ireland. Both Dick Holt’s comment that ‘the formation and early history of the GAA is arguably the most striking instance of politics shaping sport in modern history’ and W.F. Mandle’s statement that ‘it is arguable that no organisation had done more for Irish nationalism than the GAA’ show how much weight historians have given to the links between the evolution of a sporting body and the force of political nationalism.