Trinity Mysteries: University, Elite Schooling and Sport in Ireland

Abstract

The development of sport in Ireland was, contrary to some arguments, highly influenced by English examples and Anglo-Irish institutions. Trinity College and prestigious Irish schools did have an impact, as did the number of Irish students sent to England for public school or university education. Athleticism was evident in Ireland as it was in England. Although the development of soccer did follow a slightly different trajectory from other sports, as was also the case in both England and Scotland, this does not mean that it departed from this broad evolutionary model of Irish sport. Yet this was Ireland: and Ireland was different. As opposition to British rule intensified, forms of sporting participation took on more and more of a national symbolism. The outcome was the emergence of a very potent form of athleticism: an Irish athleticism for an Irish people.