Contesting the fields of play: the Gaelic Athletic Association and the battle for popular sport in Ireland, 1890–1906

Abstract

The Gaelic Athletic Association's (GAA) meteoric rise to dominance in the 1880s reflected its success in tapping into an Irish sporting constituency left largely untouched by the games of the British Empire. However by the early 1890s, the GAA verged on extinction as the broader economic, social and political climate conspired against it. In its wake, sports as diverse as rugby union, cricket and soccer sought to capitalize and gain increasing popularity among Irish sportsmen. This article sets out to explore sporting developments in provincial Ireland during the 1890s to illustrate how the Association's demise was a major factor in the consolidation and spread of rival sports at that time. With the rejuvenation of the GAA in the years after 1900, it will explore the campaign conducted by the Association and its membership against those games that now gravely endangered its once powerful local and national monopoly.