Making Sense of Emerald Commotion: Rugby Union, National Identity and Ireland

Abstract

Sport is an important arena for the construction, maintenance, and challenging of identities. This article aims to explore, using a figurational sociological perspective, the complex inter-relationship between sport, culture, and national identity with particular reference to rugby union in Ireland. The theoretical framework for the analysis of national identity put forward here seeks to make sense of national identity by considering a series of key "processual" social dynamics to shed light and raise questions on the dynamic double-bind between sport and national identity. A case study of rugby union in Ireland since 1945 is employed here to demonstrate how various sources of evidence can be "triangulated" to help unravel the relationship between rugby union and a specific "nation." Rugby union (as a global team sport now with a recognised and established World Cup) is arguably the most significant sporting arena whereby the imagined community of Ireland can become "real." This temporary union of two politically distinct nations through sport provides an interesting context for the researcher of national identity. This context will be explored by considering "official" historical accounts of Irish rugby, British media portraits of Irish rugby union, and the views of contemporary international Irish rugby players.