“Where would we be without the GAA?”: Gaelic games and Irishness in London

Abstract

Sports are an integral component in the cultural landscape of a society or community, contributing towards a sense of collective identity and belonging. As a sporting and cultural organisation that holds a prominent position in Irish society, it seems obvious that the GAA would emerge in locations where Irish emigrants have established communities. Nevertheless, this aspect of the Irish experience abroad is often neglected in academic studies of the Irish diaspora. This study examines the role that the GAA and Gaelic games play in facilitating the construction of Irishness in London. The London Irish community is a multi-generational collective encompassing varying interpretations of Irishness, contrasting experiences of living in London and different levels of engagement with the Irish cultural forms and institutions associated with it. The recent arrival of large numbers of new Irish emigrants as well as the expanding London born second- and subsequent-generation Irish population is indicative of a continually shifting and evolving community. As the focus in diaspora studies increasingly turns towards the role of cultural institutions as markers of identity and community, this article uses the GAA as a lens to shed fresh light on what it means to be Irish abroad in the twenty-first century.