Pride - Home Grown, Ireland

Gracious. If I were to use one word to describe the people who handled me during my trip to Ireland, it would be gracious.

There were good amounts of time when I was being picked up and taken to meetings - either short distances in the mornings and evenings, or longer trips to different sites and interviews around the country - when there were opportunities to talk and learn a little bit about my hosts, and the issues that make the Irish Irish.

The history of Ireland is apparent everywhere - old structure, ruins, hedgerow boundaries, and other reminders. I knew of some of the past struggles - the troubles in the northern six counties that remained British after the rest of the island received its independence - but I

A Dublin street scene

wouldn't have imagined how deeply the English rule had been imprinted in their psyche, and the subtle pride of now being a free country - a consistent theme that emerged during our travels together. There wasn't any anger or bitterness of the past - that would not have been gracious - just a matter-of-fact commentary. But I couldn't miss the history that is embedded in buildings and streets and places - particularly in Dublin. I couldn't help but think whether the experience of this relatively fresh independence would have been what the American colonists would had expressed after the same amount of time - maybe not, since in the same amount of time after our independence, we were in the middle of a civil war. It is just that the Irish identity is a couple of millenia older.

Sport also is a significant connection to Irish heritage - just as much a part of their national pride. I was introduced to the two national passions: Gaelic Football and Hurling when asking about the flags I occasionally saw displayed on buildings around different towns - they represent the county teams. After hearing little bits about the games, I was able to recite the similarities with Australia Rules Football, and the differences and similarities compared to field hockey and lacrosse.

Declan, one of my hosts

The late afternoon of my last day in Ireland, the director of one of the research institutes drove me through downtown Dublin and then somewhere near the airport to his daughter's Gaelic Football game. Declan recounted the stories of the places where protests occurred and rebels were jailed - wasn't it Benjamin Franklin who said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” - some of their patriots faced that fate.

As we drove by the stadium at Croke Park - after having caught a glimpse of Kilmainham Jail - I heard the story of British retaliation for earlier killings of informants, but most significantly how the visit a year earlier by Queen Elizabeth and what was considered her remarkable speech. Declan recounted how everyone wondered what the Queen would say in her speech at Dublin Castle during her visit to Ireland - the "Wow" mouthed by the Irish President at the Queen's greeting - a further sign of the walk towards conciliation between the two nations.
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Gaelic Football, Hurling are Irish Passions (excerpt)

National Geographic News

Gaelic football and hurling have been arousing Irish passions for a long, long time. Football became popular as early as the 16th century, when teams might have consisted of all the able-bodied men of a town or parish. In those earliest days, the rather unorganized game would begin between the two towns and end when one side had managed to force the ball across a line into the other's territory.

A Gaelic Football football

The modern game plays like a mix of soccer and rugby. Fifteen-player teams battle across a pitch using a round ball slightly smaller than its soccer counterpart. The ball is carried for short distances, and passing is done with a kick or a "hand-pass," the ball struck with a hand or fist. The action is fast and furious, and play is rough. Protective equipment is nonexistent.

Hurling is similar to lacrosse or hockey. It's played on a large pitch with a curved wooden stick (or "hurley") and a small ball (or "sliothar"). It's one of the fastest games afield, and it's not for the faint of heart. Bodies bang, the ball is as hard as a baseball, and the sticks are made of solid ash.

While Gaelic football is an old sport, hurling is ancient. Irish mythology is replete with tales of heroes, such as the legendary warrior Cú Chulainn, who were expert hurlers. Such myths point to a hurling history some 2,000 years old and the sport's prominent place in Irish tradition.

Uprights above the goal

While the games boast ancient roots, their modern history is inseparably linked with the revival of Irish culture and nationalism that occurred in the late 19th century. In 1884, with Ireland under the rule of the
British Crown, a group of Irish nationalists met in County Galway to establish an organization for Irish athletes, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is still the governing body of hurling and Gaelic football (as well as of ladies football and carmogie, a hurling-like sport for women).

Given these nationalist roots, it comes as no surprise that the GAA has always promoted more than just sport. "The Gaelic Athletic Association was a cultural thing," said Keane. "It was created as a direct response to the way in which Irish culture was being eliminated, and they wanted to revive that culture." To accomplish this goal, the organization focused on traditional athletics, but also on other activities. The GAA's official guide includes a mandate to "actively support the Irish language, traditional Irish dancing, music, song, and other aspects of Irish culture."

The GAA is active in all of these areas. It promotes Irish culture in much the same way it does athletics, through a network of clubs throughout the country. Competitions, called Scór, celebrate Irish literature, song, dance, music, and other traditions.

In its early years, the Gaelic games themselves took on political significance in the troubled Ireland of the time.

O'Connell Street

The athletic association developed a strong rural network across Ireland, and many GAA members were involved in events connected with the 1916 Easter Rising. By 1918 the organization was banned by the British government, but the games were still played as an act of Irish defiance.

The game was touched directly by the conflict. After the Irish Republican Army (IRA) killed 11 British officers in Dublin on November 21, 1920, on suspicion of espionage, government troops (the Black and Tans) exacted a reprisal by firing on the crowd at a Gaelic football game at the sport's "cathedral," Croke Park, leaving 12 spectators and one player dead.  (1)

As Ireland's political situation has evolved, its sports have always been a lightning rod for nationalist feeling. Not until a few months ago was a ban lifted that forbade current or former British Army officers from participating in Gaelic athletics.

Brian Handwerk

Updated March 17, 2003

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I have paid attention to a sampling of Irish poetry, but here are a few musical examples from Ireland - traditional and contemporary.

Traditional music choice

While in an Irish gift store across the street from Kilkenny Castle, I browsed for something Irish to remember the trip. I typically try to buy an example of music of the country I visit. My host John suggested this CD as an example of traditional music. Click here to listen to samples of songs by various artists.

Damien Rice

Jan and I typically watch American Idol when it is running. This past week, one of the contestants performed a song by Damien Rice title Volcano. I told Jan that I would buy that song. I looked the artist and song up on line, and as it turned out, Damien Rice is Irish. Click here to watch the song performed by the writer. I post the YouTube link on my Facebook page - my sister-in-law commented that all of his songs are worth purchasing.

Lisa Hannigan

The woman accompanying Rice on Volcano is Lisa Hannigan. She has gone her own way as a solo artist. I read that Rice has commented how he wishes he had his relationship back with Hannigan - the makings of a poetic Irish tragedy. An example of Lisa Hannigan's music can be viewed by clicking here.

The Corrs

Another Irish group that I like are the Corrs. I don't need to mention U2, but a video with the Corrs and Bono can be seen by clicking here.
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(1) I had heard the U2 song Bloody Sunday from a long time back, but had no understanding of its meaning until I put this blog together. The song can be heard clicking here.

(2) The Garden of Remembrance wreath laying, click here.