Focusing on the extent to which sport plays a part in the construction of Irishness, this book also makes a contribution to more general debates about the evolution of Ireland and the Irish as well as to international discussions about the relationship between sport and identity formation.

This book brings together the work of a number of scholars who have an interest in the historical, social and political significance of sport in Ireland. It contributes not only to wider debates about Irish history. society and politics and but also to the steadily growing body of work devoted to understanding the role of sport in the shaping of modern societies. In terms of history, the book takes the reader from the late nineteenth century and the origins of modern sport, through the formation of the Irish Free State of the division that have so adversely affected Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. The book also allows readers to consider the relationship between sport, national identities and gender in a contemporary Irish context together with the role that sport can play in terms of conflict and conflict resolution.