‘Quenching the Prairie Fire: The Collapse of the GAA in 1890s Ireland’

McElligott, Richard (2014) ‘Quenching the Prairie Fire: The Collapse of the GAA in 1890s Ireland’. Irish Economic and Social History, 41 (1). pp. 54-73.

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Abstract

The establishment of the Gaelic Athletic Association in November 1884 usheredin a sporting revolution in Ireland. Within four years it was by far the largestsports body in the country. Yet despite this remarkable initial success, the 1890swould witness its almost total disintegration. The accepted historiography hastended to concentrate disproportionately on the impact of idiosyncratic factorssuch as the Parnell split on the GAA’s fortunes at this time. Instead, this articleargues that the effects of political dissension represented only the Association’sdeath knell. It contends that by 1890, the GAA was already in a virtual stateof collapse due to the effects of economic recession and mass emigration, andthe impact of factors affecting other contemporary sports bodies such as pooradministration, ill-defined playing rules and alcohol fuelled hooliganism

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Arts and Humanities > History
Research Centres:	Other
Depositing User:	Richard McElligott
Date Deposited:	17 Feb 2026 10:32
Last Modified:	17 Feb 2026 10:32
License:	Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0
URI:	https://eprints.dkit.ie/id/eprint/1009

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