1916 and the Radicalisation of the GAA

McElligott, Richard (2013) 1916 and the Radicalisation of the GAA. Eire-Ireland, 48 (1-2). pp. 95-111.

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Abstract

By 1916, the Gaelic Athletic Association was one of the largest organisations in Ireland.1 Politically, the vast majority of its members would have described themselves as constitutional nationalists who fully supported the cause for Irish Home Rule. In this, of course, the Association merely reflected the political opinions of greater Irish society. However, by 1916 the Association, at all levels, contained a growing number of influential and radical nationalists who were prepared to support an armed revolt against British rule. Though these individual members in no way represented the official position of the GAA, they did reflect the continuing emergence of militant cultural nationalism within Irish society in the two decades before 1916. Significant numbers of GAA members were actively involved in both the planning and execution of the Easter Rising. On account of this, the GAA and its members would find themselves increasingly targeted by the British government in the weeks and months after the insurrection. Therefore, like Irish society at large, the years between 1916 and 1919 would see the GAA’s broad membership become increasingly politically radicalised. The impact of broader developments in Irish politics had, by 1919, turned the GAA into an active opponent of British rule in Ireland. This article will investigate the role of members of the GAA in the execution of the 1916 Rising and the consequences of the British authorities’ response to the uprising for the ordinary membership of the GAA. It will endeavour to show the processes that changed the GAA from a body that, in 1916, had members who happened to be politically active, to an organisation that, by 1919, was, of itself and in its actions and pronouncements, supportive of the nationalist separatist stance of those who wished to secure independence for an Irish Republic.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Arts and Humanities > History
Research Centres:	Other
Depositing User:	Richard McElligott
Date Deposited:	17 Feb 2026 10:33
Last Modified:	17 Feb 2026 10:33
License:	Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0
URI:	https://eprints.dkit.ie/id/eprint/1010

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