This Month's Book
The GAA Museum is delighted to announce that our next Book Club choice is The Epic Origins of Hurling Ireland’s Ancient Sport.
This book is a little different from our usual choices in that it was originally published in the Irish language as
Scéal na hIomána in 1980 by St Joseph’s Fairview teacher Br Liam Ó’Caithnia. He was conferred a PhD for the work and his love of hurling was widely known amongst his pupils.
This translated and abridged version was published in 2024 and was conceived as a fundraising initiative for the benefit of St Joseph’s Secondary and Primary schools. The project was led by Brendan McGrath. Brendan is a former pupil of Br Ó’Caithnia. Other past pupils involved in the editing and translating process include Micheál McGrath and Stephen McGrath.
The book bridges the gap between hurling as part of Irish mythology and when it was codified and blossomed following the birth of the GAA in 1884. It shines a light on how the sport evolved and gives a great insight into Irish culture and society in the 18
th and 19
th centuries. This version brings Br. Ó’Caithnia’s 20 years of painstaking research to a whole new audience.
Buy Now
The GAA Museum team regularly choose a well-known GAA book to read and review. The museum team also interview the author and release the video to all members.
If you don’t have or can’t borrow a copy of The Epic Origins of Hurling you can purchase it at the GAA Museum online gift shop. Visit the shop at here.
View previous chats including those with Eimear Ryan, Ciarán Murphy, Paul Rouse, Tadhg Carey and Siobhán Doyle on our YouTube channel
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Author Interviews.
Our GAA Museum Book Club recently spoke to 'The Great Irish Book of Gaelic Games' author Evanne Ní Chuilinn!
Catch-up on this fascinating discussion below.
GAA Museum Library & Archive
The Book Club aims to raise awareness and celebrate the GAA Museum Library & Archive - the national repository for the GAA’s records, archives and publications. Its mission is to collect a copy of every book published by the GAA and every book written about the GAA. The GAA Museum and its archives house almost 20,000 items in its collection. Readers, researchers and students can access the archive in Croke Park by appointment when it’s safe to do so. Until then you can search the archive below.
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