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19/07/2018

The Events of Gaelic Sunday

On the weekend of August 4th & 5th, the GAA will be marking the centenary of Gaelic Sunday – one of the most significant but ironically little known moments in our history. It was a day when ordinary GAA people stood up against the British Empire – and triumphed.
 
In 1918 Britain introduced conscription into Ireland to aid the war effort. Frustrated by the massive public opposition to this move, the authorities included the GAA among a list of groups it blamed for the lack of support among Irish people. An order was issued by Dublin Castle that a permit was required before any GAA activity was allowed to take place. 
 
The GAA under Luke O’Toole responded by insisting that, not only would no GAA Club seek a permit, but that a national day of defiance and disobedience would be observed by clubs on Sunday, August 4 at 3pm with every parish in the country requested to stage a GAA activity at this time.
 
The response to the call to action by the GAA was phenomenal with reports of more than 50,000 people playing in more than 1,000 games and watched by more than 100,000 people. The events of what became known as Gaelic Sunday passed off without incident or injury and such was the success of the initiative that the order for a permit was scrapped.
 
Join us on Wednesday, August 1st at 6.30pm in the GAA Museum where former President of the GAA, Aogán Ó Fearghail, will deliver a talk on the impact and significance of Gaelic Sunday.

This is a free event but tickets must be booked in advance.

This event is now fully booked.

Learn more about Gaelic Sunday at gaa.ie/gaelicsunday