Gaelic football has grown into a massive modern entertainment industry, celebrated on summer Sundays at Europe's third largest sports stadium. Yet it has retained a unique relationship with the often small local communities which sustain it.

Gaelic footballers and their followers receive no payment, have no transfer system and remain loyal to their home counties as players and supporters. This is more than a sport – it is a subculture of its own, with songs, stories and ceremonies that are unique in the sporting world.

In this fascinating book, Eoghan Corry charts the emergence of great Gaelic football teams, players and rivalries whose tactics brought success and whose innovations changed the sport itself. The History of Gaelic Football also outlines how the game became entangled in the political life of Ireland, tracing its course as it weaved and bobbed through political controversy, civil war and Ireland's rapidly-changing society over the course of the twentieth century.

It recounts hilarious incidents from the history of Gaelic football, from invading crowds to crazy goals, detailing the rough, the tough and the bizarre that characterise the sport. Above all, it celebrates the players who bring entertainment, excitement and excellence, and who enrich the lives of ordinary people across Ireland and the world.

The History of Gaelic Football: Table of Contents

Author's Note

Introduction

- 1873–1903: The Battle of the Balls

- 1903–27: A Popular Game

- 1927–47: Hand Across the Atlantic

- 1948–74: Strong and Forthright Men

- 1987–2000: Inside the Mind of the Champion

- More Matches, More Watchers