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From a bootlace borrowed from Michael Hogan on Bloody Sunday to one of Brian Cody's statement caps, the objects featured in lifelong GAA fan Siobhán Doyle's debut book offer an alternative insight into the organisation's history, writes John Meagher
Siobhán Doyle is admirably succinct when describing her first book. "It is," she says, "a history of the GAA through stuff". And, all manner of stuff, too. Everything from torn jerseys to tattered gloves to yellow sliotars and that most contentious of recent Croke Park installations, Hawk-Eye, are included.
The History of the GAA in 100 Objects is a thought-provoking, playful, and lavishly illustrated book about an organisation that is central to so many people's lives. There is a veritable library documenting the history of hurling, Gaelic football and the GAA itself, but this is an alternative trip down memory lane and something of a labour of love for the Wexford woman, who is both a social historian and a GAA fanatic.
"I can't believe the idea wasn't done before," she says.
When she pitched the idea to her publisher, Merrion Press, she received an enthusiastic response within the hour. As a curatorial researcher at the Decorative Arts & History Museum at Collins Barracks, Dublin, Doyle is especially well-placed to recognise the power of tangible objects in telling a story. Her passion for the GAA is palpable, but more of that later.
1940s
Player's Please figure This hand-painted figure made of plaster was used to advertise John Player's No 6 cigarettes in shops and pubs.
There are several versions of this statue with footballers and hurlers in different team colours. Reproductions have appeared but these original figures from the 1940s are now collector's items. The GAA has since reappraised its attitude to sponsorship and cut all ties with tobacco companies in favour of encouraging the creation of tobacco-free GAA grounds to positively impact upon smoking behaviour.
Michael Cusack's Blackthorn stick This walking stick belonged to GAA founder Michael
Cusack (1847-1906) and has become synonymous with his appearance. Visual images of Cusack are scarce, but a studio photograph shows him posing and holding a walking stick. The pose, including the stick, was used as the basis for a statue of Cusack in Croke Park. The walking stick...