PALGRAVE STUDIES ON NORBERT ELIAS Gaelic Games in Society Civilising Processes, Players, Administrators and Spectators John Connolly Paddy Dolan Palgrave Studies on Norbert Elias Series Editor Tatiana Savoia Landini Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo Sao Paulo, Brazil More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/16153 John Connolly • Paddy Dolan Gaelic Games in Society Civilising Processes, Players, Administrators and Spectators John Connolly Paddy Dolan DCUBS Technological University Dublin Dublin City University Dublin, Ireland Dublin, Ireland ISSN 2662-3102 ISSN 2662-3110 (electronic) Palgrave Studies on Norbert Elias ISBN 978-3-030-31698-3 ISBN 978-3-030-31699-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31699-0 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. 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Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Ray McManus/Sportsfile via Getty Images v John dedicates this book to the three hurlers Mossy, Tadhg and Fiachra Paddy dedicates this book to Jakki and Kate PREFACE In many ways, it is difficult to identify the genesis of this book. We first began to study Gaelic games in 2005, when we were both based at what was then Dublin Institute of Technology—now Technological University Dublin (John’s introduction to Elias was via Paddy, who had been intro- duced to Elias’s work by Professor Stephen Mennell in 1994 while study- ing for a master’s in sociology at University College Dublin). Extended lunchtime discussions on Eliasian understandings of violence (and vio- lence in sport) were soon considered in relation to the sport of hurling. The subsequent research project culminated first in a conference paper delivered at the European Association for the Sociology of Sport confer- ence in Munster, Germany, in 2007. A revised paper would later be pub- lished in the journal Sport in Society. In the years that followed, we extended the remit of the research on both Gaelic games and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The fruits of this research work were subse- quently published as journal articles and book chapters, replete with their specific requirements and focus. Yet that is not quite the full story of how this book has come about; as Elias stressed, there are no absolute origins! The fact that we found Elias’s approach compelling certainly ensured we began from a figurational perspective but it still leaves the question of why study hurling (our initial focus) and the GAA? We could have sought to collaborate around questions concerning many social phenomena, sports related or otherwise. Beyond our academic lives, sport (of varying kinds) did, and continues to, stir our emotions with moments of great pleasure (and pain too!). And, as for many people in contemporary society, it is a source for collective identification and meaning for us. In that sense, for ix x PREFACE most of our lives, sport has provided mimetic, motility and sociability functions for both of us. We have also been familiar with Gaelic games for most of our lives to varying degrees, and this familiarity and ‘involvement’ has been helpful in writing this book. We emphasise these diverse yet interconnected social threads because it is these processes which contributed to a desire to sociologically investi- gate Gaelic games back in 2005. The programme of research that followed and which has culminated in this book was not driven by modern univer- sity metrics. During much of the time working on our research programme we were both based in Business departments—a locale where the sociol- ogy of sport has yet to register high in perceived functional importance, relative to what is seen as the more ‘essential’ world of ‘business’! Our motivation was simply to make a small contribution to the social fund of knowledge on a sport and a society—Gaelic games and Ireland. In doing so we also believe we have contributed to the further development of figu- rational theory, particularly in respect of the relationship between violence and state legitimacy. The book addresses several of the questions and themes covered in our previous publications on Gaelic games and the GAA, bringing them together ‘under one roof’ so to speak. However, the book goes well beyond our previous work, linking and extending the range of questions and topics. Consequently, new research angles have been integrated, while previous syntheses have been expanded. It concludes many years of col- laboration on Gaelic games and the GAA. It is important to stress too that this book is not about making value judgements or normative pronounce- ments on the direction of the GAA; we have eschewed that territory. Our aim was to explain how and why specific developments occurred. Whether these are deemed ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ is not the concern of this book; our task was to explain how and why they have come about. It also needs to be recognised that this book, as the title suggests, is also concerned with changes in Irish society—both social structures and the social habitus of people in Ireland. This aspect has been a focus for one of us, Paddy Dolan, for almost 20 years now and this book draws from much of that work also. Paddy completed his PhD in Goldsmiths College, University of London, in 2005 using Elias’s concepts and theories. While the topic concerned the development of consumer culture in Ireland, the examination of changing social interdependences and the national habitus proved as relevant to the study of Gaelic games. PREFACE xi In the Preface to his book The Combat Soldier, Anthony King makes the insightful observation that ‘any programme of research necessarily involves a conversation with a multiplicity of scholars both living and dead’ (pp. x–xi). That has been our experience too. On the latter point of con- versations with the dead, there was an element of this also, for while we never met Elias and he is long deceased, we have had in ways many con- versations with him through his writings in the course of researching this book. Researching and writing any book brings with it its own set of chal- lenges and frustrations, but it has also been a very enjoyable experience. As we said, we began this research over a decade ago. Along the way we have encountered many historians, sociologists, archivists and others who have been sources of inspiration and assistance. Back then no official archive of the GAA existed in Croke Park, the administrative and playing headquar- ters of the association. Despite this, various individuals at Croke Park were extremely helpful and accommodating. While we cannot name all of them individually, we thank and acknowledge their assistance and for facilitating the not infrequent visits in those early years of the research. In addition, we were given access to the minutes of the Leinster council of the GAA which were then held in the office of the Leinster Council in Portlaoise. We also sourced material from the Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Library and Archive in Armagh. Again we acknowledge the assistance of staff at all these locations and others, including the National Library of Ireland; Pearse Street library, Dublin; Limerick City library; and Dublin City University Library. We are also grateful to the following sociologists, his- torians and various members of the GAA, and others, who over the years provided helpful sources, suggestions and ideas: Dr Dónal McAnallen, Professor Stephen Mennell, Mark Reynolds, John Cotter, Michael Delaney and Joan Cooney. We thank Palgrave and in particular Madison Allums and Mary Al-Sayed for their assistance and patience in particular! Finally, for their love, support and encouragement, Paddy thanks his wife Jakki, and John thanks his wife Kate. Paddy also thanks his daughter Kate for her own unique approach to motivation. Dublin, Ireland John Connolly Paddy Dolan CONTENTS 1 Introduction: Gaelic Games in Society 1 2 Gaelic Games and Player Violence 19 3 Spectators, Emotions and the Individualisation of Violence 39 4 The Sociogensis and Development of the GAA: Centralising and Decentralising Tensions 69 5 The Amateur–Professional Tension Balance 93 6 The Amplifying of Professionalism