The Hurlers: The First All-Ireland Championship and the Making of Modern Hurling

In 1882, a letter was published in the Irish Times, lamenting the decline of hurling. The game was now played only in a few isolated rural pockets, and according to no fixed set of rules. It would have been absurd to imagine that, within five years, an all-Ireland hurling championship would be underway, under the auspices of a powerful national organization.
The Hurlers is a superbly readable account of that dramatic turn of events, of the colorful men who made it happen, and of the political intrigues and violent rows that marked the early years of the GAA. From the very start, republican and ecclesiastical interests jockeyed for control, along with a small core of enthusiasts who were just in it for the sport. In this authoritative and seriously entertaining book, Paul Rouse shows how sport, culture, and politics swirled together in a heady, often chaotic mix.