It may seem strange to us now, but for a long time, with Ireland ruled by Britain, it was against the law to play sports like hurling and Gaelic football. That has all changed, and football, hurling and camogie are Ireland's most popular sports.
Gaelic sports icon Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh shares his lifelong passion for the GAA with young readers, as he guides them through its history, and its most iconic stadium, Croke Park. The stadium changed as Ireland changed, and it has been the venue for some of the most memorable matches in our history, as well as major historic events like Bloody Sunday.
Micheál picks his favourite players, matches and incidents from history and talks about the thrilling experience of commentating on games, and seeing the fabled cups - Sam Maguire, Liam McCarthy, O'Duffy and Brendan Martin - being held high by the All Ireland winners.
A must for all young GAA fans.
I'll be honest; I don't know a whole lot about GAA. Just not a sporty person. So I asked my father, an avid GAA fan and a Gaeilgeoir, to have a look and give me his opinion. Here it is;
Here is an ideal gift for any of the thousands of children around the country who dream of one day playing for their native county in Croke Park. Written by a legend of the GAA, whose love and enthusiasm for Croke Park and all it represents shine through, it gives a brief outline of the history and development of this historic sporting venue, as well as a selection of personal memories and anecdotes. The writing style is easy and fluid - like Mícheál’s style of match commentary. Particularly attractive is his habit of peppering the text with asides as Gaeilge - as he has done, in Croke Park and elsewhere, for over 60 years.
As for my opinion? I love the design of the book; the illustrations, the pictures of artifacts like old tickets and programmes put in. The history was interesting. This is by necessity quite a brief overlook, but I think that worked to its favour, not letting us get bogged down in any part of history. At the same time, nothing is omitted (as far as I could tell, anyway!) It's a great read and one that I think will do really well.
Very nice.
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