Gaelic Games on Film: From silent films to Hollywood hurling, horror and the emergence of Irish cinema-by Seán Crosson

Introduced by Professor Philip Dine

All welcome

This study provides the first major monograph examination of filmic representations of Gaelic games, charting these representations from the earliest years of the twentieth century, including silent films such as Knocknagow (1918) to more recent productions Michael Collins (1996) and The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006). Among the areas examined are newsreel depictions of Gaelic games; Hollywood’s fascination with hurling in the mid-20th century (including in the work of Oscar-winning director John Ford), which led to a range of productions featuring the sport culminating with the Oscar-nominated short Three Kisses (Paramount, 1955); the importance of the depictions of Gaelic games to the emergence of a distinctive Irish film culture post WWII; and the role of Gaelic games in contemporary cinema.

Seán Crosson is Co-Director of the MA (Sports Journalism and Communication) and Director of Graduate Research and Teaching in the Huston School of Film & Digital Media, National University of Ireland Galway. His previous publications include Sport and Film (Routledge, 2013) and (as co-editor) Sport, Representation and Evolving Identities in Europe (Peter Lang, 2010).