IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ieshis/v46y2019i1p46-65.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Irish Race Convention? Body Politics and the 1924 Tailteann Games

Author

Listed:
  • Conor Heffernan

    (University of Texas at Austin, USA)

Abstract

Covering the 1924 Tailteann Games, a 2-week sporting and cultural celebration held in the Irish Free State, the following article explores the broader sociocultural significance of the Tailteann’s opening ceremony. Said to be the restoration of an ancient Irish festival, the Tailteann Games were envisioned as an Irish ‘race Olympiad’ open to those born in Ireland and those of Irish descent. Welcoming visitors from several nations, the festival marked an ambitious effort on the part of its organisers to formally announce the newly independent state onto the world stage. While previous studies on the Tailteann Games of 1924 have depicted it as an attempt to project a certain kind of Irish identity, the present article seeks to specify the meaning of this identity in much greater detail. Surveying the use of ancient folklore, mass gymnastic displays and modern technologies during the opening ceremony, it is argued that the 1924 Games sought to depict the Irish Free State as a young, modern and culturally vibrant state. The article thus highlights efforts to project a specific and definitive form of Irish identity during the Free State’s opening years.

Suggested Citation

  • Conor Heffernan, 2019. "An Irish Race Convention? Body Politics and the 1924 Tailteann Games," Irish Economic and Social History, , vol. 46(1), pages 46-65, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:ieshis:v:46:y:2019:i:1:p:46-65
    DOI: 10.1177/0332489319860629
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0332489319860629
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0332489319860629?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ieshis:v:46:y:2019:i:1:p:46-65. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.