First and foremost, we have always enjoyed the good work done by Cork University Press. We have reviewed their titles in the past and a recent offering, Conor Curran’s Irish Soccer Migrants: A Social and Cultural History, gained rave reviews from ISN and a number of others.
Media and sport have long been connected, but no one really looked at the effects of those connections. Until now.
Today we take a look at Sport, the Media and Ireland: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, a fascinating collection of essays about the connections between Irish sport and media.
The key word here is collection as we are talking about 15 incredible essays over 386 pages. Each essay is a critical examination of issues facing sport in Ireland and how those issues are connected to the media. The essays are broken into five thought-provoking categories that tackle issues involving history, television, print media, women in sports, broadcasting, politics, and identity. Sport, the Media and Ireland fills a void in the discourse.
Neil O’Boyle and Marcus Free, the editors for this text, did a masterful job in selecting the right authors, topics, and essays for this collection. Each essay flows naturally to the next, allowing academic and scholarly research to be digested easily. Each essay has its own personality that is built from the perspective of the author(s).
We particularly enjoyed the essays about Charlie O’Hagan and George Best in addition to those that focused on Irish rugby and the GAA. Honestly this book would be enjoyed by anyone involved in sport or media. The quality is high and you won’t find a more thoughtful text anywhere else. It gives you plenty of new perspectives to investigate and sets you up for further learning and discussion.
