If recent press reporting tells us anything about the state of Gaelic Football, it is that in the 138 years since the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA ), none of the passion first witnessed and recorded all that time ago has receded. Games this summer exhibited all the magic, drama, and controversy first captured in reports of meetings between Mayo clubs such as Belcarra, Ballyglass, Cornfield, Carnacon, and Towerhill in the 1880s.
Over the generations, journalists have developed a vocabulary and compendium of ready-made phrases to describe the action on and off the field. Press reports of games from the 1880s seem alien to the modern reader. There is an awkwardness in the writing style as journalists struggled to marry their usual vocabulary with the new form of fast-moving action on the field.
When Belcarra met a combined Towerhill-Carnacon team in John Blowick's field at Belcarra on 10 January 1886, the Ballinrobe Chronicle reporter drew heavily on military references in his post-match account. Thirty picked men on each side 'formed the army'. After the rules were read, the 'battle commenced'. Belcarra struggled initially, but after a 'thrilling harangue from Harris to his regiment', a second battle commenced. The wind favoured Belcarra but so well 'generalled' were the opposition that every inch of ground was contested. As full time loomed, minutes remained to 'decide the day or call a truce'. Blake, employing his 'favourite kick' and an aim as 'unerring as the Krupp Canon', passed the ball to 'Lieutenant' Richard McEvilly. Charles Daly, Walter Joyce, and the Belcarra men could not keep McEvilly and his men out, and Belcarra was defeated.
Language apart, the content of newspaper coverage of matches has changed little over time. On 23 January 1887, two thousand people watched Cornfield goalkeeper T. Garvey concede two early goals to Towerhill at Towerhill Demesne. Towerhill was victorious, but it did not end there. The first goal was reported to have been disputed and awaited a decision. In 2022, a problem with Hawk-Eye, the GAA's score detection system, led to an erroneous finding for a score during a football semi-final. The officials stepped in, and the score was awarded.
The pressmen learned early on that not everyone left the field with the same version of events. In these pre-television days, replays occurred in the minds of those who watched and participated and not on the television. A letter written in January 1887 following the Towerhill victory, took severe umbrage with the Connaught Telegraph's match report. The letter, signed by 'A Looker On', was published by the Telegraph under the heading 'Towerhill v Cornfield–a Contra Report'. The spectator noted that every aspect of the report 'called for the flattest contradiction'. It contained such a 'confounded mass of lies' that the reporter must not have been at the game. The spectator picked the game apart and painted Cornfield as the victor and Towerhill as the villain. Towerhill was guilty of foul and violent play. They challenged calls against them with 'vehement curses and threatenings'. They pulled in men from four or five clubs and slapped the ball into the back of the net, which was hardly honourable.
In February 2018, Mark O'Brien in the Irish Times traced the history of the often-tricky relationship between the GAA and the Press. The GAA had a strong desire to keep the unwholesome aspects of the game out of the public domain. Newspaper correspondents who did not respect this unwritten rule were banned and threatened with legal action.
In 2022 there are new challenges. Today, corrosive bystanders or lookers-on are empowered by social media. They can post the most hateful comments, including personal comments, about players and managers, with impunity. GAA President Larry McCarthy has asked commentators and those posting on social media to practice restraint in their comments and their analysis of players due to the potential long-term effects of harsh criticism on amateur players. It is hard to argue against calls for specific legislative intervention, but online abuse is a wider and growing societal problem that must be addressed. Responsible journalism has a role to play in defending what is right and good about Gaelic Games.
