Decorative Arts & History

This rugby ball was used by Irish prisoners at Frongoch in Wales after the 1916 Easter Rising. The ball has a leather cover surrounding a rubber bladder. It was used to play Gaelic Football matches, which was a popular pastime amongst the prisoners. They were played at a local field, nicknamed ‘Croke Park’, and were always fiercely fought competitions. One British guard commented “if this is what they’re like at play, they must be hellish in a scrap.”  

This hurl belonged to Michael Collins and was used by him when he lived in London. His name can be seen on the stick written in pencil. Collins moved to London in 1906, during which time he was involved in his local GAA club, ‘Geraldines GAA Club.’ He was made vice-captain in 1908 and general secretary in 1909. 

The GAA was founded by Michael Cusack in 1884 to revive, promote, and regulate traditional Irish sports. Although the organisation was set up to be non-political, it would still play a significant role in the Irish Revolutionary period. When the Irish Volunteers Force was established in 1913, guns were in short supply and so many of the men, who would have been members of the GAA, used hurls to practice drilling instead. The GAA also helped to produce a generation of young people who were physically fit and had strong nationalist views. The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) especially viewed the GAA as a tool to further their ideals and enlist new recruits.  

While the founders of the GAA were against the infiltration of the IRB, it is estimated that 302 Dublin GAA players took part in the 1916 Easter Rising. It was argued in some quarters of British establishment in Dublin that the GAA had been an instigating factor in the Rising, though the organisation firmly denied their involvement. However, the affiliation between Gaelic games and the nationalist movement is clearly demonstrated by this rugby-turned-Gaelic football used by Irish republican prisoners. 

The GAA reflected the turning tide Irish society in the following years by becoming increasingly militantly nationalist, which included their joining the calls to stop conscription in Ireland in 1918. During the War of Independence, IRA leaders would use their GAA connections to enlist men to fight against the British authorities. One of the most well-known and infamous incidents of the war occurred on 21 November 1920 when, in response to Michael Collins’ ‘Squad’ killing 13 suspected British agents across Dublin, British security forces descended upon Croke Park where Dublin were playing Tipperary in Gaelic football to search the crowd and find those responsible. Shots were fired and 14 people were killed – 13 civilians and Tipperary player Michael Hogan.