Symposium Themes
This symposium, hosted by Technological University Dublin in partnership with Sports History Ireland, brings together historians, academics, elite sports people and community representatives to explore the histories of sport across Dublin. Drawing upon the interplay between city and suburb, the event reflects TU Dublin’s unique footprint across the capital.
The themes that are explored in the symposium include:
- The sporting history of Grangegorman and its surrounds
- The development and evolution of Dublin's sporting culture
- The modernisation of sport in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Dublin
- The sporting lives and stories of men, women and communities in Dublin
- The histories of sporting organisations and clubs in Dublin city and county
- The role of sport in shaping urban communities
The symposium features a keynote talk by Prof. Paul Rouse in which he explores the rich history of sport in Grangegorman and its environs with a particular focus on the multi-layered approach to sport in the Richmond Lunatic Asylum and its successor, the Grangegorman Mental Hospital.
American basketballers Ed Randolph and Jerome Westbrooks will be interviewed by TU Dublin's Claire Walsh on their experiences of moving to Ireland in the early 1980s, as part of a wave that kickstarted the "golden era" of Irish basketball.
Julien Clénet and Anna Maria Mullally will present in the first afternoon panel session on sport in nineteenth century Dublin. Julien will focus on how the Phoenix Park, adjacent to Grangegorman, was Ireland’s largest playground throughout the nineteenth century. Anna Maria will explore the history of female athleticism in Dubin, with a specific focus on female swimmers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Terry Clavin and Siobhán Doyle will lead the second afternoon panel session on the theme of Gaelic sports. Terry's presentation will surface aspects of the early story of the Camogie Association in Dublin. Siobhán will focus on the objects and stories related to Dublin GAA that were uncovered when researching her book A History of the GAA in 100 Objects.
In the final session of the day, Cormac Moore and Conor Curran will examine aspects of soccer culture in Ireland in the late twentieth century. Cormac's presentation will focus on the famous 1973 match in Lansdowne Road when an All-Ireland XI playing as Shamrock Rovers lost narrowly to world champions Brazil. Conor will explore the development of British football clubs' supporters' clubs in Ireland, with particular emphasis on Liverpool Football Club.
Register here to attend this symposium on 10 June 2026
Photo Credit: Grangegorman Soccer Team, 1909–10, National Archives of Ireland, Priv 1223/29/96