Protestants and The GAA

[Sooty]

Something I have wondered for a long time and would appreciate reasoned feedback.

Do Protestants in the Republic generally follow and support Gaelic sports and gaelic culture  ?

In Northern Ireland there are obvious historical reasons why Protestants don't generally follow GAA sports and culture and I suppose that is the way things will remain, but are things different 'down south'.

Does Protestant support differ depending on where in the Republic they may live.

On a more general point (and excuse me if I am being thick !) but are Protestants totally integrated into the Republic of Ireland and loyal to it or are at least some of them residual Unionists ?

Just to mention, this post is in no way intended to cause any offence at all. It is just a genuine point of interest.

Thanks

[armaghniac]

but are Protestants totally integrated into the Republic of Ireland and loyal to it or are at least some of them residual Unionists ?

On all parts of this spectrum.

[T Fearon]

I know of one club in the North where a lady is a respected member of a GAA club's committee,and her father is a respected member of the Orange Order.I kid you not!

[Farrandeelin]

Hi Sooty, it depends on the religion if you get me. I mean I know a few CoI people who play GAA at underage in our club, yet there are some Presbyterians resident in the parish who wouldn't go next nor near the pitch. That's the best example I can give.

[Rossfan]

Not many Protestants round here but a number play football ( gaelic that is).
Mind you their parents wouldn't have taken any part while I'd suspect their grandparents would have preferred to have been part of the UK.
I doubt if any of the younger set or their parents would consider themselves anything other than Irish and loyal citizens of the State.

[All of a Sludden]

I used to do a lot of business with an estate agent in Belfast, he is a very respectable man, now in his late 60s, originally from the country and at one stage would have been a member of the Royal Black Institution and the Orange Order. His daughters all married Catholics and he had to leave both organisations and while religion and politics have never been an issue between us I have always sensed an uneasiness when it comes to the GAA. He doesn't seem to be able to accept it as a purely sporting organisation but can give no reason as to why. I was in his office as recently as the day after the All Ireland football final and no one had a clue as to who was playing or who won, though surprisingly they all knew Tyrone weren't involved and it seems we share a mutual dislike of a certain Mr Harte, though probably for different reasons.

[fearglasmor]

But the GAA is not and never has been a purely sporting organisation.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

I used to work with and was good friends with a Presbyterian girl (from Southside of Dublin) with a very Scottish lowland sounding name, religion and politics never raised their head until one day she misinterpreted a joking comment aimed at another member of the group (who was a Catholic from Cork). Well she took a bit of a hump and got very Republican until someone calmed her don by explaining it was an "in-joke" that she must not have been aware of. She is now married to a hurling mad lad from Munster. Before she copped she had got the wrong end of the stick, she actually had a little anti-Ulster rant as if she found Unionists up North a bit of an embarrassment.

The only other time religion was mentioned was when she got close to almost insulting me herself another time when she asked was the reason I had so many cousins was because my grandparents being Catholics might not want to use condoms. I just said that the quality of latex in Mayo was substandard.

I have played football with a few COI lads in the past.

On loyalty to the Republic I think most I know would be fairly patriotic Irish. I have met a few who consider themselves very Irish but have a softspot for things British.

[ONeill]

But the GAA is not and never has been a purely sporting organisation.

Exactly. The GAA in many parts is a cold house for protestants or any other religion.

Although I'd like to see the GAA strip itself slowly from all religious paraphernalia, I know that probably will not happen. Some will say rightly so as some religious orders kept the game alive in some areas. We're tied down in that respect.

[theskull1]

That's where hurling traditions where you wouldn't expect it came from. They wouldn't have that influence now.

Seems to be plenty of LOL's still operating in the south. Unsure how representative of the overall Presbyterian population down there ......the gene pool doesn't look big though from watching them.

[Jinxy]

I know several pradastints that play football.

[Hardy]

The most encouraging thing for me is that, in my locality at least, the mediaeval labels are becoming less and less recognised or noticed. That applies completely and comprehensively, as far as I can tell, in my kids' generation, but to a large extent in my own also.

I live in a village with a higher than average CofI population (including, of course, those who are culturally, if not practising "Protestant). The label rarely occurs to me in normal daily discourse with my neighbours, even among those I know to be of that heritage. I'm sure the same applies to them. It doesn't occur to us, as far as I can tell in reading others' attitudes, to think of each other in those terms. There are many whose religion I don't know, now that I think of it. There are some whom I assumed to be "Protestant", in so far as it occurred to me, based on their names, who turned out to be Catholic when a funeral or the like cropped up.

Certainly, it would never occur to me, or to anyone I know here of my tribe, to question the patriotism or loyalty to the state of anyone here calling themselves Protestant. It's simply not a consideration and we discuss politics, sport and general affairs over pints the same as any group of people, with no consideration at all, that I can detect, for the possibility that a person's political opinion might be coloured by their nominal religion.

As regards sport, the old distinctions are also rapidly fading, with Catholic CBC and Pres boys more likely to play rugby than GAA and the children of Protestant families who haven't gone to the fee-paying schools, more likely to play football and hurling (and/or soccer) than rugby - just like Catholic lads. Everybody in any company I shared was talking hurling a few weeks ago, regardless of religious background.

When it comes to my kids' generation, I'm absolutely certain that if I gave my lads a list of local lads of their generation, they couldn't reliably tell me their religious backgrounds, other than by inference based on the school they attended, though that would lead them badly astray in many cases. When I think of it, I don't remember ever hearing the word "Protestant" either from my own kids or anyone of their generation.

Won't it be a great day when a thread like this would make as much sense as one headed "Redheads and the GAA".

[ONeill]

I was at the opening of a high profile 'centre of excellence' recently involving political and economic heavyweights. The first 10 mins of a 90 min speech-making session was a local priest reading some kind of gospelly preachy thing. Gobsmacked is too extreme but I did feel I was back in 1980.

[naka]

to be fair I work in a mixed office which originally was a blue blood unionist firm , we now sponsor 2 gaelic teams and most of the firm will know who played at the weekend, whilst my colleagues from other faiths mightn't play the game they are all suitably impressed by how interwoven it is in the community.
the north will always have diffs attracting unionists because of the national anthem, tricolour, emphasis on a 32 county Ireland etc but that is why I think it is also strong in nationalist areas ( we can express our irishness without having to be shinners)

[Hardy]

I was at the opening of a high profile 'centre of excellence' recently involving political and economic heavyweights. The first 10 mins of a 90 min speech-making session was a local priest reading some kind of gospelly preachy thing. Gobsmacked is too extreme but I did feel I was back in 1980.

Yeah - that stuff is an anachronism. It will die out naturally, being part of a continuum that used to involve bishop-ring-kissing and "Faith Of Our Fathers" before the throw-in.

Personally I think we should actively put an end to it. Sectarianism, which this is, however mild, has no place in the modern GAA. It's just a gratuitous insult to our members who are protestant, muslim, people of other religions or of no religion a all. It's saying to them "stand aside there for ten minutes while the real GAA does this important stuff you're not a part of."