GAA Museum launches new virtual Book Club
A GAA Book a month up for discussion
While it’s not possible to visit the GAA Museum or it’s Library & Archives in person right now, you can still learn more about Gaelic Games and the history of the Association by becoming a member of their new virtual GAA Museum Book Club.
Each month the GAA Museum team will choose a well-known GAA book to read and review. At the end of the month, the museum will host a free online interview with the author, in which members can submit questions and comments.
The ambition of the book club is to review some of the great GAA books and to give us all a much-needed sporting boost as we stay at home.
Books will vary each month and will include histories, biographies, autobiographies and memoirs – all of which are selected from the museum’s own library. Members can make suggestions for upcoming books too via the website. To become a member, sign-up on www.crokepark.ie/bookclub
The first pick is one that’s close to the heart of the GAA – ‘The Bloodied Field’ by Sunday Times journalist Michael Foley. In this publication from 2014, Foley recounts the story of Bloody Sunday and the shootings in Croke Park that changed history. The book is described as a ‘deeply intimate and detailed account’ where Foley tells the personal stories of those killed, of the police and military personnel involved and of all the families left shattered in the aftermath of the day.
For those who don’t own or can’t borrow a copy of the book, the GAA Museum Gift Shop is offering a 20% discount on The Bloodied Field for the month of February. You can purchase at the reduced rate on www.crokepark.ie/Shop/The-Bloodied-Field
The first author interview and Q&A session at 8.30pm on Thursday 4th March. The one-hour live event will take place via Microsoft Teams and a video link will be shared with members in advance.
The next book will be announced on Friday 5th March.
The Book Club aims to raise awareness and celebrate the GAA Museum Library & Archive – the national repository for the GAA’s records, archives and publications. Its mission is to collect a copy of every book published by the GAA and every book written about the GAA. The GAA Museum and its archives house almost 20,000 items in its collection. Readers, researchers and students can access the archive in Croke Park by appointment when it’s safe to do so. Until then you can search the archive on crokepark.ie/library
Sign up now to join fellow book lovers and GAA enthusiasts and get reading. For more information and to become a member, visit crokepark.ie/bookclub
