Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, Jarlath Burns, with Forvis Mazars managing partner Tom O’Brien, left, and GAA director of communications, Alan Milton at the launch of A Season of Sundays. \ David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Given the regular levels of quality among Irish sports books, it would be easy to take each year’s offerings for granted.
The Christmas market gives more examples of some excellent productions. And, while tennis may not be the sport most readily associated with Ireland, it’s the best place to start.
The Racket (Penguin Sandycove, €15.99), by former tennis player Conor Niland with journalist Gavin Cooney, won the William Hill Sports Book of The Year Award – the first Irish offering to do so since Paul Kimmage’s A Rough Ride in 1990.
Niland rose to a peak of number 129 in the world – every player is aware of their highest rank, he says – and it’s worth thinking about just how good one needs to be to get anywhere near that. Of course, in tennis, where the grand slam events tended to end with the same four players in the semi-finals, 129th can seem miles away.
The Racket by Conor Niland.
The Limerick man brings a wry sense of observation to his surroundings, achievements and opponents – without spoiling too much, Andy Murray comes across as the soundest of the big names.
The passages on how he lost a Wimbledon first-round tie when the second round would have seen him play Roger Federer on Centre Court are agonising, but still engrossing. Cooney plays a big part in making the finished product as good as it is, but the voice is always Niland’s.
Similarly, there can be no doubting that Jonathan Sexton’s hand is guiding Obsessed: The Autobiography (Penguin Sandycove, €24.99), even if he has benefited from the assistance of Peter O’Reilly over a percolation period of seven years.
After reading it, I’m not left with the impression that I’d like to go for a drink with Sexton – but, equally, he wouldn’t care.
The former Ireland captain admits that his single-mindedness and demanding attitude have worked against him at times but there’s little doubting that they helped him to achieve the heights he did. To his credit, he also acknowledges how coaches like Joe Schmidt and Andy Farrell helped him to adapt and grow in the latter part of his career.
Another rugby book from the Penguin Sandycove stable is Blood And Thunder – Rugby and Irish Life: A History (€22.99), by Liam O’Callaghan, but it’s notable that some bookshops have it placed in the history or social and cultural sections rather than sport.
Rather than a run-through of results, it paints the landscape in which rugby emerged and thrived, while also highlighting the innumerable challenges, both internal and external.
Joe Canning, My Story.
Like Johnny Sexton, Galway hurler Joe Canning is someone who rose to the top and sometimes used critics’ words as a motivating factor. A telling vignette in My Story (Gill Books, €21.99) is when his father says to him, “They can’t all be p***s.”
Aided by the expert pen of Vincent Hogan, Canning revisits on and off-field regrets, while the interlinking of the loss of his mother Josephine, and the IVF journey with his wife Meg, leading to the birth of daughter Josie shows that stardom can never insulate against grief or loss.
Kilkenny hero
With seven All-Ireland medals and four All-Star Awards, Kilkenny’s Richie Hogan has a record that could stand with anyone, but it’s not intended as an insult to say he has almost gone under the radar.
Sheer force of will and relentless dedication have helped him to succeed in sport and life and in Whatever It Takes (Gill Books, €21.99) he collaborates with Fintan O’Toole to bring the same hardworking and no-nonsense attitude to the page.
The same could be said of Davy Russell, who has released My Autobiography (ERIU, €19.99) in conjunction with Donn McClean. His route to the top was far from a procession but he carved out a reputation as an entertaining character along the way and tales of big wins are interspersed with entertaining escapades – not least how he incurred a ban from Youghal GAA Club after an incident in an under-age hurling match.
The feelings that those administrators had towards the young Russell may be mirrored by some in Gaelic games circles towards Laois native and Australian rules star Zach Tuohy, who has written The Irish Experiment (Hachette, €16.99).
His views on the recruiting of young Irish footballers to play in the AFL will not be shared by everyone but there can be no doubting his great career.
Also from Hachette is Pulse of The Nation (€22.99) by Martin Breheny and Donal Keenan, a compendium to mark the GAA’s 140th anniversary.
Unladylike: A History of Ladies Gaelic Football by Hayley Kilgallon.
Another anniversary this year is that of the Ladies’ Gaelic Football Association, which came into being in 1974. Of course, as outlined by Hayley Kilgallon in Unladylike: A History of Ladies Gaelic Football (New Island Books, €23.99), the sport’s origins date back much further than that but the early obstacles were too great and too many.
The past half-century has seen growth of various speeds at different times, with the journey meticulously charted. Hopefully, this proves to be the first of a series of editions, with each new anniversary banking further evolution and development.
And, of course, the season in all Gaelic codes are once again captured in Sportsfile’s A Season of Sundays (Sportsfile, €29.95). This is the 28th edition of the annual image compilation, showing the joy and despair and everything in between that makes the games so compelling.
A Season of Sundays.
Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, Jarlath Burns, with Forvis Mazars managing partner Tom O’Brien, left, and GAA director of communications, Alan Milton at the launch of A Season of Sundays. \ David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Given the regular levels of quality among Irish sports books, it would be easy to take each year’s offerings for granted.
The Christmas market gives more examples of some excellent productions. And, while tennis may not be the sport most readily associated with Ireland, it’s the best place to start.
The Racket (Penguin Sandycove, €15.99), by former tennis player Conor Niland with journalist Gavin Cooney, won the William Hill Sports Book of The Year Award – the first Irish offering to do so since Paul Kimmage’s A Rough Ride in 1990.
Niland rose to a peak of number 129 in the world – every player is aware of their highest rank, he says – and it’s worth thinking about just how good one needs to be to get anywhere near that. Of course, in tennis, where the grand slam events tended to end with the same four players in the semi-finals, 129th can seem miles away.
The Racket by Conor Niland.
The Limerick man brings a wry sense of observation to his surroundings, achievements and opponents – without spoiling too much, Andy Murray comes across as the soundest of the big names.
The passages on how he lost a Wimbledon first-round tie when the second round would have seen him play Roger Federer on Centre Court are agonising, but still engrossing. Cooney plays a big part in making the finished product as good as it is, but the voice is always Niland’s.
Similarly, there can be no doubting that Jonathan Sexton’s hand is guiding Obsessed: The Autobiography (Penguin Sandycove, €24.99), even if he has benefited from the assistance of Peter O’Reilly over a percolation period of seven years.
After reading it, I’m not left with the impression that I’d like to go for a drink with Sexton – but, equally, he wouldn’t care.
The former Ireland captain admits that his single-mindedness and demanding attitude have worked against him at times but there’s little doubting that they helped him to achieve the heights he did. To his credit, he also acknowledges how coaches like Joe Schmidt and Andy Farrell helped him to adapt and grow in the latter part of his career.
Another rugby book from the Penguin Sandycove stable is Blood And Thunder – Rugby and Irish Life: A History (€22.99), by Liam O’Callaghan, but it’s notable that some bookshops have it placed in the history or social and cultural sections rather than sport.
Rather than a run-through of results, it paints the landscape in which rugby emerged and thrived, while also highlighting the innumerable challenges, both internal and external.
Joe Canning, My Story.
Like Johnny Sexton, Galway hurler Joe Canning is someone who rose to the top and sometimes used critics’ words as a motivating factor. A telling vignette in My Story (Gill Books, €21.99) is when his father says to him, “They can’t all be p***s.”
Aided by the expert pen of Vincent Hogan, Canning revisits on and off-field regrets, while the interlinking of the loss of his mother Josephine, and the IVF journey with his wife Meg, leading to the birth of daughter Josie shows that stardom can never insulate against grief or loss.
Kilkenny hero
With seven All-Ireland medals and four All-Star Awards, Kilkenny’s Richie Hogan has a record that could stand with anyone, but it’s not intended as an insult to say he has almost gone under the radar.
Sheer force of will and relentless dedication have helped him to succeed in sport and life and in Whatever It Takes (Gill Books, €21.99) he collaborates with Fintan O’Toole to bring the same hardworking and no-nonsense attitude to the page.
The same could be said of Davy Russell, who has released My Autobiography (ERIU, €19.99) in conjunction with Donn McClean. His route to the top was far from a procession but he carved out a reputation as an entertaining character along the way and tales of big wins are interspersed with entertaining escapades – not least how he incurred a ban from Youghal GAA Club after an incident in an under-age hurling match.
The feelings that those administrators had towards the young Russell may be mirrored by some in Gaelic games circles towards Laois native and Australian rules star Zach Tuohy, who has written The Irish Experiment (Hachette, €16.99).
His views on the recruiting of young Irish footballers to play in the AFL will not be shared by everyone but there can be no doubting his great career.
Also from Hachette is Pulse of The Nation (€22.99) by Martin Breheny and Donal Keenan, a compendium to mark the GAA’s 140th anniversary.
Unladylike: A History of Ladies Gaelic Football by Hayley Kilgallon.
Another anniversary this year is that of the Ladies’ Gaelic Football Association, which came into being in 1974. Of course, as outlined by Hayley Kilgallon in Unladylike: A History of Ladies Gaelic Football (New Island Books, €23.99), the sport’s origins date back much further than that but the early obstacles were too great and too many.
The past half-century has seen growth of various speeds at different times, with the journey meticulously charted. Hopefully, this proves to be the first of a series of editions, with each new anniversary banking further evolution and development.
And, of course, the season in all Gaelic codes are once again captured in Sportsfile’s A Season of Sundays (Sportsfile, €29.95). This is the 28th edition of the annual image compilation, showing the joy and despair and everything in between that makes the games so compelling.
A Season of Sundays.
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