Even bigger than the Olympics... the ‘Celtic Games’ 100 years ago

IN 632BC, King Lugh Lámhfada (Lugh of the Long Hand) decreed that a games be held to honour the life of his recently deceased mother, Tailte.

She was said to be the daughter of a distinguished king of Spain, and the event was to be known as the Tailteann Games.

These began on August 1 of that year more than 2,500 years ago, and lasted for a week.

This first event was such a success that the Tailteann Games continued to be held at regular intervals up to 1169, the year the Normans invaded Ireland.

The Games, which were also a commemoration of the dead and a place where new laws could be enacted, then slipped into a sphere of Irish folklore and legend.

In 1923, Irish playwright T. H. Nally claimed: “It is not generally known... that the far-famed Olympic Games of Ancient Greece drew the inspiration from the still much more ancient games in Ireland.”

This is perhaps a tad fanciful.

However, the Games retained their place in the Irish psyche, and in the 1880s, as the Celtic Revival gained momentum, people began to take a greater interest in the old Irish traditions, as well as the language, the games and the culture.

It is Michael Davitt, the founder of the Land League, who is credited with proposing the revival of the Tailteann Games.

His vision was of “a national festival not only of athletics but also of music and poetry involving the Celtic Race throughout the world”.

To help fund such a Games, the GAA sent a team of hurlers, footballers and athletes to America in 1888, but the venture failed on all fronts and they quickly ran out of money.

Maurice Davin, the President of the GAA, had to wire Davitt asking him to bail them out to the tune of more than £450. To add insult to injury, more than 20 of the original touring party of 51 stayed permanently in America, and several more returned to Ireland only to tidy up their affairs before going back to live and work in the U.S.

The idea of reviving the Tailteann Games was shelved by the GAA, and remained an aspiration until the First Dáil was set up in 1919, when Éamon de Valera’s government made the decision to bring them back.

Holding the Games for the first time since Ireland was invaded in 1169 was to be a statement that the country had regained its independence. As it transpired, the event ended up being bigger than the Olympic Games which were held in Paris in the same year.

Cork man J.J. Walsh was appointed Director of the Tailteann Games. His experience as a leading member of the GAA at the time made him an ideal choice and he was given £2,000 to carry out the initial planning - about €140,000 today.

He envisioned the Games propelling the nation “towards the great destiny to which we all feel Ireland is called”, and as “a means of bringing to world notice the athletic prowess of the Irish race”.

The first issue that Walsh’s committee faced was setting a date for the Games. August, 1922, was agreed upon, but this had to be moved to 1924 because of the outbreak of the Civil War.

Venues were another issue to be faced. The Games were to cover a broad range of sports and cultural events and many venues would be needed for non-sporting competitions such as music and dancing.

Other events included equestrian, motor racing, swimming, rowing, and billiards.

The choice of the grounds for the field sport competitions was easy - Croke Park was the only venue in the country at that time with a playing area large enough to accommodate athletics, hurling, football, cycling, and the other athletic activities.

It was also the only venue that could accommodate the large crowds expected to attend the games. At least 100,000 visitors were set to arrive from the USA alone, and 250,000 in total.

Like almost every other public place in Ireland, however, after the War of Independence, Croke Park was in need of refurbishment. In conjunction with the Department of Finance, the Tailteann Games committee gave the GAA £10,000 to upgrade Croke Park.

One of the first of many crises that bedevilled the Games erupted about this money.

The GAA and JJ Walsh understood the money to be a grant, while the Department of Finance was adamant that it was a loan.

However, when the renovations, including the building of two covered stands, one of which was the Hogan Stand, were finished, the GAA had spent more than £14,000 and were forced to mortgage Croke Park in order to pay off the builders.

The postponing of the Games until 1924 allowed more time to generate interest in the event.

Entries for the Games were received from all over the world, including New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Persia (Iran), the United States, Britain and Canada.

The large entry created its own problems, primary amongst them being the need for accommodation in Dublin.

To ensure that this would not be an issue, postmen distributed leaflets to households asking them to consider taking in visitors to the Games. More than 12,000 households in Dublin responded to this call and offered to help.

J.J. Walsh publicly stated that he was not concerned about accommodation, but as August, 1924, approached, another, more serious issue occupied a great deal of his time.

A large number of political prisoners were still in jail after the Civil War. The Munster Council of the GAA declared that they would withdraw from the Games unless they were released. Sinn Féin were also publicly advocating a boycott.

Walsh wrote to President W.T. Cosgrave asking him to release the prisoners in order to help ensure that the Games would be a success. Although the prisoners were not released, most of the threats of a boycott were eventually withdrawn or were ineffective. The leadership of Sinn Féin were the only significant body to maintain a boycott. This was ironic as it was de Valera who was responsible for initiating the Games in 1919.

The official opening of the Tailteann Games took place on Saturday, August 2, 1924.

Dublin was decorated for the occasion. It was the biggest sporting event organised across the world in that year, boasting 5,000 competitors, bigger even than the Olympic Games in Paris earlier that summer.

The opening ceremony was a combination of pageantry and a display of Irish industry, along with a reimagining of Ireland’s Celtic past.

It was followed by a banquet at the Metropole Hotel where the speakers included Games Chairman William Butler Yeats and Director, J.J. Walsh.

The format saw an Irish team entered in each competition, where it competed against teams drawn from states all around the world to which Irish people had emigrated.

The Games began in earnest on Sunday, August 3. The events included shinty between Ireland and Scotland, hurling between Ireland and America, and football between Munster and Ulster, and Ireland and England.

There was a music competition at the Theatre Royal, followed by a concert where the tenor Count John McCormack was the star attraction.

The billiards competition was held at the Catholic Club in O’Connell Street and the handball in Ballymun. A crowd of 40,000 saw motorcycle racing at Phoenix Park.

Events were held daily for two weeks. One of the more unusual venues was the pond at Dublin Zoo, where the swimming events took place. Attendances there received a huge boost when Olympic gold medallist Johnny Weismuller - who would go on to become world famous by playing the role of Tarzan in several films - who was on his way home from the Paris Olympics, took part in some exhibition races.

The American team of hurlers who played against Ireland was made up of Irish emigrants.

On the final day of competition, August 16, events included rowing at Islandbridge, tennis at the Fitzwilliam Club, a 100k road cycle and a marathon which began in Navan and ended in Croke Park. Seventeen started out in that, but only four made it to the finishing line.

The marathon winner was D Quinn of Scotland, who completed the course in two hours, 54 minutes, 16 seconds. Cork man Jerry Guiney was second, less than a minute behind him.

Perhaps the most thrilling spectacle of all were the aeroplane races.

Writing in the Irish Examiner last year, Paul Rouse, professor of history at University College Dublin, said these took place between pilots from the new Irish Free State Army Air Corps.

“This saw 12 planes taking part in six races, as well as an aerobatics display,” he said.

“The longest race was held over 20 miles from the Phoenix Park with the Clondalkin chimney, the Hell Fire Club and the Wellington Monument as the turning points, with planes reaching up to 140mph.

“Thrillingly, the Air Corps also staged a mock battle. A pile of timber had been rebuilt to resemble a fortress in a corner of the Phoenix Park; it was to be defended by several fighters and anti-aircraft guns from two bombers attempting to land mock bombs on it made from plaster of Paris.

“The ammunition for the defenders was made to ensure a loud, crackling sound as it exploded.” The Tailteann Games would be held again in 1928 and in 1932, but they were never quite as successful. They are now largely forgotten, but this should not take from the achievement of the 1924 Games.

The Irish Independent said the Games were “a triumph beyond expectation”, although the GAA got their fingers burnt - they lost £800 on it.

Thanks chiefly to the work of Director J.J. Walsh, the 1924 Games were a huge statement of intent for our fledgling country which at that time was torn by war and practically broke.

The huge interest in the successful staging of such a widespread celebration of cultural and sporting events, as well as the accommodation of more than a quarter of a million visitors, was a declaration that Ireland was open and ready for business.

It was the first rung on a ladder that has seen thousands of Irish men and women make their mark on the world stage of sports and culture.