For decades Rule 42 of
the GAA rulebook forbid the
playing of what was seen as British sports, like soccer, rugby and cricket at
GAA grounds across the island of Ireland including its headquarters at Croke
Park in Dublin. In 1923, after several years of uncertainty due to the War of
Independence and the Civil War, the GAA urgently needed to generate funds to
pay off debts for the development of Croke Park. The ground had become
synonymous with the events of Bloody Sunday 1920 and was a beacon of Irish
nationalistic traditions. The anti-English sentiments had spilled over into the
new Irish Free State but the GAA were desperate to fund their operations at the
headquarters on Jones Road.
In June 1923, it was
decided to hold a Fete or festival spanning the first two weeks in June opening
on the second. Apart from sporting competitions on the field of play, markets,
dancing competitions and stalls were installed on the grounds, all with one aim,
to gather in as much money as they could from the paying public. The Fete was
opened by Dan McCarthy TD, the president of the GAA and he suggested the
optimistic plan to bring the Olympics to Croke Park. This sentiment was echoed
by the then Postmaster General J.J. Walsh, both men veterans of the previous
battles against the British. This launch on the steps of the main stand was the
first time ever that the speeches were delivered via a loudspeaker system
installed by James Kearney and his Irish and Continental Trading Company. The
‘broadcasting’ of the speeches to those gathered on the pitch was described by
the Irish Independent as ‘arousing much curiosity’ and ‘the first fete in
Ireland where this microphone system was used’.
From The Freeman's Journal
From Practical Wireless 1923
The installation of the
system led to a bitter exchange between Kearney and another TD and veteran of
the fight against the British going back to the Easter Rising, Sean McGarry. McGarry, an electrician
and businessman, seemed to under the impression that the loudspeaker system
required a licence but it didn’t and he also complained that the equipment used
was imported from Britain instead of being guaranteed Irish. Kearney wrote that
McGarry did not know the difference between ‘broadcasting’ and ‘listening-in’.
In a letter to the Irish Independent signed by ‘Fair Play’, who most likely
worked for McGarry, wrote,
"
As a member of the staff of an electrical manufacturing firm with a branch in
Dublin which employs electrical engineers and salesmen and pays a large amount
of money annually in wages, rates, and taxes in Ireland, I would like to know
why permission for the reception of wireless broadcasting is refused
to legitimate manufacturers and dealers of wireless apparatus and granted to
people who have no connection with the electrical industry. I see by the papers
that the Postmaster-General refuses to grant any further permits, and the
following day permission is again granted to certain, individuals."
It may or may not have
been a coincidence that in the midst of the Fete on June 15th, the electrical
supplies shop on Andrew Street owned by McGarry was broken into, ransacked and
a money box taken. While the GAA leadership and membership rallied against
anything English, they were not against using very specific British
institutions to generate cash for the organisation, cash was King.
One of the most popular
attractions at the Fete and one that required a ticket in addition to the
ground entry fee, was also organised by Kearney and had received a license from
the PMG Walsh. For four hours of ‘wireless listening-in’ to British radio stations,
attendees paid an extra one schilling per head. Underneath the main stand a
wireless receiving set was set up with ‘perfect acoustics’ and over two weeks
thousands of Dubliners enjoyed the then unique experience of listening to the
wireless. In 1923, there was no Irish station to listen to, so the radio was
tuned into English stations relaying concerts, gramophone records and even live
sports. The Belfast station had yet to go on the air and while Cardiff and
Aberdeen were both audible in Dublin, the audiences at the GAA were only treated
to English stations. The gramophone records were ‘risqué’ for many of the
Catholic church faithful and didn’t really sit well in the proud Irish music tradition
but the younger generation flocked to the wireless room he hear the more ‘decadent’
modern music played by the English stations.
The Dublin Evening
Telegraph reported on June 6th,
‘Last
night a most enjoyable programme
was listened to by appreciative audiences. First, we had Manchester, which entertained us with
music and song, then we switched to Newcastle to avoid a lecture which was not
of great interest. From Newcastle we had some fine dance
music admirably rendered. When this station announced it was closing down at
10.30, we switched onto London. After some orchestral
selections we got news straight from the ring about the Ratner-Todd fight’.
The Radio Schedule that visitors to Croke Park's Wireless Room would have heard
While the GAA held their
fierce anti-English attitude, they saw no wrong in their embracing distinctly
British culture broadcast over the airwaves. The GAA inadvertently had both created an interest in the new medium of radio broadcasting and for all thing culturally English. The organisation would however go one to achieve radio success as the new Irish Free State station 2RN became the first station in Europe to broadcast live coverage of a field sport when they aired the commentary of a match from Croke Park in August 1926.
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