Páirc an Chrócaigh

On 21 November 1920, Dublin’s Croke Park, home of Gaelic football, hosted the Great Challenge Match between Tipperary and Dublin. That morning, the Cairo Gang — a team of British undercover officers whose aim was to eliminate the Irish independence movement — was wiped out by The Twelve Apostles, a branch of the IRA headed by Michael Collins. Convinced that the killers were concealed amongst the crowd at Croke Park, the notorious police division known as the Black & Tans headed to the ground and indiscriminately shot at spectators and players alike, a massacre which became known as Bloody Sunday.

In 2007, the Irish home Six Nations rugby matches had to be relocated and were held for the first time ever at Croke Park, where it was England’s turn to play their match away against Ireland. But the thought of hearing God Save the Queen ringing through Croke Park sparked consternation, resurfacing painful memories of the 1920 Bloody Sunday massacre.

The tensions of a dark historical turning point, and the eventual reconciliation through sport of neighbouring nations, are resolved through the events recounted here — at Croke Park.

ISBN 978-1-913573-83-6

Sylvain Gâche, Richard Guérineau, Antain Mac Lochlainn

112pp Binding: PUR paperback 190mm x 260mm