Members of Lisnakea Emmetts GAA Club

The interviewees, all connected through the GAA in Lisnaskea, engage in a wide-ranging interview which encompasses both personal GAA experiences and wider analysis of the development of the GAA and its place in Irish life. When it came to their early reminiscences, the interviewees focus on the informal, unorganised, nature of Gaelic games in their youth, the underdeveloped state of grounds and facilities and the experience of travelling to and from games in Fermanagh, Clones and elsewhere. The interviewees shed a particular light on community relations in Lisnaskea throughout the second half of the twentieth century and, in particular, the attitudes of the local Protestant/unionist community to the GAA. The changing role of women – a particular feature of the GAA experience in Lisnaskea – is discussed, while concerns are raised about the threat to volunteerism and the growing commercial focus of the GAA at various levels.