The Hurlers by Paul Rouse

Author:Paul Rouse
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781844884407
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2018-07-04T16:00:00+00:00

VII

At the November 1886 meeting of the Wexford Gaelic Athletic Club (popularly known as the ‘Blues and Whites’, based in Wexford town), two men – R. Goodison and John Coleman – stood up and enquired if there were any objection to a new GAA club being formed in the town for men from the Hill Street and John Street area of Wexford town. The men who wished to establish the club were all labourers and could not afford the existing subscription fee. When asked whether they would join the existing club if the fee was lowered, they replied that they thought that the members of the club, who were shopkeepers and clerks, might not like to play with labourers. They wondered further if it would be possible to establish a team of their own within the club, if it was not deemed appropriate to agree to the establishment of a new club.

Edward Walsh, president of the Blues and Whites, reacted vehemently against the idea. He said the club was composed of every class within the community; that whether someone was a labourer or a shopkeeper they were all still working men; that it was injudicious of any labourer to seek to create such distinctions between men; and that any labourer who wished to don the blue-and-white jersey of their club would be treated with perfect equality. He noted in conclusion that labourers in the town of Wexford had been part of the team which had played in Avondale the previous weekend.61

Walsh’s objections notwithstanding, the labourers’ petition made clear that the divisions of class in Wexford town were a factor in the GAA club, even if through no conscious effort. Walsh’s remarks, even if well meant, could not alter the broader dynamics of life in Wexford. Ultimately, R. Goodison was one of the men who led the John Street Football Club into the GAA, where they were nicknamed ‘The Coalporters’.62

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