Overview
- Explores exercise in Ireland across educational, martial and recreational settings
- Examines the rise of physical culture in Ireland in the late nineteenth century and traces its development across the following four decades
- Contrasts the influence of foreign fitness entrepreneurs in Ireland such as Eugen Sandow, Thomas Inch, Eustace Miles and Mary Bagot Stack with their Irish counterparts
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About this book
This book is the first to deal with physical culture in an Irish context, covering educational, martial and recreational histories. Deemed by many to be a precursor to the modern interest in health and gym cultures, physical culture was a late nineteenth and early twentieth century interest in personal health which spanned national and transnational histories. It encompassed gymnasiums, homes, classrooms, depots and military barracks. Prior to this work, physical culture’s emergence in Ireland has not received thorough academic attention. Addressing issues of gender, childhood, nationalism, and commerce, this book is unique within an Irish context in studying an Irish manifestation of a global phenomenon. Tracing four decades of Irish history, the work also examines the influence of foreign fitness entrepreneurs in Ireland and contrasts them with their Irish counterparts.
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Keywords
Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
“The History of Physical Culture in Ireland is not only a learned and readable book about a part of sport and exercixe that has ended up in the backwaters of the more spectacular and mediatized competitive sports, it is also an example of a well-conducted research effort. … All in all, a book well worth spending time with.” (Hans Bolling, idrottsforum.org, May 4, 2021)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Conor Heffernan is Assistant Professor of Physical Culture and Sport Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, USA.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The History of Physical Culture in Ireland
Authors: Conor Heffernan
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63727-9
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-63726-2Published: 25 January 2021
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-63729-3Published: 25 January 2022
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-63727-9Published: 24 January 2021
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 280
Number of Illustrations: 6 b/w illustrations, 2 illustrations in colour
Topics: History of Britain and Ireland, Social History, Sport Science , History, general