Santa with yet another GAA book in his hand
In the business of hurling books coming up to Christmas, it’s always a feast or a famine: either there are almost no hurling books or GAA books at all, or there are a lot of them.
Last year, there were not many. The big sports book for Christmas was Ronan O’Gara’s autobiography, which was written with help from Denis Walsh of the Irish subsidiary of British newspaper Sunday Times.
This year, there are many, many GAA books: Unlimited Heartbreak, which tells the story of Limerick’s frustrating struggles to reach All-Ireland glory through numerous outspoken characters; The l.iam MacCarthy Cup is a colourful reference tome by veteran Sean Og O Ceallachain and Owen McCann; Come What May has generated more column inches than the rest put together, not least for the fact that it’s written by an openly gay GAA star; Cody is a straight-up account that gives some idea as to what makes this highly successful manager function – the achievements of the team are truly spectacular and historic, although I personally still have reservations about referees’ propensity in the past for allowing Kilkenny get away with the tactic of surrounding the opposing player with the ball and lightly beating him up until he coughs up.
Cream of the crop, however, in my humble opinion, would have to be “My Father; a hurling revolutionary“. In the first place, there has been no biography written about a Waterford GAA star up to now. Secondly, the life of Ned Power was a very interesting one – a man who embodied all the best principles and characteristics of the GAA and of sportsmanship in general and whose unyielding efforts were carried out in a spirit of good humour and generosity. Thirdly, it’s written from the perspective of his son – something which gives it all a truthful and fascinating viewpoint that makes it, I think, a book that will be appreciated equally by hurling and non-hurling people.
“My Father: A Hurling Revolutionary, the life and times of Ned Power” is out on paperback at the end of November 2009. Click here for further information, pre-order and excerpt.