The first book to record the total number of GAA members killed during the recent Troubles has been launched in Belfast.
"Lost Gaels, Remembering the Members of the GAA killed during the conflict in Ireland," is written by Peadar Thompson and published by Ireland-based Merrion Press.
Featuring a foreword by GAA President Jarlath Burns, the book provides a platform for families and friends to remember those they lost during the 30-year conflict.
The GAA has long been at the heart of Irish life, nurturing culture and communities and fostering powerful social bonds.
However, as political conflict intensified in Northern Ireland from the 1970s onwards, the association became the object of animosity and surveillance by loyalist paramilitaries and Crown forces.
Clubhouses and pitches were occupied by British forces, fans were security checked and harassed on their way to and from games, and over 150 members were killed.
"Lost Gaels" is the first comprehensive account of the devastating impact of the Troubles on the GAA, providing a platform for bereaved family and friends to pay homage to their lost loved ones.
Capturing the deep connection between the GAA and the everyday lives of Irish people, this is a poignant and powerful tribute to the lives of lost Gaels.
In his forward Jarlath Burns writes: “Every now and then a project of significance and importance crosses our bow and makes us sit up and take notice. It piques our curiosity, demands our attention and focuses our minds in a way that so much else of what essentially constitutes white noise in modern society does not. This body of work is one such example.”
Author Peadar Thompson said: “As Gaels, the love and passion we have for the GAA goes a long way in making up our own individual identities, and that love most often defines a lot of the ways we decide to live our lives.
"This book aims to bring those memories to the fore and thereby transform and broaden the lasting memory of those recorded in this book, so that he or she is no longer, solely, defined as ‘victim’ but as ‘person’ and Gael.”
"Lost Gaels" will be available on Amazon from December 12. More at www.merrionpress.ie.
