2 minutes with… Siobhán Doyle

Sport has often played such a prominent role in Irish life, spanning way back in time, from the games at the heart of the community to the sporting legends who have represented Ireland around the world. In her fascinating new book, Irish Sport in 100 Objects, cultural historian Siobhán Doyle travelled all around Ireland in search of objects, often the most ordinary everyday objects, that carry some of the most extraordinary sporting stories. We caught up with Siobhán to find out a little more.

Ireland has such a rich history of sport and we love this approach to capturing it. What inspired the book?

This book is a look into the vast treasure chest of sports objects that are scattered around Ireland and beyond. I wrote it to fulfil the curiosity of sports and history fans, but also for people who just love a good story.

Hard to choose no doubt but, to give readers a taste of what to expect, can you pick one object and give us a little insight into its significance?

Mick Murphy (1934–2015) was an all rounder of a sportsperson. He was a cyclist, wrestler, darts player, boxer and runner. He won the Rás Tailteann in 1958 despite many mishaps along the way including a broken bicycle, an accident where he hit a bridge and was thrown out of the saddle, a shoulder injury and a concussion. Mick trained using weights which he made himself when he was 12 years old using a crowbar and stones. He described these weights as his ‘secret to success’ and ‘the greatest exercise in the world for any sport’. The weights are still in his abandoned home near Cahersiveen, Co.Kerry.

A huge amount of research and travel went into this book so, beyond the objects themselves, could you give us a glimpse into your journey in creating the book – an unusual or surprising place your travels brought you to, or someone you met along the way who helped you to learn more about the object? 

The research brought me all over the country but many of the objects are in collections overseas in Switzerland, Washington and Australia. In October 2024, I made my way to Shankill, Co. Wicklow, to view a collection of objects belonging to Bertie Messitt (1928–2012) – champion runner, Olympian and organiser of the first Dublin marathon in 1980. Before I visited, I thought that I might see some medals and trophies, maybe a uniform or certificate if I was lucky. What I was met with was Bertie’s entire career laid out in the family home. Medals, plaques, singlets, blazers, documents, newspaper cuttings, photographs, trophies, handwritten training notes – an entire lifetime of sports objects collected by Bertie and cherished by his family. To have such a complete collection in one place and to have so much information, such a clear chronology and so many objects readily available is extremely rare.

Can you tell us another event you are looking forward to attending as part of this year’s festival?

Clíodhna Ní Anluain’s book launch of Sounding Ireland: Radio and the Making of Us in DLR Library will be a treat!

Find out more at this year’s Exploring History Through Objects event, where Siobhán joins authors Turtle Bunbury and Lar Joye, with historian and archivist Catriona Crowe, for a fascinating conversation about the histories held within objects and artefacts.

Saturday 7 November, 1:30pm, Royal Irish Academy of Music TICKETS HERE