June Date for Symposium Examining Dublin’s Sporting History

by Roy Brindley, 20 May 2026

A major symposium examining the role sport has played in shaping communities, identity and urban life across Dublin is scheduled for June.

Cricket is being played at Dublin’s Phoenix Park – a place described as ‘Ireland’s largest playground’. ©Getty Images

Key Facts:

• Dublin’s rich sporting heritage to be explored in June 10 seminar.
• The importance of sport beyond competition and entertainment will be examined.
• Soccer culture and Shamrock Rovers’ narrow 1973 loss to Brazil will be remembered.

A major new symposium exploring the sporting history of Dublin and its communities has been announced. Titled Pitches and People: The Sporting History of Dublin and its Communities, the event will take place at Technological University Dublin early next month.

Bringing together historians, academics, former athletes and community leaders for a day-long examination of the capital’s rich sporting heritage, the event has been organised by Technological University Dublin in partnership with Sports History Ireland.

Organisers say the June 10 seminar will explore how sport has shaped Dublin’s social and cultural identity across generations, with discussions ranging from nineteenth-century athletics to the evolution of modern sporting communities across the city and its suburbs.

The Importance of Sport Examined

Dr Brian Murphy, Government and Community Advocacy Lead and co-lead of the organising committee, believes the event will highlight the importance of sport beyond competition and entertainment. He said:

“What connects it all is the role sport has played in shaping Dublin itself – not just as entertainment, but as a powerful force in urban life, identity and community across the capital. This event also reflects TU Dublin’s deep-rooted presence across the city and our commitment to understanding Dublin’s social and cultural history through sport.”

The symposium will open with an address from Irish Minister of State for Culture, Communications and Sport, Charlie McConalogue, followed by a keynote presentation from sports historian Paul Rouse.

The themes that are set to be explored in the symposium include:

• The sporting history of Grangegorman and its surrounds
• The development and evolution of Dublin’s sporting culture
• The modernisation of sport in nineteenth and twentieth-century Dublin
• The sporting lives and stories of men, women and communities in Dublin
• The histories of sporting organisations and clubs in Dublin city and county
• The role of sport in shaping urban communities

Among the featured guests are former American basketball players Ed Randolph and Jerome Westbrooks, who will discuss their experiences of Irish basketball during the sport’s ‘golden years’ in the 1980s.

The Phoenix Park Playground, Liverpool and More

Author and lecturer Julien Clénet will present a panel session on sport in nineteenth-century Dublin, focusing on how Phoenix Park was Ireland’s largest playground throughout the century. It would later house a racecourse and motor racing circuit.

Phoenix Park, Dublin. pic.twitter.com/MAtNqtpFOV

— Sports & Betting History by BestBettingSites (@BettingSitesCom) July 14, 2023

In the final session of the day, Cormac Moore, director and founder of History Link Social and Cultural Historian, and social and cultural historian Conor Curran will examine aspects of soccer culture in Ireland during the late twentieth century.

Moore’s presentation will focus on the famous 1973 match in Lansdowne Road when an All-Ireland XI playing as Shamrock Rovers lost narrowly to world champions Brazil. Conor will explore the development of supporters’ clubs for British football teams in Ireland, with a particular emphasis on Liverpool Football Club.