The Tailteann Games by P. J. Lynch

"In contrast to Irish attempts at a revival, the Irish in America saw them as not only as a means of showcasing Irish sports such as hurling, but as a rival to the popular Caledonian Games.

Proponents of the Tailteann Games were keen to connect the two events. At a banquet held by the Knights of Columba at Donnelly's Hotel, College Point, Long Island, following their "Outing and Games," Thomas Lonergan spoke of "The Celt in Field and Track Athletics," a speech "punctuated by applause from start to finish," according to the Gaelic American: "From time immemorial the sons of Erin have played a most conspicuous part in every branch of athletic sports. The Celt takes to athletics like a duck to water. Nearly all the world's champions and record holders in...athletics at present are Irish by birth or descent." Lonergan was keen to stamp the legitimacy of Ireland as the mother of sports:

When and where did athletic games originate? In Ireland, almost 2,000 years before the Christian era. The "Annals of the Four Masters" tell us that the Tailtan [sic] games were instituted in ancient Ireland at a place now known as Telltown.... Those games developed mighty heroes, the greatest of whom was Cuchullain, who has been aptly called the Hercules of Hibernia. The Anglo-Norman invasion put an end to the Tailtan [sic] games as a national festival, but foreign domination and persecution have been unable to destroy the physical vigor and scientific skill of the Celt, and today, after centuries of oppression, he stands out in bold relief, a champion in almost every branch of athletic sports, in Europe, Australia and America."

-Patrick R. Redmond, The Irish and the Making of American Sport 1835-1920

The Tailteann Games by P. J. Lynch.

Source:

https://20thcenturydublin.com/2013/07/31/the-tailteann-games-by-p-j-lynch-1920s/

Quote:

Patrick R. Redmond, The Irish and the Making of American Sport 1835-1920