This is the incredible story of how the GAA and its people managed to weather the coronavirus pandemic and re-emerge to fight another day.

On St Patrick's Day 2020, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that Ireland was locking down. Our lives, purpose and favourite pastime as Irish people - meeting each other - stopped overnight.

Throughout that dark time, the GAA was at the centre of the country's fightback against covid-19. From the start, thousands of volunteers delivered food and medicine to vulnerable neighbours and friends during lockdown. Croke Park and other major stadia transformed into testing centres; the Association went online to keep people connected and became a beacon of hope.

As the Association itself faced financial ruin, its members had their own life and death struggles to contend with. Niall Murphy, of Antrim GAA, was in a coma for sixteen days fighting the virus, and camogie player Marianne Walsh spent her cancer recovery amid strict lockdowns, only dreaming of one day playing for her club again. Hurler Domhnall Nugent battled intense isolation as he recovered from addiction issues. And when championships were shut down after celebrations threatened the association's reputation, uncertainty hung in the air.

But through it all, GAA people rallied. Their stories, and the story of the GAA itself, now need to be told.

On St Patrick's Day 2020, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that Ireland was locking down. The Coronavirus pandemic had arrived. As Croke Park and other major stadia transformed into testing centres, 20,000 volunteers helped 35,000 vulnerable neighbours and friends with essential deliveries and the GAA became a beacon of hope. This is the incredible story of how the GAA and its people managed to endure this deepest of struggles and re-emerge to fight another day.

About the Author
Damian Lawlor is a best-selling author and sports broadcaster with RTE. He comes from Kilruane in County Tipperary and lives with his family in Naas, County Kildare. This is his seventh book.

Reviews
A terrific idea brought to beautifully intimate colour, exploring an extraordinary time in all our lives through the power of the GAA community. An absolute triumph. * Vincent Hogan, sports reporter, Irish Independent *
A brilliant read. The stories in this book are a catalogue of resilience and the capacity of people to find ways to make the best of everything. Damian Lawlor uses his unparalleled network of connections across the GAA to document its Covid experience from new and fascinating perspectives. From extraordinary acts of kindness and decency to the pain of loss, this book tells vivid tales of how GAA members lived through a brutal pandemic. * Paul Rouse, Professor of History, UCD *
Through compelling stories and varied perspectives, Lawlor uses his in-depth knowledge of the GAA at all levels to make real the impact of the pandemic on people, families and communities. He captures the human scale of its challenge and the impressive response of players, members, volunteers, clubs and the GAA leadership. The result is a rich, valuable and uniquely Irish account of this global health emergency. * Dr Tony Holohan, Former Chief Medical Officer of Ireland *
Upon reading it, After the Storm has arrived at just the right remove from covid and how surreal those times were and how the GAA and its people survived and even thrived in them. We'd heard before of David Brady volunteering to call and talk to isolated strangers on the phone but not what they talked about - now we do. And never before of Marianne Walsh who spent her cancer recovery during the lockdown and within five months was back winning a county. Her story typifies this book: from the gloom there is gold. * Irish Examiner *



Book Information
ISBN 9781785304118
Author Damian Lawlor
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Black and White Publishing
Publisher Bonnier Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 404g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 153mm * 23mm