Pulse of the Nation

'Invaluable . . . A whistle-stop tour down through the ages' Jarlath Burns, GAA President

The ultimate book to celebrate 140 years of Ireland's greatest sporting and cultural institution - The GAA.

Pulse of the Nation is a celebration of the GAA's 140 years at the centre of Irish life, from its foundation in

November 1884 to the present-day institution that has expanded massively at home and abroad.

It zones in on the greatest players in football and hurling, ranking them one-to-ten, accompanied by profiles, in each of the fifteen positions in both codes.

The 'greatest day' for all 32 counties is explored, along with a trawl through the various competitions, from the All-Ireland championships with their 'Heartbeat of the Irish Summer' billing, to those that were once popular but are no longer in place.

Controversies are examined, the changed managerial environment is assessed - including the impact of

some of the biggest names from Kevin Heffernan to Mick O'Dwyer, from Brian Cody to John Kiely - and the covers are lifted on the GAA's role in Ireland's social and cultural history, including the growth in popularity of camogie and ladies' football. Written by award-winning sports journalists Martin Breheny and Donal

Keenan, this is the ultimate publication for the GAA's 140th anniversary.

Martin Breheny (Author)

Martin Breheny has worked in sports journalism for 50 years and was the Irish Independent GAA Editor for 20 years before retiring from the full-time role in 2019. His weekly GAA column currently appears in the Irish Independent.

He co-wrote The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Gaelic Football and Hurling (2001) with Donal Keenan and collaborated in the autobiographies of several of the biggest names in GAA, including DJ - A Sporting Legend by DJ Carey (2013), Without a Shadow of a Doubt by Joe Kernan (2012), Cody by Brian Cody (2009), Blessed and Obsessed by Mick O'Dwyer (2007), Back to the Hill by John O'Leary (1997) and The Right to Win by Cyril Farrell (1994).

He has won many awards for his writing, including Sports Journalist of the Year in 2001, Sports Story of the Year in 2016 and the GAA McNamee Award in 1998. He was honoured with a GAA McNamee Hall of Fame Award in 2022.

Donal Keenan (Author)

Donal Keenan has worked in sports journalism since the 1980s. He was GAA Correspondent of the Irish Independent and the Sunday Times and was Chief Sports Writer for the Irish Daily Mail.

He has vast experience in writing sports books, having written the biography of Paidi O Se, Paidi (2013); Beef or Salmon (2012); and Brothers in Sport GAA (2010); co-wrote The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Gaelic Football and Hurling (2001); wrote Teddy Boy, the autobiography of Teddy McCarthy (2012) and Babs, A Legend in Irish Sport with Michael Keating (1996).

A native of Roscommon, his father Donal won two All-Ireland championships in 1943 and 1944 and was President of the GAA from 1973 to 1976.

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