Reasons For Not Become Involved In The GAA In Ireland By Eoin Macnills

While there were a number of reasons for members of clubs affiliated to the GAA in Dublin, there were also many reasons for members not to become involved. One of the most obvious reasons for not becoming involved in this insurrection was that, in 1913 at the time of the Volunteers split, many had joined the National Volunteers and the British war effort in Europe rather than remain with the Irish Volunteers and be part of the armed insurrection. William Nolan also notes that while Dublin city and county had attracted a considerable number of migrants from counties which were well known for being strong counties at both hurling and football, that there was also considerable emigration to places such as North America and England. Travelling home, therefore, may have been a problem for some of the members had it been there intention to become rebels.
Other reasons for many members not to become involved in
It can be argued that Pearse's commands in contrary to those of MacNeill were not received by all men signed up to the Rising. Given that newspapers such as the Irish Independent were the only form of communication for many people in 1916, it can be argued that some of the members who had been expected to fight in the insurrection, read the order from MacNeill and made other plans for Easter Sunday and Monday. It is possible that members of the GAA at the Annual Congress which was held in Dublin on Easter Sunday, who had been aware of the Rising, left Dublin after the Rising as they had assumed the fighting would not take place. As well as that GAA matches took place around the country with the Dublin team travelling to Thurles to play against a Cork selection in a tournament organised to raise funds for the Christian Brothers School in Thurles and therefore members of the GAA were busy at events such as these and were therefore unavailable to fight during the