Voices across the airwaves: Gendered memories of sports radio in the Irish diaspora

Abstract

This article examines the cultural and affective significance of sports radio within the Irish diaspora from the 1960s to the present, tracing its transformation from a communal listening ritual to individualised, digitally mediated practices. Beginning with the historic 1947 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, which was broadcast live from New York to Ireland, the study considers how mediated listening has enabled diasporic communities to sustain ties to home and negotiate belonging across borders. Drawing on interviews with a Gaelic football commentator and five diasporic participants in Britain, the USA, and Australia, the article situates radio listening at the intersection of memory, gender, and diaspora studies. While foregrounding radio’s capacity to foster affective co-presence—particularly among men—it interrogates the gendered exclusions embedded in these media rituals. Advancing the concept of ‘multi-axial togetherness’, the article calls for a nuanced understanding of diasporic media flows that accounts for intersecting dimensions of gender, class, and generation.

Keywords

Irish radio gender belonging diasporic media memory sports radio

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