Analysis: when a player is shot dead in the middle of a match, there's only one lad to turn to for answers and that's detective Réics Carlos
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As detective fiction is one of the most popular genres of fiction, a story involving hurling, one of the most popular sports in Ireland, seems inevitable, right? Well, it has been done already. This is the story of a 1944 Irish-language novel about a detective investigating the murder of a star hurler in Croke Park.
Catal Ó Sándair was an Irish-language writer who wrote his first novel for children in 1940 and went on to write over 160 books. His books are believed to have sold over half a million copies, a total unsurpassed by any other Irish-language writer. Ó Sandair's series about private detective Réics Carlos were his most popular books, which later developed into the first comic-strip series in the Irish language.
With an unusual name like Réics Carlos in 1940s Ireland, this detective was bound to be a man of international renown and had connections all over the world which he conveniently drew upon as he continued to fight justice in novels set in Donegal, Cork, Waterford and Egypt, among many other places. One novel even took Carlos to space, where he was the first man to walk on the moon and fought alien forces. Described by the author in a 1976 interview as a kind of Irish Sherlock Holmes, Réics Carlos was a pipe smoker, drove a Mercedes and had a young assistant, Brian Ó Ruairc.
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Ó RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Siúlach Scéalach, an t-údar cáiliúil ar leabhair bhleactaireachta do dhéagóirí Cathal Ó Sandair ag caint le Micheál Ó hUanacháin sa bhlain 1976
Réics also loved his hurling as he was in the crowd when the murder took place in Croke Park. Dunmarbhú i bPáirc an Crócaig (Murder in Croke Park) opens with a question to the reader 'Is there a person in Ireland who can’t forget the last time Seán Ó Glaimín played in Croke Park?’, setting the scene for a significant moment not only for those who attended the match, but on a wider national scale as well.
Ó Glaimín was playing his first season with the Ciorcal Dearg hurling team and was their standout player. Newspapers were singing his praises and fathers wished their sons to be like him when they grew up. He had just scored a goal when he clutched his chest and fell to the ground. Thinking that it was only a minor injury, the St John’s Ambulance medical team who attended to Seán assured him to "take a drink of water and you’ll be fine". Unfortunately, that's not how treatment for gunshot wounds works.
Ó Glaimín was shot from somewhere in the crowd by what was later ascertained to be a sharpshooter with a Springfield rifle. At first, it was thought that he was shot because ‘people weren’t happy with what was happening on the field of play’, which would have been a rather drastic measure if your team was a goal down. A day off isn’t possible when you’re a fictional detective and even a hurling match can transpire into a new investigation for Réics Carlos. He was immediately taken to the dressing room to examine the corpse with the Gardaí.
Like any fictional detective novel, the story takes many twists and turns, including the revelation that the esteemed hurler Seán Ó Glaimín was an alias whose real name was Tadg Ó Dálaig and had spent 10 months in prison for smuggling. After he left prison, he got a job as a bodyguard for the King of Altonia. As you do.
GAA fans hoping to read a novel that’s embroiled in GAA life will be disappointed as the GAA angle disappears after the third page. The match and Glaimín’s hurling prowess is merely a curtain raiser to the rest of the book.
There are, sadly. multiple holes in the story. A letter was found in the pocket of the dead hurler when gardaí examined the body in the Croke Park dressing room. There are a few things to unpack with this. Firstly, GAA shorts in the 1940s generally didn’t have pockets and secondly, why would a hurler keep a letter in it while playing in an important match?
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Ó RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Iris Aniar, tuairisc ar thaispeántas faoi shaol agus faoi shaothar an údair Catal Ó Sándair
Finally, you’d think that those investigating the murder would read the letter immediately to establish if it contained evidence that could help them find the killer, right? Well where’s the fun in that when you can totally ignore it and leave it until the final pages of the book to discover the revealing contents of the letter?
Despite the considerable flexibility with reality, Dunmarbhú i bPáirc an Crócaig gives an important insight into popular fiction in the Irish language by an author who was an outlier in writing for a young audience at the time. As for who shot Seán Ó Glaimín in Croke Park? You’ll have to read the novel yourself to find out…
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
