'Croke Park was set aside to be a field hospital because nobody knew what was coming'

REFLECTING ON THE worst phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s ironic to discover that for a time in which our movements were tightly restricted, plenty seismic events still actually happened.

This is Lawlor’s eighth book and his second which follows this kind of structure. It was also his first attempt at recollecting a stretch of time that most people would rather forget. “I spoke to a few friends of mine, including Paul Rouse from UCD and I mentioned that I was thinking about doing a Covid book. Both Paul and the publisher weren’t too enthusiastic about it and [warned me] that we’re all weary with Covid. The country is sick of it.

Keeping a close eye on the stories and ensuring a relevant hook to Covid was in there somewhere kept him anchored throughout too. Playing camogie for her club was the foundation of her motivation for recovery, and the following year, she played a starring role as Mooncoin won the Kilkenny Junior championship.

“And four times I went to go over to him but his head was so concentrated that I knew he was thinking things out and I wasn’t going near him. “But meeting people like him made so worth while for me. The Marianne Walsh story in Kilkenny [as well]. Marianne was going through chemo in Waterford where she works. To think that camogie kept her going throughout that. It just bowled me over. You keep going back over it and taking stuff out and putting stuff in.While the world was gripped by the virus, effectively all sport was forced into a shutdown.

Croke Park also hosted the hauntingly poignant Bloody Sunday commemoration in 2020. Lawlor looked at the events which marked the centenary of the attacks by British Parliamentary forces during a game at Jones’ Road, and the original plan for the event which succumbed to Covid. “It was a complete blanket of darkness and all you had was Brendan Gleeson reading out the script, and Mick Foley doing the words. That turned out to be a powerful chapter.

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