The Tailteann Games were founded, according to the Book of Invasions, by Lugh Lámhfhada, the Ollamh Érenn (master craftsman or doctor of the sciences), as a mourning ceremony for the death of his foster-mother Tailtiu. Lugh buried Tailtiu underneath a mound in an area that took her name and was later called Teltown in County Meath. The Book of Invasions (Leabhar Gabhála) tells the stories of successive invasions and settlement of the Celtic people in Erin (Ireland).
Tailtiu or Tailltiu (Old Irish pronunciation: [ˈtalʲtʲu]; modern spelling: Tailte) (also known as Talti) is the name of a presumed goddess from Irish mythology. Teltown (also known as Tailtin) in County Meath, was named for her.
The event was held during the last fortnight of July and culminated with the celebration of Lughnasadh, or Lammas Eve (1 August).
A report to revive the games was debated in the Dáil in June 1922. Modern sports such as motorcycling and shooting were to be included, along with a parade of massed choirs. The possibility of out-doing the Olympic Games was mentioned: "We have got representations from America to the effect that it would be advisable to depart from the idea of confining the Tailteann games to the Irish race and seeing that they predated the Greek Olympic by a thousand years we should be justified in entering upon a more varied programme." The games were delayed by the Irish Civil War of 1922-23.
A sporting festival bearing the same name was held by the Gaelic Athletic Association in Croke Park in 1924, 1928, and 1932 and was open to all people of Irish birth or ancestry, with participants coming England, Scotland, Wales, Canada, the USA, South Africa and Australia as well as Ireland.
Opening of the Tailteann Games in Dublin, 1924. The procession, headed by Irish Wolfhounds and prominent Gaels, arrives at Croke Park.
Participants line up before the neginning of the 1924 Tailteann Games in Croke Park.
The Originators of the Telltown Games
The Games coincided in timing with the Olympics, so many athletes participating in the Paris and Amsterdam Olympics came to Dublin to compete, including Harold Osborne, the American high jumper, who won the High Jump titles at Paris 1924 and Tailteann Games 1924.
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