Through a selection of sixty lives from the Dictionary of Irish Biography, this book celebrates the diversity of Irish sporting history. The Dictionary of Irish Biography is a project of the Royal Irish Academy.

It tells the island's life story through the biographies, at home and overseas, of prominent men and women born in Ireland, north and south, and the noteworthy Irish careers of those born outside Ireland. The online edition of the Dictionary of Irish Biography now features nearly 11,000 lives and continues to grow.