A CORK-BASED photographer has travelled 31,000 miles over the last seven years to capture the action on Ireland's GAA pitches.
Paul Carroll has created a photography documentary focusing on the backdrops of fields and grassroots games throughout every Irish county for his project Gaelic Fields.
Starting in 2010 he has since travelled tens of thousands of miles focusing exclusively on club games.
He is now running a Kickstarter campaign to turn the work into a photography book.
With just 16 days to go a total of €3,198 of the €10,230 goal has been raised. But if the photographer fails to reach his target by September 2 he gets none of the money.
North Mayo junior football league, BallyfeenaunFootball, hurling, camogie and ladies football games are photographed at all adult levels in every county.
According to the photographer it's the first photography documentary to focus exclusively on grassroots Gaelic games and the locations they are played.
Carroll decided to tackle the project after being inspired by Dutch photographer Hans Van Der Meer's work European Fields.
Van Der Meer photographed grassroots soccer games throughout Europe over 10 years. Carroll realised that Gaelic games had never been captured in this way in Ireland.
Limerick County hurling league, Tournafulla" We are often not mindful of what’s around us. We Irish can take for granted the amazing locations and beauty in every county on the island. We tend to romanticise and enjoy Ireland more when we are away, " he said.
He set out to explore the different locations of Gaelic clubs and the identity they bring to communities.
What he discovered will be common knowledge to people within small Gaelic games communities everywhere:
"The club is a local support system which accommodates all social levels in both urban and rural areas," he said.
"During the seven year period it took to create Gaelic Fields, clubs have withstood a recession and the mass emigration of many of its young players. It's a vibrant and important grassroots movement. "
Division 2 Antrim hurling league in Belfast cityThe photography journey was funded by his work in two social care settings in Cork City. One of these posts is working with 18 to 25-year-olds who are at risk of being homeless. The other is as organiser of Cork's Homeless Street League.
In his free time Carroll has been capturing Gaelic games and their locations.
"99 times out of 100 people were very nice, but wanted to know why a photographer had travelled from Cork to a Junior A football game in Dring, Co. Longford on a Thursday evening," he joked.
Sligo County League, GrangeOn one of these trips he put down his camera for a team that was short a few players. He played one half of one game, scored a point and afterwards went to work a nightshift.
"For 30 minutes of a game I became part of my own project," he added.
The book is due to be released in late November.
As part of the the kickstarter, people who preorder/pledge to buy the book are encouraged to give their thoughts on what community, identity and their club mean to them. Some of these submissions will be used in the book.
