The Last Ditch

Name: The Last Ditch
Price: 26.99 AUD
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ISBN: 9781399734714

GAA, the Fear, and One Man’s Long Road to Croker

Eamonn Sweeney

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English

Hachette Books Ireland
08 September 2026

Hurling; Gaelic football

'A BOOK THAT ENTERS THE GAA CANON' THE 42

'A MAGICAL-MYSTERY TOUR OF A GAA SEASON' IRISH INDEPENDENT

'A cracking read ... a championship season as redemption song.' MICHAEL CLIFFORD

""All the tension of a tight knockout encounter ... one of the books of the year."" MIKE McCORMACK

Twenty-one years on from his bestselling The Road to Croker, sportswriter Eamonn Sweeney set out to follow the All-Ireland championships around the country once again. But there was one problem. To make the journey, he would have to confront a secret fear that had quietly shaped his life.

On the pitch, The Last Ditch captures the drama of a hurling season for the ages and a football championship that tested even the most loyal supporters - a landscape of unlikely triumphs, renaissances, shocks, cliffhangers and heartbreak.

Off the field, it becomes something deeper: one man's reckoning with middle age, masculinity and a crippling travel phobia that for two decades had dictated the span of his quiet, rural existence. As he moves through towns, terraces and conversations, Sweeney discovers not just the unifying spirit of the GAA, but the possibility of reclaiming a life he thought he'd lost.

Both an unforgettable sporting odyssey and a profoundly human memoir, The Last Ditch is a testament to how in Ireland, when all else fails, the GAA brings us home again.

By: Eamonn Sweeney
Imprint: Hachette Books Ireland
Country of Publication: Ireland
Dimensions: Height: 196mm, Width: 126mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 237g
ISBN: 9781399734714
ISBN 10: 1399734717
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 08 September 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Eamonn Sweeney writes the Hold The Back Page column for the Sunday Independent and a Monday sports column for the Irish Independent. He is a former Irish Sports Columnist of the year and has written seven books, including the novels Waiting for the Healer and The Photograph and the sports books, There's Only One Red Army and The Road to Croker. Born in Sligo in 1968, he lives in Skibbereen and is the father of three daughters. He is the owner of a dog and a bearded dragon and headed three goals during his otherwise undistinguished under-age gaelic football career. All the other personal stuff is in the book.

Reviews for The Last Ditch: GAA, the Fear, and One Man’s Long Road to Croker

The Last Ditch [is] penned with Sweeney's trademark wit and innate understanding of the game and the culture * RTÉ Guide * The Last Ditch becomes so much more than a book about following a championship season. It's that, surely, but it's crammed with layers, poignancy, love, hatred, certainty, vulnerability ... It has the potential to become an instant classic. After reading it, we had to speak to him, even after he threw that shade several years back ... brings us through modern Ireland's struggles in sport, machismo, racial tensions and culture ... A book that enters the GAA canon * The 42 * Eamonn Sweeney reveals how he got back on track after a travel phobia made it difficult to watch the sport he loves ... A magical-mystery tour of the 2024 GAA season * Irish Independent * One of the most compelling sports books of 2025 ... The gradual, quiet process of Sweeney reclaiming his life for himself * Irish Times *