Real Health Podcast: The history of gym culture in Ireland with Dr Conor Heffernan

When did Ireland get its first gym? Where was the first fitness establishment? And are we living in a golden age of fitness?

On the Real Health podcast this week, I sit down with Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport at Ulster University, Dr Conor Heffernan, to discuss the history of the gym in Ireland.

I was interested to hear when Ireland got its first gym. Dr Heffernan told me “Monsieur J.A. Beaujeu, a Frenchman came to Ireland by way of Spain and was hired by the Royal Hibernian Military School in the Phoenix Park. He was hired to teach gymnastics to the boys and girls whose fathers had gone to fight in the British military. And he also opens a gym in Dawson Street, Ireland’s first public gym,��� he said.

The lecturer brought up an interesting theory about the gym being an important ‘third place,’ for people to congregate. He explained what a third place is, “typically we can see it as a place that is not the home, it is not the workplace, it could be a church, it could be a cafe, it could be a bar, bookstore, library, public park. But it could also be a gym, and I think this is an important thing to consider because I think people often underestimate how important the gym is as a place of socialization.”

The gym history expert pointed out how important militaries are in shaping gym culture. He said to me that, “Ireland really benefits from the British military when it comes to fitness. In 1860, the British military creates its own branded fitness regime. They opened a gym in Aldershot in England, but then their next gym is in the Curragh in County Kildare. So, the second ever British military gym is in county Kildare.”

You can listen to the full episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.