Heart and goal for 140 years.

THE first fully televised history of Gaelic football bursts onto screens next month with the landmark show celebrating the history of the national game.

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Filmmakers behind the series, which will be shown on RTE, say the dramatic five-parter will detail the culture and history of the sport that defines us like never before.

Viewers are promised an epic account of the highs and lows that grip fans as they live the successes and failures of their clubs and counties in search of sporting fulfilment.

The lavish TV documentary has been five years in the making and was filmed in cinema-quality 4K imagery to tell the story of a sport dreamed up to be a “game of the Irish people and for the Irish people”.

It takes us from the inception of the GAA in 1884 and on through 140 years of national pride and inter-county glory.

The modern form of the game is beloved across the island and has spawned a legion of legendary names like radio commentator Michael O'Hehir, player Mick O'Dwyer, and TV commentator Micheal O Muircheartaigh.

FACES

On Monday, June 9, the first instalment drops with famous faces like Kerry's former All-Ireland-winning captain Dara O Cinneide, Armagh legend Oisin McConville, and former Derry player Joe Brolly, now one of the country's veteran pundits.

Brolly says of the game: “It has a warlike blend, rugby and soccer, end-to-end, hard-hitting”

Others talk about how the “art of football” grew out of rural Ireland to become the heartbeat of the country and a national institution.

The series, called Hell for Leather - The Story of Gaelic Football, delves into the sport, carving it up into five chapters: The Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Empires, True Leaders, and The Days of Our Lives.

It has been put together by RTE and Crossing the Line Productions to chronicle the “incalculable contribution which the sport has made to Irish life”.