Central to the narrative of An Ocean of Blood is the Celtic football team’s performance on the field of play and the club’s reactions to the political, military and footballing events as they unfolded over the course of the 1917/1918 football season. 

Every game played by the Celtic over that season is recorded in detail. Also recorded are lengths to which the Glasgow Rangers directors were willing to go to prevent the Celtic winning their fifth League championship in a row.

The Glasgow Irish community’s long-held support for the constitutional nationalism of the Irish Parliamentary Party and their ongoing support for the British war effort, despite the heavy toll inflicted on Irish and Glasgow Irish manhood in the bloody fights of 1916 and 1917 are highlighted. 

It also tells of the heroics of Glasgow Irishmen and native Irishmen as they found themselves fighting and dying on foreign fields.

The reactions of the Glasgow Irish community to the bloody aftermath of the Easter Rebellion are examined, as are the actions of Glasgow Irish Republicans as they reorganised in the year or so after Easter Week. Also highlighted is the increasing political turmoil in Ireland with the political successes of Sinn Féin and the decline of the Irish Parliamentary Party. 

The threat of the introduction of national conscription in Ireland and its consequences are also highlighted

The effect of the war on the home front is looked at, including the ongoing consequences of national conscription, increasing food shortages and the government’s assault on hard-won worker’s rights, including the dilution of job skills. The involvement of Glasgow Irish political leaders in local and national issues, including the women of the peace movement in Glasgow are also highlighted.