The Dublin Football Team and the Art of Physical Preparation

I watched Dublin and Laois playing in the Leinster Senior Football Championship last Sunday. It was a non-event. As they say in West Cork, “Louth could hardly keep the ball kicked out to Dublin.” In fact, the only real point of interest in the game was enormous gap between the physical condition of Dublin and […]

Will the crowds ever come back to the Cork County Hurling Championships

Last Sunday’s attendance was paltry. A little more than 2,500 I would suggest. This made for a surreal atmosphere. There was never going to be the sight of a Glen and a Barrs supporter rolling on the ground like they used to during the Eucharistic Cup games at the Mardyke. But then the crowd last Sunday did not spend the interregnum between the end of the Eucharistic Procession and the beginning of the game at the Mardyke in various hostelries between the Grand Parade and the Western Road.

Green is the Colour – An RTE Documentary on the History of Soccer in Ireland

I was fearful that the storyline might get the Sky Sports treatment; everything is brilliant, it always has been and it is only going to get much better. What I saw was a very insightful account, warts and all, of the formative years of Irish soccer.

Minor upsets don’t always lead to major misfortunes

There is a looming crisis for the GAA in all urban areas, and Cork city is no exception this. The lack of city based players is most likely accounted for by the falling standards urban GAA competition, and the failures of urban schools in the Harty Cup schools competition, rather than any perceived bias on behalf of the Cork selectors.

The tragic death of Willie John O’Connell

On Monday next, April 2nd, the under-14 hurling teams of the St Finbarrs and Blackrock will play at St Finbarrs. This will be the inaugural game of what will become an annual challenge between the clubs. A special trophy has been commissioned by St Finbarrs for the game. It is to be called the Willie […]

Tennis: My Game of Gladiators and Daydreams

I very much doubt that I was the only boy who ever dreamed of scoring the winning goals in All-Ireland finals, F.A. Cup finals and for good measure, the winning try in a triple crown decider. Of course I never imagined I would do all this Gaisce on the one weekend. No, my dreams followed […]

The Finish of the NFL (American) and the Beginning of the NFL (Irish)

Last weekend one NFL (The American version) season ended, and another NFL season (the GAA version) begun. This is a nice symmetry if you are a fan of both codes, like I am. When the GAA’s NFL finishes next April, the championship will begin and the All-Ireland final will be played on week three of the next NFL (American) season. Just as in nature, the seasons of football roll gently into each other.

Rugby in Munster – A Social and Cultural History by Liam O’Callaghan

There are no tickets available for next Saturday’s Heineken Cup game between Munster and Castres at Thomond Park. This is the norm for the Heineken Cup. It has been so since Munster’s first run to the final in the 1999/2000 season, but it was not always like that. The season before the May 2000 final, […]

UCC Physical Education Department and Chengdu Sports University in China

For a small island, with a relatively small population, we make a terrible fuss about managing our affairs. We make an incredible ballyhoo over every issue; no matter how small that issue is in the greater scheme of things. In Ireland there are usually three parties involved in an argument or an issue of public […]

Cork County Hurling Final 2011 – Carrigtwohill and Me

I had some great fun with the Carrigtwohill teams over the next three seasons. It was the first time that I had ever trained a team outside my own club of Glen Rovers and St Nicks and it gave me a whole new perspective on training and managing teams.