Christy Ring and Gaelic football: An accidental if eventful, relationship
Ring scored two goals on his St Nicks debut after showing up among the crowd. On Friday evening June 18, 1948, St Nicholas faced UCC in the second round of the City Division Junior Football Championship at Douglas. St Nicks brought the bare 15 players to the game and trailed the College side by 4-1 […]
Christy Ring and Glen Rovers
The Irish Examiner published a 24-page supplement to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the greatest hurler of all time, Christy Ring. I was asked to contribute this piece on Christy Ring and Glen Rovers. Christy Ring was born in Cloyne, County Cork in 1920. He played with his home club, Cloyne until […]
JACK LYNCH RAISED SPORTING FLAGS AND HORIZONS OF MANY
In a boy’s world of the 1920s, be it Shandon Street or anywhere in the world, money was not the main currency; athletic ability was. The boy who could run the fastest, climb the highest or puck the sliotar furthest, was king.
Jack Lynch could do all of these. His prowess was partly due to his natural athletic ability, partly due to the regular meals – which a regular wage provides, partly due to his home environment and partly due to the education provided by the nuns of St Vincents and the Christian Brothers of the North Monastery.
St Patricks Boys National School, Brian Dillons Hurling and Football Club and their entwined history
On the 29th of November 1937, almost 75 years ago, 261 boys came to school at the old St Patricks Boys National School at St Lukes Cross, Cork. When everyone was settled down and accounted for, the boys and their teachers marched up the Ballyhooly Road to the new school that had been built in […]
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.
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.
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.
Is the Art of Playing Hurling dying and is it now played like Gaelic Football and Rugby?
It does not seem that long ago (to me at any rate) since I spent most of my summer evenings training, or just pucking a sliotar in the Glen Field. This is not going to be a piece about how things were in “good oul’ days” – it is about the current skill levels in […]
Winning Streaks
Have you ever noticed how different years, or different sports seasons, can be defined by a series of similar feats or incidents? Take the Premiership season just finished in Britain; it will be remembered – if it is remembered at all – as the season of mediocrity. The top teams kept losing points to the […]
Dava – Dave O’Brien President of Glen Rovers
The passing of Glen Rovers president, Dave O’Brien last Sunday morning was very much the end on era for the club. It is not just that he was president of the club, or that he has given over 70 years of active service, it is that nearly all of this service was given to the […]