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 […]

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.

Pakey Mahony – The Boxer from Blackpool

About 18 months ago I decided that I wanted to know more about the man from Blackpool who fought for the Empire title and who ended up training the great Cork and Blackrock hurling teams of the 1920s. I started asking questions and collecting information about Pakey.

The Late Jackie O’Shea from Donoughmore

I spent most of the 1980s and ‘90s working as circulation representative for the Evening Echo and the Irish Examiner. During that time I clocked up a lot of driving miles all over Cork and Kerry. Occasionally, especially during wet and dark winter days, it was tedious work but I really enjoyed it most days. […]

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 […]

The first Cork City under-16 hurling and football champions

In its first year (1939) the new Bord organised hurling and football under-16 leagues. The Gerald Griffins club won the leagues. Gerald Griffins was only in existence for a few short years. But in that time it set the standard for underage GAA in Cork. It also produced a remarkable crop of players and personalities who left an enduring legacy to the GAA in Cork.