Íde Bean Uí Shé – The Cork woman who saw participation in Camogie as a step towards achieving equality for women in the male dominated Ireland of the 1940s
The first Cork camogie club was founded in 1905. and took the name of Fáinne an Lae. Sean Ó Coindealbháin (Conlon) coached the team in the basics of the game; his sisters Kate and Margaret Conlon and cousin, Christina Conlon also played. Sean’s daughter, Íde Conlon (or Ní Choindealbháin), who later became Íde Bean Uí […]
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.
Some Thoughts on Castlehaven’s defeat of Duhallow in the Cork County Senior Football Final Last Sunday
We once had a player in our club who could kick a football higher than any other player I have ever seen. In matches, and in training, this player would burst onto a pass and whether he was 20m or 50m from the goal, his shot selection was always the same. It could be best […]
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 […]
St Nicks v Na Piarsaigh Cork County Senior Football Championship Relegation Playoff – Part 2 the fall out
Writing last week’s column about the legacy of Gaelic Football in both the St Nicholas and Na Piarsaigh clubs did nothing to purge the feeling of impending doom I felt about last Saturday’s relegation play-off between the two sides. This was Russian Roulette GAA style, and my club St Nicks was one shot away from […]
St Nicks v Na Piarsaigh Cork County Senior Football Championship Relegation Playoff. Part 1 – The Build Up
In or around 7pm next Saturday, barring a draw in Páirc Uí Rinn, the north side of Cork city will find that it has lost a senior football club. This is because St Nicholas and Na Piarsaigh will face each other in the relegation play-off of the Cork Senior County football championship. I have been […]
Lessons from the All-Ireland Football Final
Because life is a cycle, the Sunday Game programme had hardly finished last Sunday night when the thoughts of the majority of the viewers were all ready concerned with the most enduring of all GAA questions; who’s going to win the All-Ireland next year? In life’s cycles there are more followers than leaders, therefore the […]
A Brief History of Donegal
As we head towards next Sunday’s All-Ireland football final it struck me that very little is known in this part of the country about Donegal, and Donegal football. Cork people have strong opinions about other counties. In most conversations concerning the inter-county affairs of the GAA it is quite normal to hear phrases like “That’s […]