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Weekly Notes - 21st January 2009

The 2nd programme in the TG4 series on the history of the GAA brought us from the beginning of the 20th century to the end of the Civil War (1922). Again it was hugely interesting in its content and superb in its presentation. Comment and analysis which were done by some of our better historians were of the highest quality. All in all, a series gur fiú breathnú air (worth watching). Even if your Gaeilge is weak you should not be deterred from watching the programme. The subtitles are in simple English and are an accurate translation of what is being said. In this episode we are given an account of the part played by the long serving administrators, Uachtarán James Nolan (2001-2021) and Rúnaí Luke O’Toole (2001-2029) in changing the GAA behemoth from a near chaotic entity into the well-run organisation that it is to-day. James Nolan was a Kilkenny man and Luke O’Toole was a Wicklow man from Tinahely. The association owes these men a huge debt as it was largely through their efforts that the GAA survived the extremely turbulent years of the Republic’s gestation.

During the early years of the century the British authorities treated the Cumann with suspicion – plus ca change! “The GAA were the IRA at play” and many of its players were arrested purely on the basis of their membership. The ‘powers that were’ eventually decreed that players going to matches would have to register with the RIC. To counter this constraint the GAA organised a Gaelic day on which games were to be played simultaneously all over the country. 34,000 players took part. This stratagem presented the police with an impossible logistics problem and resulted in the scheme being abandoned.

Another interesting anecdote related to the 1922 All-Ireland football final which took place during the Civil War. John Joe Sheehy the Kerry centre-back was of the Republican persuasion while their centre-forward Con Brosnan was an officer in the army. The honour of Kerry being at stake, Con arranged for a safe passage for John Joe to and from the game.

The contrast between the professionalism of the TG4 programmes and the shambles that was the Late Late “tribute” could not be more stark. The latter reflected badly on the show’s researchers and on the preparedness of the presenter and represented a missed opportunity to acquaint the programme’s audience with the contribution the GAA has made, and is making, to the island’s sporting fabric. The studio was largely peopled by “the great and good” of the association but Pat did not seem to know who most of them were or what roles they had played. He spoke briefly to Peter Quinn who was one of the prime movers in the re-development of Croke Park and managed during that time to never even mention the stadium. How could he not? When one considers the circumstances under which the redevelopment was undertaken, one has to stand in “deep amaze” at the courage and enterprise of Peter and his team. They were essentially expressing a vote of confidence in the future of a pre-celtic-tiger Ireland at a time when there was scarcely a crane on the skyline of Dublin, when interest was in excess of 16%, when the country was haemorrhaging money (Ansbacher etc) in a rush to avoid taxes and when there was no hope of Government money (contrast Landsdowne Road, 20 million before a brick was put upon a brick and a guarantee of nearly 200 million). No wonder Peter has spoken elsewhere of nights of perspiring awakening at the worry of how the construction work was to be financed.

There were representatives there of Ladies’ football and camogie but they only got token acknowledgement from Pat. It never dawned on him to discuss the phenomenal growth of ladies’ Gaelic in the last few years. Seán Diffley in an article last March informed us that there 115,000 registered lady footballers which was, he said, about 8 times the number of adult male rugby players. Chauvinism or what!