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NY GAA: Gaelic Park weekend previews

EUGENE KYNE

Irish Voice Newspaper Columnist

Published Friday, July 3, 2009, 12:41 AM

Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 5:34 PM

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Read more: Armagh GAA, Gaelic Football, Gaelic Hurling, Gaelic Sports, Sports, Ireland, New York City Fire Department, Derek McKenna, Cavan GAA, John Walsh

Action at Gaelic Park in the Bronx, NY

1 p.m.: JF Celtics vs. FDNY

A rare opportunity to see the junior teams play at the Mecca. The ladies have been in this slot for most of the year with the intermediate sides.

Celtics had a very good win over Cavan two weeks ago and have a large panel to choose from. Aiden Traynor, Derek McKenna and Danny O’Sullivan give them a wealth of experience. Rory Creegan, Shane and Chris O’Connor bring a youthful exuberance.

The Fire Department has been much improved this year, with the Flynns, Jack Meaney and Popsy Maguire all playing leading roles. John Walsh should be available for this game also. The battle between McKenna and Walsh in the middle of the field will be intriguing.

Celtics should be able to get the win here but don’t count out the city agency. It will be close.

2:30 p.m.: SH Galway vs. Tipperary

Thesenior hurling has served up some very good contests already this year between the four sides on show. The best individual performance award goes to Liam Costello last Sunday when he clocked in with 5-03 against NJ/K.

Tipp were sublime in that outing, with David Crimmins, Gerard Maguire, Tadgh Glavin and Niall Curtain having excellent hours. Kieran Bergin was at center half back and it fit him like a glove.

They have a strong panel assembled as they look to get back to the top of the tree. Gary Donahue on the 40 is very adept at coming down with the long ball and gives the side a physical presence.

Galway did well in their first outing against Offaly. They put 1-14 on the board, with free taker Thomas Gillane excellent.

Fergal Tarpey and Michael Costello in the full forward line will do damage if the ball gets there consistently. Dave Simms was absent the last outing, but his return would certainly help the scoring output.

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Irish sport is popular and widespread. Levels of participation and spectating are high on the island of Ireland. Throughout the country a wide variety of Irish sports are played, the most popular being Gaelic games (such as Gaelic football, hurling and camogie), soccer, rugby union and boxing. By attendance figures Gaelic football and hurling are by far the most popular sports in Ireland, (34% of total attendances at sports events being to football and 23% to hurling), while golf and soccer (including 5-a-side) are the most played at 17% of the population each. Many Irish sports, such as boxing, cricket, rugby union, Gaelic football and hurling, are organized in an all-island basis, with a single team representing Ireland in international competitions. Other Irish sports, such as Association Football, have separate organizing bodies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. At the Olympics, a person from Northern Ireland can choose to represent either Ireland or Great Britain. The various GAA discipline finals are easily the largest sporting events regularly held in Ireland, in both terms of attendance and media coverage. The biggest national sporting event in Ireland is the final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, held annually in Croke Park in September. It usually attracts a sell out crowd of 82,500 to Croke Park. Many of the matches in the championship attract crowds of 50,000, depending on who is playing. Aside from the GAA, the biggest multi-sport event held in Ireland regularly is the Community Games. The games are organized every year from a local level, where hundreds of thousands of young people compete in different disciplines such as athletics, swimming, cycling etc., in the first half of the year. Winners progress to county level, and then to the Community Games finals. One of the biggest international Irish sport events is international Association Football. The Republic's national team has punched above its weight in recent years, qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, and performed well against such teams as Brazil and Portugal. In rugby union, Ireland's national team has been ranked in the top five teams regularly over the last few years, and has produced major stars such as Keith Wood and Brian O'Driscoll. In golf, Ireland is home to several top golfers such as Padraig Harrington.

NY GAA: Gaelic Park weekend previews

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