Why this Irish American loves the GAA in Ireland

Love of Ireland's national sport

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Kieran Donaghy fields the ball during the Munster football final against Cork during this years championship

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As for the games themselves, incessant tweaking of the rules and a stubborn refusal to employ technology as a bulwark against referees’ capacity for human error sometimes make a mess of things.

These faults notwithstanding, the GAA remains an institution that unwaveringly and unapologetically seeks to preserve the highest ideals of sport at the highest level of competitive play.  That’s why I love it.

I am still a committed Boston sports fan and make an effort to watch my home teams and keep up with developments from afar.  But on Sundays from June through the third week in September – in Monroe’s in Galway, McGann’s in Boston, Flanagan’s outside Washington, DC, Fitzpatrick’s in Wicklow or wherever in the world I find myself – I’ll more than likely be in the local GAA pub watching attentively, especially if Galway’s playing!

Larry Donnelly’s friends and relations in Galway wonder if he has imported his own “Boston Curse,” given the county’s many misfortunes since his arrival in 2001.

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