WATCH: Irish and Japense culture mix at this hurling match in Ballymun

The short film "Hurling: Nihon Gaels vs Setanta," now available to stream on the Irish Film Institute's Archive Player, documents a hurling match between Nihon Gaels and Setanta that took place at the Setanta GAA Club in Ballymun, Dublin in 2014.

Nihon Gaels are a mixed hurling team made up of Japanese students from Dublin City University who were introduced to the sport and trained by Setanta. This match was refereed by Anton Ceitann.

In the film, the Nihon Gaels are dressed in red and white kits and are followed by a contingent of Setanta players in light and dark blue uniforms as the two teams follow a piper and parade around the pitch.

Proinsias Ó Conghaile (Co-founder, Setanta GAA Club) and a DCU representative greet the players, and the national anthems of Japan and the Republic of Ireland are played. The Japanese and Irish flags can be seen on the clubhouse balcony alongside logos for Toyota, the event’s sponsor.

At halftime, players and spectators can be seen gathered around a Taiko drumming demonstration across the field. Footage cuts to the second half of the match and then cuts out as players embrace and shake hands after the match has concluded.

Filmed by Harry Cullen, Anthony ‘Anto’ White, Oliver ‘Ollie’ McGlinchey, and Sean ‘Coco’ White, this short film is part of the Irish Film Institute's Ballymun Community Films collection.

The Irish Film Institute's Ballymun Community Films collection

Established in 1967 to ease overcrowding in Dublin’s city centre, Ballymun became Ireland’s first and largest high-rise housing development. While often defined by its social challenges in media coverage, Ballymun is also a place of extraordinary community spirit, creativity, and resilience.

Ballymun Community Films is a remarkable 20-film collection capturing more than 40 years of life in one of Ireland’s most storied communities. It is a snapshot of the larger Ballymun Communications Archive, and additionally features a selection of Ballymun-related and inspired films, including Bread & Circus’s acclaimed 2017 documentary "The 4th Act," directed by Turlough Kelly and produced by Andrew Keogh, which turns a critical eye on the regeneration process.

This curated collection follows a collaborative five-year project between the IFI Irish Film Archive, in partnership with Ballymun Communications, and funded by Coimisiún na Meán, from which the Ballymun Communications Archive was compiled.

Primarily made by local residents through long-standing training initiative and social enterprise Ballymun Communications, more than 1,000 hours of their community-made footage have been digitised and catalogued and is now protected for future generations in the IFI Irish Film Archive’s state-of-the-art digital preservation system.

A showcase of 550 films from the Ballymun Communications Archive has been created by the IFI Irish Film Archive, and will be available for community access through Ballymun Communications.

The Ballymun Community Films collection is a personal insight into the life of Ballymun: its vibrant arts and music scene, community-led education and employment initiatives, the slow decline of its town centre, and the sweeping regeneration project that dramatically reshaped the area.

The digitisation and preservation of the Ballymun Communications Archive was made possible with the support of Coimisiún na Meán, underscoring a shared commitment to champion community storytelling and protect Ireland’s diverse moving image heritage. The project is a powerful reflection of the IFI’s core mission: to preserve the film heritage of Ireland and to ensure that future generations can engage with, learn from, and be inspired by the lived experiences of communities like Ballymun.

"Hurling: Nihon Gaels vs Setanta" is published here with kind permission from Fáilte Ireland and thanks to the Irish Film Institute (IFI), who IrishCentral has partnered up with to bring you a taste of what their remarkable collection entails. You can find all IrishCentral articles and videos from the IFI here.

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To watch more historic Irish footage, visit the IFI Archive Player, the Irish Film Institute’s virtual viewing room that provides audiences around the globe free, instant access to Irish heritage preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive. Irish Culture from the last century is reflected through documentaries, animation, adverts, amateur footage, feature films, and much more. You can also download the IFI Archive Player App for free on iPhone, Android, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku.

IrishCentral has partnered up with the IFI to bring you a taste of what their remarkable collections entail. You can find all IrishCentral articles and videos from the IFI here.