Monthly Archives: May 2017

  1. Rebel Yell

    Rebel Yell

    Cork GAA and Tipperary GAA at Thurles. Certainly as produced a few talking points and epic battles down the years. Yesterday’s stunning Munster hurling opener was a treat for those that were at Thurles. For the rest of us, the late Sunday afternoon sports coverage suddenly roared to life. In other years the early rounds of the championship have often flattered to deceive but on Sunday at Semple Stadium this year’s hurling roared into life. After yesterday, the Munster Championship has been blown wide open, with Cork emerging with a real chance. The question too, can Tipp bounce back?

    A Cork Performance

    Before the game the Cork management had publicly sought a ‘performance’ from their changes, Kieran Kingston said

  2. Celebrations for Guinness World Record

    Celebrations for Guinness World Record

    Monday 15th May    

     

    Players who scored a new Guinness World Record for the longest Gaelic 15-a-side football match in history have been honoured in a special presentation ceremony at the Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast.

    The Marathon Match raised an amazing £73,565 for Cancer Focus Northern Ireland and Michaela Foundation.

    The event, in partnership with O’Neill’s International Sportswear Ltd, was held on January 7th/8th in the Tyrone GAA Garvaghey Centre. The record setting match saw players kick ball for an amazing 24 hours, 18 minutes and 51 seconds.

    At the presentation last weekend, the players received their Guinness World Record medals and certificates from Tyrone manager Mickey Harte and Roisin Foster, Chief Executive of Cancer Focus NI.

    Mrs Foster said: “We are delighted to come together to celebrate this magnificent achievement which will help even more cancer patients and their families thanks

  3. Celebrating Clubs and Valuing Volunteers

    Celebrating Clubs and Valuing Volunteers

    THE IRISH NEWS unveiled the winners of their highly contested Irish News School Club & Volunteer Awards for 2017.

    The Awards initiative, now in its 15th year recognises and rewards GAA Schools, Clubs and Volunteers throughout Ulster for their commitment to Gaelic games and their community irrespective of their playing ability.

    The Awards this year were revamped to recognise the work that Clubs are doing in the areas of Club Engagement, Underage Development, Coaching, Irish Language, Health Fitness and Wellbeing.

    Representing O’Neills as one of the headline sponsors, was Managing Director Kieran Kennedy. In his remarks Kieran commended clubs on the exceptional role they fulfil in the GAA: “In my experience one of the first things that happens when you meet someone from any GAA club in the country, is that they start to tell you stories about their Club. Some of the initiatives and ideas that clubs come up with are superlative.

    “At O’Neills

  4. The Championship. We Know Where We’ll Be this Summer.

    The Championship. We Know Where We’ll Be this Summer.

    The darkest hour is the hour before dawn. The calm before the storm. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. The mantras will be well polished and learned at this stage. Maybe a wristband or two in place. The county jersey new and ready to wear. Kitbags packed, tactics rehearsed.

    The media are getting the headlines ready. In battle soldiers have complained of an eerie silence before the order to attack. They can hear dogs bark, birdsong. The sound of another man coughing. An engine misfiring in the far off distance, discordant like the supporters outside the ground, late and not knowing there’s a minute’s silence inside for a deceased Gael.

    It’s a strange time, the weeks before the championship starts in earnest. Last week the traditional curtain raiser was played

  5. The Club. Where it Starts and Finishes

    The Club. Where it Starts and Finishes

    Lá na gClubanna weekend takes place May 6/7.

    The GAA Club and the GAA volunteer have assumed semi mythical status in our psyche. The people. The place. The pitch. The personalities. The Passion. The Pain. The Glory. It all starts with the club when those children take their first steps in an oversized O’Neills Club jersey. The proud parents bursting with pride.

    What club doesn’t have a legendary character who cuts the grass, trims the hedges and repairs busted hurls? The larger than life character, clichéd perhaps, but they’re alive in every club the length and breadth of the country.

    Take the Volunteer that washes the jerseys. An onerous task in days gone by when a temperamental washing machine could turn a set of white togs pink in an instant or shrink a set of senior jerseys to tight fit under 12. The modern O’Neills Koolite jersey can withstand the slings and arrows of any washing machine system.

    Or the modern day character

  6. New York This Sunday. Start Spreading the News

    New York This Sunday. Start Spreading the News

    This week to mark the start of the 2017 championship season we have supplied New York GAA with their new jersey. They will face Sligo in Gaelic Park on Sunday, Sligo also making a welcome championship return to O'Neills. Last year the men from the Big Apple almost caused an upset, losing to Roscommon by two points. Every year one of the Connacht counties face a potential banana skin in New York and this Sunday is no different for Sligo. It is a game that causes Connacht county managers more than a few sleepless nights.

    The timing of the game means the Yeats County are without Kevin McDonnell, Luke Nicholson and Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch who are exam