Monthly Archives: August 2017

It's 29 years since Liam McCarthy last journeyed over the Shannon. In the interim the Tribesmen have come close, but the view, especially among the last group of hurlers to win it, is that it is time to pass on the mantle.

In the midst of a period of hurling superiority and what was a golden age for hurling in the county, Galway GAA hurled their way to two All Ireland titles in 1987 and 1988. They could easily have added a couple more titles to their haul. The final of ’89 is the one widely thought to be the one that got away and although there have been appearances in the decider since, Sunday is probably their best chance of Liam since the Glory days in the eighties.

Then Galway hurled with a combination of steel and panache, with the stick work and skill of the likes of Joe Cooney and Hopper McGrath, grafted to the strength and aggression of Lynskey and the

The Galway GAA hurlers. History makers of 1980. Absolute Scenes on the Hogan Steps with captain Joe Connolly’s immortal speech, the crowd demanding Iggy Clarke raise Liam after he missed the game through injury, and the spine tingling rendition of The West’s Awake by the late great Joe McDonagh. It was an epic moment in time for the Tribe. That line from Connolly, People of Galway We Love You, brought the house down with its knowing reference to the Pope’s sermon at Ballybrit Racecourse the previous year.

You can relive the highlights here as Galway finally break their barren run and win their first All Ireland since 1923. But where are the men that delivered Liam back across the Shannon?

Michael Coneely [Sarsfields]

Brilliant

This weekend sees the All Ireland camogie semi finals feature at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Cork feeling unshackled take on a Galway team that hasn't fully hit its stride yet. Kilkenny meet surprise package Dublin coached by former Kilkenny hurler David Herity.

The former Cats keeper has established a growing reputation as a coach and leading the Dublin senior team to their first semi final since 1990 is a serious breakthrough. It is testament to the sound foundations at all levels in the capital with u16s, minors and Juniors all reaching

Rugby League Ireland will run out in Barlow Park, Cairns for their first Rugby League World Cup match wearing their new jersey designed by O’Neills. The World Cup kicks off in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in late October and Ireland have three group games with a real chance of qualifying for the Quarter finals stage.

Rugby League Ireland fly out to the Southern Hemisphere towards the end of October to take part in the Rugby League World Cup which is being staged in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Head Coach Mark Aston is putting together the final touches of his squad. Rugby League Ireland have high hopes of making it through the initial group games and through to the latter stages of the competition. If they can achieve that it would be a massive boost for the game here.

Aston expressed

He may be 34 but Kieran Donaghy's skills still loom large for Kerry GAA after all these years. Going back to 2006, let's remember that he began his career starting in The Underdogs on TG4, remember them?

In his first season he won the 2006 All Ireland, an All Star and Footballer of the year. But didn’t all begin so smoothly, having endured a false start to his Kingdom career as a midfielder with Darragh O Sé, he returned after suspension against Longford in a qualifier as a reconstructed full forward and with his brilliant soft hands, footwork and superb set up play, the rest is history. Yerra, he can score too!

Star’s performance against Galway

With the growth of the GAA across every continent, the sight of an O’Neills jersey and our famous O’Neills All Ireland football in more and more exotic and unusual locations worldwide is increasingly common. The fact is that Irish people living overseas export their love of all things GAA to their host communities, and this spreads the gospel of Gaelic Games into all sorts of new environments.

Kerry Mortimer is Chairperson of the Ottawa Gaels Gaelic Football Club based in Canada's capital and she’s involved in Project North, a non-for-profit with a focus on improving literacy skills and providing recreational opportunities to Inuit children in remote Northern Canadian communities.

O’Neills Balls

Kerry’s expedition was delivering

What is it about hurling helmets? Probably the most talked about piece of hurling kit this summer. Everyone seems to want to get their hands on one.

But where did helmets come from? To know hurling helmets you need to know a about their history. And that inevitable takes us back to ice hockey. And speaking of ice hockey, it has recently been suggested the game itself was inspired by hurling! Anyway here's ten things you need to know about hurling helmets.

The First Use of Helmets in Hurling

In 1967 the helmet made its debut in hurling. A lad by the name of Micheal Murphy came on as a second half sub for UCC in a Cork County Final wearing a motorcycle helmet. This promoted a few raised eyebrows amongst the 12,500 souls watching the game. The background was that Murphy had sustained a fractured skull and, wanting to play in the match, had the ingenious

Cork and Waterford in the Munster semi final. Cork prevailed. Now playing it again in the All Ireland semi final. They say you can’t step in the same river twice? Have previous encounters any bearing on Sunday’s outcome? Only for the supporters perhaps, fired up at the thought of seeing the famous blood and bandage of the Cork jersey back in Croke Park in an All Ireland semi final. For the Deise perhaps their greatest chance to win Liam in the modern era.

Another Classic

The hurling cognoscenti reach for the rewind button for clips of the titanic battles of the 2000s to whet the appetite. 2003 and 2004 the legends in full flight..  Dan Shanahan in full flight, Paul Flynn with his top spinner Bamboozling Donal Óg or his unstoppable pull. Joe Deane’s frees. The exploits of Sean Óg, John Gardiner, the

If you had a sliotar in your hand and you had to choose one man to win an All Ireland semi final, well who would you choose? Johnny Coen knew who to choose. Joe Canning.

You were asked to do one job Joe and you did it. On this occasion the Portumna man delivered. As he has time and again for Galway GAA. Can this be his year?

In his earlier career there were crushing pressures on Joe Canning's young shoulders. A one man scoring machine for too many years, he carried the weight of the Tribe on his broad shoulders. The teammates around him seemed over reliant on the young star.

Playing around a forward slot he is adept at finding the small pockets of space to do his work, striking scores like the audacious beauty that won Sunday's game with less than thirty seconds of injury time left on the clock.

Before he was expected to win his own ball playing at full

September’s all about winning and you have the chance to win All Ireland Final tickets for this year’s showpiece in Croke Park in hurling, gaelic football, camogie and LGFA.

The message is loud and clear, if you want to win GAA tickets, 2017 might be your lucky year.

If you’re in you can win. And, let’s face it, if you win GAA final tickets with O’Neills, it’ll save you driving the length of the country to meet a man in a bar with two together for the Davin Stand, or ringing cousin George long distance in Canada to try and lay claim to their allocation.

So how do you win GAA Final tickets? Every O’Neills customer that buys a GAA product in the first three weeks in August is automatically entered in a draw for free tickets to the All Ireland Final - all codes are included and we have a pair of tickets for each game. You might buy some O’Neills