football
Glass feeling fresh despite club and county exertions
By John Harrington When photos did the rounds of Conor Glass wearing a Tour de France yellow jersey while celebrating with his Glen team-mates the day after their All-Ireland Club Football Final win over St. Brigid’s, a yarn quickly grew legs. Glass is so dedicated to fitness that he went
Wednesday 13 March 2024
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Dubai Éire Óg are a remarkable overnight success story
By John Harrington
Dubai Éire Óg have been in existence for just two years, but already they coach almost 200 children on a weekly basis.
Such is the enthusiasm of the coaches, children, and parents involved, that they estimate their numbers will grow somewhere between 15 and 20 per cent
Tuesday 12 March 2024
football
Ashbourne CS hope to adapt and overcome again
By John Harrington
Dublin and Meath might be great footballing rivals, but Ashbourne Community School are proof they can work well together too.
Their team that contests Saturday’s Masita GAA All-Ireland Post Primary Schools ‘B’ Paddy Drummond Cup Final is a powerful alliance of both counties.
Seven of the starting
Thursday 7 March 2024
football
St. Malachy's, Castlewellan ready to go 'hell for leather'
By John Harrigton
If a vocal support is worth a few scores to a team, then St Malachy's, Castlewellan will be off to a good start before a ball is even kicked against Tarbert Comprehensive in Saturday’s Masita GAA Post Primary Schools All-Ireland ‘C’ Final.
They expect to bring around
Thursday 7 March 2024
hurling
Tralee Parnells are the blueprint for growing hurling
By John Harrington
GAA President Jarlath Burns has said he wants to be the catalyst for an explosion of new hurling clubs during his three-year term as Uachtarán Chumann Luthchleas Gael.
To help in this endeavour has put together a Hurling Development Committee that includes people who have successfully set
Tuesday 5 March 2024
football
Rennes G4MO event to celebrate all that is great about Gaelic games
By John Harrington
If you want to experience an event that ticks all the boxes of what Gaelic games should be about – sport, fun, community, culture, family, and friendship – then Rennes, France will be the place to be on April 6.
That's because Rennes Ar Gwazi Gouez GAA
Thursday 29 February 2024
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Westmeath GAA building towards a very bright future
By John Harrington
The vibes are positive in Westmeath GAA right now both on and off the pitch.
The county senior footballers have won four from four in the Allianz Football League and a youthful county senior hurling team featuring a clutch of players still in the U-20 grade performed
Wednesday 28 February 2024
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Strategic Plan will fuel the growth of World GAA
By John Harrington
The launch of World GAA’s first ever Strategic Plan last week threw into sharp relief just how much the Association has blossomed outside of Ireland in recent years.
The seven international units now boast a total of 475 clubs and that number is ticking upwards steadily year
Tuesday 27 February 2024
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Jarlath Burns sets out his goals for GAA Presidency
By John Harrington
Jarlath Burns was appointed the 41st President of the GAA on Saturday and sat down with GAA.ie to outline what he hopes to achieve during his three-year term.
GAA.IE: Jarlath, since you were elected Uachtarán Tofa a year ago I presume you've been busy preparing for the
Monday 26 February 2024
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Mary Coughlan determined to do her bit for Donegal GAA
By John Harrington
Mary Coughlan’s first GAA Annual Congress as Donegal GAA Chairperson this weekend is unlikely to faze her.
The former Tánaiste is no stranger to debate and voting on policy after 24 years as a TD in Dáil Éireann and six different ministerial briefs.
Politics has always been
Thursday 22 February 2024
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Well!Kids programme a huge success for Waterford GAA
By John Harrington
The success of Waterford GAA’s Well!Kids Nursery programme brings to mind the old Irish proverb ‘Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí – Praise the youth and they will flourish'.
What began as a pilot programme involving nine clubs in 2021 now involves all 36 juvenile clubs in
Wednesday 14 February 2024
hurling
New York hurlers on an upward curve
By Áine Hourican
The New York Senior Hurling team hit the year running with a historic win at the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome. Marking an unforgettable milestone for New York Hurling, the panel improved on last year’s title—2023 Shield Final Champions—by being crowned 2024 Connacht Hurling League
Monday 12 February 2024
football
Galicia's Gaelic football revolution gathers pace
By John Harrington
Over the last three years, around 10,000 children have been coached how to play Gaelic football in Galician schools in the north of Spain.
This incredible achievement is down to the success of the Gaelico Escolas project which has seen GAA clubs in Galica promote the growth
Wednesday 7 February 2024
hurling
Jacob urges Wexford supporters to show patience with rising stars
By John Harrington
Former Wexford hurler, Rory Jacob, has urged the county’s supports to show patience with the new generation of exciting young players who caught the eye during the victorious Walsh Cup campaign.
Five players who Jacob coached at U-20 level in 2023 and 2022 – Cian Byrne, Corey
Thursday 1 February 2024
hurling
2024 Allianz Hurling League a formative one for all counties
By John Harrington
There’s every reason to expect that the 2024 Allianz Hurling League will be a very keenly contested one.
That’s because the final placings will determine what division teams will play in when the competition is restructured for the 2025 campaign.
In 2025 a seven-team Division 1A will
Monday 29 January 2024
hurling
Consistency the New Year resolution for Wexford hurlers
By John Harrington
Predicting a season outcome for a team in January is always going to be an inexact science, but perhaps especially so when the team in question is the Wexford hurlers.
This is a side, after all, that beat All-Ireland finalists Kilkenny in both the 2022 and 2023
Tuesday 6 February 2024
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Go Games no barrier to competition
By John Harrington
In 2007, the GAA introduced ‘Go Games’ for children aged 7 to 11 where the key principles included equal playing time for all players and an emphasis on skill development and enjoyment.
No scores are recorded in Go Games matches and there should be no winners’ trophies
Tuesday 6 February 2024
hurling
Deegan the driving force for O'Loughlin Gaels
By John Harrington
As O’Loughlin Gaels supporters waited in high spirits for the team bus to return to the club-house following their victory over Na Fianna in the Leinster Club Hurling Final, someone suggested it would be driven by Paddy Deegan as he’d done pretty much everything else that day
Thursday 18 January 2024
football
Griffin relishing hearts and minds role with Kerry footballers
By John Harrington
As someone who once took a year out of college to dedicate himself to being the best hurler he could for Clare and then a year later cycled 7000km across Canada for charity, Tony Griffin is a good judge of sporting obsession.
So, when he says he’s
Tuesday 6 February 2024
hurling
Mark Rodgers looking for more gains in 2024
By John Harrington
Clare’s five point defeat to Limerick in the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League on Wednesday will be long-forgotten by the time the championship comes around, but you can be sure it still stung.
No team has come closer to Limerick than their neighbours and great rivals in
Tuesday 6 February 2024
hurling
Walter Walsh ready for second bite at the cherry 15 years later
By John Harrington
15 years later, Walter Walsh has second chance for All-Ireland Junior Club Hurling glory with Tullogher Rosbercon.
In 2009 he was a whipper-snapper of a 17-year-old when his club played Dripsey of Cork in the AIB Junior Club Championship Final and travelled to Croke Park with expectation
Wednesday 10 January 2024
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100 years of the Gaelic football penalty-kick
By Dónal McAnallen
Penalty-kicks have become the decisive factor in ever more Gaelic football matches over recent years. Much less certainty has existed about the backstory of the cic éirice in the game. It is known to have been an adaptation of the spot-kick in soccer, and some people can
Wednesday 3 January 2024
hurling
Limerick hurling's rising stars have learned the value of patience
By John Harrington
One of the most remarkable aspects of Limerick’s four-in-row of All-Ireland senior hurling titles is that the team has remained relatively unchanged throughout it.
A total of just 18 players have started All-Ireland Finals in those four years, and it would have been even less had key
Friday 22 December 2023
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Oisín Kelly's lasting legacy
By John Harrington
For his family, friends, and fellow Naomh Eoin GAA club-members, the loss of Oisín Kelly will always be a heartsore one.
The talented hurler and footballer passed at the age of 21 last August after brave two-year battle with osteosarcoma.
It’s a testament to the sort of
Wednesday 20 December 2023
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Moggan has high hopes for Gaelic Games Coach Pathway
By John Harrington
Last week the GAA, the LGFA, and Camogie Association announced details of a new Gaelic Games Coach Pathway.
For the first time, all three Associations with responsibility for the promotion of Gaelic Football, Hurling, Ladies Football and Camogie will have an aligned pathway and vision for coach
Monday 18 December 2023
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Irish Life GAA Healthy Club Programme a force for good in our communities
By John Harrington
GAA founder, Michael Cusack, wrote of the Association in its formative years that it “swept through the country like a prairie fire”.
Were he around today, you’d imagine he’d pen something similar about the Irish Life GAA Healthy Club Programme which has become a huge driver of
Friday 15 December 2023
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Caoimhe Dowling inspiring the next generation
By Cian O’Connell
Medals earned and memories made, Caoimhe Dowling is simply enjoying the last few weeks in 2023.
An AIB All-Ireland Club Camogie Final appearance for Dicksboro against Sarsfields is imminent on Sunday. Another challenge to be faced, an occasion to be embraced.
A primary school teacher in Inchicore,
Wednesday 13 December 2023
hurling
St. Mary's CBGS helping build a bright future for Belfast hurling
By John Harrington
Something is stirring in Belfast. The Gaelfast initiative continues to go from strength to strength, participation numbers at underage level in clubs are steadily increasing, and primary and secondary schools are doing huge work to grow the games too.
Into that last bracket fall St. Mary’s Christian
Wednesday 13 December 2023
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The story of how a Dublin Gaelic footballer became a star in the NFL
By John Harrington
This evening at the Round Towers GAA club in Clondalkin, prodigal son Neil O’Donoghue will return to his GAA family.
The occasion will mark the launch of ‘Corny: The last Irishman in the NFL’, which tells the story of O’Donoghue’s remarkable sporting journey from Gaelic footballer to
Wednesday 6 December 2023
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GAA founder John McKay remembered 100 years on
Dónal McAnallen
100 bliain ó shin inniu, fuair John McKay, duine de phríomhbhunaitheoirí agus na chéad Chomh-rúnaithe CLG, bás i Londáin. B’as Dún Phádraig ó dhúchas dó, agus b’ionadaí Chorcaí é, ach déanfar comóradh air i Londáin inniu.
A hundred years ago today, on 2 December 1923, John McKay died
Monday 4 December 2023