Brendan Hynes

Brendan Hynes is a Galway man who emigrated to New York in 1956 aged 20. His interview describes his earliest memories of hurling in Gurteen in Galway in the 1940s and 1950s, including comment on the lack of facilities and grounds and poor promotion of the game among young people. The interview also touches on transport, women in the GAA at that time, politics and geography of Galway GAA and trips to Croke Park, as well as the great Galway players of that era. In America, Brendan was a key member of the Galway hurling team as a player and administrator, and the interview covers the high standard of hurling in New York in 1950s and 1960s, his time in the US army, Galway’s success in the New York Championship including a three in a row 1964-66. The interview also deals with the social and networking side of the GAA in New York, John Kerry O’Donnell, the cardinal Cushing Games, Gaelic Park and New York’s failure to develop their own ground, and New York’s tense relationship with the GAA at home. Brendan mentions injuries and training in his time, and changing styles of hurling play in various positions he played in, and the negative impact of rule changes. he also discusses the challenge of developing the youth game in New York, the effects of bringing players from Ireland for the weekend on New York, and the decline of hurling in the city. The interview also refers to a large number of prominent hurlers who the interviewee knew or played with.