Paddy Coleman

This is one of two interviews conducted with 87 year-old Paddy Coleman. It begins with commentary on his school days in Blarney and the sports that were played there. Coleman was a child and teenager in the late 1920s and 30s and recalls the success of the Blarney club throughout that decade, shedding light on the array of grounds used for matches and training, travelling to watch games with his father and the players involved with Blarney and competing clubs. He continues his account of Blarney and Cork GAA through the 1940s and 50s and offers perspectives on the intensity of local club rivalries, the great county players, the procurement of hurleys and other gear. Towards the end of the recording, Coleman selects Christy Ring as the greatest player he has ever seen and comments on the one player in Cork who could ‘mind him’.