Seán Gallogly

Seán Gallogly is a former player with, and chairman of, the Seán South GAA club in Clady. This interview opens with a discussion about the history of the GAA in the area and the origins of the modern club in the early 1950s. The names of influential players, families and administrators from that era in the Clady GAA story are mentioned, as are those of individuals who were forced to emigrate. Indeed, emigration is a theme that recurs throughout the interview. But the Clady club also suffered from the loss of players to other newly established clubs. This was one of the challenges to the club which Gallogly addresses in the course of the interview – another was the struggle to secure a permanent place to play. Football in rural Armagh was different to that in Belfast where Gallogly played, for a number of years, with the Training College in the South Antrim League. Gallogly states that his own playing career ran from the age of 16 to nearly 40 and he talks about a number of the achievements during this period – in particular the winning of two junior championships with Clady, the first in 1977, the second in the early 1980s. Other issues raised include volunteerism and amateurism; rule changes and changes in the way that Gaelic football is coached; and media coverage of local club games.