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THE INTERNATIONAL RULES GAME
City of Tribes welcomes Men in Green and Wizards of Oz!
By JIM CARNEY (Sports Editor, Tuam Herald)
IT is an auspicious occasion for the G.A.A. in County Galway, the hosting of an event of such great importance and huge prestige. From the moment the announcement was made, that the first of the two International Rules matches would be played under floodlights at Pearse Stadium, Salthill, everybody in the West of Ireland considered it a major honour. Now that the day has dawned, it is an even more exciting prospect.
The Gaelic Athletic Association was put on a formal footing at a famous meeting in Hayes's Hotel, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, on Saturday, November 1st, 1884 (122 years ago). But, ironically for us here in the West, that was a meeting which 'almost ' took place in Co. Galway. It was originally organised for Loughrea but, as we know from the late Canon Padraic O Laoi's 'Annals of the G.A.A.' in Galway (1884-1901), the focus switched from Loughrea to Thurles after the then Bishop of Clonfert, Dr. Duggan, pleaded that his age was against him when he was invited to become the first patron of the G.A.A., and he successfully proposed that the founders should turn to a younger prelate, Dr Croke, the Archbishop of Cashel. The rest, as they say, is history.
Pearse Stadium, now one of the finest sports venues in the country, was renovated in 2002 and re-opened in May, 2003. It was originally opened on June 16th, 1957, when 16,000 people came to watch Galway defeat Tipperary in hurling and Kerry in football. The new facility, developed on a 17-acre site, was formally blessed by Bishop Michael Browne and declared open by the then President of the G.A.A., Seamus MacFerran, an Antrim man. Among those invited to the opening ceremonies were the 12 surviving members of the Galway hurling team which had won the 1923 All-Ireland Championship. Galway has long been regarded as one of the Leading G.A.A. "dual" counties, winning 9 All-Ireland S.F.C. titles and 4 ALL-Ireland S.H.C. titles, as well as ALL-Ireland victories in all other grades, and also in Camogie (senior) and Ladies Football (senior).
For the current International Rules series, four Galway footballers were in the first training squad assembled by new manager Sean Boylan. At the time of writing this article, two were still in contention for Test squad places, including Joe Bergin who represented his county in the Ireland panel two years ago when his fellow Galway man Padraig Joyce was the victorious captain at Croke Park and John Tobin, from Tuam, was a key member of Pete McGrath's management team.
On that occasion, Padraig Joyce had the honour of holding aloft - the first man to do so - the Cormac McAnallen Memorial Cup, commemorating the late Tyrone captain whose sudden death earlier in that year had Left the G.A.A. world shocked and deeply saddened. Acknowledging the captaincy of his country as a major honour, Padraic Joyce responded to the challenge by setting an outstanding personal example. His two inspirational displays, crowned by a 22-point combined tally over the two days, were crucial in a comprehensive final scoreline of 132 points to 82: a 50-point winning margin. Unfortunately for Joyce, he didn't enjoy the same success when he led Ireland to Australia for last year's series, which the Australians won by a wide margin, but he is still involved with the Ireland team, as a selector, bringing to the backroom team a wealth of experience from eleven Test appearances, which yielded a total of 58 points. For the record, only two other Irish players have made more appearances than Padraig Joyce in Ireland vs Australia Test matches: Ciaran McManus (Offaly) and Sean Martin Lockhart (Derry), both on the 13 mark. Galway is also proud of Sean Og de Paor's seven tests and Michael Donnellan's six Tests, while Joe Bergin has made five appearances to date, followed by county team-mates Jarlath Fallon (4), Declan Meehan and Derek Savage (2 each) and Sean O Domhnaill and Michael Meehan (one each). From earlier in the series: Val Daly and Seamus McHugh both made 8 appearances, and Pat Comer, Alan Mulholland and Brian O'Donnell, 3 each.
Two years ago, to mark 21 years of the series, the Irish Independent chose its 1984-2004 (inclusive) International Rules "All Stars" and two Galway players were among the 15 honoured: Sean Og de Paor and Padraig Joyce. In welcoming the Ireland and Australian teams to the ancient "City of the Tribes," we remind all visitors that there's long been an international dimension to Galway's history, for in the Middle Ages the city enjoyed a flourishing trade with Spain, France and the West Indies, and there's also an historical claim (unproven, alas!) that Christopher Columbus sailed close to the coast of Co. Galway in 1477. A source of pride, too, is this quote from Hardiman's History of Galway, looking back several hundred years: "Visitors described the Galwegians to be kind to strangers, hospitable and of great public spirit."
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