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THE GEANSAÍ

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THE GEANSAÍ – What’s In A Name

 Monday Oct 24th RTÉ One 19.30hrs

Where would you find Shamrocks and Harps and Blues? How might you come across Rovers, Rangers and Round Towers? What brings together Davitt and Tone, Emmet and Parnell, Pearse, and O’Donovan Rossa? And where would you look for a Man-O-War or Fighting Cocks?

The answer is simple and it’s all over Ireland – the local GAA Club!

Since its foundation in Hayes’s Hotel in Thurles in 1884, the local club has been at the heart and soul of the Gaelic Athletic Association. While most club names come from a local placename or parish, other names echo varied strands of Irish social, political and economic history. There is also something evocative about clubnames – Buffers Alley, Shelmaliers, Cashel King Cormacs, Clann na nGael, Crotta O’Neills – and while GAA fans the world over are happy to wear their county colours, pride in their club is first and foremost.

In THE GEANSAÍ – What’s In A Name, Garry Mac Donncha explores the phenomenon that is the club name in the four provinces, that golden thread that adds such lustre to the fabric of the nation. In Galway he travels to the Na Piarsaigh club in Rosmuc, one of 13 clubs nationwide named in honour of Pádraig Pearse, while in Cork he visits the Naomh Abán club in Baile Mhúirne, an example of a club named after a local saint – one of 86 different saints that are attached to GAA clubs! In Tipperary he hears about the history of Kilruane McDonaghs in Cloughjordan who were once named Lahorna De Wets in honour of a Boer General who fought the British Army, while in Carlow he visits the famous Fighting Cocks club who count Irish rugby international Sean O’Brien as a club member. And in Derry he talks to members of the Brian Óg’s Steelstown club, re-named in honour of 17 year old Brian Óg McKeever who died in 2008 following a courageous battle against Leukaemia. The club also retired his Number 5 jersey in his honour.

The programme will also hear from GAA President Aogán Ó Fearghaíl and historian Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh and their take on what club names mean within the organisation.

Presenter / Reporter Garry Mac Donncha

Producer / Director Seán Ó Méalóid