125 Conference Tremendous Success

Over 150 delegates attended the Cardinal Ó Fiaich Library & Archive, Armagh, for the GAA history conference, ‘For Community, Club, County and Country: Celebrating 125 Years of the GAA’.

The conference, which was organised by the Library, in partnership with the Ulster Council of the GAA and the Heritage Lottery Fund, was a tremendous success.

Keynote speakers on Friday and Saturday respectively, President Mary McAleese and Cardinal Seán Brady, spoke glowingly about the GAA, and entertained the crowd with many incisive comments and humorous anecdotes about Gaelic games, based on their personal experiences. President McAleese paid special tribute to the GAA in Ulster for its initiatives to spread Gaelic games to communities which have been historically outside the GAA fold.

Delegates also heard approximately twenty other speakers over the two days.

Most of these presented short papers from an academic perspective on a diverse range of subjects, from the reasons for the foundation of the GAA, to the civilising of Gaelic games in Ireland and the development of the GAA around the world.

The conference was also made special by the attendance of Mick Higgins, the sole surviving Cavan player from the 1947 All-Ireland final and the county’s last All-Ireland-winning captain (in 1952). Aogán Ó Fearghail, Vice-President of the Ulster Council, gave an entertaining talk about the 1947 final.

The Ulster-based aspects of the conference reached a climax in the last session on Saturday. Jim McKeever, Maurice Hayes, Peter Quinn and Mickey Harte outlined general reflections on the GAA’s advance in the north during their lifetimes. The attendance and contribution of many other Ulster GAA greats, such as Seán and Kevin O Neill of Down, further enriched the event.

A further highlight of the weekend was the opening of the first part of an Ulster GAA history exhibition (1884-1959) in the Ó Fiaich Library. This exhibition comprises many valuable artifacts, such as old trophies and rare GAA documents, as well as jerseys worn by star players from Ulster in the 1950s.

Before the conference, Ulster Council President Tom Daly and national GAA President Nickey Brennan laid a wreath on the grave of the late Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich. President Mary McAleese also unveiled a plaque in the library to mark the occasion of the conference.