Derry GAA Legends celebrate 125 years

The University of Ulster Magee campus was a hive of Derry GAA nostalgia last night as personalities from the last eighty years congregated to celebrate the rich and colourful history of Gaelic games in the county.

Two hundred people packed into the university’s Great Hall before the event to view an exhibition of historical artifacts relating to the GAA in Derry. Proceedings began in earnest with a parade of many successful Derry captains from over the decades, including the likes of Jim McKeever of 1958, Henry Downey of 1993 and Mark Lynch of the present day.

While most of the personalities present were chiefly associated with football, the first half of the historical discussion focused on the rich hurling tapestry of Derry City and county. Newly discovered material detailing the playing of hurling in Derry City from the earliest days of the GAA, even before the first county board was formed in 1888, confounded many presumptions. Numerous obstacles that complicated the progress of the association in the county in the early decades were examined. The display of the minute of the meeting at which Paddy McFlynn was appointed county secretary on 5 May 1940, 73 years ago, drew an instant round of applause; Paddy, who later became president of the GAA, was present and spoke of his early memories last night.

The second part of the event, compered by chief organiser Seán Bradley and Gerry Donnelly, featured film clips of matches from the 1950s to the present day, interspersed with brief interviews with prominent players of the past. Among the stars of yore who spoke were Roddy Gribben (1940s-50s), Tommy Diamond (1960s), Adrian McGuckin and Peter Stevenson (1970s), Dermot McNicholl and Damien Barton (1980s), Henry Downey and Kieran McKeever (1990s), and Conor Murray (2000s). Present-day players Gerard O’Kane and Ruairí Convery also spoke with hope for the future, drawing inspiration from the past. GAA President Liam O’Neill was in attendance as well, and spoke briefly at the start.

The event was organised jointly by the Ulster Council and Derry County Board of the GAA.  Ulster GAA President Martin McAviney said, “This was a great night to celebrate 125 years of GAA in County Derry.  It was great to look back at Derry’s proud history and it certainly is motivating for the future of the GAA in Derry.”

Photo Caption: Pictured at a Celebration of 125 years of GAA in Derry, organised jointly by Ulster GAA and Derry GAA and held at University of Ulster Magee – Successful Derry Captains since 1950 with winning Cups.