A new 6-part TG4 series gives a unique insight into the families and communities involved in three very different GAA clubs as they battle for honours and strive to survive the 2019 season.

Begins: 28/01/2019 @ 8pm

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With 2,500 clubs across Ireland, the GAA is the biggest, and perhaps the most important sports and cultural institution in the country. With a club in every parish the local club is the corner stone of the GAA and local communities. In this new series we tell the stories of three very different GAA clubs as they compete, battle for honours, and strive to survive the 2019 season. We join the communities and families of CLG Naomh Anna Leitir Móir from Galway, Rath an Iúir from Wexford, agus Laochra Loch Lao from Belfast for the joy and the heartbreak involved in supporting their home club.

A taste of each club in the series:

Episode 1

In the first programme of the series we join Naomh Anna ladies football manager Tony Lee, as he prepares his newly promoted team for a season in the Galway Intermediate championship. In Rathnure Wexford we join the O'Connor family, the five sisters all involved with the club, one of the sisters Claire has to decide if she will return to the playing field after the birth of her 2nd child. In Belfast, Laochra Loch Lao the newly formed GFC club who played their first game in the Antrim league in 2018, a young club with big ambitions both on and off the field.

Episode 2

In this episode we travel with members of Naomh Anna Leitir Móri ladies football team as they play for Galway in a vital intercounty match with Mayo. Can they inspire Galway to a famous win over their local rivals? In Wexford, Rathnure welcome camogie clubs from across Ireland to their annual tournament, but can Rathnure win at home and impress their newly appointed management team. In Belfast, Laochra Loch Lao men's team continue to have a frustrating start to the season, despite improved performances, they continue to wait for that elusive first league victory.

Episode 3

It's late May and the Laochra Loch Lao club from Belfast have a big weekend ahead of them. They are due to travel to West Kerry for Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta, but politics is in the air and before they begin their 9 hour journey there is a protest in Stormont to organise and to attend. The newly formed club is determined to make an impression at the 2019 Comórtas with both their men’s and ladies teams taking to field. The weekend however does not end without controversy, and Laochra Loch Lao are forced to take a decision in a national final. 

Episode 4

It’s the height of the Summer in Conamara and the children are enjoying their local football camp. Lots of fun and games but Naomh Anna see its importance to promote Gaelic football to a new generation to benefit themselves and indeed Galway football. In West Belfast the local community and the members of Laochra Loch Lao are working hard to raise awareness for organ donation as they highlight the case of their u6 footballer Daithí Mac Gabhann.

In Rathnure the O’Connor family are back hurling together again as the sisters keenly await the start of the new Wexford camogie championship.

Episode 5

Ladies football has progressed hugely in the last twenty years and two time All Ireland winner Philomena Ní Fhlatharta from Naomh Anna sees the changes at both club and county level. On the Falls Road Belfast, Laochra Loch Lao play their first round of the Antrim football championship- still without a championship win since their formation in 2017, the team and management realise the importance of a first championship win to the future of their club. In Wexford the Rathnure camogie team play their championship quarter final, and once again the O'Connor sisters are in the thick of the action.

Episode 6

As the 2019 club scene draws to an end, Naomh Anna Leitir Móir are in a league final. Can Tony and his team capture the title and inspire a new generation of footballers? The football season is over for the Laochra Loch Lao club in Belfast, but this new club are already looking towards 2020 and working hard off the field to ensure the club remain at the heart of the local community. In Rathnure, the senior team have progressed to the final rounds of the Wexford championship. Can they lift the title in what may well be the last year that all the O'Connor sisters line out together?

*Series begins on Tuesday January 28th 2020 at 8pm on TG4

The Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues are back this weekend and so is the Hogan Stand Match Tracker. Join us on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon for live score and updates from the opening rounds.

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