On Saturday the ladies travelled to the south coast to take part in the St Jude’s 7 aside tournament in Bournemouth. The girls done extremely well in reaching the final of the tournament only to lose out to a strong side from Oxford. There are no games for the ladies for the next few weeks however they continue to train on Monday’s and Wednesday evenings on the Rye.

It is a busy week coming up for the lads with two games in five days which will define this seasons league campaign. Sitting joint top of division two, a victory in one of their final two games should be enough to secure a league final at the end of July. First up is St Brendan’s on Tuesday night in Greenford. This will be a stern test for the lads as the west Londoners are a well-established intermediate side and have already secured a trophy this season.

Then on Sunday, the lads are scheduled to take on Harlesden Harps at home in Peckham. Throw in at 2pm. We would encourage anyone around south London on Sunday to come out and cheer the lads over the line and join us for a post-match pint in the Man of Kent.

As always, we are on the lookout for new players or committee members and if you are interested in joining our welcoming club please contact Enda on 07522723765 (men’s) or Mackenzie on 07398633018 (ladies).

Finally, the club would like to pass on its condolences on hearing the news that our former honorary President Father Seamus Hetherton, from Virginia, Co Cavan passed away last week. Fr Seamus was a former All-Ireland winner with Cavan in 1952 and played right half forward on the day, kicking a point from play into the Hill.

In a lovely interview with Damian Dolan of the Irish world last year, Fr Seamus recalls his time here in London when he moved over shortly after being ordained as a priest in 1955. Being based in St George’s Cathedral, Southwark, Fr Seamus recalls, how he was just ‘ten minutes walk from Big Ben’.

He went on to say, “The parish priest was a Canon Bogan and he wanted me there because he wanted to boost the fact that I was an All Ireland winner. It would go down well with the big Irish congregation at St George’s – it was all Irish at that time,” he said.

His inter-county days with Cavan may have been over, but he hadn’t left the GAA completely behind him. He formed St George’s Harps in London, the headquarters of which was in Blackheath and he recalls having to put the goalposts up before every game, and take then down afterwards.

 

“I remember playing football one morning and then having to rush back to St George’s because there was Confirmation. The Bishop saw my red face and he said to me ‘why the red face?’. I told him I was playing football, and he said ‘good on ya, keep it up’,” he recalls with fondness.

 

We are grateful for Fr Seamus and the many more like him who have helped to keep our Gaelic games alive and thriving here in south London.

 

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

 

 

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