The Offaly GAA club in New York has been doing a tremendous job spreading the gaelic football and hurling gospels outside the Emerald Isle for many years. Two-thousand-and-eight was an outstanding year for the club, as they captured a landmark double, winning the New York junior football and senior hurling championships. Club stalwart John Larkin provided Hogan Stand with an insight The GAA means different things to different people - September in Croke Park; experimental rules; player power; qualifiers; club championships; 125 years; joy and sorrow; a sense of Irishness. Even reality TV has latched onto the indigenous sporting organisation, an Association with an uncanny ability to move inexorably with the times. Regardless of how you view the GAA, irrespective of what images come into your mind's eye when you think of the world's largest amateur sporting movement, there's no denying that it truly is a phenomenon. From humble beginnings to today's lofty status at the very heart of Irish life, the story of the Gaelic Athletic Association has been nothing short of remarkable. It permeates every facet of life on our island, and transcends existence much further afield. All over the world, there is a multitude of individuals and clubs working selflessly behind the scenes to promote the GAA. The successful endeavours of these people down through the years haven't received the column inches they deserve, but still they work feverishly with nary a fanfare within earshot. Clubs have sprouted all over the world, most notably in the UK and the USA. Across the Atlantic, in New York, the scene is thriving. One of the most active clubs is Offaly, who celebrated a superb 2008, winning both the NY SHC and the JFC. Clubman John Larkin is pleased to report that things are going extremely well for the Offaly club in New York: "We're doing well and long may it continue! Last year was one of our best yet. We won the junior football championship and retained the senior hurling championship, beating Tipperary in the final. We'll be going for three-in-a-row this year. It's a very competitive championship, with four teams and 13-a-side." John hails from Rahan and was a member of the Shamrocks club before emigrating to the States in 1994. He played football with the Offaly club in NY, winning JFCs in 2005 and '08 (as player-manager). He served Offaly in New York as chairman in 2008 and is currently second vice-chairman of the New York Board, with responsibility for fixtures and referees. One of the pressing problems is that over 250 games have to be squeezed into a relatively short season, normally comprising three or four months maximum. "You're talking about at least 16 games a week," he notes. "This year, the season starts on April 19, which is a bit earlier than usual. New York will play Mayo on May 10 and we will begin our championships the following Tuesday and Wednesday. We have scheduled the hurling to finish the last weekend in August. Over Labour weekend, we will play the semi-finals of the junior and intermediate championships, with the senior semi-finals taking place the following weekend." The exodus of players to the States has slowed down compared to a decade or so ago, but clubs across the ocean do still manage to call on some big names. They are currently allowed to field two 'weekend players'. For the 2007 NY SHC final at Gaelic Park, with New Jersey/Kilkenny gunning for a third consecutive title, Offaly fielded Galway's Iarlaith Tannion and Pat Hartley of Kilkenny. Others who have lined out for the Offaly club in New York over the years include Gerry Carroll, Richie Connor, Brian Whelehan, Joe Errity, Joe Dooley, Johnny Flaherty, Vinny Claffey, Ciaran McManus, David Reynolds, John Troy, Declan Pilkington, Brian Mullins, Neville Coughlan, An Taoiseach Brian Cowen and the late Colin Dunne. In October 1998, just a month after helping Offaly to All-Ireland glory at Croke Park, Joe Errity, Declan Pilkington and Brian Mullins won junior championship medals with the Offaly club in New York. "It's a struggle to get the numbers and we haven't been able to attract too many over in recent years, with the Irish economy going so well. The economy back home has slowed down now but unfortunately we're not doing any better here in the States, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Numbers have dwindled and we don't know what the future holds." Of course, travelling to the States for a weekend during the summer remains an attractive proposition to footballers and hurlers playing in Ireland. "It's a weekend away for them and they get their flights paid for, which is all anyone ever asks for, in fairness. It's not as popular as it used to be, but I can see it increasing in popularity again in the future, due to the credit crunch in Ireland." John, who works as a carpenter, still follows the fortunes of the Offaly intercounty footballers and hurlers. "We had a lot of good times there in the '80s and '90s and I used to come home for all the All-Ireland finals when Offaly were involved. My wife is from Kerry and we usually still go home for the football final every year." The Offaly club in New York has around 60 members, many of whom have served the club for a number of years. Pat Leavy, who is chairman of the Offaly Association, is very heavily involved in promoting both codes across the Atlantic. Enda Condron is another who has done great work, while Mark Comerford gave unbelievable service in leading the hurlers to back-to-back senior championships. Tom Furlong and John Hanlon have also done a lot of work for the club in recent years. Joe Cunningham and Eamonn Coleman are joint-chairmen of the hurling board, while Philip Wickham will manage the hurlers this year. Brendan Moran is chairman of the football side of the club and the intermediate footballers will be managed by John Larkin in the coming months. The Rahan man concludes: "JP Clarke's Bar is our main sponsor and Seamus Clarke and Mike Creegan have been very good to us over the past ten years." As stated at the outset, the GAA is a totally unique and remarkable association. The Offaly GAA club in New York is a case in point. Tweet

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