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Great three days of games, and as usual the best atmosphere was in the lower grades where the teams consist of players who are actually from the cities they represent. Kudos to the Cleveland crew who raised the bar* and set a new standard for host cities.

Results from Sunday's finals in Cleveland, Ohio:

Football
Senior - San Francisco Ulster 1-15 Boston Connemara Gaels 2-9
Intermediate - Philly 2-20 Vancouver 0-7
Junior A - Boston 2-15 Chicago 1-12
Junior B - Charlotte 0-20 Philly 2-8
Junior C - Cleveland St Jarlath's 1-18 Cleveland St Pat's 2-11
Junior D - St Louis 2-4 Buffalo 0-8

Hurling
Senior - San Francisco Na Fianna 0-27 Boston Tipperary 1-10
Junior A - Toronto 3-15 Vancouver 3-12
Junior B Premier - Indianapolis 5-10 Denver 1-10
Junior B - Chicago Michael Cusack's 0-19 Twin Cities Robert Emmets 3-6
Junior C - Milwaukee 3-19 Madison 2-17

Ladies' football
Senior - San Francisco Fog City Harps 5-17 Boston 1-10
Intermediate - Chicago 2-16 San Francisco Clan na Gael 0-10
Junior B - Pittsburgh 1-7 Na Fianna 1-6

Camogie
Senior -  Chicago 2-10 Toronto 0-8
Junior - Indianapolis 3-4 Atlanta 2-2

We'll have footage on youtube hopefully within the next week or two.

* Use of the cliché was unavoidable.

From the Irish Times. Says it from a cyclist's point of view, but some of it could apply to any visitor:

10 things a cyclist notices about rural Ireland

From the Gathering's benefits to Co Monaghan's overlooked charms, here is what can be seen from the saddle

Brian McIntyre: thinks the heart of rural Ireland is shifting from the church and the pub to the GAA, post office and supermarket. Photograph: Eric Luke

Mon, Aug 26, 2013, 18:10

First published: Mon, Aug 26, 2013, 18:10



During the month of August I cycled the coasts and borders of the Republic of Ireland, a distance of about 2,000km, keeping my eyes peeled as I went. Here's what I noticed.

1 The Gathering is working on a micro level. Families, friends, neighbours have come together north and south of the Border, and their motivation is connection, not commerce. We need one every 10 years.

2 Lone Irish women are nervous and defensive when encountering a man on the street when he himself is alone. Women around the country rarely engage in pleasantries or make eye contact as I pass.

3 The official star system for rating B&Bs is largely irrelevant and fails to capture the power of the internet. While the system worries about availability of credit card payments and the option of an evening meal, it is the web that tells me what I really want to know: how was the welcome; would you go again, and was it value for money?

4 Ireland does not wake up until 11.30am on Sundays, apart from newsagents and some bleary-eyed parents who lost the toss.

5 In places where economic hardship seems to have hit hardest, the painted walls of houses become more garish in colour. This I take as a sign of hope, even defiance.

6 Ireland's single best descent on a bike is largely unknown: the downward slope from Mizen to Durrus, looking out on Dunmanway Bay, is one of the great gifts of nature to the cycling classes – undulating, peaceful, breathtaking and safe.

7 Irish people are obsessed with ice-cream when the sun shines. I have seen grown men shiver with delight at their 99s with added raspberry sauce and grown women attacking Magnums with terrifying focus.

8 Our country is staggeringly beautiful in a way that does not depend on the sun. Cycling Inis Mór in mist, or the Beara peninsula in the drizzle, or the Donegal Rosses in the rain – each is a thing of beauty, wrapped up in a little grey.

9 The vital heart of rural Ireland is shifting – from church and pub to GAA, post office and supermarket. The GAA energises communities in a visceral and powerful way, the post office is often the last service standing, and SuperValu can transcend marketing rhetoric to actually play a committed, genuine role in small towns. I have also witnessed many communities teetering on the brink.

10 Co Monaghan is a wonder to behold. Domain of hills and lakes, cows and manure, its stony grey soil and ardent people have riches to offer, in a humble manner that is truly affecting. There is a stillness in villages such as Latton and Inniskeen that feels special, and a warmth to be found in a people whose lives do not revolve around servicing tourism.


Read more about Brian McIntyre's cycling trip around Ireland at rotharrepublic.wordpress.com

Gaelic football - Brittany v Galicia. Not one Irish player on the field. Great stuff: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6ykd5mmJ-s

What is it with GAA shorts? I've seen at least two occasions of a player's manhood slipping out from under the fabric and being caught on camera.

These short shorts look ridiculous. Time to add a bit of length to them.

Twisting and turning the rules to find some sort of back door to get re-elected UCI president. Is the audacity of the man surprising to anyone?  He must think he's an Irish politician, since in Irish politics you get exposed as a dodgy character, and as a result you get re-elected with a whopping increase in your vote. Seems to think the same applies in the UCI.

(Please stick to verifiable facts when posting.  Anything else, precede it with "allegedly.")

Not being snarky here, I'm genuinely curious, I don't know much about this game and I've never played beyond a bit of whacking balls on the driving range (which I soon got bored with). My question is, what is the appeal of golf?

Separate answers please for:

A - what the appeal is for a participant.
B - what the appeal is for a spectator.

And in a separate question, why is it so popular in Ireland and why does the place seem to consistently produce so many top flight players?

It's bloody awful, isn't it?

30,000 went to see it the Gaelic Grounds in 2011, 60,000 went to see it in Croke Park.  Standard attitude to the International Rules series? "It's a farce, nobody cares, we have to scrap it."

Nowadays a couple of hundred show up to watch the inter-provincials.  Standard attitude to the Railway Cup?  "Och sure we have to keep it going, it's a great tradition altogether."

Dublin have done it the hard way. Steady grass-roots development work over the years that is only starting to pay dividends, and they've ousted Kilkenny.

What does this tell you about the constant calls to dick around with championship formats?  Kind of missing the point, wouldn't you say?  If you want a provincial championship to become competitive, you don't scrap it.  You put in the work on the ground in the weaker counties and bring everyone up to standard.

Are book stores like Easons still big in Ireland?  They're dwindling rapidly here.

Just saw some people on another thread saying they'd bring it back.

My memories of corporal punishment are of it being used the most by the least competent teachers.  The better teachers could shut up a classroom full of teenagers with just one look, no need to hit anyone.  The best teachers of all had earned the respect of the pupils by being good at their jobs, and for the most heinous offenders there were plenty of other sanctions that could be taken against them.

Of the three schools I went to, the strap was used heavily in one of them, and that was the most violent school of all.  The mentality of the pupils there was that if you thought somebody did something wrong, you had the right to hit them. I wonder where they got that message from.

Anyone ever had one?

Apparently there were GAA "World Cup" competitions held in Ireland in 1998, 2000 and 2002.  Anybody have any memory of these?  Know anything about them?  Know where I could find some information on them?

What's this I hear about the Rugby League World Cup being held in the UK, Ireland and France?  I see that Thomond Park is slated to host a game, Ireland v Australia on November 9th.  Could be interesting.  Never been to a Rugby League match, always quite enjoyed watching it on TV when I lived in the north of England where it was a big deal.  Lot easier to follow than Union, less stop-and-starty.  Will any of yiz go to it? Is there any interest in Rugby League in Ireland?

[Truant Irish teen's parent 'could face jail']

6 March 2013 Last updated at 07:48 ET

Truant Irish teen's parent 'could face jail'

The parents of an Irish teenager who has missed 91 school days this year have been told one of them will be jailed if their son misses classes in the next month.

Judge Alan Mitchell issued the warning during a court case brought against a 15-year-old Galway boy's parents.

He said: "If you don't want a parent to go to jail, and want a qualification, you have to go to school."

The judge agreed to adjourn the case until 10 April.

The National Educational Welfare Board brought the case due to the boy's history of truancy from school - despite having been previously made aware of the consequences.

The case began at Galway District Court on Tuesday but was adjourned overnight.

The judge told the teenager's parents on Tuesday: "Overnight you need to decide which of you is going into prison for 21 days and who's getting a suspended sentence - your son can decide that."

The boy appeared in court on Thursday, but his solicitor did not wish him to give evidence, due to his age.

The solicitor said there had been lengthy consultations with the family in relation to the threat.

"Obviously, he wants neither of his parents to go to prison," she said.

"I am assured that he will go to school tomorrow (Thursday)."

The judge agreed to put the matter back to "see if there is a change of attitude" by both the parents and the child.

"Various supports have been made available and you haven't necessarily co-operated," he said to them.

"You have to obey what your parents tell you, and what the law tells you. There are two and a half weeks left of term. I want you to be there every day (until the Easter holidays) and on the first two days of next term."
Continue reading the main story
"Start Quote

    If you are not in attendance one of your parents will have to have their bags packed because they will be going to prison that day"

End Quote Judge Alan Mitchell

He told the boy that he could not hope to get on the road to employment without a basis of education.

Adjourning the case, the judge added: "If you are not in attendance one of your parents will have to have their bags packed because they will be going to prison that day."

On Wednesday, Paul McCavera, Galway city education welfare officer with the National Education Welfare Board (NEWB), told the court there had been a "long history of engagement with the family" but this had ended last year.

Both parents had previously been summonsed to court but the father had failed to attend, resulting in a bench warrant being issued for him.

Mr McCavera added that a range of support services had been offered to the family, but they had failed to avail of them.

He agreed with a solicitor for the family that the teen had no interest in attending school.

However, he rejected the suggestion that the family had done everything they could to persuade him to attend.

The court heard that the boy in question was "a very pleasant child" who had no discipline problems in school.

The BBC has learned that last year, the board issued 132 summonses to parents who failed to ensure that their children attended school with 30 ending in convictions for the parents.

Five of those convicted received suspended prison sentences, 17 were fined and the remaining eight cases, although recorded as convictions, were still before the courts.

A spokeswoman said court proceedings were issued "where the parents refuse to co-operate with the board and have failed in their duty to ensure their children attend school".

Sounds like a pair of deadbeat parents. Lock em up, I say.

Anyone?

Can anybody recommend any good reading on this topic?

Hard to beat super slow motion replays, adds a whole new dimension to what you're watching.  Have a look at this from Kilkenny v Limerick last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6f7oIJVVCLA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5mdHsS82sE

Excellent promotional video by Fionn McCumhails GAA club, Dallas on the Railway Cup final coming to Texas.  They're going to host it in the Cotton Bowl!

[All-Ireland hurling and football finals 2013 could lose star players]

Listen to the whiny and weasel-word-riddled tone of this piece of crap reporting from SportsNewsIRELAND:

All-Ireland hurling and football finals 2013 could lose star players
By Richard Barrett Updated: February 28, 2013

The harsh sanctions emerged as the motions for next month's GAA Congress in Derry came to light. This is sure to cause outrage throughout the country, as the decision to punish three cumulative double yellow or black cards with a one-match ban was believed not to affect a player's availability for the All-Ireland final.

Many figures in the GAA embraced the clause, believing that special dispensation would be given to players that picked up their third double yellow or black card in an All-Ireland semi-final. However, the new revelations are sure to ruffle a few feathers as Congress will not be asked to make an exception for any match.

This motion is expected to cause a large amount of controversy over the coming weeks.

Play me the world's smallest violin. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. 

[Feile future under threat]

Hogan Stand:

Feile future under threat
27 February 2013

The future of the renowned Feile competitions is under threat because some clubs are too competitive.

GAA officials have raised concerns on the matter as Feile heads into its 42nd year as they feel that the competition has lost its ethos.

Feile is a competition at under-14 level that covers hurling, football, camogie and girls' football and it has become an important part of the GAA's culture.

At a recent Central Council meeting plans were discussed to remove the competitive element from Feile and also to ensure that clubs of every level get a chance to participate, rather than just the best teams in respective counties.

Reports of teams staying in hotels and warm weather training in an attempt to win the national Feile competition have lead to the current discussions.

I nearly choked when I saw the "too competitive" part. Kids around the age of 12 and over love competition. Nothing wrong with it IMHO.  There's a place for competitive games and there's a place for non-competitive games.

And what's wrong with teams staying in hotels? Would you prefer them to camp in tents in a field?