Radio GAA GAA should have been a thing over the last centenary; No rounders about in Tipp: two thrilling hurling games to anticipate.
The GAA held a ceremony at Croke Park this week to mark the centenary of the first-ever radio broadcast of Gaelic games. On 29 August 1926, the All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Kilkenny and Galway was broadcast live from Croke Park on the fledgling Irish Free State radio station 2RN. The commentator was Paddy Mehigan from Cork, a renowned hurler and athlete and a respected Gaelic Games scribe in the Cork Examiner as Carbery and in the Irish Times as Pat O.
THE VIEW has often argued that the Association should have its own dedicated TV channel. Perhaps that might have sounded like a fanciful notion twenty years ago – maybe even ten years ago. But technology has raced forward at breathtaking speed, and with the relatively small army of personnel now required to produce live television, it is surely well within the GAA’s reach. Clubber TV is living proof of the enormous appetite that exists for local Gaelic games coverage.
Perhaps the same argument could be made for a dedicated radio channel – something along the lines of Radio Maria Ireland, which operates as an independent Catholic radio station. There would be a bottomless well of GAA material available: live games, documentaries, Scór events and much more. Podcasts could easily be woven into the mix too.
Then again, you might ask, with so many other organisations already providing radio and television coverage, why should the GAA bother at all? The answer is simple: control. Increasingly, we are seeing the Association surrendering control over what games are broadcast or televised, when they are shown and who gets the platform. We also see plenty of high-profile former players taking a right pop at the Association on prominent radio and television programmes, often without consequence.
Granted, everyone is entitled to an opinion and the Association should have broad shoulders enough to absorb criticism. But would some of those critics be quite so forthright if the programmes were broadcast on GAA platforms rather than RTÉ or elsewhere? Probably not. You do not slap the hand that feeds you – that is an old and fairly brutal rule of life.
Next summer will mark the 80th anniversary of the Cavan-Kerry All-Ireland football final. Played at the New York Polo Grounds, the match was another technological marvel for its era, being broadcast live back to Ireland on Radio Éireann by the late, great Micheál Ó Hehir. It was honest, raw and legendary – just like Micheál himself.
I recall Tipperary playing a game in the SkyDome in Toronto back in 1991 after winning the All-Ireland Final. The game was broadcast live back home on RTÉ and it seemed like a marvellous technological feat at the time. Today, such milestone moments would scarcely raise a ripple. Perhaps it will take a ball being pucked on Mars or the moon before another lightbulb finally flickers into life.
We ought to pay tribute to our local radio stations, Tipp FM and Tipp Mid-West, for the sterling work they do in promoting and covering the GAA. It might be public service broadcasting, but it is also GAA serving in a major way. Sometimes that vital contribution can get lost in the noise. Just imagine what it would cost the County Board – and every other county board in the country – if they had to pay for the coverage they receive in local and national newspapers, and on local and national radio, every single day of every single week. You would be talking about hundreds of millions of euro without a shadow of a doubt.
So, here’s to the presenters, the commentators, the technicians, the journalists and all those who bring the games roaring into our homes and alive on the printed page each week. They are the voices, the words and the unseen hands behind the spectacle.
Take a bow, one and all.
No Rounders about in Tipp??
The pinnacle of the GAA Rounders season has arrived, with the country’s top clubs currently battling it out for national glory in the 2026 GAA Rounders All-Ireland Championship Finals at NGDC Abbotstown, Offaly GAA Centre of Excellence, Kilcormac and Mallow GAA grounds.
This year’s finals represent a landmark moment for the game as it features action across senior, intermediate, and junior grades in men’s, women’s, and mixed divisions. TG4 are streaming all of the finals on their YouTube channel thereby giving the game a significant amount of additional promotion.
But where is the game in Tipp? Does anybody play it? If not, why not? A quick glance through the Premier Plan 2026 -2030 makes no specific mention of the game at all in either Strategic Pillar 2 or 3 – Coaching and Games Development, or Participation and Retention.
After a successful season which commenced on April 19 and has run all through the summer, the 103 teams who entered the championship have been whittled down to the final 18 who are contesting All-Ireland finals over the last Sunday in August and the first two Sunday’s of September. Clearly the games are not getting the coverage they deserve as the championships have been run under the radar. Perhaps in Tipperary more should be done to promote the game – it is a marvellous game for juveniles and adults alike.
Tasty preliminary quarter finals in SHC
Either pairing in the FBD Insurance preliminary hurling quarter finals would do justice to the showpiece day itself – County Final day – with the draws throwing up tasty appetisers before the main course arrives. A repeat of the mid final sees the current holders of both the divisional and county cups Loughmore Castleiney being challenged by the pretenders to the throne, Holycross Ballycahill – the bookies favourites to win the Dan Breen Cup. One gets the sense that the winners of this clash will have taken a major step forward to claim the ultimate silverware and for that reason, expect there to be a bumper attendance at The Ragg on Saturday evening next.
Loughmore Castleiney had the little matter of a must-win – and did win – senior football clash with Upperchurch Drombane to contend with since they last picked up the hurleys whereas Holycross Ballycahill’s sole focus since the draw was on revenge for the extra-time divisional reversal.
Clonoulty Rossmore – already in the relegation position – will need to find something substantial to get over last year’s county finalists Nenagh Éire Óg in the second preliminary quarter final. Historically, games between this pair do not tend to follow straight lines and the expectation is that Sunday will be no different when the ball is thrown in at the BorrisIleigh grounds by referee Conor Doyle. Nenagh Éire Óg have done just about enough to get to this point but there is still plenty of scope for improvement in their ranks. Clonoulty Rossmore, by contrast, have lost two of their three round-robin games and will want to return to their first round and west championship winning ways form. They showed flashes of their potential against Loughmore Castleiney in their last outing but will have to be more consistent across the hour if their season is to continue and relegation participation remains on ice.
In the football championship, Loughmore Castleiney, Moyle Rovers and Clonmel Commercials continue to impress while the Tom Cusack Cup participants have become clear for those finishing third in their groups. Relegation clubs are also now clear and the draws will be awaited with great interest for all the clubs involved. So, watch this space.