GAA USA is a fascinating new four part series, which chronicles the extraordinary and largely unknown history of Gaelic games in the United States.
Episode 3: An Ré Órga - The Golden Age (1945 -1980s)
In the immediate aftermath of WW2, sidelined and underfunded, the GAA in America was on its knees. Just as any kind of revival seemed impossible, one happened.
In 1947, the All Ireland final was staged at the Polo Grounds in New York. This spectacularly unlikely event would be an immense coup for the GAA in America - one that would have a lasting legacy.
Today, the Polo Grounds are long gone, but Dara O Cinneide locates the only remaining part of the historic arena, a small stairway that once overlooked the stadium. Here, he tells the story of a remarkable resurgence.
As reports of he 1947 All Ireland final spread across the country, the news coincided with a reopening of the floodgates at Ellis Island. Once again a huge flow of emigrants from Ireland ensured a steady supply of players and the dawn of a golden age of Gaelic games in America.
Illustrated by never-before-seen colour footage of matches from the Polo Grounds, Dara explores the glorious rebirth of Gaelic football and hurling in America. We witness crowds in excess of 25,000 assembled to cheer on their teams as a confident new generation of American society embraces Gaelic Games.
We see rare footage of legendary Cork hurler Christy Ring playing at The Polo Grounds as well as the great Kerry, Galway, Mayo and Dublin football teams of the 1950s.
The success of the GAA on the playing fields of America was matched by an increasing influence that extended into the very corridors of political power. And yet, once again, Gaelic Games were in jeopardy.
With their lifeblood inextricably tied to the Irish community, strict immigration laws in the mid 1960s would cause a dramatic drop in the number of Irish coming to America. Soon the GAA would find itself struggling to survive.
As Dara discovers, as the GAA in Ireland forged its own fiercely independent identity in the context of the Troubles, its American counterpart took an entirely different approach. In the land where money can buy you anything, US clubs began to approach players in Ireland to take part in illegal pay-for-play matches in America.
The consequences would be as harsh as they were inevitable.
GAA USA - Tonight @ 9.30p.m. on TG4. Repeated Sunday @ 7.15pm.
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