You have to sift through a lot of rubbish on here sometimes to find gold - but it's on this thread I reckon. Go raibh míle maith agaibh!

Carnaross, Bert, Irl_Yankee, toolbox. Essexile, Pronane, and all the rest - bloody marvellous - as Jim Royle might say!

Joemo - jeeze man I hope you write for a living! That goes for all on this thread. If ever that saying 'there's a book in all of us' applied - the proof is on this thread.

There's still a lot of people out there thinking 'I would like to tell my story' - well do, please! Please keep the stories coming - and you lads who have posted - we don't hear from you too often - don't be shy, contribute - just cos ye are abroad doesn't mean we can't slag the asses of ye!!!!

Ps Looking to hear from a Bostonian. Had a teeshirt from the Brendan Behan pub once (Jamaica Plain???) - legend on shirt was 'there's no place on earth like the world'. Its gone now (faded) but would love to replace - let me know if its still there!! That's the pub (and the tshirts)!!

JayoCluxton (Dublin) - Posts: 2688 - 17/01/2009 00:58:57    182859

jayo, go over to the relevant sections and copy and paste the link to this thread and they will do it.

for example:
http://hoganstand.com/UK/ForumPage.aspx
http://hoganstand.com/USA/ForumPage.aspx

pronane (None) - Posts: 324 - 17/01/2009 12:24:27    182938

patrique
County: Antrim
Posts: 1724

182700 Higson's beer, Joemo? That brings back memories. Mind you it was the only decent pint in the City.

I lived in Manchester, beer capital of the WORLD. Boddies, Holt's, Robbies, John willie Lees................


Now you all know why I don't drink anymore. Got to the stage I was spilling most of it as the glass kept shaking.

I loved England, mind you I played a bit of Irish traditional and every pub in Manchester were mad for it, except the Irish pubs, strictly C and W. Played in quite a few parts of England.

I was also a clog Morris dancer and drank/danced all over the country. after the dancing it was always a massive music session.

I played for St Brendan's football, St Michael's hurling in Manchester, it was all the one club, and I played for Lancashire at the hurling. I note on the UK board here that St Brendan's are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. I was going to go, as they still owe me about 8 medals, and then I discovered the guests of honour, and pride of place on the night.

Yes, Tyrone, seniors and minors. And music by Philomena Begley.

They can keep the medals.

Patrique, The guest of honour is Christy Cooney, both the Sam Maguire trophy and minor trophy will also be on show.

If you are interested we would appreciate if you would be able to write a few words on you time at St Brendans which would appear in our book which celebrates the 50 years of the club.

If you want more information or have any questions you can e-mail me at [email protected]. cheers

We might even arrange for you to get some of those medals back.

StBrendansGAA (UK) - Posts: 212 - 17/01/2009 14:24:52    183007

StBrendansGAA
County: UK
Posts: 1

183007 patrique
County: Antrim
Posts: 1724

182700 Higson's beer, Joemo? That brings back memories. Mind you it was the only decent pint in the City.

I lived in Manchester, beer capital of the WORLD. Boddies, Holt's, Robbies, John willie Lees................


While you have Christys attention, will you ask what it exactly he said at the P.A.C. re the Fas expenses??

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 17/01/2009 15:34:45    183027

Moved to London in Jan 2005 for 2 years as got given an opportunity by my company, played intermediate football in my first season but haven't played championship since then due to transferring to another club mid season and illness. Hoping to start training in a few weeks again. Come from small village in West Cork and while I miss the folks at home, don't miss the long winter days when the mist comes over the hills and also everyone knowing your business (sometimes even before you do). Still here, met a lovely London girl, have spoken about moving home but don't think it will happen anytime soon. Sure other exiles will agree but it does fill my heart with glee when I hear an Irish accent on the tube/telly/street. Enjoy GAA here, best part is that the local rivalries with the battering matches don't really exist, most fellas just want to play football.

Sometimes saddens me when I go home and realise how things have changed (even from 4-5 years ago), money and commercialism seem to have really become important over anything else.

Bigass (UK) - Posts: 15 - 17/01/2009 19:28:35    183112

What a wonderful thread? Have been living in England for 4 years now and play football for a junior (now intermediate) club in London. Unfortunately I live in Kent so travel quite a bit to play- in fact for every game my journey is a 150mile round journey but I never complain because I love it so much. Play soccer over here as well but it just isn't the same- dont have the love or passion for it like the GAA. I consider myself to be one of the 'new Irish' who came over in the last 10 years for professional jobs. Love talking to the older Irish men in our town and asking them who they ended up here-stories are quite sad. One man in particular told me how he loved seeing the 'new Irish' coming over and told me how he came to England with a paper bag and queued up outside the Crown pub in Cricklewood waiting for work- then he produced the FIDDLE and the craic was leathal the rest of the night. Sadly he died last year. He expressed his Irishness through music, whereas I do it through the GAA.
Like most exiles I miss home alot and especially going to county games. Hardest day over here was 2005 AI Semi final when Tyrone beat Armagh- as soon as it finished I was on the phone to my brother crying with joy. Thankfully I got home for the final.

Ed (UK) - Posts: 156 - 18/01/2009 11:27:39    183291

am over in lonodn just gone three years, loved it the second i arrived and was set up with a job and stuff to make it an easy landing....live miles from the irish heartlands in the east london..play a bit with a club but dont take it seriously enough......there is nothing reminds you of home as much as the GAA, traveeling across London to sit in a sweating pub watching your county listening to the craic that only the irish can have.......pints of guiness creamy and classy propped along the counter an a game of twenty-fives in the corner, the buzz of your county winning and the feeling that only a handful of people in this citry have that sma efeelingas you at that moment is magic, london wears a small bit thin now, go home a good bit but bnearly everyone I know over there has moved on themselves anyway, top australia or america, makes it strange to know more people in east london that east kildare, but aside from family its actually going that way.

sandar (Kildare) - Posts: 32 - 18/01/2009 12:57:35    183312

for the manchester lads on here, was up there last year doing a bit of a jobm with a fella who lioves in manchester but is originally from sligo...he brought me to this tiny auld irish pub near the station, run by a man in his eighties form mayo....everyone in there looked like they were in their eighties....and everyone looked around when I wled in a new, face, gave me the feeling of being back home like no other place i've been in in Britain, does it ring a bell with anyone

sandar (Kildare) - Posts: 32 - 18/01/2009 13:01:20    183314

hey just noticed this thread there today as I was checking up a thread i started about football in Tokyo where Im now living for the past 3 months and forseeable future. I know im only here a few months so far and I came out here on my own will as a year of travelling and working I fell in love with the place and am now looking at getting a full work visa, people are posting about London being a very lonely place and thats because you dont meet or know your neighbours, Tokyo is the same as many people live on their own in 1room apartments and only have small circles of friends. luckily i came here with a friend from college and we found a 2nd home in our local Irish pub which was our information centre where all the staff speak english aswel which was great when we were getting set up over here. I was looking up about the Tokyo club nd wishing to join more for the reason of a social circle. my friends in China were telling me about their club and how there always meeting up and having the craic and that it is more of a social gathering with Gaelic being the common interest. So I am wondering if anyone has any information on the Tokyo club as im very interested in joining.

If anyone has any infomation on the club could you please e-mail me on [email protected]

thanks and this is an very interesting thread for people living outside of Ireland to hear other peoples stories and experiences.

tokyo1 (Sligo) - Posts: 4 - 18/01/2009 15:15:13    183345

Came to london in 1984 for the summer for a bit of work and am still here today,i was only 17 and work was quare slack that time. Got myself involved in gaa,mostly hurling and have never looked back. I have made fantastic friends through the gaa with lads from all counties who i would never have met had i stayed in ireland. Funny as it may sound i love it here and would never go back however,i do miss not seeing some of the senior championship games and intercounty games.I have a daughter of 9 who was born here to an english lady and she cracks me up when i hear her little english accent,she even has the nerve to take the mickey out of my irish accent saying i cant speak properly,gas.Anyway this country has been good to me as i came here with no qualifications and am now a construction manager and get by ok. I guess there will be a lot of people coming over shortly due to lack of work but i can tell ye lads its a great place and if ye get involved on gaa ye will be at home here lads.

stranded (UK) - Posts: 408 - 18/01/2009 19:19:37    183421

I have to say this is the best and most enjoyable thread I have EVER read on HS. It is genuine, fascinating and very moving given many of the stories. It has definately brought out the best in what makes up the Irish diaspora, whether that's someone in Inishowen, Carlow, Baltimore or Cricklewood. The tough circumstances that many of us are currently going through will be difficult and frustrating but maybe it's the time for a bit of reflection in the country. Had we not lost a bit of who we were the last 10 or 15 years ? The things that REALLY matter are the things we often take for granted including the GAA and the great people who make it what it is.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9838 - 19/01/2009 02:52:02    183543

Yeats would be proud of the romanticism "journeying" through this thread.

You know when people say its terrible about all the people immigrating and stuff, I know what they mean, but I always see another side to it, it has given irish people a great opportunity to travel and to experience different things, but more importantly it has given them a good chance to get on and do well for themselves in life, a chance they may not have had at home, more than likely they didnt, its just a chance but if they take it then it can be huge. What I love about ex-pats etc, is the name they have given to the irish(well apart from the druink stereotype!!) just look at the amount of places around the world where irish pubs spring up, cos we have given the impression that we are a jovial, happy, fun loving,good-time-having genuine people that other nationalities love about us. Sad now that "its all changed, changed utterly" so to speak at home. Though to paraphrase joyce "ireland is best viewed from 300 miles away"....

pronane (None) - Posts: 324 - 19/01/2009 11:18:41    183621

I have been back in Ireland for the last few months with work its been brilliant to be home seeing family and friends, especially over christmas but unfortunately have to head back to the states this week. Its only when you are live abroad for a long time that you really appreciate what a great country ireland is and the fantastic people. I'll really miss going for pints during the week in great boozers in Dublin 'talking pucks, pints and the gaa'. Back to obamamania, NFL and crazy NY for me.

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4678 - 19/01/2009 11:26:50    183629

I have been in the UK now six years. I came over to attend University and in the first year there hadn't been any gaelic clubs in my area. So we started a club with the University and has been pretty successful. We have now set up a new club. In my opinion, such a sport like gaelic football has kept most of the Irish students over here by providing them with a common interest and a chance to meet up and become familiar with each other very early in their stay at University.

Monaghan in exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 189 - 20/01/2009 21:40:11    185461

Very good and appropriate thread in this climate... my abiding memory to this day 30 odd years later is trying to get hold of an Irish paper each Monday to see how my old club got on the day before and finding it hard to believe that they managed just fine without me.

As a parent I find it much more difficult when my children went into exile.

chainsaw (Laois) - Posts: 712 - 22/01/2009 12:24:46    186904

Now a lad from St Brendan's in Manchester, see above, contacted me and asked me to write him an article for their 50th anniversary booklet. I duly obliged and sent him a photo. I couldn't remember too many names in the photo, but I said that the bloke at the back was from Galway, I reckoned he was called Connolly.

Back came a reply saying he was indeed a Connolly, Chris Connolly, and the lad from St Brendan's is his SON.

Now it really is a small world.

Only problem is we now have someone who can reveal the truth about my so called years of greatness hurling in Manchester.

Ah well, I was bound to found out sooner or later.

Still a great thread, by Jayo's standards, but he hasn't fully MASTERED the art of a really great thread. LoL.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 22/01/2009 23:21:37    187620

I have to admit this actually has turned into a good thread, the name put me off a bit, I took one look at 'why are you exiled' and wrote it off as a bit of me feiner stuff...
This one aside though, there are some rubbish ones on here...

Sorry patrique, there's only one masterer on here

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 22/01/2009 23:38:42    187636

bad.monkey
County: USA
Posts: 672

183629
I have been back in Ireland for the last few months with work its been brilliant to be home seeing family and friends, especially over christmas but unfortunately have to head back to the states this week. Its only when you are live abroad for a long time that you really appreciate what a great country ireland is and the fantastic people. I'll really miss going for pints during the week in great boozers in Dublin 'talking pucks, pints and the gaa'. Back to obamamania, NFL and crazy NY for me.

Yes. When I returned after a number of years to Dublin and on my way to Rathgar to find my friends flat this Dublin man in the bus started to discuss the latest news, I was taken aback. Would not have happened in London. Then I realised I was home.In Dublin since and never regretted it.The town has changed but still great.My second home after the Kingdom.

Real Kerry Fan (None) - Posts: 2957 - 22/01/2009 23:52:48    187652

Heres my story. (part 1, only allowed 4000 characters)
In 1984 while out in the now infamous but back then popular Harp Bar, I met a beautiful American girl that was visiting on a college course from the University of Northern Colorado. I fell for her hook line and sinker of course. We spent the most fantastic 4 days together but of course the time eventually came when she had to go back. Needless to say the heart was broken and we both promised to keep in touch. How many times have lads heard that one ?? Well, we did. She came back to visit me the next summer and the one after that, after a year of saving about 20 quid a week, giving the Ma 20 quid for the upkeep and havin just 10 quid left for myself I flew to Denver Colorado .
Denver was not the Irish mecca that a Boston or New York or Chicago is, which can be a good thing too. People wanted to talk to you and hear you talk. I have to say, for the most part we are blessed as a Nation that in most countries we are accepted and welcomed. I can never understand those of us that come here and take the attitude of being sick of being asked about home and being told how cute our accents are. Here in Colorado there is a very large mexican and hispanic community that are not afforded the same courtesy,. I was as much an economic migrant as they. When we got married we did not move back to Ireland due to economic conditions there. But anyway, it makes you feel very proud and honored to be held in such high regard.
I searched out the Irish in Denver at the time and we used to gather at a park in Denver and have a pick up game of soccer with some English and Americans and once we were done with that we would cajole them into a game of Gaelic football. We often talked about trying to form a team but it never came about.
After a couple of years we found ourselves in Las Vegas as I had gotten a good job offer there. We stayed there 6 years (thats a long story in itself). When we had our first child we moved Back to Denver and not too long after that we had a second child. We had alot of Irish and American friends. The Irish that came to Denver tended to be long term people. I feel that alot of the Irish that went to Chicago and Boston and New York in the 80's and 90's were not there for the long haul. But Denver is different, Colorado gets inside you. You can Golf in 70F one day and go into the mountains the next and ski in the best snow in the world. It is an out door paradise. All we are mising is the ocean, but they have some amazing water parks to make up for it. Lads that come here tend to stay.

Dubfan Abroad (Dublin) - Posts: 282 - 23/01/2009 03:11:41    187685

And heres part 2.
We were still playing soccer and we still played Gaelic football after and eventually in 1996 after many years of talking I called a meeting to gage the interest in forming a GAA Club. With the help of a couple of other Irish lads and the only Irish pub in the city we held the meeting and the Denver Gaels were born. We were honored that first year by a visit from the Chicago Wolfe Tones Senior Football team who duly handed our ass to us on the field but it was the sweetest defeat any of us had ever had. We went to Boston that year to the North American Championships with a Junior B team and were beaten by our good friends from Atlanta but again we enjoyed it so much and made many friends that we lost none of our desire to keep a team in Denver. We got great support over the years from different teams such as Atlanta, San Diego, St.Louis, Seattle, Austin and others who all have visited us. Teams like the ones I have mentioned here in the states are not the typical GAA teams in that we understand the need to have American born players and grow the games from a youth level all the way through adult. Alot of us have our kids playing, and we have recruited their friends who have fallen in love with the games we love.
In 1999 I returned home like many with my American wife and kids to see if we could make a go of the Celtic Tiger. We were sad leaving and were given a great send off by the team I helped create. While at home I constantly communicated with friends back in Denver to see how everyone was doing and of course to get news of the Gaels. In 2000 the Denver Gaels won the Junior B Championship, I cried when they called me to tell me at.
Unfortunately a few months after arriving home we found out that my wife had cancer. We could not return to the US as it would have been too difficult to obtain insurance with a pre-existing condition like cancer so we stayed. The cancer was very aggressive and in 2002 my wife passed away in Tralee General hospital 12 miles from the dream home we had built in Kerry. After spending over 2 years in hospitals, and our dream shattered, the three of us boarded a plane and headed back to Denver.
When we arrived, the Denver Gaels were waiting.
I think my point in this story is that for those of us away from home, the GAA team can be just as important as the one at the heart of every village in Ireland. It gives us the opportunity to showcase our heritage as well as our sports and lets us give something back to the country we live in. It gives us a reason to keep in touch with our Irishness. My team was there to help us get our life back together, it kept us alive.
The Denver Gaels has now Mens Football, Ladies Football, Youth Football, Mens Hurling, a Camogie team and soon to have a youth Hurling team. We have hosted a North American Finals in Colorado, considered one of the best ever. We have a membership of over 150 and only about 30 are Irish. We have played hurling and football above 10,000 ft high up in the Rockies, We have showcased our games in Mile High Stadium home of the Broncos, and The Colorado Rapids stadium also. We play indoor 6 a side hurling for the winter in a hockey style arena that has astro turf where the wall is played aswell as the glass and it is amazing to play and watch. We won the Junior hurling Championship at the North American Championships in 2007.
We are just starting.

Dubfan Abroad (Dublin) - Posts: 282 - 23/01/2009 03:13:01    187686