During what turned out to be one of the most remarkable speeches made to launch a book in the bookshop, the retired Archbishop of Tuam Joe Cassidy in his closing words inadvertently illustrated the pervasive influence of the GAA on the Irish psyche. The occasion was the launch of Fr. Pat O'Briens book of poetry A Book of Genesis. At the time Pat was the curate at Skehana, a small parish in north Co Galway, and had just been outspoken in relation to the upcoming referendum on abortion, resulting in a not so cordial relationship with his bishop. Nonetheless, Cassidy had graciously agreed to launch the book.
They were, as they say, hanging from the rafters. Every man, woman and child from Skehana was there. When the Archbishop arrived he seemed to shake hands with everyone there at least twice. We were all one big happy family.
His lordship began his speech with the memorable sentence "It is not usual for a bishop to launch a book published by one of his priests. In fact, when a priest launches a book, it is more usual for the bishop to launch into him!"
There followed an entertaining, witty, erudite and sensitive speech. After about seven or eight minutes, the Archbishop seemed to come to a full stop. He paused for a couple of seconds and said, "Finally, there is one thing I have always wanted to do in front of you all." He then drew back a step or two, squared his shoulders and let a roar "Up Skehana!" To which there was, as they say, rapturous roars, thunderous applause and great pounding of feet.
Those of you not of the GAA faithful should realise that "Up Skehana" was a legendary war cry of the hurling faithful of that locality which gained notoriety far beyond the parish boundaries. By finishing his speech with this ancient exhortation to victory on the field of play, the Archbishop had reached into the hearts, souls and minds of his flock in a far more effective way than the most incisive of sermons.
It is an intriguing fact that such an important aspect of our cultural heritage should have a poor literature. There is rarely a news bulletin on radio or TV that does not carry some GAA news and certainly no daily or weekly newspaper worth its salt would not publish without at least one page devoted to Gaelic games. Yet, outside the occasional G.A.A. annual, some good histories of the individual sports such as Jack Mahon's of Gaelic Football and Seamus King's one of Hurling, the more recent plethora of generally indulgent biographies and the now almost inevitable annual "How ... Won The Liam McCarthy/Sam Maguire", there is little published that could be called a serious addition to the bibliography of the G.A.A. and what it means to Ireland. A classic exception was Breandán O hEithir's "Over the Bar", a book that has never been surpassed in this genre.
It may be that sport is a difficult subject to handle. Of its nature, the magic of sport is the experience of the moment and to capture that moment permanently in print is as difficult as trying to paint the image of the horse or the sea on canvas. Even a television replay can never quite catch the magical immediacy of a great sporting moment.
What makes Eamonn Sweeney's "The Road to Croker" different is that the books has no pretensions. He is simply talking about a sport he loves and is inviting us to join him in a year's odyssey of the 2003 Championship. There are no claims to victory, nor crying over losses. There is simple enjoyment here as Sweeney delights in the skills and wonders at the achievements of the individual players, their coaches and managers.
As we travel with Sweeney to each of the matches, occasionally the genre takes the sideline and we are introduced to the life that surrounds the sport. Here the book could compare favourably with Nick Hornby's "Fever Pitch" in that it celebrates not only the sport itself, but the sense of occasion that surrounds the sport.
Sweeney has already achieved a certain success at this level with his first book on sport, "There's Only One Red Army", in which we follow the fortunes, or rather misfortunes of Sligo Rover's soccer team, and which is now sadly out of print. When this book found itself in someone's case during a Sun Holiday. it was always known to make the round of the pool at least four times within the fortnight.
"The Road to Croker" has the same feel about it. There is no question that every lover of G.A.A. sport will read and enjoy it, but it has a much wider audience. It may or may not achieve the classic status of "Over the Bar", but it will certainly stand on its own two feet, imbued as it is with an optimistic enjoyment and celebration of life. In fact it has the same sense of optimism as experienced by a friend of mine who, when boarding a plane at Shannon to join the G.A.A. All Stars on their American, in a moment of exhilaration, shouted "Up Skehana", to which someone at the other end of the queue replied with the same gusto and enthusiasm, "And The Sky Above It!".
