#OTD in 1856 – Birth of athlete, Patrick Nally, in Balla, Co Mayo.

13/03/2023.Reading time 4 minutes.

The stadium stands at Croke Park commemorated a proud and famous trio of Irishmen, Michael Cusack of Co Clare, Michael Hogan of Co Tipperary and Pat Nally of Co Mayo. Patrick (Pat) William Nally was a member of the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and well-known Connacht athlete from Balla, Co Mayo. It […]

#OTD in 1906 – Death of Michael Cusack, Founder of the GAA.

27/11/2022.Reading time 4 minutes.

Cusack was an Irish teacher and founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association. A romantic nationalist, who was associated with the Fenian movement. He was active in the Gaelic revival: a member of the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language which was founded in 1876, and later the Gaelic League who in 1879 broke […]

#OTD in 1884 – Founding of the Gaelic Athletic Association in the Hayes’s Hotel in Thurles, Co Tipperary.

01/11/2022.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Michael Cusack convenes the first meeting of the ‘Gaelic Athletic Association for the Preservation and Cultivation of national Pastimes’ in Hayes’ Hotel, Thurles, Co Tipperary. Cusack could never have envisioned that the GAA would develop into the largest amateur sports organisation in the world. His legacy can be viewed every August/September when more than 80,000 […]

#OTD in 1847 – Birth of teacher and founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Michael Cusack, in Co Clare.

20/09/2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

Michael Cusack was born in the parish of Carron on the eastern fringe of the Burren in north Clare. He lived in a small cottage with his parents, four brothers and one sister. The Cusack homestead still stands today. Little is know of his childhood. On Sundays after Mass, Cusack and the other boys in […]