Today was the end of an era in Irish broadcasting as the legendary Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh presented his last All Ireland Final. Micheál has been commentating on GAA games for over 60 years and announced earlier this week that he was to retire at the age of 80. He will be missed by hundreds or thousands of listeners both in Ireland and worldwide for whom he was as much a part of a game as the players or the referee.

It was commonplace for Irish GAA fans to watch a game on TV with the sound turned down and have the radio nearby to enjoy Micheál’s unique style. His knowledge of the game itself was second only to his ability to put it in context from so many points of view. He also entertained and many of his quotes will last the test of time as the history of the GAA is written for decades to come:
Being from Cork, I remember some of those that relate to Cork best; For example:

“Sean Óg o Hailpín….his father’s from Fermanagh, his mother’s from Fiji, neither a hurling stronghold.”
Or
“Colin Corkery on the 45 lets go with the right boot. It’s over the bar. This man shouldn’t be playing football. He’s made an almost Lazarus-like recovery from a heart condition. Lazarus was a great man but he couldn’t kick points like Colin Corkery.”
Or
“Teddy McCarthy to Mick McCarthy, no relation, Mick McCarthy back to Teddy McCarthy, still no relation”

But for me, what I will never forget is the sense of literally seeing a match through Micheál’s eyes;

I lived in Philadelphia in 1997 and at the time the internet as a mass media outlet was in its infancy. RTE had only recently started streaming radio content and on the morning of the second Sunday in September I decided to put it to the test. Being 5 hours behind Ireland, the match started about 10:30 in Philly and having been out the night before, I was not interested in going to an Irish pub as would have been the norm to watch a match from home.
So at about 10:25 I logged into rte.ie and found the link for the live stream, it took a while to ‘buffer’ but once the stream started it was just like having a radio from home. The All Ireland hurling final was about to start
I lay on the couch with Micheál’s tones booming from the PC nearby and as I listened to his description of the action closed my eyes. Micheál’s commentary is so descriptive, as I relaxed I began to picture the game. To this day I recall actually seeing the action as it unfolded and what a game it was with excitement from beginning to end and Clare eventually emerging as victors over Tipperary with the minimum score advantage.

Micheál’s ability to bring the action into the living room or indeed the car meant that if you had occasion to miss a game on the TV, the disappointment would be short-lived as the radio coverage was often better. Hard to see now if that will ever be the case again.

At myguideIreland we wish Micheál the very best in his retirement!!

You may wonder what these two things may have in common – well 2 things actually – firstly they are both great passions of mine and secondly and possibly more importantly as far as you’re concerned they are 2 things that in this very modern and changing Ireland have not changed very much at all.

Let’s take Irish Dancing first of all. And I don’t mean the Irish dancing that conjures up visions of little girls in traditional costumes and goldilocks ringlets. What I’m talking about is Set Dancing which is a completely different thing altogether.

Long ago if you were going on a date in Ireland, if he wasn’t bringing you to the pictures he’d be bringing you to a dance. Now ‘a dance’ might bring to mind ladies in ball gowns dancing sedately, but in Ireland a dance was quite a different thing! So much so that they were never held without the parish priest patrolling the hall to make sure things didn’t go too far (you’ll be glad to hear this is one tradition that has died out!)

If you’ve ever seen a set you’ll know that it’s a formation dance made up of four couples not unlike a square dance, just pick up the speed about 10 fold and add in some ribald traditional Irish music. And if you’re wondering about the priest let me just explain that you have to get fairly up close and personal when you’re lepping around the floor at high speed.

After a couple of sets you might take a break to do a ceili dance such as the Haymakers Jig or the Seige of Ennis. These dances were popular as they involved a lot of partner swapping so if you positioned yourself right you might get to dance with the object of your affection even if you hadn’t had the gumption to ask her to the dance and had only gotten as far as making eyes at her across the floor.

Half way through the night a cup of tea and some cakes and sandwiches would be served by the ladies of the parish to keep the strength up. And you’ll still be treated to these refreshments at any ceili to this very day!

So if you’d like to experience the delights of ‘a dance’ as it might have been fifty or sixty years ago in Ireland just ask your Ireland guide if they can include a rural ceili dance on your itinerary.

What about the GAA you ask (as you well might after reading Paul’s blog below – as well as the heated debate taking place in the comments!)? Well check back soon and I’ll tell you all about it!