Developing underage hurlers is vital for Ballinderreen.
By Cian O’Connell
Ballinderreen GAA’s innovative podcast series will be showcased during National Heritage Week.
Echoes of the Past: Voices of Ballinderreen GAA: Ag Cuimhneamh Siar: Guthanna CLG Bhaile an Doirín includes 11 episodes with the official launch taking place on Saturday with Cllr Albert Dolan, Cathaoirleach of the County of Galway.
It has been a most worthwhile project and chairperson Mark Lane is delighted with how it has all unfolded. Lane, from one of the great sporting families in the area, who have served club and county with distinction, is quick to acknowledge the efforts of others. “Marie Mannion, who is involved in the club, from the Heritage Council, you couldn't thank her enough for the work she has done, she has been amazing,” he says.
“Noel Lane, Brendan Ó Loinsigh, Mary Sweeney, secretary of the club, Mike Coen, they've done trojan work putting this together. You had them and another 30 with them.”
That collaborative element has been key. “I brought it up earlier on in the year, that I'd like to do some sort of recording,” he explains.
“I was just new in as chairman, the next thing it grew legs, Marie said we could apply for funding to get it done professionally. So, we were granted funds in June and we had to have it finished by the first week in August.
“There was a bit of a rush at the end, to get everyone recorded. It has its own podcast channel now. We've 11 episodes, it is something we can build on, and we can add to it over the years.
Former Galway hurler and manager Noel Lane is a key figure in the Ballinderreen story.
“We can probably look at more funding in the future, to add a couple of episodes to it. For us, it is a nice thing to have and to have stuff on record. We had lots of different voices contributing, so it was a nice thing to do.”
Ballinderreen’s journey is charted in the podcasts too. “I got my father to spearhead this project with a couple of more people, it is brilliant what they have done in a short space of time,” Lane says.
“You’ve people talking about their fathers and grandfathers, in laws and all that, down to the current generation, who are working on things.”
How Ballinderreen has changed throughout the decades is important. “We’re lucky in Ballinderreen that we had three housing estates built in the early noughties,” he adds.
“That brought a lot of fresh and new blood into the community. You even see that in a lot of the hurling teams, those new faces. It is brilliant to get that. You've the history, the names that were there 100 years ago, some of the names are still around with a lot of new major additions to the area.
“They've really helped us promote the community and GAA club. We've a very solid athletics community, the South Galway athletics, their home base is at the grounds. The athletic development of the younger kids compared to 20 or 30 years ago, it is totally different. They are so much more athletic, we are lucky it is based at the grounds.”
So many different factors contribute to a community and club which is captured in the podcasts. Produced by Freeway Media’s Sally-Ann Barrett, the fact that stories won’t be lost or forgotten now is crucial according to Lane. “You've some great stories told by the likes of Eamonn McTigue and Mattie Larkin, I'd never heard of the stories,” Lane says.
Former GAA President Joe McDonagh speaking at Annual Congress in 2013.
“It is great to keep them alive. Even to expand, to talk going forward, if we were to go again, you'd like to get a couple of more elderly people to talk about their stories. It is brilliant. It is a nice thing to have, it will be there forever, and you'll be able to add to it.
“To get the original story of the parish, how it has evolved and moving into the future. It is a nice thing to do, it probably won't cost us a penny other than a bit of time.”
Ballinderreen is a particularly tight knit community. “We wouldn't have a huge population,” Lane replies. “Even our pitch is a community pitch, we famously had Galway United play in European soccer in 1991, we didn't need to get GAA approval.
“It is a community based pitch with a lot of development done. It is a very high quality standard facility for a small place. A lot of people from here have achieved a lot, Joe McDonagh is probably the most famous of them all. It is a great place to be.
“We are a senior hurling club again. We were founded in 1884, camogie is there since the 1960s, there is a lot going on.”
As a player, manager, and administrator, Lane has viewed the club from a range of angles. “I have, I got to play for a good few years, it was fierce enjoyable,” he says.
“I had to get out of it with hip problems and went into management young enough. We were lucky enough to win a few championships as manager and now gone into the chairman side. I'm not sure how long I'll be in it.
Ballinderreen has a proud tradition in Camogie.
“I've a couple of young kids, who are three and one, when they come along to go playing I'll be back in. I've probably two, three or four years before I pass on the baton again, to get into a bit more coaching again.
“I've had great managers. Mattie Larkin was chairman the first year I took over the intermediates. He stepped down and I took over from him, I've a good relationship with him. Brian Molloy is another clubman with the Camogie.”
An appreciation for sport and its possibilities was given to Lane as a child. He sees the value of what hurling and camogie brings to Ballinderreen. “We are doing a lot together, our camogie and hurling club are a one club model with the juvenile executive,” he says.
“The three of us work very hard together, trying to fundraise and spend stuff together. We are developing and we are trying to do improvements.
“One time it was always the senior club that paid for things, but that isn't the case anymore. The camogie club are very good, we have a good relationship, which is great. We are all definitely rowing together in the one direction.
“It is good to have that, it is progressive for the whole community going forward. Every team has the exact same jersey, a small thing, but it is important. We have a very good parish and a very good community.”
The podcast series illustrates that.