Sables Shamrocks putting Zambia on GAA world stage 

By John Harrington

GAA clubs are popping up in all sorts of exotic corners of the globe, but perhaps none as unlikely as Kabwe in Zambia.

Pollution experts have named it the most toxic town in the world thanks to the legacy of over a century of lead mining and smelting.

Situated 100km north of the Zambian capital of Lusaka, most of it’s estimated 300,000 inhabitants live in dire poverty, particular in the ‘compound’ of Makululu, one of the biggest slums in Africa.

Yet it is from here that a team of young footballers will represent Zambia at the GAA World Games in Waterford in July.

They’re members of Sables Shamrocks GAA club and former pupils of the Sables Nua School in Kabwe.

The school is run by Zamda Ireland, a charity established by Pádraig Ó Fainín who has an impressive GAA pedigree.

The son of former GAA President Pat Fanning, his coaching resume includes the Dublin minor hurlers and Na Fianna senior hurlers and he was also a passionate promoter of Gaelic games as Principal of St. Joseph’s Primary School in Fairview.

Zambia has been a big part of the Waterford native’s life since 2003 when the Christian Brothers invited their school principals to visit the African country to see the work they were doing out there.

Ó Fainín was so struck by the poverty he saw that he volunteered to help in whatever way he could and was put in contact with an Irish woman in Kabwe by the name of Mary Chidgey (née O’Brien).

“Mary was running a million things on her own,” says Ó Fainín. “She was running a centre for street kids, a medical programme in the bush, a hospice, bringing food to prisoners, just a million things.

“I told her I’d be happy to give her a hand so she said, ‘right, would take over running the program for street kids? It's called Sables.’

“At the time, it was about a dozen kids, a tiny little place. And over the 20 years since, we've expanded it and grown it. I went there first in 2004 and then my wife and I moved there full time seven years ago to take things over when we retired from teaching in Ireland.

“The kids we deal with are the poorest of the poor. You wouldn't believe the conditions they're living in. One-room mud huts with no toilets. There'd be a long drop toilet outside, a hole in the ground, basically speaking.

“They'd have very little way of furniture. If you had an upturned bucket it would be the nearest you'd get to a chair.

“Nothing on the floors. They'd have sacks. Nothing on the roof except sometimes they'd get tin sheets. Sometimes they'd get plastic bags. Sometimes they'd have thatch.

“So that's the kind of conditions the kids are coming into us from. As well as feeding them and educating them and medically treating them, we said, we'll do some extracurricular stuff to give them some sort of joy in their lives through sport.

“So, we started doing that. We have a very successful judo club. We have soccer, obviously, volleyball, netball, basketball. And every so often, I take out a football or hurleys and we have a puck or kick around, so that’s where the Gaelic games started.”

When Ó Fainín was back home in Waterford last year he heard the city would be hosting the 2026 GAA World Games and the thought struck him that it would be something special if he could bring a team from Kabwe to compete.

A lot of logistical challenges would have go be overcome to make it happen, but he’s not the type to be daunted too easily.

“I was just bowled over by the idea of taking them out of the slums, bringing them 10,000 kilometers across the world, their first time in an airplane, first time outside Kabwe for a lot of them, to meet other young adults from all over the world and play Gaelic football,” says Ó Fainín

“So I went into Croke Park and I started pestering poor Charlie Harrison (GAA International Manager).

“He sent me packing the first time but I went back a few more times and I think in the end he must have said, 'Jesus Christ, there's only one way to get rid of this fecker!' So just before Christmas, he said, ‘Yeah, you're in.'

“I went straight back out to Zambia after Christmas and picked a team of past pupils I thought might be able to play a bit, the ones who were good volleyball and soccer players.

“We applied for birth certs for the players and once we got birth-certs we were able to apply for passports and then once we got the passports we were able to get the visa application in. The Embassy are fully behind this, they're delighted with the idea.

“The players are currently training like lunatics and have taken to it like ducks to water, they’re very, very good.”

No stone is being left unturned to get the Sables Shamrocks players prepared for the World Games.

Their training sessions in a local rugby club have drawn a lot of interested spectators who aren’t quite sure what they’re watching, but know they like it.

Ó Fainín is acclerating his players' education by showing them matches via GAA+ subscription.

“We've sat down and watched a couple of games and they're just blown away,” he says. “We've watched highlights of last year's All-Ireland Final a few times now and they love that.

“The day of the All-Ireland Club Final we had a big party for them. We had chicken for them which is a rare treat because most Zambians are vegetarians. Not by choice, because they can't afford meat.

“So, we fed them and hooked my computer up to a projector and projected the match onto a wall. They were just blown away by it and were shouting and roaring for both teams.

“The match went to extra-time and about 10 minutes from the end we had a thunderstorm and a lightning strike hit the transformer and all the electricity in the whole town went out and we were all sitting there in the dark and I had to tell them how the match ended the following day when the power came back.

“They absolutely love football. Absolutely love it. And it's not just because there's a big reward at the end of it for them now, they actually love the game for what it is, the physicality and skill of it.”

Life is tough in Kabwe and Gaelic football offers a mental as well as physical escape from the grind for the Sables Shamrocks footballers.

When you have so little, this opportunity to represent their community and country means so much.

“They'd all be from underprivileged, very poor backgrounds,” says Ó Fainín. “There's no employment for them. Education is the only way out so we're educating them.

“Two of them actually are third-level students and it's a great achievement for them to get to College coming from the background they do. One of them is doing Law, another is doing Mechanical Engineering, so they're clever lads and they're working hard.

“The idea that we can take them from the poverty they come from and transport them to Ireland, I just get a great kick out of even thinking of it.

“They're all hyper, they're buzzing at the thought of going across the world, flying in an airplane over the Alps. It's just so outside their realm that they're hyper. So am I, by the way!

“People have asked me, the ones who are not picked to come, are they resentful? And the gas thing is they're not.

“That ones that didn’t get picked are genuinely happy for the ones that have been picked and that’s just the nature of the Zambian people.

“They have so little and their only day to day interest is to get food for tomorrow but they’re not the slightest bit resentful or troublesome and I love them for that.”

Ó Fainín has been ‘bowled over’ by the support and interest his football team has gotten both in Zambia and Ireland.

Their mission to Ireland has been covered by Zambian television and print media, and the logistics of getting the team here has been helped by a growing number of sponsors.

McKeever Sports are supplying jerseys and gear bags, Emirates Airlines are sponsoring jackets and caps, and a woman who heard about their story is supplying each player with a pair of football boots.

Away from the pitch their itinerary while in Ireland will be a busy one that will include a hike in the Comeraghs and a swim in the sea at Tramore with Ó Fainín keen to show his Zambian friends the beauty of his native county and make it the trip of a lifetime.

“One of the lads was very off form in training recently and I said to him, 'what's the story? Are you alright?'”, says Ó Fainín.

“He said nothing initially but I eventually got it out of him and he told me there was no food at home.

“I put him in the car and drove out to the house and there was no food.

“There was himself, four siblings and his granny in the house and they had nothing. He said his job is to go out and do a bit of what they call 'piece work'.

“Hanging around or knocking on a door and asking people do they want any work done and give me 10 Kwacha for doing it or whatever. He'd just pick up bits of work here and there to buy food for his granny and siblings.

“But because he was now training with us he couldn't go out and earn a living anymore. So we went off and bought a big supply of food for the family. That's the kind of conditions you're talking about.

“When you're dealing with kids like that and you see the effort they make to come to school and the smiles on their faces and how they do their very best in school, it would humble you.

“I get a great buzz out of seeing that we make a little bit of a difference. It's a drop in the ocean, but the ocean is made of drops. My wife Emer and I get a great kick out of it because it's so uplifting and rewarding.

“Now, it can be very tough at times. Youngsters have died on us, we've had illnesses and accidents, the whole shebang. But it is very, very rewarding.

“So, to be able to top it off by giving some of these kids the trip of a lifetime and the chance to sample something they never imagined in their wildest dreams of ever doing is just brilliant.

“These youngsters will be telling their grandkids about this and their grandkids will tell their grandkids that their grandfather went to the other side of the world once upon a time to play football.”

You can follow Sables Shamrocks' preparations for the 2026 GAA World Games on their Facebook page HERE.