Benny Connaughton

Benny Connaughton is a well-known figure in the New York GAA world. He was born in 1930 and grew up in Athleague in Roscommon and the interview covers the importance of hurling in his native area in the 1930s and 1940s. He played Minor hurling for Roscommon in 1948 before emigrating to New York in 1949. The interview gives interesting insight into the standard of hurling and football in New York in the late 1940s, 1950s and onward. The social and economic life of the GAA is also a major subject. In the interview he states that the Clare hurling team managed by him in 1968 was the first New York team to specifically recruit players from Ireland, both by encouraging good players to move to New York to play for them and also by flying players over for a short period to play a game for Clare in New York. The interview is also interesting on changing attitudes to hurling tactics and the mental side of hurling preparation.