Jim Hannigan

Jim Hannigan has lived all his life in Stranorlar, Co. Donegal. He started playing football at an early age and played until he injured his knee in a match at O’Donnell Park in Letterkenny. He travelled regularly to the All-Ireland Final until recently. He worked as a meat seller, travelling around Donegal and beyond selling bacon, cooked ham and sausages. Jim recalls his earliest memories of playing football at school and during holidays and the trouble they had keeping watch for local farmers while they were playing on their fields, the setting up of the local club, the purchasing of McCool Park in Ballybofey and it’s evolution into the main county ground. Jim’s interview gives excellent insights into changing modes of travel locally and nationally. He talks about people walking and cycling to matches, hiring cars and buses and travelling by train. He also talks about the playing kit and boots they wore and the shortage of jerseys. Jim lists all the places matches used to be played in the area and describes the split in the GAA in the Twin Towns. Jim’s interview is excellent on the social side of the GAA. He describes going to céilís and dances after matches and meeting girls. He talks about the craic he and his friends had waiting on one another to come back from leaving a girl home, playing tricks on one another and the night they had to push their car home. Jim also describes his many trips to matches in Dublin and meeting his wife Carmel at a dance in Dublin when he was up for the Railway Cup, her family’s involvement in the GAA and their children’s involvement.