Paddy MacFlynn

Paddy MacFlynn talks about a lifetime's involvement with the GAA. He grew up as the GAA was reorganising in County Derry, and helped to set up the Magherafelt club. He also played with the O'Donovan Rossas club and had success with them, before witnessing the formation of the Derry team and playing for that side. He became involved in administration at an early age and got involved with his club and county, and also with Down as his teaching work took him there. He immersed himself in Irish culture and enjoyed speaking the language whenever he got the opportunity. Later he was on the Ulster Council and the Central Council before becoming President of the GAA at a difficult time in North of Ireland. He discusses this period which was dominated by the Hunger Strikes, and recalls working in tandem with the Gardaí and the Irish government. Paddy lived through - and was often involved in - many seminal moments in GAA history, such as the 1947 All-Ireland final in New York, tours abroad in the 1960s, the lifting of various bans and the modernisation of the Association. He talks at length about these and many other issues. He has witnessed more than more than most but remains the same as he ever was - a man driven by his passion for all aspects of Irish culture and Gaelic games.