Galway Hurling Team of Boston

Pictured on Connacht Tribune - 4 September 1948

Photograph and Article courtesy The Connacht Tribune - researched by Michael Wright

The following photograph and article appeared in the Connacht Tribune on Saturday 4 September 1948 and is reproduced below.

Galway Hurling Team of Boston – 1948 

Seated left to right: Bernard Connaughton; Patrick Hutchinson; John Monahan, Captain; Joseph Kelly, Martin Qualters, Managers; James Chaill.  Second row: Martin Barnel; Robert Fallon, vice-captain; John King, secretary; Walter Regan; James Fair; Edward Costello; Joseph Moylan.  Standing: Thomas McNamara, President, NY GAA; Thomas Slattery; Martin Conroy, Vice-President, Galway Athletic Clubs; Richard Burke, President, Galway Men’s Association; James Goods, New York Agent; Sean Fords, New York Manager; Gerald Gannon; Patrick Walsh, President, Galway Athletic Clubs and Joseph Barnett.  The team makes a round trip of 500 miles to play all its championship games, as it is registered in the New York GAA, there being only one other team in the Massachusetts League.  This photo was taken on Sunday 25 April 1948 when the team defeated Kilkenny of New York, 28 to 14.

Galway Men in Boston

Mr Thomas P Shields, General Manager of the Galway Athletic Clubs, 181 Dudley Street, Boston 19, who has forwarded pictures of the Galway senior hurling and football teams of Boston – the pictures appear in this issue of the ‘Connacht Tribune’ – states in the course of a letter to the Editor: “You people have every reason to be proud of these boys.  They are a great addition to our country here and a source of inspiration for us to carry on Ireland’s ancient traditions and especially her great pastimes.  The boys are well bred, intelligent, ambitious, cultural, well mannered, and above all morally beyond reproach.  They are a credit to their parents, the Irish clergy and nuns, the GAA, the leaders in literature and arts and of course, the Irish press which is a reflection of the standards of any country.

Let me say to you that while we console you in your loss of these youths we thank you for sending them to us and be assured that we shall never, by any act of ours, bring discredit to these stalwart Gaels, but rather we reaffirm our pledge to them that our every effort shall be bent to improve their lot to the end that they in turn will inherit the spirit to move forward and make our people at home in Ireland and abroad happy, peaceful and contented.”

Editor’s Note: What a fitting tribute to these players – their families cannot but be proud of them.

 

 

 

This page was added on 01/09/2018.

Comments about this page

  • 12 Mar 1932

    Hibernian Hall, Roxbury Mass.

    The friends and followers of the Galway Hurling Club turned out in large numbers on last Thursday evening, when they were the recipients of the splendid solid gold medals emblematic of the Bay State champoinship. Egan Clancy, editor, Boston Irish News, made the presentation. John J. Kelly, newly elected president of the Gaelic Athletic Association, and Eugene Sheehan, I. R. A. Veterans, paid fitting tribute to “Red” Flaherty and his men. Thomas Shields, president, Galway Men’s Association, was an affable and efficient master of ceremonies. The medals were the cynosure of all eyes and the proud wearers were accorded a thunderous applause by the large gathering in attendance. A most enjoyable dance was conducted preceding and following the presentation in which the hundreds present participated, evidently enjoyed themselves to their hearts content. The affair was typically Irish, practically every affiliated club being represented.

    (Excerpt from “The Advocate” which was an Irish American newspaper published in New York at the time)

    By Kerry White (06/08/2020)

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