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Boston College is renowned for its Irish heritage, and for its various Irish-oriented initiatives, programs and resources. Now, a student group hopes to add a new element to BC’s Irish character: Irish sports.
The Irish Society, which aims to promote Irish culture at BC, has held weekly gatherings during this academic year on the Brighton Campus to learn and play Gaelic football, one of the most popular sports in Ireland. The students held drills to become familiar in the finer points of the game — which includes aspects of soccer and rugby, among other sports — and followed with an intramural scrimmage.
For most of the participants, Gaelic football is a means of deepening their familial and personal ties to Ireland.
But Oisín Kenny ’12, who has served as Irish Society president during this year, notes that the opportunity is open to everyone, Irish or not.
“It’s a great way to get exercise — which we know is very important when you’re a student dealing with all the demands of college life — and to make some new friends.
“Gaelic football is not just a sport, though,” adds Kenny, a native of nearby Needham whose parents both came from Ireland. “There is so much history and tradition associated with it — it’s imbued with Irishness. At BC, we are lucky to have music, dance, literature, art, history and other facets of Ireland. So, our feeling is, why not celebrate Ireland’s sporting life, too?”
On one recent Sunday afternoon, about 20 — perhaps a third of them women — Irish Society members and friends trotted out on the Brighton Campus athletic fields for what was likely to be their last go-round of Gaelic football before the academic year’s end. Kenny helped instruct the less experienced players on passing and advancing the ball, while the veterans went through their more advanced paces.
One of the latter, senior Kevin McGovern, spent many of his childhood summers in Ireland, and when not helping his grandparents and uncles on the farm would play Gaelic football with his cousins at the local playing field or “pitch.” On weekends, he and his family would bond by watching Gaelic football championships on television.
“These memories instilled a passion in me to find a community at BC where I could share the fun and heritage Gaelic football represents in my life,” said McGovern.
Eoghan McCarthy ’14 enjoyed similar family-related exposure to Gaelic football and other Irish sports. A big part of the game’s appeal for him, he said, is that Gaelic football is an amateur enterprise: “Players play for their county, for pride, for the love of the game, but never for money, which is something you don't really see in most of the popular sports around the world.”
McCarthy also found Gaelic football to be the right mix of physical and skill dimensions for him. “It brings together some of the skills of soccer, volleyball, basketball, and rugby into one very exciting, fast-paced, physical activity. That's why I think it's such an easy sport to pick up. We've got football, soccer, basketball, rugby players who were able to pick it up very quickly because of the similarities between their sport and Gaelic football.”
Warm-ups concluded, the students formed up teams — one side donning neon-green sleeveless pullovers to distinguish themselves — and scrimmaged for approximately an hour. The action was fast-paced and spirited, but good-natured, and there were handshakes, high fives and back slaps all around during and after the scrimmage.
“We’re serious about it, but we’re not super-competitive or judgmental — it’s supposed to be fun,” says Kenny.
The BC team last month played its first formal game, with another college squad in Connecticut (“We only lost by four points,” said Kenny, “which is pretty good, considering that they were all-male and we’re co-ed — and that they have a coach and we don’t”) and will seek more matches during the next year.
The Irish Society also hopes to eventually add another venerable Irish sport, hurling, to its activities, although the game requires more equipment and its learning curve is somewhat more pronounced. But the immersion in Gaelic football has been a positive step forward, McCarthy says.
“All in all, I'm very pleased with how the team has grown and developed throughout the course of the year. We’ve had a lot of fun and bonded in the process, and are already looking forward to next year.”
For more on the Irish Society, see its website at www.bc.edu/bcirish.