September Road: Next weekend, boys and girls from Warwickshire, England, will take their place among the hordes from every county in Ireland at the annual national festival of fun and games that's called Féile na nGael.
Just over a month ago, a football féile was held in Birmingham, with 36 teams - including nine from Ireland, which were hosted by the Warwickshire clubs - taking part.
In fact, during half-time of last season's Leinster senior football final, the attendance at Croke Park were treated to an exhibition game by a Warwickshire Schools' Under-12 development squad.
Behind the scenes, there is astonishing work being put in by many individuals to promote Gaelic football, hurling and camogie in the heart of England.
And, it appears, some success is already revealing itself in hurling.
Last season, Warwickshire boldy entered the inaugural three-tier hurling championship - taking its place in the Nicky Rackard Cup.
They lost all three matches - to Monaghan, Longford and its more established neighbours to the south, London - which was, perhaps, as expected.
Even before Warwickshire's Martin Morrissey picked up his award for being chosen on the Nicky Rackard Champion 15 team of 2005, officials were planning for this season. The senior team regrouped and has come back stronger than ever.
At the weekend, Warwickshire's senior hurlers gained sweet revenge for one of last season's results by defeating promotion hopefuls Monaghan by 1-11 to 0-9 at Páirc na hÉireann in Birmingham.
The result won't send any reverberations through Kilkenny or Cork, but it is through small battles that major wars are won - and the GAA have some first-class soldiers on duty in Coventry and Birmingham.
Quote of the Week: "That was an interpretation he gave on the matter. I was told afterwards he didn't give an interpretation. If he did give an interpretation it wasn't his prerogative to give an interpretation." - The president of the GAA, Nickey Brennan, attempts to clear up possible confusion over the assertion by the fourth official, Pierce Freaney, that he was "120 per cent sure" Offaly had broken no substitution rules during their Leinster football championship quarter-final with Kildare at Croke Park on May 28th.
Wounded giants . . .
Was it just an oversight? Or perhaps it's a demonstration of how both hurling counties have fallen from grace that Offaly v Wexford was not considered worthy of live coverage on television yesterday.
As many will be interested in viewing the game, we thought it worth reminding those with access to Setanta Sports that the match will be shown (in full) on the channel five times this week.
Offaly v Wexford on TV - Tomorrow (noon & 4pm), Wednesday (1.10pm & 9.30pm), Friday (2.55pm).
Bloodstained episode that shocked even Clare officials...
One of the more unusual movies to have hit the September Road desk in the search for Gaelic games on film is The Rising of the Moon (not to be confused with the song), a 1957 film directed by the six-time Oscar winner John Ford.
The comedy is divided cleanly into three parts - each a short story concerning some aspect of country life in Ireland.
The main piece is about the arrest of an Irish nationalist, but the section that concerns us is called A Minute's Wait and shows a train pulling into Dunfaill Railway Station (the scene includes Maureen Potter and Jimmy O'Dea).
The train stops initially to pick up some lobsters for the bishop's dinner, but ends up repeatedly delayed - for, among other things, a prize goat and a pint of porter. And then come the Ballyscran hurling team and the pipe band. The team have won a final and are paraded back to the station.
Apparently, the clip with the hurling team caused quite a stir at the time. The Clare County Board even objected to the scene - which was shot in Kilkee - as the players returning from the match resembled something from M.A.S.H. - blood-stained bandages outnumbering hurleys.
We can only speculate that the Clare board believed there were too many casualties, and not too few.
Bloodstained episode that shocked even Clare officials . . .
Next Weekend
Ulster SFC
Semi-final - Donegal v Derry
Connacht SFC
Semi-final - Roscommon v Galway
All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers
Round One - Louth v Tyrone
Monaghan v Wicklow
Westmeath v London
Antrim v Clare
Sligo v Down
Waterford v Longford
Carlow v Meath
All-Ireland SHC Qualifier
Round One - Westmeath v Waterford
Laois v Galway
Dublin v Offaly
Clare v Limerick
Féile na nGael - Corcaigh
Connacht SFC Title
Galway Evens
Mayo Evens
Roscommon11/1
Leitrim25/1
