'September Sundays' to mark 100 years of Croke Park
Publishing on 30th August is 'September Sundays' as heard on Sunday Miscellany, edited by Clíodhna Ní Anluain, a hardback book of over 300 pages with accompanying CD and 37 black and white photographs/ images. It is a collection of 100 contributions to celebrate 100 years of Croke Park.
The book is selected from commissioned and open submission contributions that have been broadcast RTÉ Radio‘s Sunday Miscellany over the last decade, mainly on All-Ireland Hurling and Football Final September Sundays. It also includes related contributions that appeared at other times of the year over the same period covering such as instinctive acts of kicking a ball or hurling a sliotar, Cumann na mBunscol, GAA childrens’ mini All-Ireland events as well as the death of Kerry footballer Tim Kennelly and Kevin Heffernan. There is prose and poetry in the collection.
The book includes stories relating to many counties including Kilkenny, Galway, Tipperary, Offaly, Dublin, Cavan, Armagh, Donegal, Waterford, Kerry, Louth, Mayo, Down, Kildare, Roscommon, Cork, Limerick, Tyrone, Laoise, Longford and Westmeath. Many finals across a century of Sundays are referred to as well as numerous iconic participants – players and other personalities - including Ollie Walsh, DJ Carey, Kevin Moran, Con Houlihan, Lory Meahar, Seamus Darby, Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, Stephen Cluxton, Jim McGuinness, Éamonn Young, Breandán Ó hEithir and many more who have added so much to our enjoyment and appreciation of the games.
The collection is a reminder of how much going to Croke Park is so much more than a physical journey to a particular place. It bridges gaps in time and the unspoken and makes sense of why being part of something bigger than each of us really matters. It confirms how central the GAA and Croke Park are to our collective imagination and sense of selves.
Contributors to the book are John Allen, Nicky Barry, Denise Blake, Pat Boran, Louis Brennan, Lynn Cahill, Tim Carey, Maurice Cashell, Pat Coleman, John Conroy, Leo Cullen, Martina Devlin, Theo Dorgan, John Downing, Noel Duffy, Noel Ellis, Peter Fallon, Mary Folan, Catherine Foley, Norman Freeman, Liam Horan, Joe Kane, Colbert Kearney, Cyril Kelly, Mary Ledwidge, Mae Leonard, John MacKenna, Josephine McArdle, Larry McCluskey, Pádraig McGinn, Theresa McKenna, Tommy McKearney, Gerry Moran, Bernie Ní Fhlatharta, William Nolan, Conor O’Callaghan, John O’Donnell, Bairbre O’Hogan, Mary O’Malley, Joe Ó Muircheartaigh, Dan O’Neill, Art Ó Súilleabháin, Eamon O’Shea, Joe O’Toole, Cathy Power, Paul Rouse, Tom Rowley, Tommy Sands, Tom Seaver, William J Smyth, Alan Titley, Patrick E Walsh and Bert Wright.
The 12 contributors on the CD are Cathy Power, Joe Kearney, Tim Carey, Leo Cullen, Conor O’Callaghan, Denise Blake, Larry McCluskey, Mary O’Malley, John MacKenna, Mae Leonard, Catherine Foley and Cyril Kelly.