Chris Whelehan: "The Irish Brought Hockey to Canada Through Hurling"
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
Chris Whelehan is Mr. Gaelic Football in Edmonton. He is a passionate supporter of Ireland's national games in the Alberta capital city, vigorously supporting both the women and men's Gaelic football teams. Chris recently donned the jersey of the Edmonton Wolfe Tones for a two-day Gaelic football tournament in White Rock, British Columbia and when he wasn't on the field, he was enthusiastically encouraging the Edmonton women and men's teams from the sidelines.
Whelehan is also president and part-owner of Celtic Homes Inc., which employs 45 shop workers in Edmonton They build modular homes off-site and then transport on-site and for the past seven years, the business has been growing and expanding.
Chris explained to The Celtic Connection the difference between a modular home and one built on-site. He said, “when the modular home is transported on-site it looks identical to any others in any subdivision. For example, right now, we have homes in the River Valley and St. Albert areas that are in subdivisions of a half-a-million plus. The price difference between a modular home and one built on-site would be about 15 percent cheaper.”
“We have our own design architects and drafts people and a show home for the customer to look at, but basically we design the homes to the customers needs. Everybody who comes to us generally has their own site and their own land. We supply the complete home or we can supply it to their foundation and they complete it.
“So the options are that they can have it totally turnkey or they can have it taken from the foundation up. Right now, most people go from the foundation up and we complete everything from the basement up as per turnkey. The customer simply brings in their groceries and basically everything else is in place, we even supply the appliances.
“In our system, the basic price starts at $69 dollars a square foot, whereas the average selling price is about $120. We start off with the basic price and basic plan and then we design the plan to suit the customer. Each plan is totally different. We might build 50 homes every year and no plan is the same because that is the choice of the customer.”
INSIDE THE SHOP of Celtic Homes, where all the modular homes are assembled.
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At present, the Celtic Homes plant is 42,000 square feet and they are in the process of building a brand new 134,000 square foot plant which will enable them to supply larger and wider market areas.
“We’ve already shipped 14 homes to Colorada and we’ve had other opportunities to ship to California and various other parts of the United States,” said Chris, “but because we’re so busy locally, we’re not pursuing that avenue at this time.”
He said, “the nature of the beast is you always want to go bigger and the only way you can do that is to get up there and go after it, and that’s what we are going to do. It’s always a bit of a challenge but if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be in this industry.
“There are so many easier ways to make a living besides construction, it’s a tough game and always has been. The market can decide your future as it goes up and down, so if you’re looking for an easy way out....don’t get into construction.”
Chris Whelehan was born in County Westmeath in Ireland. As a young man, he worked on construction and on his time off, he played Gaelic football and hurling – Ireland’s national games. He later moved to Dublin where he also played the Gaelic games. After moving to Edmonton in 1973, Chris opened his own construction company called Whelehan Construction. Chris built homes in St. Albert and Edmonton while continuing to play and coach the Gaelic games in Alberta.
In our recent conversation, Whelehan declared, “The Irish brought hockey to Canada through hurling.” He said, “hockey is now Canada’s national game, no matter what they say about lacrosse, and who knows, maybe in another hundred years, Gaelic football will be one of Canada’s national games.
“Statistics have proven that the biggest problem for Canadian kids today is lack of exercise. Fourteen percent of the school curriculum right now is physical education and they want to build this up to 25 percent. A great fit for this would be Gaelic football for the boys and girls because it’s a cross-section of soccer and basketball played together all at the same time.
“So, the kids who play basketball would like to kick the ball, but it’s not allowed. The kids who play soccer would like to catch the ball, but that’s not allowed. In Gaelic football we have the perfect game for them. It gives them a lot of confidence and it has also been proven that there are a lot less injuries in Gaelic football than say soccer or rugby. I played competitive hockey for seven years and I can tell you there are a lot more injuries with hockey than Gaelic football, even though there is a lot of body contact with the Gaelic.”
Chris speaks with fervour about his heritage. He said, “you can’t keep the heritage alive if all you want to do is go out and march on St. Patrick’s Day. You’ve got to put the effort in. Some people are Irish dancers, others poets or singers, but I’ve taken the onus on doing the Gaelic games.
“We’ve introduced the Gaelic games into four schools in Edmonton, Sherwood Park and St. Albert, so we’re making inroads. We’re not saying that we are going to have a fruitful result, but you sow a lot of seeds and sometimes you get a crop and we’re prepared to sow those seeds. Already people are taking to the games very rapidly and kindly, and they are looking at the Gaelic as an alternative.”
All the Gaelic games are shown live via satellite weekly at the Edmonton Irish Sports and Social Society club from May to mid September, culminating with the All-Ireland hurling and All-Ireland football finals.
“We have a great body of people to work with here in Edmonton,” said Whelehan, “such as Dennis Walsh who is 85 and Jack Bell who is 84 years of age. These guys are grandfathers of the game, they have contributed a lot. They have all-Ireland medals and trophies and are great mentors to follow. Yeah, it’s been enjoyable being involved in the Gaelic games...I’ve never regretted a moment of it.”
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For more information about men’s Gaelic football in Edmonton, call Chris Whelehan at (780) 459-5444, Larry Conneely at (780) 966-4242, or Gerry Muldoon at (780) 458-6186. For information about women’s Gaelic football, call Janet Harvey at (780) 423-5727 or (780) 439-7521, Karen Hansen at (780) 905-7507, or coach Mick O’Toole at (403) 343-1382. For information about Celtic Homes Inc., call (780) 488-1307, toll-free at 1-877-488-1307, or visit: www.celtichomes.ab.ca.
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