Seattle Gaels: 'Re-Generating
With a Few of the Old Guard
and a Lot of the New Guard'
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
Aidan O'Callaghan is originally from Galway and he grew up playing Gaelic football in Ireland. As a child, he played hurling with his father, but not on any organized team. Aidan arrived in Seattle in 1996 where he joined the Seattle Gaels men's Gaelic football team.
This year, Aidan is the chairman of the Seattle Gaels Gaelic football team which is an elected position. His job is to oversea the committe meetings and fundraising for the club. He is also the laison with the Irish community, as well as organizing club tournaments at home and away.
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Aidan O'Callaghan
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Speaking about what is happening now with the Seattle Gaels men's Gaelic football team, Aidan said, "at the present time, the Seattle men's team is regenerating. In Seattle, in the early Nineties, there was a core of immigration from Ireland, so it's like a whole slew of people came over at the same time.
"Back then there were only maybe one or two Irish pubs in Seattle, so they all got to know each other. They were all about 25 years old, and when they started playing Gaelic football together, they had a very strong team, and ended up being very competitive in the Northwest, and tended to win all the tournaments.
"In about 2001 and 2002, these players were getting older, and they started to retire from the game. And with the Celtic Tiger boom in Ireland, there were not a lot of new Irish coming to Seattle, in fact, some people returned to Ireland.
"And there ended up being this hole that didn't get filled. So, it's only natural that the club is going to go through a little bit of a downturn. The club hit bottom last year, so myself and Barry Carson came up with a concept to revive the football in Seattle.
"What we decided to do was to have an Irish pub Gaelic football tournament. A select number of Irish pubs put in a team and we rented a very nice field and did a seven aside tournament. What that did was to get fellows out on the field that hadn't been out before and they became interested in Gaelic football. The tournament was a huge success."
Aidan said the picture has been steadily improving since that time. He said, "there are more Irish coming to Seattle now to work in the high-tech industry, and as a result of the pub tournament we have been able to recruit some of these new Irish.
"So, the good news is that the football is now revitalizing with a few of the old guard but a lot of the new guard, but it's still a work in progress."
Because the Irish pub Gaelic football seven aside was so successful and generated new players for the Seattle Gaels, an annual tournament is planned for next May to coincide
with the start of the season and to pick-up new players.
For more information about the Seattle Gaels, call Aidan O'Callaghan at (206) 940-1113 www.seattlegaels.com.
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