The GAA will hold a ceremony at Croke Park today to mark the centenary of the first-ever radio broadcast of Gaelic games.
On 29 August, 1926, the All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Kilkenny and Galway was broadcast live from Croke Park on the fledgling Irish Free State radio station 2RN. The commentator was Paddy Mehigan from Cork, a renowned hurler and athlete and a respected correspondent on Gaelic games through his Cork Examiner column under the name Carbery and in the Irish Times as Pat O.
Although radio sports commentaries were established in the US from the early 1920s and also existed in Australia and New Zealand, it is believed that the full live commentary at Croke Park of 100 years ago this weekend was the first of its kind for a field sport in Europe.
GAA President Jarlath Burns will unveil a plaque in the Croke Park media centre. RTÉ Head of Sport Declan McBennett will attend along with four generations of the Mehigan family.
“From the very foundation of the GAA, there has always been an understanding that telling the story of the games and the players was an essential part of our work,” said Burns. “We are delighted to mark the trailblazers of 100 years ago who bravely embraced the new technology of the age to bring the GAA and our games to an even greater audience.”
“The work of Paddy Mehigan continues to this day in how we spread our message across so many varied communications platforms and ensure that our great story is told. Mehigan was the original voice of the GAA. The baton he passed to Micheál O’Hehir, Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh right through to the household national and local broadcasters of today has been instrumental in helping to popularise Gaelic games and weave it into the fabric of Irish life.”
The Croke Park broadcast of August 1926 is an important milestone. Before this, there had been horse-racing results broadcast by the BBC and a boxing match from London in 1925, and a weekly magazine sports programme on the radio in Spain. However, the BBC would not begin live commentaries until January 1927, with a soccer match between Arsenal and Sheffield United.
A Cork-born customs officer by trade, Patrick D. Mehigan is a giant of Irish sports journalism and one of the first-ever full-time Gaelic Games Correspondents.
Based in London, he was on the London hurling team, beaten by Cork in the 1902 All-Ireland final. When he returned to Ireland and to play with Blackrock, he was on the Cork team that lost the 1905 hurling final to Kilkenny.
His writing was published from 1912, and aside from sport, he also wrote poetry and about history and nature. This, in time, would lead to his collections being published as Carbery’s Annual, a popular publication printed every year up until his passing in 1965. He was also a key contributor to An Camán, the GAA’s sponsored publication of the 1930s. He commentated on 100 matches on radio.
Next summer will mark the 80th anniversary of the Cavan-Kerry All-Ireland football final. Played at the New York Polo Grounds, the match was also a technological feat for its time, being broadcast live back to Ireland on Radio Éireann by Micheál Ó Hehir.
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Image Credit: GAA Museum
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