Tyrone Gaels make their mark in North America

IT’S a tale as old as time. Intrepid Irish lads head for foreign shores for work, adventure or both – but some can’t resist the lure of the sport they grew up playing back home.

Earlier in the month, Tyrone natives were to the fore as Toronto Gaels came up trumps in the Toronto Senior Championship final with victory over St Pat’s on a wet, windy day in the city (no change there then).

There were two Tyrone lads on their starting 15 – namely Tattyreagh’s Joe Cartin, whom we’ve touched base with about his experience, and Killyclogher’s Tiernan Cox. There were three other Killyclogher men among the subs – Ruairi Meyler, Sean Fox and Ruairí Devlin as well as Omagh St Enda’s Johnny McCaughey.

Further down the road from the Canadian city (okay, 500 miles away), Greencastle native Peter Fox skippered Kerry Gaelic Football Club to the New York Championship crown with an epic extra-time victory against Westmeath.

But first, Toronto and Tattyreagh. Joe Cartin was part of the trail-blazing Tattyreagh teams that won back-to-back Championship titles in 2017 and 2018, the most successful period in the club’s history and now he’s working in the ICT sector a veritable world away.

He’s been in Canada for two years now and says he has rediscovered his passion for Gaelic Football after falling out of love with the sport.

Asked to compare and contrast the experience of winning Championship titles with Tattyreagh and his recent accomplishment with Toronto Gaels, Joe said:

“With your home club you’re playing with the same lads since you were four or five years of age and your whole family is involved, be it uncles, brothers, grandmothers, grandfathers. 2017 and 2018 was brilliant for the whole community and I’d lived there my whole life.

“Out here it’s a bit different but what I’ve found is that I’ve got my love for Gaelic back. You’re playing with lads who are in the same boat as yourself – who have moved over, the majority of them with their partners, and they’re just trying to see a bit of the world.

>body2text<“ It’s a bit of craic and it’s refreshing to play with lads from all over Ireland, the likes of Dublin, Cavan and Cork.

“ In a way the GAA community is the same as back home. There’s a core group of people who were born in Canada and have built the club from the ground up. The club was founded in 1987 and this was their fourth Championship title, and there’s definitely a good sense of community.”

There are more than 500 clubs operating outside of Ireland and they act as a focal point for the Irish diaspora, as Joe acknowledges.

“If you didn’t get involved with a GAA club, I could see how you could get a bit lonely and struggle to settle. If you asked the majority of lads on the Toronto Gaels team, I’d say very few of them had any intention of playing football and were looking forward to a break away from it.

“ However, when they get chatting about it to members of the club, it’s hard to turn them down as there’s such a strong natural connection.

“ The lads obviously help you out with work, I personally have a few I.T. connections over here and there’s others with construction connections. It’s definitely a big help.”

Cartin was a keen observer from afar as Tattyreagh bowed out of the race for the Junior Championship with a narrow defeat to Strabane nearly a fortnight ago. The club has been hit particularly hard by emigration, but Joe envisions that he could be back on home soil as early as next year.

“ I was involved with Tattyreagh for many years and was playing on those teams that won back-to-back Championships in 2017 and 2018, so that’s probably why I was a bit burnt out from football.

“ We were knocking on the door and finally broke through, we were up to senior for a year and got relegated. Covid hit and a lot of guys around my age got itchy feet and I know other clubs in Tyrone are the same. Tattyreagh in particular, we lost a lot of men to travelling, lads wanted to get it out of their system.

“I’d say we’ll get a lot of numbers back in the next year or two which is good. Myself and my girlfriend could be home next year. The original plan was to do three years and we’ll not be far away from that next summer so we’ll make a decision on that soon.”

Greencastle native Peter Fox had the honour of captaining Kerry Gaelic Football Club to this year’s New York Senior Championship title, but it’s certainly not the first time he’s made his mark on the field of play in the Big Apple.

Fox was a starting forward on the New York intercounty team that made history last year, winning their first ever Connacht Championship match with a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Leitrim at the famous Gaelic Park in the Bronx.

He’s been Stateside since 2021 but it was a major transition at the time for a lad who grew up in the heart of the Sperrins in rural mid-Tyrone.

“It’s a bit different surely. New York’s a busy spot and there’s always plenty going on in it. It’s intense and took a fair bit of getting used to. I suppose I’d be a bit of a country lad and the first year or 18 months abroad were a bit of a shock to the system. I have to say I really enjoy it now, there’s always something to be at.”

Asked what informed his decision in the first place to make the big move, Fox, who is a Project Manager with foundation contractor ECD NY, said: “It was a desire to travel and get new experiences, that was the main aim. I’d already been out here for a summer in 2019 for the same company I’m working with now. Initially I’d intended on going to Australia but then Covid struck. I still wanted to go somewhere, and I got the call from my boss and decided to come out to New York again.”

In relative terms, Fox is a stalwart of the Kerry club and he describes his immense sense of privilege at having the opportunity to captain the team to the New York Championship title.

“Greencastle will always be my first club and my home club, but it’s deadly to have a bit of a base out here in New York.

“It was a real honour to captain the Kerry team. I suppose I’ve been here four seasons now and there’s only one other player there longer, Niall Madine. The rest of the lads have been here about two years and it was a class feeling to captain them to the title.

“It’s been a really great experience, it doesn’t take long before you build bonds with everyone and you could approach the management about nearly anything.

“They almost become like a second family.”