Football

Armagh's Steven McDonnell and Antrim icon Terence McNaughton to host GAA Legends Tours

Armagh's Steven McDonnell will take part in this year’s Bord Gáis Energy GAA Legends Virtual Tour Series. Pic Colm O'Reilly
Armagh's Steven McDonnell will take part in this year’s Bord Gáis Energy GAA Legends Virtual Tour Series. Pic Colm O'Reilly Armagh's Steven McDonnell will take part in this year’s Bord Gáis Energy GAA Legends Virtual Tour Series. Pic Colm O'Reilly

ARMAGH All-Ireland winner Steven McDonnell and Antrim All-Ireland Hurling Championship finalist Terence McNaughton will be amongst the GAA greats who’ll give the public a unique insight into their playing careers when they take part in this year’s Bord Gáis Energy GAA Legends Virtual Tour Series.

Tipperary hurling star Eoin Kelly and Kerry Sam Maguire winning skipper Dara Ó Cinnéide will also take tours over the summer months they will be joined by a host of other Gaelic Games legends who will be reliving some of their proudest sporting moments in conversation with the team at the GAA Museum.

The GAA Museum at Croke Park remains closed until June 29 and with restrictions on gatherings still in place, the hugely popular Bord Gáis Energy GAA Legends Tour Series is going online and will continue to give fans a fascinating insight into these players’ careers and ongoing relationships with Gaelic Games.

Similar to the traditional tours, the players will be interviewed by a GAA Museum tour guide about their career and recall their earliest memories of playing Gaelic Games, lining out for club and county, their heroes and their Croke Park memories. The public will be able to watch online.

The list of GAA legends also includes Jamesie O’Connor (Clare), Joe Connolly (Galway), Rena Buckley (Cork) and Stefan White (Louth) and the virtual tour series begins today with Banner county hurling legend O’Connor as guide.

“The Bord Gáis Energy GAA Legends Tours are always a highlight of our summer season at the GAA Museum,” said Niamh McCoy, Director at the GAA Museum.

“Our visitors get a chance to really get under the skin of GAA greats and hear about life behind-the-scenes on big match days at Croke Park. This year, by moving the tours online we’re bringing this unique experience to a wider audience and we hope the magic of these player memories will be felt by GAA fans around the country and beyond.

“The GAA Museum team constantly work to bring a living history of Gaelic Games to our visitors, and this partnership with Bord Gáis Energy has allowed us to continue to do that, even during these challenging times. We’d like to thank all the wonderful players for taking the time to tell us their stories."

Each of these special tours will offer fans the opportunity to get a glimpse into the making of a legend and Bord Gáis Energy Retail Director Colin Bebbington said: “We’re proud of our 12-year partnership with the GAA and delighted to launch the 2020 Bord Gáis Energy GAA Legends Tour series in a new online format.

“During these unprecedented times we hope that with these special tours, GAA fans will enjoy the opportunity to go behind-the-scenes as the Legends reflect on their career and share personal memories and anecdotes of playing big match days with club and county in Croke Park.

“With GAA fans having to do without the games they love so much for the past few months we really think that our legends tours will whet the appetite of all those supporters who are anxiously waiting for the return of the Championship.”

The forthcoming 2020 Bord Gáis Energy GAA Legends Virtual Tours at Croke Park are as follows:

June 17: Jamesie O’Connor (Clare), June 24: Steven McDonnell (Armagh), July 1: Terence McNaughton (Antrim), July 8: Dara Ó Cinnéide (Kerry), July 15: Eoin Kelly (Tipperary), July 22: Stefan White (Louth), July 29: Joe Connolly (Galway); Wednesday, August 5: Rena Buckley (Cork)