Football

Grainne McElwain tells the stories of the GAA cups - 'Scéalta na gCorn' - on TG4

The cups and trophies contested across Ireland carry names of people, places and events that reveal the importance of Gaelic games to countless families and communities. Grainne McElwain spoke to Kenny Archer ahead of her documentary on the subject...

Presenter Grainne McElwain (right) with GAA trophies expert Humphrey Kelleher in the Croke Park Museum.
Presenter Grainne McElwain (right) with GAA trophies expert Humphrey Kelleher in the Croke Park Museum. Presenter Grainne McElwain (right) with GAA trophies expert Humphrey Kelleher in the Croke Park Museum.

TROPHIES may be made of metal - but they really consist of flesh and blood, words and memories.

That's especially the case in the GAA, where cups are often named not only after Irish icons and patriots, but also humble club players, volunteers, and members.

Gráinne McElwain, best known as Sky Sports' GAA presenter, has brought to life the names and tales of some of the more than 2,000 Gaelic Games trophies in a new six-part weekly series starting tonight (Wednesday) at 8.30pm on TG4.

'Scéalta na gCorn' – 'Stories of the Cups' – takes in six different counties, starting in Dublin, then moving on to Monaghan, Antrim, Donegal, Galway, and ending up in Cork, although some trophies also have connections further afield, including several at provincial and national levels.

McElwain chuckles at the suggestion she's shown considerable Ulster and personal bias, as someone who grew up in Monaghan and now lives in Connemara:

"I actually didn't!," she responds, somewhat unconvincingly… "We went to Monaghan, which was obviously a dream."

In the Farney County her local knowledge allows her to take in 10 cups, including those named after Pauline Devlin, Fergal O'Hanlon, Mick Duffy, and Gloria Corrigan, plus the Courtney, McNally, and McAnespie Cups in Ulster Ladies Schools competitions.

She pays a visit to the county's up-and-coming Rounders stars to learn about Corn Aodh Rua and meets some old friends, including former GAA president Páraic Ó Dufaigh and school principal Brendan Ó Dufaigh.

Grainne grew up around Scotstown, the daughter of well-known musician Seamus McElwain, who had been touring in Canada with his band 'The Ventures' when she was born.

Returning 'home' at the age of four, Grainne was hugely influenced by her granny Annie McCague - an aunt of former GAA President Sean McCague – "she was huge into Irish language and history, that's where I got my love of those."

The GAA was all-encompassing for the McElwain children, not just playing with balls and sliotars but musical instruments too. "I was massively involved in Scor, Scor na nOg, Scor Sinsear, so we were in every single townland around Ulster at all the different Scor competitions; plenty of memories of being in Moy Parish Hall…"

Her father's performing continues to this day, no doubt the inspiration for her own move from being a teacher in Dublin to becoming a broadcaster: "His claim to fame is that he does the PA in Clones," she says with a smile.

With all that knowledge, and her fluent Irish - husband Gearoid Mac Donnacha is now head of RTE Raidio Na Gaeltachta - Grainne is the perfect host of this series.

Starting in Dublin, the tales of many cups are related, including the best-known – the Sam Maguire and the Liam MacCarthy – plus what's thought to be the first, the Silvermines Cup (played for between selections from North Tipperary and South Galway in Dublin's Phoenix Park in 1886). Throughout the series, viewers will learn about some intriguingly named trophies, such as the Little Norah Cup and the 'Flyer' Nyhan Cup.

'Scéalta na gCorn', of course, is about the people, past and present: those who have been commemorated, and those proud and honoured that their loved one's name lives on.

"People know the stories around the main trophies, but there are so many cups around every single county and many people don't know who these people were, why the cups were named after them, their significance," says Grainne.

"It's nice - every time someone raises that cup they're remembering that person and the contribution they made to the GAA."

Two examples from Antrim alone: "The Danny McNaughton Cup, talking to his widow. She has learned Irish and really wanted to do a bit in Irish, which was great, such a fabulous lady. Finding out how young she was when her husband died, a lifetime ago, and it's great that we're still talking about him and his contribution to the GAA.

"She got involved more in the GAA after Danny's passing, and talks about what the GAA did for her, how important it was to her. She's now hugely involved in the Irish Language in the club [Cushendall].

"We spoke to Neil McManus there too, about the 'Big Ears' Cup, the Volunteer Cup, and that was really interesting."

Danny McNaughton was a great player, for both the Ruairi Og and Antrim before his untimely death in 1996, but Grainne found others commemorated too:

"You realise the connections the GAA has to our cultural revival, the revolutionaries, patriots, and cultural activists."

Among those featured in this series are Roger Casement, Terence McSwiney, and Tomas Mac Curtain, but Graine points out: "Also honoured are administrators – there's a Maggie Close Cup, and we spoke to her daughter, Dolores, up at St Ergnat's, Moneyglass. Her mother was just a huge, huge volunteer in the club, gave absolutely everything, massive into camogie.

"An U16 Camogie Cup is named after her and that's a lovely touch – it doesn't have to be a famous player…just someone who devoted her life to the GAA. The daughter was so appreciative, said her mother would have loved that."

Again only within the Antrim episode, Grainne hears the stories behind the trophies named after Bronagh Kelly (Gort na Mona), Joe Boyle (St John's, Belfast), and Seamus Mac Ferran, GAA President from 1955 to '58, after whom the Ulster Club SFC Cup is named.

Grainne McElwain knows from personal experience about the pull of home, and she's found that throughout this series too:

"The connection with immigrants shows you how much love for the GAA remains overseas, because a lot of the cups were bought by players or people who'd gone to work in England or America and sent money home.

"In Monaghan, we had the old Ward Cup, a man Owen Ward who organised that cup and got a set of medals too. It was called the Monaghan Cup at first...

"Sam Maguire and Liam MacCarthy are prime examples, they did so much abroad, but there are many other examples

There was an American Cup as well, which pre-dated the Mick Duffy Cup, which is for the Monaghan Senior [Football] Championship. That American Cup is in the Monaghan GAA Museum; it was really interesting to find out about the Ballybay connections which sent money back for that.

"You leave your club and your county, but you never actually really go away. You still have that connection, you still want to be involved with the GAA; I like that aspect of the series as well."

Donegal may be better known for football now but Gráinne discovers historical links to both hurling and camogie in the northwest, and finds out about a much-loved priest who has three cups named in his honour. The story of The Democrat Cup also show the important role local newspapers often played in Donegal's sporting tradition.

Sponsors too – learn about the Odlum's Irish Purity Cup in Galway Cup and the Clery Cup for Dublin senior men's football.

There's a vast amount of information worn lightly in these programmes. Grainne's own knowledge of the GAA is deep, but she credits others too, notably producer Hannah Ni Dhubhchain, "who did so much research", and the man who inspired it all.

"Humphrey Kelleher has written a book called 'GAA Family Silver'; he was in 'The Sunday Game' studio and somebody asked where a certain cup had come from. They asked around and nobody knew… He has done so much work on finding out the back stories on so many cups, and he's been a consultant on this series."

Excellent though it is, former Dublin hurling boss Kelleher's book only started scratching the silvery surface of this subject.

'Scéalta na gCorn' goes a little deeper, McElwain finding out "stories that are personal, they're the ones that really connect with people. There are some funny stories, the Little Norah one is lovely, I'm not going to give it away, you'll have to watch…

"I went to Galway and met the parents of a gorgeous girl, Pia McDermott Geraghty, who passed away at 15 years of age… Talking to them about their daughter, she would have played with Nicola and Louise Ward who play for Galway now. It was extremely sad, but what it means to them to have a cup named after her, it's the U16 Girls' Cup…

"It would break your heart, but families are also so pleased, so proud, to have a cup named after the person that they loved."

Originally planned to start in early 2020, then stymied again for most of last year, 'Scéalta na gCorn' was finished in January of this year.

The first episode of six, to be shown weekly, will be broadcast tonight, Wednesday, at 8.30pm on TG4.

As well as 'Sam' and 'Liam', Grainne meets 'Brendan' – the Brendan Martin Cup for the All-Ireland Senior Ladies Football Championship – and 'Seán', All-Ireland Senior Camogie's Seán O'Duffy Cup.

Indeed there's a strong female influence in the opening episode, as Grainne finds out about the Máire Ní Chinnéide and Kathleen Mills Cups, the former named for a founder of the Camogie Association and the latter called after one of the most decorated players ever.

With less than a quarter of the island covered in these six programmes, here's hoping that this is merely the start of a long-running series, and that the stories of the cups runneth over for years to come.

Produced by Imagine Media, with support from NI Screen's Irish Language Broadcast Fund, 'Scéalta na gCorn' will be broadcast weekly on Wednesdays on TG4, starting tonight at 8.30pm.