By Eamonn Kelly
More than 500 Gaels packed Gaelic Park’s Tara Banquet Room recently in celebration of 50 years of hurling and Gaelic football under the jurisdiction of the Chicago Central Division Board of the GAA.
In conjunction with the celebration of a half century of Gaelic games in the Chicago metropolitan area, the board created the first ever Hall of Fame to honor great Gaels of the past.
One hundred and ten members were nominated by current and former clubs, two for each decade, over the 50-year period.
One of the highlights of a great event was the presentation of special awards to several Gaels who promoted the GAA prior to the formation of the Chicago Board in 1949.
Sports writer and first chairman of the board, Pat Hennessy, presented the awards and kicked off the evening with a historic review of Gaelic games in Chicago since the beginning of the century.
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Following is a list of the first inductees in the Chicago Central Division GAA Hall of Fame: 1949-1959; Pat McDonagh (Mayo), St. Pats Football Club; Pat Hennessy (Kilkenny), Harry Bolands Hurling Club. 1959-1969; Mike Kenny (Kerry), Shannon Rangers Hurling Club; Gene Hand (Monaghan), Wolfe Tones Football Club. 1969-1979; Terry Teahan (Kerry), St. Mells Football Club; Geoff Butler (Kilkenny), St. Vincents Hurling Club. 1979-1989; Gerry Gerathy (Mayo), John McBrides Football Club; Ann Lyons (Chicago), Erins Rovers Ladies Football Club. 1989-1999; Mike Murphy (Cork), St. Brendans Football Club; Mike Scanlon (Limerick), Limerick Hurling Club.
League starts
After several weeks of local cup competitions, the opening round of the North American League got under way last Sunday in the Chicago Central Division. Four games were played in humid conditions with temperatures in the low 90s.
There was mixed entertainment in the 4-game schedule with the final game, a senior football clash between old rivals St. Brendan’s and Wolfe Tone’s, keeping the fans on their toes throughout the 60 minute contest.
The final score, 1-20 to 3-10 in Wolfe Tones favor, flattered the losers. Their three goals in the second half were of the "soft" variety and should have been stopped by a defense that was caught napping.
Besides these defensive errors, this was an excellent display by Wolfe Tones.
Parnell’s beat Pearse
In the other senior football game, a second half rally helped Parnell’s overcome a 3-point half-time deficit and defeated Pádraig Pearse by the narrowest of margins, 0-13 to 1-9.
Hurling
The senior hurling game between Cu Chulainn and Limerick produced an abundance of scores, but the quality of the hurling was only fair. Cu Chulainn, who won the contest with a final score 3-20 to 2-10 were never in danger of losing the brace of league points. While Limerick have a stronger team since last season they struggled for most of the game against a well balanced Cu Chulainn team. To their credit Limerick bounced back on several occasions to score goals when all seemed lost.
Junior football
In two poor junior football games, St. Brendan’s overpowered Parnells with a final score of 3-16 to 0-3 while Pádraig Pearse were too strong for Wolfe Tones winning by 13 points, 3-9 to 1-2.