5th - 7th November 2004

Walsh Island GAA Club headed to Scotland for a weekend trip last week. Eighteen flew out on Friday 5 th November for a two night stay in Glasgow City Centre which would take in a Celtic match and a Gaelic Football match against local team, Glasgow Gaels.

After arriving at Jury's Inn Friday evening, it was time to get a bite to eat before going to look for a local ale house. That house happened to be The Crystal Palace, next door to the hotel. Most of the night was spent there when shortly before closing the thought turned to night clubs.

The hours after midnight were eventful to say the least. In the lift to the sixth floor of Jury's were Tommy Kelly and Tony Kavanagh when all of a sudden between the third and fourth floors, the lift got stuck. Both Tony and Tommy, who were not really feeling the best after the alcohol consumption from the night, were stuck there for an hour and a half. Luckily, they had Keith Fitzpatrick to keep them company on the outside. Unluckily however for Mervyn Shaughnessy, who at some stage during the night amazingly managed to misplace one of his eyebrows. He was also on the wrong end of an extraordinary accident as his bottle of talc mysteriously exploded during the night covering him in white powder.

Saturday was match day. Walsh Island had a game at 11am against Glasgow Gaels. The match was 13-a-side with two twenty minute halves, playing two full backs and two full forwards instead of the normal three. The starting thirteen were, Martin Carty, Clive Murphy, Mervyn Shaughnessy, Matthew O'Connor, Thomas O'Connor James Gallagher, Ross Connor, Alan Mulhall, Rory Connolly, Tony Kavanagh, Keith Fitzpatrick, Eamon Mulhall & Richie Connor.

Both full forward players managed to turn the clock back during the game. The opening score was a point by full forward Eamon Mulhall who later added a second before the game finished. Second full forward Richie Connor also got off the mark with a point. Not bad for a two man full forward line with a combined age of 100. Keith Fitzpatrick added Walsh Island 's other scores by grabbing himself a brace of points before the final whistle.

The games only sour note was the hamstring injury to Ross Connor during the first half. Ross switched with Martin Carty in goal for the remainder of the half but had to be replaced by goalkeeping debutant Tommy Kelly. Unfortunately too for Ross' brother Rory and for John O'Keefe, neither player was able to get on the field of play. An injury to Rory's ankle forced him to watch from the side line as John was feeling a little under the weather and had decided it would be better if he didn't tog out.

The match finished after forty minutes 0-05 to 0-09 in favour of the hosts.

The Gaels then presented Walsh Island Chairman Eamon Mulhall with a plaque to commemorate Walsh Island 's visit to Glasgow .

Walsh Island got back to O'Neills where Glasgow Gaels supplied hot food and sandwiches for their visitors. Some of the crew made their way to Celtic Park while the remainder stayed in O'Neills enjoying a few drinks with their Scottish hosts.

After everyone had met in The Crystal Palace after the Celtic match, next stop was for Haggis in a nearby chipper. A rendition of the Offaly Rover in a Celtic Bar led to a second O'Neills where the fun really started. As the music played and the drinks flowed, the pub was treated to a one man Riverdance when Richie Connor cleared a circle and showed everyone his best Michael Flatley impression. Then, an 18 man train jumped, sang and danced a lap of the large O'Neills establishment.

By the end of the night, most had ended up back in Jury's lobby for a night cap. When everyone eventually settled down for the night, a fire alarm sounded and the hotel had to be evacuated as a precaution. Between the ear piercing noise of the alarm and the three fire engines on the street below, somehow, Keith Fitzpatrick and Mervyn Shaughnessy managed to sleep soundly throughout the whole ordeal not knowing what went on until the following morning. Luckily for the two sleeping beauties, there was found to be no fire and all guests were allowed back into the hotel within a half hour. The morning arrived shortly afterwards so there was just time for a quick breakfast before the train brought everybody to the airport for the thirty minute flight home.

With Tony Kavanagh and Tommy Kelly getting stuck in a lift for an hour and a half, Mervyn Shaughnessy misplacing half an eyebrow, Richie Connor's version of Riverdance, John O'Keefe slowly dying on the dressing room seats during the match and Tom Kelly's impressive palm reading, it was a very eventful 48 hours for the eighteen guys from Walsh Island who undertook the trip.

A big thank you must go to the GAA Club for subsidising the trip and also to Richie Connor for supplying gear bags and jackets to everyone