Inside Galway celebrations, including a Hospital visit and a packed-out stadium
The Galway team with Abigail Egan 2 of 8
Matthew Mangan, aged 9 from members of the Galway Camogie Team 3 of 8
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Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Irish Times
The All-Ireland final was no classic, but new rules meant a big improvement on 2024
The 2024 All-Ireland football final between Armagh and Galway marked a moment in history. The Orchard County won just their second Sam Maguire Cup, their first for over 20 years, but it will likely be remembered for even more significant reasons. As long as the Football Review Committee's (FRC) proposals are ratified by GAA congress later this year, then Armagh-Galway will be the final intercounty game played without the FRC's rule changes that have breathed life back into football this year. The game itself is something of a time capsule – a tense, dreary game, with all the hallmarks of a sport that needed a speedy redraft. This year's final was hardly a classic itself as Kerry blew away Donegal with an early assault that the Ulster champions never recovered from. But a deeper analysis of both of these game shows that there are major signs of improvement in the wider footballing context. For starters, there was a nearly 20 per cent reduction in handpassing in 2025 compared to the previous final. With Galway particularly intent on playing through the hands, the 2024 final saw 593 fist passes, compared to 485 in this year's edition. Highlighting hand-passing's negative impact on games, over two-thirds of those passes went either sideways or backwards in both finals. READ MORE Kerry's last play of the first half came in for some criticism from neutrals after the final this year. The Kingdom held possession for over two minutes, waiting for the hooter to sound before David Clifford blasted a two-pointer over the bar to end the opening period. Although that possession seemed to last forever because of the lack of action, Galway actually kept the ball for longer on two separate occasions in their loss to Armagh. Those long stretches of idle possession would have been high on the list of priorities for the FRC, and things largely seem to have improved this year. The average length of time that possession was held in the final fell by nearly a quarter from last year – from 45 seconds to 34 – although this was down to an increase in shooting and more direct play rather than turnovers and tackling. One huge difference between the two games was in shooting. The contrast is stark – there were 45 shots in the 2024 final, but this was eclipsed by the total of 68 shots this year, an increase of 51 per cent. There was also a massive increase in the number of scores, from 25 to 41, so in this regard, the FRC changes have absolutely added more excitement to the game. There were far more shots in the 2025 final than in the previous year's game, with Kerry in particular targeting two-pointers. Graphic: Paul Scott Kerry managed five two-pointers, targeting the extra point with 14 total attempts, whereas Donegal failed to do likewise, scoring zero from three attempts. All of these came in the second half as they were chasing the game. While other rules have certainly helped create more scoring chances, the introduction of the two-point arc has been critical in the return of long-range scores. One odd detail from the 2024 final is that Paul Conroy likely would have won Galway the All-Ireland if the arc had been established by then, with the midfielder scoring three from the required distance. However, these were the only such scores, and only three more were attempted, while there were 17 shots from 40 metres or more in the 2025 edition. There were far less long-distance shots in the 2024 final, where Galway's Paul Conroy was a clear outlier. Graphic: Paul Scott Disappointingly, there was only the slightest increase in turnovers in the tackle, up one from last year to 11. The number of blocks was doubled from two to four, as was the number of turnovers in one-on-one situations, but these are very marginal gains. Traditionalists will also have been disappointed with the amount of kickpassing in this year's final. There was slightly less kickpassing than in the 2024 final, and the number of foot passes that travelled forward more than 30 yards fell from by three to nine. Kickouts were radically altered by the new rules, with short restarts having to travel beyond the 40-metre arc. This meant that there were massive changes in kickout strategy between the two finals. In 2024, 29 total kickouts went short to a player under little or no pressure – that number fell to just five in 2025. At the other end of the spectrum, 29 kickouts went long this year, over four times more than in the Armagh-Galway final, creating entertaining scraps for possession in midfield. This was crucial, as Kerry's determination to win the breaking ball on kickouts was the platform that their victory was built on. Galway's Paul Conroy and Oisin Conaty of Armagh. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Meanwhile, high fielding doubled from last year, with eight clean catches coming from these kickouts. Joe O'Connor, in particular, gave an exhibition of a skill we have not seen enough of in recent years. Overall, despite the 2025 final not being the most thrilling game we've seen this year, it shows that even an average game under the new rules can be an improvement on last year. While some skills of the game like kickpassing and tackling remained disappointingly minor aspects of the final, there were still significant gains in areas that add entertainment for fans, like shooting and high fielding. There are further changes that could be voted in at GAA congress, but after the best championship in years, there's plenty of reason for delegates to stick to the current rules, and not twist one more time. Regardless, it's almost guaranteed that Armagh's victory over Galway will be the final intercounty game played without some FRC changes. It's certainly a good reminder of why we needed these changes to begin with.
Irish Times
17 hours ago
- Irish Times
The day Galway re-organised hurling's top table
It was an extraordinary rise, simply because the fall had been so spectacular. At the end of July 1973, Galway's hurlers lost to London in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Within two years, they had won the league and an All-Ireland semi-final for the first time since the early 1950s. The achievement was notable at the time but 50 years in retrospect, it is of even greater significance. Since 1975, Galway, who had an at best patchy championship record – one All-Ireland and several final defeats – have been consistently at the top table, even if not always dining sumptuously. Next year, it will be eight seasons since the county last contested an All-Ireland and that is as long as Galway have ever had to wait between final appearances since the breakthrough of 1975 when they would lose in the final to Kilkenny's great team of the time. READ MORE A handful of players actually made it all the way from losing to London to contesting an All-Ireland. It was off the field, however, that they made the big change. MJ Flaherty, known to all as 'Inky' was a hurling icon in the west. His 17 years playing for Galway had brought some rewards – captaining the league winning side of 1951 and a Railway Cup with Connacht in 1947 – but his only All-Ireland final came in his last year, 1953 by which stage he was on the bench but he did play that day when Cork retained their title. Flaherty went on to manage his county later that decade and after the nadir of 1973, he was convinced to take charge once more. There were green shoots in that the county had three years previously won its first under-21 All-Ireland and several of that team graduated. For the 1975 season, the manager concentrated on physical fitness although he did bring in another former great to help with coaching, Josie Gallagher, whose influence was sufficient for John Connolly, the team's captain and only All Star, to credit him with transforming his line-ball striking technique. [ Galway rain on Cork's parade to claim All-Ireland senior camogie title Opens in new window ] All Ireland Hurling Final 1981: Galway's John Connolly gets past Eugene Coughlan of Offaly. Photograph: INPHO/ Billy Stickland From Division Two, they won the league, beating the big three in their knockout matches, Cork, All-Ireland champions Kilkenny and Tipperary. The manager also pressed on them the importance of analysing their game and the team's. 'I encouraged them to be self-critical,' he told Paddy Downey in these pages, 'and to be critical of each other when necessary but not in a hurtful way. I impressed on them that top-class hurling was more than a game, it was an art and if they aspired to be artists, they had no alternative but to practice constantly and develop all their skills'. An All-Ireland quarter-final against B champions Westmeath was the only championship practice they got before facing new Munster champions Cork, who had dethroned Limerick, in the semi-final. The late Joe McDonagh, who would be elected GAA president in 1996, told author Norman Freeman about the impact of the manager. 'Inky kept telling us that we could do it. He kept hammering the themes of self-belief and self-confidence. We felt great. We were superbly fit. 'We felt that Cork might be writing us off in their own minds – the Galway teams of other years satisfied to make a reasonable showing for most of the match. We were determined to give it all we had.' Iggy Clarke playing for Galway in 1984. Photograph: Inpho In what almost became a template for Galway teams, they effectively won the match in the early stages. Three goals within the opening nine minutes from Frank Burke, Connolly and PJ Qualter put them 10 ahead, 3-2 to 0-1. In what would become another recognisable trend, the lead evaporated and although the Westerners did well to keep it topped up, the match ended in a frenzy of one and two-point leads before they succeeded in closing it out, 4-15 to 2-19 before 27,020 spectators. There was no doubting the merit of the win, however, and Galway believed they would have won by more had the match continued for a while longer. Led by the exceptional displays of Seán Silke and Iggy Clarke in the half backs, their defence did enough to limit Cork's highly-regarded attack. It meant a first All-Ireland since 1958 when in an experiment, the GAA had been rotating the byes into the final so that Galway didn't have to play a semi-final in either 1955 or three years later. From that year on, the county had a largely fruitless – one match won in a decade – involvement in the Munster championship until 1969. Their relationship with Cork was different in the 1970s. The team they defeated 50 years ago was on the cusp of the county's last three-in-a-row. Iggy Clarke with a hurley from his playing days at his home in Oranmore. Photograph: Joe O'Shaughnessy Four years later, it was Galway who also called a halt to the attempt at four successive All-Irelands. Again, Kilkenny intervened in the final. A year later, the dawning of a new decade saw Galway finally fulfilled with a dramatic win over Limerick, followed by Connolly's brother Joe giving his timeless oráid - speech. It all began with the win over Cork, 50 years ago this weekend.
Irish Examiner
21 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Preparing ahead for back-to-school lunchbox snacks
AFTER the long, lazy, languid holidays, we're coming close to returning to school day structures, timetables — and the oft-dreaded lunchboxes. The coming weeks are an ideal time to plan and get organised, particularly in the back-to-school snack department. There are times when it feels as if children are fuelled by snacks. Even if your kids' school is involved in the hot school meals programme, they will still need to eat at small break, have something to keep them going when they come home from school, and perhaps a grab-and-go bite before sports activities. Caught on the hop, parents can be easily persuaded to part with hard cash for brightly packaged, smartly marketed, ultra-processed foods. This is where Galway-based chef Lou Robbie can help. Published this summer, her book Make & Freeze: The Ultimate Guide to Family-Friendly Meal Prep features many ideas, savoury and sweet, for parents worried about snack time. A professional chef, Robbie is well-practised at feeding people of all ages, with a particular focus on family-friendly options. With a BA in culinary arts from Atlantic Technological University (ATU, formerly GMIT), she started her culinary career in Galway restaurants Cava and Ard Bia@Nimmos, then worked in The Kitchen in Galway City Museum for eight years before it closed during the pandemic. Without a restaurant to work in, Robbie applied her training and skills to the home kitchen, feeding her two children: Maeve, now 10, and Hamish, who is seven. In 2021, she set up her own business —Little Lou Cooks — to teach online cooking classes to adults and children, while sharing recipes and batch-cooking tips on Instagram. A simple Instagram reel of Robbie making and freezing batches of her mini-scones, oat bars, energy balls, and savoury muffins for school lunchboxes went viral in 2023, striking a chord with parents who wanted to add more homemade food to their kids' diets. 'That's when my page blew up,' she says. She gained 77,000 followers from that reel — her total is now 920,000. 'That's what really resonated with people, being able to batch-make snacks, whether they're sweet or savoury, portion them into bags, label, and freeze them,' Robbie says. 'It's what I've always done since my daughter started preschool.' She knows that it's important to make plenty; fresh baking is always irresistible. 'If you like a recipe, then double it up. 'There's no point in making just 12. Make 24, so at least half of them will get to the freezer. Put them into bags, label and freeze to be defrosted as you need them.' While the freezer can be a neglected kitchen appliance, a stopping off place where food is deposited for a time before it heads to the rubbish or composting bin, Robbie uses it in a much more proactive way. It's a lesson that she learned from her grandmother and mother. At the packed Galway launch of Make & Freeze, Robbie spoke of how her granny used to bake, portion, and freeze loaves of homemade bread, making the point that batch cooking frees the cook from being tied to the kitchen every day. 'It's about helping people to save time and money,' says Robbie. 'I want these recipes to be accessible for parents to cook for their kids … with ingredients that are easy to find in supermarkets. My recipes aren't cheffy, and hopefully they'll be recipes that people will make time and time again.' Lou Robbie working in her kitchen at home in Galway focusing on back to school food prep which are illustrated in her cookbook. Photo: Ray Ryan Planning is key Along with chapters on pre-portioned savoury or sweet items that can be frozen for lunchboxes — think mini bacon and cheese quiches, pizza scones, pea mint and feta pancakes, or easy oat bars, apple/banana/carrot muffins, and nut-free energy balls — Robbie includes chapters on breakfasts, slow cooker dinners, air fryer favourites, family pies, and breads. Lots of recipes include nutritious ingredients such as oats — she is a big fan — seeds, vegetables, dried and fresh fruit, and pulses. A section entitled 'sneaky sweet stuff' involves using squash in chocolate mousse, chickpeas in blondies, and energy balls with lentils. All recipes have instructions on storage, freezing, and defrosting, which is where some of us can come unstuck. 'We're often great at filling the freezer,' laughs Robbie, 'we're not always the best at remembering to take things out.' For her, planning is vital: 'We make our lunches the night before and every night we defrost for the next day because it's just too rushed on school mornings. Everything is too hectic, and I don't like going to the freezer in a panic because I'm likely to pull out the wrong thing.' Habit-forming is key, says Robbie, adding, 'It's what sets you up for success.'She has learned this over the last five years of snack-making. 'The first year, I started in September, did it for a few months and stopped after Halloween. The next year I went to Christmas, then Easter, and now it's all year round. Start by making one thing per week, like sausage and egg muffins, or mini sweet scones. Make a big batch, freeze it, and see how that goes. Don't forget to defrost them and put them into the lunchbox. Then add another couple of recipes, like easy oat bars and energy balls, so that's three options that you have in the freezer.' It's also important to spread the workload. 'It's too much for one person to do. Get everybody in the family involved in keeping the freezer stash topped up — it gives them ownership as well. As much as I cater for kids, these are things that are good in everyone's lunchbox.' Don't get discouraged if your children turn up their noses at your lovingly homemade snacks. Robbie has experienced this too. 'Meet them where they're at and don't be disheartened. If they like chocolate, then make something like banana muffins and put three chocolate chips on top. It's mostly good, with a little bit of what they like, and every child is so different.' Parents want to see lunchboxes that come home empty, with all those carefully made, nutritious snacks eaten, and Robbie, through her book and social media, is ready to lend a hand. 'I'll be sharing and re-sharing a lot of recipes,' she says, 'and I'm really excited to see people baking sweet and savoury snacks for the lunchboxes this September.' Lou Robbie's black bean chocolate chip cookies It's safe to say that cookies are always welcome in our house. These are soft and fudgy and delicious as a snack. Servings 12 Preparation Time 20 mins Cooking Time 15 mins Total Time 35 mins Course Baking Ingredients 250g oats 1 x 400g tin of black beans, drained well 125ml maple syrup or honey 2 heaped tablespoons cocoa powder 40g butter, at room temperature 80g chocolate chips TO DECORATE: 70g chocolate, melted Method Preheat the oven to 180°C fan, and line two baking trays with baking parchment. Put half the oats into a blender. Add the drained black beans, maple syrup, cocoa powder and butter and process until fairly smooth. Scoop the mix into a mixing bowl, and stir through the other half of the oats and the chocolate chips. Divide the mix into 12 balls. Place on the baking trays and push down to flatten. If you have a cookie cutter, use it to mould them into nice round shapes if not, do your best to shape them with your hands. Bake for 15 minutes. Let them cool on the trays for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in short bursts or in a small pot on a very low heat. Drizzle the cooled cookies with melted chocolate. Serve with cold milk or a hot coffee. STORAGE: These cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days. TO FREEZE: Freeze in labelled ziplock bags for up to 3 months. TO DEFROST: Defrost in an airtight container overnight. Make & Freeze by Lou Robbie (Michael Joseph, €19.99) is out now. See:
