Making a film out of it
An Oscar-nominated tale of a young hurler from the fictional Cork village of Ballykilly, who has his heart set on wearing the blood and bandage in a Munster final. But it wasn’t just the love of the game that drove him on; every step he took on the road to glory was rewarded by a kiss from a good woman. Still time for Frank to organise this bonus structure?
The Clash of the Ash, 1987
Liam Heffernan –– AKA Blackie Connors –– has had a rough time in Fair City lately, but at least his prospects are sounder than those of restless county minor prospect Phil Kelly, his character in Clash of the Ash, the coming-of age-classic set in Fermoy. After a bit of blackguarding in a county final with Mitchelstown, Phil saw red and having skelped his man across the poll, ran off into the distance to the immortal farewell; “There’ll be no job in the bank for you.”
IMDB describes Hurling as “a short film showing the Irish contact sport known as hurling, similar to, but much rougher than, American football.” In a bizarre dénouement to the movie, all of the players in a fictional match between Cork and New York are seen stretched on the pitch unconscious. Pádraig Ó Caoimh, who was GAA Secretary General at the time, sent a delegation to the Irish Film Censor in protest.
The Banner did get at least one slice of the big screen action, but this was another unflattering depiction. The Rising of the Moon was filmed in Clare by The Quiet Man director John Ford and it was another vehicle for Hollywood’s perceptions of the fighting Irish and their entertaining penchant for a bit of a dust up around the square. In the book The Gaelic Athletic Association, 1884-2009, Dr Sean Crosson recalls “images of badly-injured players returning from a game on stretchers.”
