John Riordan: What a New York win would mean to the Irish diaspora of Woodlawn

What this match means for the Irish of Woodlawn, Westchester, Rockland, Queens, Connecticut and  elsewhere is the lifeblood of familiarity. 

NEW YORK WELCOME: A general view of spectators during the Connacht GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between New York and Mayo at Gaelic Park in 2019. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Last week in Manhattan's West Village, I had the pleasure of spending a few early evening hours with two generations of an Irish-American family from Woodlawn in the Bronx.

The expansive diaspora flung over to America since before the Declaration of Independence has spun out all sorts of complexity, good and bad. We can’t be proud of everything the Irish have offered America and it’s more appropriate to be critical of the sins of the past and of the present.