John Riordan: Why Croke Park moment was an American dream for New York's GAA families

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND: New York players, from left, Ryan Corrigan and Colm Shalvey after the GAA Football All-Ireland Junior Championship Final match at Croke Park. PICTURE: John Sheridan/Sportsfile

It was a chance reunion at a Bronx playground 25 years ago that set the Slattery family on their way to Croke Park last Sunday.

Less about luck and more about planning was the reason the sons of the Mathers and the Corridans were brought together on a patch of grass in Queens for their first taste of Gaelic football in 2004.