New generation keeping a proud tradition alive

Glen Rovers are looking to bridge a generational gap as they bid for another Cork title tomorrow at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

One evening 10 years ago, on the 25th anniversary of Christy Ring’s death, Diarmuid O’Donovan was going about his business in the Glen Rovers clubhouse when he overheard one of the young lads there express surprise at the number of Glen men on Cork’s 1942 All Ireland-winning team.

There were seven of them, Ring and a future Taoiseach included, and given that Glen Rovers had won their eighth consecutive county title the previous year, this possibly wasn’t the most unlikely statistic in the history of the GAA. But if the youth was struck by the information, his amazement was nothing compared to that of the elders in the club. A youngster who wasn’t au fait with the gaiscí of the men of the Glen 60 years earlier? Tsk.