From Mount Jubilee to Bratislava

LEAGUE OF NATIONS The Slovak Shamrocks pictured in Cunovo, Slovakia during a Central and Eastern European regional tournament.

Interview
Daniel Carey

THERE was, CiarΡn Halley admits, a ‘bit of a culture shock’ involved when he moved to Slovakia in December 2012. For one thing, it was snowing ... and the snow didn’t stop until the following April. “That,” he told The Mayo News by email, “was a proper test of my staying power”.
But more than four years later, he’s still happily living in the capital city, Bratislava, and is chairperson of the Slovak Shamrocks GAA Club.
A native of Mount Jubilee and a past pupil of Geesala National School and St Brendan’s College, Belmullet, Halley played football in school and for his club, Kiltane, before moving to Eastern Europe – “Mayo never called, however!!” he notes.
“[I] got offered a job randomly here and decided to just go for it and see how it went. Part of the appeal was the fact I knew absolutely zero about this part of the world, so [it] was [a] pretty cool challenge with new culture, language, etc. Here I still am, four years later.
“One of my first weekends here, I visited Goblins Pub to test the local lemonades and got chatting to a couple of people. [The] GAA club was mentioned a bit, then a few days later I get a message from a Mr Shane Crean (the greatest Tipp footballer since Declan Browne!) about training and that began my Slovak Shamrocks addiction! He might have fed me a few local brews in the process as well.”
Slovak Shamrocks was established in 2011 by a few Irish expats living and working in Bratislava. The original founders included Ballaghaderreen man Clint McArdle. Having formed a men’s team six years ago, there followed in 2013 a ladies’ team called the Slovak Shamrocks Ladybirds (“The lads had nothing to do with that name,” Halley notes wryly).
The men’s team have reached three Pan-European finals (one at junior level, two at intermediate), but unfortunately lost them all. Most heartbreaking was a one-point defeat to French side Clermont after extra-time in last year’s final, played in the Dutch city of Maastricht.
“To be honest I think I have brought the Mayo curse all the way with me to the Slovak Shamrocks, so the lads like to remind me!!! Let’s hope the Shamrocks’ famine isn’t as long!” joked Halley, who work with Sky Ireland before his move east.
“The ladies’ team have made fantastic progress since 2013 and achieved the biggest success to date by winning the Ladies Gaelic Football Pella Championship against Vienna in March 2016. I’m confident that 2017 is our year for both teams!”
The Slovak Shamrocks play in the Central and Eastern European division of Gaelic Games Europe. This normally involves three regional championships every year, normally in April, May and June, and the Pan-European Finals in September or October.
“We play against teams from Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany [and] Italy in our region, and in the finals it can be anyone from Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, etc. We get to visit some cool places, so that’s a big bonus,” explained Halley, who is a business development manager at Fleming. Events.
Temperatures in Bratislava can be pretty ‘fresh’, Halley notes (“It’s been as low as -12”), and ski-ing, snowboarding and ice hockey are all popular. It is, he says, ‘a brilliant little city’ and outside the capital there’s an ‘amazing landscape’, most notably the Tatra mountain range. The atmosphere is ‘really chilled’, the culture is ‘extremely interesting’ and the location is ‘perfect for travelling anywhere else in Europe’, he adds.
“Some people would maybe describe it as a bit backwards in terms of the outlook on certain things, due to its communist history, but that’s part of its appeal to me.”
The 29-year-old, one of six siblings, is the sole Mayo representative in the club, though Castlebar’s Darren Gleeson plays for their near neighbours, Vienna Gaels. The Irish community in Slovakia numbers around 400, and most gather for a big event put together by the Irish ambassador in Bratislava, Anne-Marie Callan, to mark St Patrick’s Day.
Irish-owned businesses have been ‘an incredible support’ to the Slovak Shamrocks, Halley notes, namely club sponsor Goblins Pub, Uisce Bheatha and Unison Events. Apart from Irish people, the club includes members from Slovakia, England, Wales, Italy, the Netherlands, the United States, Brazil, Hungary, Croatia and New Zealand ... and previously included a Scottish, French and Finnish contingent.
“Club secretary Caitríona [PažourekovΡ] is from Meath, but I’m yet to get an apology from her for 1996!” jokes Halley, who divides the highlights of his GAA involvement in two.
“On the pitch, probably reaching the Intermediate Pan-European final, Maastricht 2014. We actually joined forces that weekend with Frankfurt Sarsfields and they had another Kiltane man, Robert Bashford managing them, so that was pretty cool.
“Off the pitch? For me personally GAA is all about community (cheesy, I know!), so to see how the Slovak Shamrocks helps people to settle in to the new environment here and connect with others is amazing. The atmosphere and spirit in the club is brilliant, [it] really is a family away from home.
“To see people who have never heard of the sport, never mind play it, and then see them a few weeks later playing it and loving is brilliant for me as a massive GAA fan and makes me really proud to be Irish. It’s what it’s all about to me.”

More Info
CHECK out www.bratislavagaa.com, see Slovak Shamrocks GAA on Facebook or @bratislavagaa on Twitter.