‘American invasion’ just didn’t take off
WHEN in need, where better to turn than the land of opportunity?
This was the thinking of Maurice Davin when, at a GAA meeting in Dublin’s Mansion House in April 1888, he outlined an ambitious plan to send a select group of the country’s brightest talents to America in a bid to help establish the GAA in the States via a series of exhibitions, which in turn would pocket the association a sum in the region of £5,000. The idea was that the money raised would fund the planned revival of the Tailteann Games.
It was, most felt, a superb idea, and so that September, 51 of the land’s most talented hurlers and athletes joined GAA officials and
boarded the SS Wisconsin to set sail from Cobh (at the time Queensland). After a bumpy journey which left many of the party praying for their lives in the midst of a storm, the boat reached American soil and the chosen ones took part in their first exhibition in Manhattan.
The demonstration was generally well-received, despite one onlooker suffering serious injury after a stray hammer throw — rumours that it was Davin who had let fly were never confirmed.
With such a strong Irish connection on America’s east coast, the party were treated like heroes, while the sight of Irish pastimes was an emotional one for those who had fled the country in search of a new life.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the tour to descend into chaos, with an ongoing dispute between the rival American athletic bodies complicating Davin’s plans.
The hurlers were quickly running out of hurleys which resulted in some replacements being hastily fashioned from hickory, while a mammoth indoor event at a full-capacity Madison Square Garden actually ended with Davin and Co £75 in the red. Michael Davitt had to advance the tourists £450 for the final leg.
A snow-storm forced a planned two-week tour of Canada to be cancelled, and so the group prepared to head for home on October 31.
Yet there was still time for one last problem to arise — a large chunk of the group had decided that they had more promising futures Stateside than if they returning to a divided Ireland which was still under British rule.
Pat Davin, brother of Maurice, wrote in his extraordinary diary of the tour that ‘Most of them never set eyes on their native shores again.’
It was a major blow to the GAA’s ambitions, and the proposal to revive the Tailteann Games was not raised again for over 30 years.