THE island of Ireland embraces Halloween like nowhere else—it is the Home of Halloween, don’t forget. It all goes back more than 2000 years ago to the ancient Celtic harvest festival of Samhain, which heralded the coming of winter, a time when light turned to darkness and the veil between this world and the next was thinnest!

THERE’S 05:38 on the stop-clock: Mayo are three points down in the 2026 All-Ireland Final, nevertheless very much in the game. Unlike in the 1996 replay against Meath, they still have 15 men on the field. Back then star player Liam McHale was red-carded after just six minutes following a mass brawl. 14-man Mayo lost by just one point. At 07.24, Mayo get off the mark with a fisted score.

IN 2007, I skipped the afterparty celebrations of a wedding in Gweedore, Donegal and hitched a lift to Derry to watch the Senior County Football Final at Celtic Park, where the success starved club of my birth, Glenullin, was facing Bellaghy, the record title holders.

AT 37 years old and having just won a second La Liga title in Spain, Robert Lewandowski, the Barcelona and Poland striker, attributes his playing longevity —at least in part—to following what’s known as the ‘reverse diet.’ Basically it means that he consumes his dessert first, before turning to his main course.

THE Men’s National Football League can be seen—from the outside at least—like the weigh-in before a heavyweight title fight. The pugilists get close, look each other square in the eye with maybe some shadow-boxing or actual pushing, before stepping off the stage knowing that the real deal is just around the corner.

ONE of the unsung heroes of the GAA in Britain since 1962 passed away at his home in Perth on the evening of Saturday October 25, 2025.

I’M writing these words in the last days of August. Here in rural Ireland, it’s a time to get busy with those summer jobs that get the home place prepared for the dark winter months.

WHEN the ball is thrown in at 3.30pm this Sunday in Croke Park, it won’t just be the All-Ireland title on the line—it’ll be a referendum on the future of Gaelic football.

THE road to Croke Park is narrowing and the upcoming All-Ireland Senior Football Championship preliminary quarter-finals are poised to deliver the kind of drama, intensity, and potential upsets that have defined this GAA season.

WITH the Provincial Championships now wrapped up and the All-Ireland group stage in full swing, the 2025 intercounty football season has already delivered its fair share of drama. The draw has been made, the first round is half-way complete, and if recent results are anything to go by, we’re in for a rollercoaster summer.

TWO games into the league and it’s been so refreshing—the rules have really given football a boost

It seems like a perfect opportunity to preview the approaching club championships