ST James’ GAA Club is supporting a proposal to have a stand in the redeveloped Pairc Uí Chaoímh named after Ardfield-born PD Mehigan
BY KIERAN McCARTHY
ST James’ GAA Club is supporting a proposal to have a stand in the redeveloped Pairc Uí Chaoímh named after Ardfield-born PD Mehigan, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in GAA history.
The Carbery club agreed to support the proposal at a club meeting and has sent a letter to the Cork County Board outlining why it feels Mehigan deserves to have a stand in Pairc Uí Chaoímh named after him.
A journalist of note, Mehigan (born in Ardfield in 1884) is better known for his pseudonym ‘Carbery’ and in 2009 The Sunday Tribune’s list of the 125 most influential figures in GAA history, the West Cork man was listed number 17.
The Sunday Tribune wrote: ‘A veteran of two All-Ireland hurling finals himself, Mehigan’s radio commentary on the 1926 semi-final between Galway and Kilkenny was the first live broadcast of a sports event in Europe.
‘Using a nom de plume garnered from the West Cork barony where he grew up, his “Carberys Comments” column was a staple of the Cork Weekly Examiner for half a century while Irish Times readers cherished him as Pat O, the paper’s first GAA correspondent. A prolific chronicler of rural and sporting life in poetry, prose and books, his Carbery Annual was a fixture in households nationwide between 1939 and 1964. (1884-1965).’
St James’ GAA Club is urging all clubs and members of the public to support this proposal.
