GAA President set to launch Four Roads hurling documentary

Four Roads will share their storied history when an extensive documentary on the club 'Four Roads - A Hurling Stronghold in South Roscommon' will be launched by GAA President Jarlath Burns on Friday evening.

A large crowd is expected to attend the screening of the two hour and 35 minutes long documentary at the Roscommon Arts Centre.

Compiled by Paul Connolly and Michael Carty, the documentary, which traces hurling in the area back to the 5th century, will detail the history of the South Roscommon club from the club’s inception until the year 2000.

Its chairperson Simon Coyle believes the launch of this new documentary is an extremely important chapter in the club’s proud history.

“It is a massive night for the club. The club aren’t really involved in the making of the documentary, but it was Paul Connolly who took it on board.

“He is an ex-player and a present club member. He has put trojan work in the research of the documentary. He has actually gone back before the founding of the club in 1904 while he has covered nearly every decade from 1904 to 2000.

“Michael Carty has done the camera work and audio and has been a great help in the making of the documentary. Paul has about six hours of footage cut back to two hours and 35 minutes so to even get the footage and then cut it takes a serious amount of commitment.

“This is huge. Anyone that would have any interest in the hurling club or in Roscommon hurling would be massively enthused by the amount of work put into it. We are massively proud of our club out here and we are proud of the guys for doing what they have done. It is going to be a wonderful night,” the Four Roads chairperson noted.

The club’s Connacht final triumph over Abbeyknockmoy in 1988 is set to feature in the documentary. Coyle scored a goal in that seismic upset in what was Four Roads’ greatest day.

Coyle is modest in his own reflections but his passion for trying to help Four Roads and Roscommon hurling enjoy more days in the sun is clear.

“I presume it will be mentioned. That was a massive time in our lives. Even in the Abbey very recently the ’84 team that played against Wexford and Cork were commemorated. We have chatted about that a lot since, and they would have been my idols growing up from the point of view of hopping on your bike and going to Athleague to watch them play over the years when you were U-14 and U-16.

“They would have had an influence on us as young lads growing up and they were within one score of going to Division One so the standard at that stage was extremely high. It was and still is a small pocket but the standard in the 70s and 80s was extremely high which helped us win the Connacht in ’88.

“The 90s were good and we had battles against Sarsfields who went on to win club All Irelands. Again, the standard of hurling in 70s, 80s and 90s was good. Has it dipped a little? It probably has but it has dipped in other places too while we in Four Roads are trying to get it up to the standards that we think is attainable. I think the current group are a good group coming again so hopefully we can get back up to them standards,” he said.

Coyle, who was a part of the Four Roads management ticket that helped the club lift the Mickey Cunniffe Cup this year, believes the documentary that ought to be celebrated.

“We have a venue that has top class audio and comfort. We have tried to explain to people that we wanted to bring the experience to the highest level and that there is a huge interest in tickets so we can’t guarantee anyone will get a ticket if they wait until too close to the time. I think it is going to be a huge night for the parish and hopefully everyone there will enjoy it,” he concluded.

Anyone that ordered tickets can collect these in Coyle's pub in Four Roads from 7 p.m. this evening.

Tickets are sold out but there may be cancellations. For more information contact Simon on 086-0765637 or Mick on 087-3781541.

A commemorative booklet will also be available on the night, free of charge. Proceedings get underway at 6.30 p.m..