The GAA has a way of connecting people. It unites communities throughout Ireland, bringing people of all backgrounds together to fight for a common cause. It is so much more that a sport to the people who an entrenched in it, it is a way of life.
When people leave this country, they rarely want to concede that togetherness. That has led to GAA clubs popping up in every corner of the globe. No matter where you are in Europe, North America, or Asia, there is every chance that a club is not too far from your door.
Even those who were not necessarily all that involved with the GAA back home can find themselves drawn in. For those who find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings, it can immediately bring about that sense of community that could otherwise be lacking.
These clubs have gone from strength to strength over the years, and there are few better example of that than Madrid Harps.
Speaking to Balls.ie, club chairman Jason Mallon explained how the club came about in a typically Irish manner:
The club was founded 15 years ago in the James Joyce Bar in Madrid over a few pints.
It came about when a group of ex-pats from Ireland decided to form a club out of mutual interest and just a desire to have a team over here.
In a nod to the soccer counterparts in the city, Madrid Harps have gone on to dominate the Spanish GAA scene. Their men's team have been crowned Iberian Championship winners for six years on the trot, while the ladies side were also victorious in the most recent iteration of the competition.
Of course, this success hasn't come easy. As is the case with every GAA team operating in unorthodox surroundings, there are always challenges to overcome. Pitches, geography, and player turnover are all issues Harps have faced:
We train in various locations each month. As we don't have a home pitch and are at the whim of local rugby clubs ,we often change training locations and can't always be guaranteed a set of posts to kick over.
The size of Madrid also means that many of our players travel between one and two hours to and from training twice a week as they all live in different locations.
The constant change in membership means that our team is in constant flux. Although we have some long term members we often lose students after one or two years whilst others move to other countries for work or simply return home. This means every year brings new challenges.
That is what makes their latest triumph all the sweeter. Last week, Madrid Harps were crowned European champions. They are the first Spanish team to claim the honour.
Vienna was the host of this year's European Finals, where the continental cream of the GAA crop battle it out for the right to be crowned champions.
In all over 800 players would feature over the course of the weekend, a signal to the strength of the GAA outside of Ireland.
Madrid didn't have an easy route to the final. Their first game was a win over defending champions Amsterdam, with their group also featuring Belgium and Paris Gaels. A win over Luxembourg in the semi-final set up a decider against Cumann Warszawa, a team they had fallen well short against in last year's event.
With the final being streamed live on YouTube, Jason revealed that there were at least a couple of very interested viewers dotted around the globe:
Westmeath man Enda Kincaid, who formerly captained the side but now resides in Mexico City after recently relocating for work was watching the game.
The circumstances were similar but the surroundings slightly different for those like Sean Murray who had returned to study at DCU after studying in Spain the previous year.
This ever changing nature of European Club sides often mean that success on the wider continent can be hard to sustain.
In a reverse of last year's result, there would be no stopping Madrid Harps in 2019. They would win on a scoreline of 0-9 to 0-7, completing what has been a remarkable decade-and-a-half long journey.
Madrid Harps men & Belgium @LadiesFootball took the Senior honours at yesterday's European Finals in Vienna. See how they did it here & see more on the Gaelic Games Europe Facebook page.. pic.twitter.com/D4ejuZsrbq
— Gaelic Games Europe (@GaelicGamesEuro) October 20, 2019
Their main goal may now be complete, but the club will keep soldiering on. This means a lot to them, and to the local Spanish people who have become involved over the years:
It means a great deal to the whole club. We have a Spanish member who has served in every role in our committee. His name is Javier Vicente Polo and he's the current ladies manager.
We actually ended up throwing him in the air on Saturday as opposed to our own manager because of all the work he has put in over the years from the club's foundation to get us to this stage!
It also takes on a wider significance to GAA in the region as a whole. The sport is not as well established on the Iberian Peninsula in comparison to other parts of mainland Europe.
This win has put Spanish GAA on the map:
As a club having this recognition is huge, however, it has been just as important for the whole region itself. Often our championship hasn't been taken as serious as those in central Europe so to win the title has helped demonstrate the lengths that Iberia has come on.
We've received congratulations from some of our more traditional rivals, which has just demonstrated the importance that the title will have as we go forward.
