Gaelic sports are very popular in South East London and there is a long history of GAA in the area, so for our Saturday sports programme we asked Ashley Cowan to find out more. He went to the Southwark Irish Festival to meet Tom Denning, Chairman of Dulwich Harps Football Club, who has been involved in one way or another for 30 years.
He spoke about the history of the games, which started in London in the 1940s and went on to explain some of the rules of Gaelic Football, a very fast game, and also Hurling. Tom is very keen to get children and young people involved and is running sports acadamies in the Summer.
Ashley also spoke to pupils from St Paul’s Academy in Abbey Wood, where 45 girls and boys take part in Gaelic sports, introduced to the school by Assistant Headteacher, Niall McCann. They were London Schools and Club Football champions, as well as All Britain champions in 2009.
Gaelic Sports are popular with males and females alike, and Ashley found out more about Camogie, the female version of Hurling from the Captain of Green Isle Club in Ladywell.
You can hear the sports show with Andreas, Saturday afternoons from 3 on Sydenham Community Radio. Along with a panel of guests, he takes a local at local, national and international competitions, including football, cricket, motor sport and cycling.


