Sunday, June 28, 2015
The Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa Commemorative Sports Tournament
A.O.H. Sponsors O’Donovan Rossa Commemorative Event at Gaelic
Park
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| The O'Donovan Rossa Tournament Flyer |
The countdown to the 100th Anniversary of the
1916 Easter Rising began yesterday at Gaelic Park in the Bronx as a large cross
section the Irish Community hosted a Gaelic Football Tournament to commemorate
the Centenary of the death of Irish patriot Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa. Rossa,
who was instrumental in building support and momentum for what would
eventually lead to the 1916 Easter Rising died in New York City on June 29th
1915.
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| Barbara Jones, Dan Dennehy, and Williams Rossa Cole |
The tournament was sponsored by several Irish
organizations, including The Hudson Valley Irish Center, the County Cork Association
of New York, and The Ancient Order of Hibernians. Several dignitaries were in attendance as well,
including Barbara Jones - Irish Consular
General, Williams Rossa Cole – Great Grandson
of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, and Sophie Colgan – The 2015 New York Rose of Tralee.
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| The AOH was a proud sponsor of the O'Donovan Rossa Tournament |
A
stirring moment occurred just prior to the start of the event when Williams
Rossa Cole recited the words of Padraig Pearse’s oration that was made at the O’Donovan
Rossa funeral in Dublin in August of 1915.
“The fools, the fools, the fools, they have left us our Fenian dead!” said
Rossa, “while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland
unfree shall never be at peace.”
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| Williams Rossa Cole reads Pearse Oration |
There were several teams from
around the NYC area that participated in the tournament, including County Mayo,
Manhattan Gaels, and The Wolfe Tones, who traveled all the way from Detroit Michigan
to be there.
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| Teams assembled at the start of the O'Donovan Rossa Tournament |
Congratulations go to all who
worked very hard to make this event a great success, especially AOH National
Immigration Chairman Dan Dennehy, who worked tirelessly to make this event
a reality. AOH Division One of Yonkers was proud to sponsor such an important
cultural event!
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| AOH members attending the O'Donovan Rossa Tournament |
For more information of the
life and contributions of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, you can read this article
that was published in the Irish Echo Newspaper in 2003.
