One Day in Clones

A few photos and thoughts from a remarkable, wet day in Clones. Click on each photo to enlarge.

The Diamond

We had excellent accommodations directly on the Diamond to watch everything from above while also having easy access in and out of the apartment. A big part of these experience was the pre-match scene on the Diamond and it didn't disappoint. 

5 Star Review for Diamond Apartments. 

DJ Provai in Clones

                    

The Walk

Of course the walk down Fermanagh Street to St. Tiernach's is the scene most captured and shared when talking about Final day in Clones. Got to the bottom of the street and the rain appeared for the first time.

The Park

St. Tiernach's Park is fantastic. No one is going to compare it to a modern venue and that's just fine.  From an outsiders perspective, the history of the GAA means the importance of venues like this. Side note, great Irish and GAA History can be found in Tim Par Coogan's The GAA and the War for Independence

Also in a time of World Cup tickets for a family of four costing thousands of dollars, our total cost was $105 including $11 juvenile tickets.

The energy on the hill was fantastic, blue and orange flares popping up throughout the game and the crowd was there at the right time. Between the colors and the noise it was defintely more of an Armagh crowd despite it being at Monaghan's home field. Monaghan once again showed great courage in fighting all day but just didn't have it in extra time and Armagh pulled away.

The teams marching behind the band is one of the great, unique traditions in the GAA. The singing of the national anthem in Irish by the thousands in attendance was also a special moment, connecting Gaelic games, the language and the history of the country.

But my god did it rain. The misery caught on the faces of Francis and Kate really nails that hour plus experience. It didn't rain the entire time but when it came, it poured. No matter how prepared you were, it was going to be a soaker. Also, we weren't prepared as Francis wondered aloud: why didn't we all get ponchos?? 

Boys struggled back to the apartment but hot showers and a few bags of chips made things better. Francis enjoying his first bag of Irish chips with salt and vinegar was an added bonus

It was a great day and just about 24 hours later I'm recounting it from our living room. Just one more piece to write about this experience  and that's about the town of Clones.