Magazine cover models, jerseys with silverback gorillas on them, this club has it all.
For most of the clubs that feature in our Around the World in 80 Clubs series, it is more than likely the first mention they have ever gotten on our distinguished website.
Orang Eire GAA Club in Kuala Lumpur isn’t just any ordinary GAA club, however.
Not only did their men’s team lift their first senior title at the Asian Gaelic Games this year, the exploits of the club and their members has led to them appearing on JOE FOUR TIMES in recent years, something we had forgotten until reminded of it by club PRO Trina Golden recently.
As you might expect, it’s a club full of great characters and stories and Trina was more than happy to shed light on the goings on in a dressing room made up of people from all corners of the globe.
Focus on Orang Eire GAA Club
Club: Orang Eire, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Orang means people in Malay)
Year established: 2007
Number of members: 100
Biggest rivals: Singapore/The Bar
Biggest representation from a club/county in Ireland: Our ladies are almost all non-Irish, but our men’s team have a weirdly large amount of Mayo men.
Most famous ever member: We’re a pretty famous club, especially on JOE.ie. Our main claim to fame is probably choosing the best GAA jersey of all time, for the 2014 Asian Gaelic Games we hosted.
Individually, meanwhile, there’s Paddy Mac (Pat Gorham), who is famous for desecrating his Aston Martin this year in support of Mayo.
There’s also Brian McManus, another who gained fame on JOE as one of the most eligible bachelors in Malaysia.
Finally, there’s Katrina Taib (the only actually famous one), a Malaysian lady with an Irish grandmother from Laois who is a successful business woman and a cover model here in Malaysia (as well as the ladies A team goalkeeper!).
Currently on the cover of Prestige Magazine Malaysia (furthest left).
Most memorable moment in the club’s history: For the men, lifting a senior Asian Gaelic Games (AGG) trophy for the first time this year.
For the ladies, winning three plate competitions in a row at the Asian Gaelic Games.
Also, hosting the Asian Gaelic Games three years in a row and the organisers being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Most eye-catching scoreline in the club’s history: We’re pretty shocking at keeping score, but there was that one Asian Gaelic Games where the Men’s A team managed to finish the day with -1 points.
They even got a commemorative jersey.
The clock on the front is because the Men’s A team coach (and player) managed to sleep in and miss the first two games. They ended up with -1 points as they were deducted a point for not turning up to umpire the game they were assigned to in a tournament we were hosting. Proud day for the club all round really.
Player who makes the longest commute to training: Siobhan Blaney travels three hours from Kuantan on the east coast of Malaysia.
Most dedicated club person: We’re lucky enough to have a huge amount of people who give time and dedication in running the club. Kieran Quigley has been involved in the club for years now as a sponsor and has given the club two of its most talented players, his daughters Ciara and Niamh.
His wife Maura is also one of the club’s go-to physios. We have a coach stepping back this year who has coached the ladies for five years now.
No one is quite sure how he managed to stick it out for that long with a gang of ladies much more interested in chatting to each other than listening to him but Jimmy Ball stuck it out. I’m sure he’s looking forward to some peace and quiet now.
Player who could have made it big if love/career/drink didn’t get in the way: We are not that type of club. We have our priorities straight; socialising and drinking come first, football is just a means to an end.
Biggest character: Glen Fraser, sent from above (Canada) to teach us how to party.
Loudest in the dressing room: LFD (Little Fat Dave from Galway). For a little man he has an awful lot to say. Luckily, most of us can’t understand what he’s saying anyway.
Number of romances that started in the GAA club (feel free to name names): Paddy Mac and Jenny Mac (Pat Gorham and Jenn Collins) got together at the South Asian Games in 2009. They’re now married with baby Finn.
Sloppy and Hacker (Conor Foley and Sandra Hacker) got together at the Asian Gaelic Games in 2009. They are now married and living in Hong Kong.
Duck to water award – Best new player who had never played GAA before: Most of our ladies would be up for this award. Only one of our current Ladies’ A team players had played Gaelic Football at home in Ireland.
The current A team includes four Canadians (including four-time Asian All-Star and captain Jenn Collins), one Malaysian, one American, three Brits, an Aussie girl and two Irish ladies. Our B team at South Asian Games this year had nine different nationalities in a team of 12.
For the men, Ben Simpson perhaps, although coming from AFL was not such a leap. Truly new to the game might be Dan Garvey, a Yank that turned up, picked up a ball and strolled onto the Men’s A team.
He was instrumental in midfield when they won the South Asian games earlier this year, for the first time ever.
Most annoying person in the club WhatsApp group: Mick the Pole and Beezer, an unparalleled double act who make everyone else seem funny.
Best story involving a club member that’s fit for print: There was once a teenage girl, playing for our Ladies’ A team, who was becoming a better footballer than her drunken father (some would say she always was).
She was just about to score on her defender (said drunken father). To avoid the humiliation of being beaten by his 13-year old daughter, he took her out of it. Karma promptly kicked in and he broke his own rib in the process of taking her out.
The teen in question is now 16 and one of the best players in our Ladies’ club. The father is still drunk and on our Men’s ‘Legends’ team.
Also, Mick Barry waking up to live chickens running around his room at the Hong Kong 7s. Enough said.
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