What a bunch of legends…
As anyone with an agricultural background will know, a helping hand is always welcomed on a hard day at the bog, so one Galway farmer would hardly have believed his luck when he was given some assistance by an entire club Gaelic football team from Donegal at the weekend.
The team in question, Naomh Columba, were competing in Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta, which was held in Moycullen at the weekend and decided to go for a dip in the sea in Spiddal following a game on Saturday evening before returning to their accommodation in Corrib Village in Galway city.
On the way there, the players spotted a local farmer, Tomás Lydon, turning turf on his tod and decided to get out and give him a hand, with up to 30 men in total, a combination of players and management, pitching in and helping him turn about an acre of turf in approximately an hour or so.
Speaking to the Donegal Democrat, Naomh Columba manager Paddy J McGinley said: “We were only about 15 minutes from Spiddal so the lads decided we would go there to the beach to the salt water to bathe before we were to go back to stay at Corrib Village.
“We just went straight from Moycullen before we had a chance to tog in after the match. On the way we saw a man with about an acre of turf and we made the decision to stop and help him.
“I went down to introduce myself and Tomás was a little taken back to begin with. The intentions were genuine from the lads. He was maybe in his sixties and we had about 30 men altogether, aged anywhere between 15 and 40.
“When I was leaving, Tomás came up to me and thanked me and said he wouldn’t have managed to do that much in three days. He looked again and said: ‘No. Five days actually.’
“I’m glad we could’ve been of help.”
Fair play to everyone involved at Naomh Columba for a wonderful and uniquely Irish gesture. Class.
Pics via Facebook/Official Donegal GAA
