TG4′s Laochra Gael returns for its 23rd year next week with another series, portraying famous GAA personalities.
The first series broadcast in 2001 – there have been just two blank years since, 2003 and 2009 – and opened with a programme about former Clare player and manager Ger Loughnane.
Last year saw the landmark 200th programme screened, featuring former Tyrone centrefielder Kevin Hughes. Produced by Nemeton, Laochra Gael originally ran for 30 minutes per episode but in recent years has expanded to an hour.
The latest series begins next Thursday, January 23rd, with Tipperary’s six-time hurling All Star and three-time All-Ireland winner Pádraic Maher.
Michael Bond, the former Galway under-21 manager who found himself catapulted into the Offaly job after the sudden departure of Michael Keating in 1998, will also feature in the eight-episode series, detailing his role in the dramatic upswing in the county’s fortunes, culminating in All-Ireland victory, as will Wexford camogie All-Ireland winner and pundit Ursula Jacob, and the O’Connor twins, Ben and Jerry, who won All-Irelands with both club, Newtownshandrum, and county, Cork.
The featured football personalities will be Kerry’s five-time All-Ireland winner and former Footballer of the Year Marc Ó Sé, Ronan Clarke, full forward in Armagh’s first All-Ireland win in 2002 and two-time All Star, as well as former Donegal wing back Eamon McGee, a member of Jim McGuinness’s 2012 All-Ireland wining team, and Cork’s 11-time All-Ireland winner Bríd Stack.
The new series of Laochra Gael will air weekly on Thursdays at 9.30pm on TG4.
Episode 1: Pádraic Maher (Tipperary), January 23rd; Episode 2: Marc Ó Sé (Kerry), January 30th; Episode 3: Ursula Jacob (Wexford), 6th February; Episode 4: Ronan Clarke (Armagh), February 13th; Episode 5: Michael Bond (Galway), February 20th; Episode 6: Bríd Stack (Cork), February 27th; Episode 7: Ben and Jerry O’Connor (Cork), March 6th; Episode 8: Eamon McGee (Donegal), March 13th.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
