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Our friends in Ireland have insisted that it is in the country and not in the cosmopolitan bustle of city life that we will find a “true” Irish experience. Partially inspired by that idea, Zack and I traveled out from Hueston Station to Tullamore, the capital of County Offaly an hour west of Dublin by train. Offaly is the Kansas of Ireland, a place of agrarian heritage and kind people.

We visited the local GAA clubs, heritage sites, and ancient ruins. Check out our curated selection of videos and interviews from St. Rynagh’s GAA Football Club, the ancient tower and graveyard of Clonmacnoise, and the quaint town of Cloghnan. While it is the fourth installment of the Broadcast series, we have decided to call it “The Broadcast from Offaly”, though the lack of Internet connection stalled us from actually uploading the video from Offaly, the broadcast was still made there in spirit.

In Offaly, we found the GAA in a position of indispensable centrality to community life. Even if the pitch was outside of the village center (as it was in Cloghan), the pub in the middle of town made clear its importance. On the wall above the bar were photos from the history of the club, with underage exploits sharing space with legendary championships of old. And after a day of training, with the kids back home, the coaches were sure to gather in the pub to talk over the club’s hopes.