MOST DAYS, THE Barcelona Gaels GAA club play their football on rugby pitches.

Unlike home, where GAA pitches are plentiful, trying to engage with the sport abroad is an entirely different prospect. Their presence depends on the generosity of other sports,  who agree to lend out the use of their grounds for training and matches. For Barcelona Gaels, they’re grateful for the astro turf and grass fields that rugby clubs permit them to use.

That might mean discovering the pitch is double-booked at the last minute, or waiting an additional 20 minutes for the use of the facilities because a game has gone to extra-time, eating into their allocation. What’s mainstream at home is a minority interest abroad, meaning you can never expect to be a priority. And small mercies can make a big difference.

“The one thing is at least we have a set of posts,” Barcelona Gaels manager Tiernan Kennedy tells The 42. Kennedy is originally from the St Gall’s club in Antrim, and moved to Barcelona in 2015.

On Saturday, the Barcelona Gaels footballers will be playing on a more suitable surface. And they will make history as they go. As winners of the European championship, they will become the first team from the Iberian region to compete in the Leinster Junior Championship when they take on Kilkenny’s Conahy Shamrocks in Nowlan Park.

A squad of 27 players, plus a few more, will make the trip to Ireland for what they hope will be the next step towards becoming the first European winners of the competition. They’re hoping to have some former players in attendance along with the usual family and friends cheering them on. But some of the Barcelona Gaels contingent will have to stay behind in the Spanish capital as their club is hosting a Mothers & Others event on the same day as the Leinster championship game.

The travelling party are flying on different days although they have been strictly warned not to “chance their arm” arriving into Ireland on Saturday morning ahead of their 12pm throw-in. Some players however, cannot travel for different reasons. And for those who can, it’s a costly trip. It’s a struggle they know too well. The expense involved in running a GAA club abroad is a hurdle they must cross every day.

Members of the Barcelona Gaels club. Eoin Mac Cathmhaoil Eoin Mac Cathmhaoil

“We have to penny pinch at every turn. If we lose a football, it’s a minor economic catastrophe for the club – 50 or 60 quid would buy us 45 minutes training on a decent pitch. In terms of going home to Ireland now, we’re throwing everything at it. We’ve a huge fundraiser going really well, people have really dug in and got people at home to donate some very good prizes for that.

“We get a grant from Gaelic Games Europe and the Leinster Council but it doesn’t really touch the sides. It might get us some flights home from this trip but we’ve been talking about the consequences of winning this Saturday. We’ll have to come back and do it all again the following week.

“It’s a huge undertaking and it’s a credit to everyone who’s doing it. They love playing Gaelic football.”

Barcelona Gaels was founded in 2001 by Kerry native Finbar Barrett. And for many years, the club relied on players who were were living in the city temporarily. College students passing through on their Erasmus accounted for about half the team.

“That was the structure for a while,” Kennedy continues, “but very few people of playing age or committee age were able to dedicate their time to the club up until around 2020. And then Covid hit. We thought this could be the death of the club. Lockdown here was one of the strictest in Europe. Post Covid, it’s been the exact opposite. So many companies are prepared to allow employees to work remotely. Barcelona is a big tech hub, so there’s a lot of IT roles.

“Coming out of Covid, we’ve seen this huge explosion in growth in the last three years. More and more people are living here. They might not settle down here but they could be here for three, four or five years.”

Barcelona Gaels did lose some players as a result of the pandemic. One such example was Cuala’s Eoin Kennedy who kicked the winning score in the recent Dublin SFC final against Kilmacud Crokes to win a first-ever Senior 1 championship.

“I think his entire Barcelona experience lasted about two or three weeks,” Kennedy laughs about his former player who he messaged after the game to pass on his congratulations.

64 nóim #GAABeo

@KCrokesGAAClub 1-10 @CualaCLG 0-14

Cad é mar críoch i bPáirc Parnell!😱

Eoin Kennedy is the hero as Cuala claim their first ever title!

BEO/LIVETG4 AR @TG4TV 📺 @DubGAAOfficial pic.twitter.com/cAvp8cxn5N

— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) October 20, 2024

Today, Barcelona Gaels has a membership that’s large enough to fill two men’s teams and two squads for the Ladies football section of the club. As expected, Irish is the dominant nationality among the players but the number of Spanish locals is always growing. People from England, Australia and America often join too. 

Some Spaniards have seen the game while living in Ireland and develop a curiosity to try it out when when they return home. 

“We get a smattering from all over the place, but the first team would always be dominated completely by Irish people,” says Kennedy.

“We’re not just a group of Irish people living in Barcelona. We’re a GAA club, a Catalan GAA club, a Spanish GAA club and a big host of responsibilities to our members and wider community that we try and promote.”

And now they’re determined to reach another milestone in the club’s history. Planes, trains and automobiles have brought them to Nowlan Park, and they’re hoping to travel a little further. No matter the cost.

“We’re not supposed to be doing this, we’re supposed to be playing on a municipal astro turf rugby pitch, scrambling for numbers,” says Kennedy.

“For us to be running out in Nowlan Park is a dream come true. We’re going home to win and enjoy it. Once we’re there, it’s serious business. We’re not going home to make up the numbers. If that’s a ridiculous ambition, we’ll find out.”