VINCENT BEACH
COLUMNIST: TAKING THE FIELDS OF GLORY
Meet Taking the Fields of Glory Columnist Vincent Beach
By Ava Barton
Vincent Beach is iIrish’s Taking the Fields of Glory columnist, which is a monthly update from the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) from the Midwest Division. The column also carries news from the U.S. GAA, along with the GAA in Ireland. Vincent is president of ClevelandGAA, also known as the St. Pat’s St. Jarlath’s Gaelic Football Club.
“The Gaelic Athletic Association promotes Irish culture and heritage through sports, language, and music. We do most of our promotion through sports of Gaelic football, hurling, and camogie.” Vincent says his column allows him to capture the happenings of the GAA throughout the years and share them with the Irish American community.
“And we also are here when kids come over, people come over from Ireland. They don’t have a social network. They find a GAA club in whatever city they’re in in the United States, and are automatically hooked in with a great group of people and friends who have a common interest. And we give those people a little bit of home while they’re overseas.”
Vincent loves how the games bring people together and how knowledge is not only passed down from generation to generation, but the game is also played by different generations. “So the unique thing is, you can start playing at under six, and you could be playing until you’re 66 or 86. There’s no limit to it.”
When asked why he writes for iIrish, Vincent explained, “I think we owe it a bit to future generations to share the history of our club and the organization.”
Vincent Beach is a builder, footballer, and teacher of Irish language. He is the current chairman and youth coach for the Cleveland St. Pat’s – St. Jaralath’s Gaelic Football Club. During the off-season, he can be found in PJ’s basement at Speak Irish Cleveland. He can be contacted at [email protected].