Boylan in the spotlight again

Over the last few months officials at the GAA Museum at Croke Park have been hosting hugely popular tours with special guests and themes for what they have called 'The Legends Tour" and on Thursday, 14th August former Meath manager Sean Boylan will be the focus of the latest trip down memory lane. Boylan led Meath to four All-Ireland Senior Football titles (1987, 1988, 1996 and 1999), three National Football League titles and eight Leinster titles during his 23 years at the helm. He will be giving an unique insight into championship days at GAA HQ from the eyes of the Banisteoir. August will also see a new manager reliving his glory days in Croke Park as a player, with new Waterford hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald revisiting the epic All-Ireland Hurling wins for Ger Loughnane"s Clare in 1995 and 1997, and what it meant to him as a Clare man to be part of first All-Ireland-winning side in 81 years. The Legends Tour, which started with Dublin legend Jimmy Keveaney has been a sell-out success with GAA fans relishing the opportunity to experience Croke Park behind the scenes, as it is for a player or manager on a big game day. 'Over the years, I think I"ve experienced just about every type of emotion possible within the confines of this stadium. To lead your county to All-Ireland victory is an indescribable feeling and to be so close but denied at the finish line is quite another, but I hope to be able to convey the best and worst of it all on the tour,' commented Boylan at the launch of the August schedule last week. 'It"s really something special for me to be able to talk about what Croke Park and GAA especially means to me so I"m quite looking forward to it,' he added. Boylan will lead the GAA Museum Legends tour on Thursday, 14th August and as all previous tours were sold out, early booking is recommended. The GAA Museum celebrates its 10th birthday on Tuesday, 26th August with an action-packed series of events and a day of free admission to museum activities and stadium tours. Other GAA Museum summer events include art workshops, summer schools and the ongoing Museum Lecture Series which continues with a talk by Dr Sean Crosson entitled 'Hurling and Hollywood" on Thursday, 28th August. The museum is running a special photographic competition until the end of August for primary school children in association with FUJIFILM. Prizes include All-Ireland tickets, a digital camera and a class trip to Croke Park. The museum is open seven days a week for museum visits and stadium tours. Group tours can also be pre-booked. Contact the GAA Museum at (01) 8192323 or gaamuseum@crokepark.ie. Further details are available at www.crokepark.ie.