The club secretary of Salthill/Knocknacarra GAA club has described the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's stopover to watch and participate in football and hurling drills as an historic day for the club as well as the whole organisation.
Speaking to the Galway Advertiser, Conor McGauran said the visit to the club and local community an opportunity to demonstrate the importance of the GAA in the everyday life of villages and towns across the island.
He said; "It is an historic day for our club. It is an historic day for the GAA, and Salthill/Knocknacarra is the lucky club who got to welcome the royals to a GAA club for the first time, and I think for us, it's been another opportunity for us to demonstrate the power of community in preparing for a visit like this, the amount of effort that went in over the last three weeks.
"There has been about 10 years of work gone into facelift and upgrading and improvements of what [the club has today]. It is about the community here. To me that has captured what this [visit] is all about; children, community, sports, and people recognising that. For the itinerary to include [a local GAA club] is fantastic. It will live long in the memory."
Mr McGauran hailed the royal couples' interest in the children, as well as their willingness to give hurling a go in the penalty competition.
"They were brave to [ choose the hurling]. They could have gone for the football which maybe a bit more easy to manage but they went for the hurling and to me that speaks volumes about them. You could tell they had play stick sports before, hockey and polo I believe.
"I love the fact they asked advice from the children and that is a lesson for all of generations, asking advice from our children in how to do things.
"The most gratifying thing for me today is seeing how much time the royal highnesses spent with the children and they didn't want to leave them. It's a massive day for the children who were involved. They will have memories that will last a lifetime."
