The Dineen/Hill 16 Terrace:You may have heard Hill 16 was named after rubble from the GPO (shelled during the 1916 Easter Rising) was used to construct a grassy hill at the railway end of Croke Park.
But this area was renamed last year to honour Frank Dineen, the only man to serve as GAA president (1895-1898) and general secretary (1898-1901).
Educated at Rockwell College, Dineen was a distinguished athlete in the 1880s and journalist thereafter. He was also a prominent member of the Land League and the IRB.
He purchased Croke Park in 1908 (largely with the proceeds from the sale of his family pub, still standing in Ballylanders, Co Limerick, and now known as McDermott's). He sold the 14-acre site partly to the GAA and partly to the Jesuits from Belvedere College in 1913, making no profit from this transaction.
Dineen died on the Tuesday of the Easter Rising, aged just 54, but not before he succeeded in yet another task that secured Croke Park's legacy. The British government was crippling the GAA with taxes so Dineen led a delegation to London and persuaded the chancellor of the exchequer, one Reginald McKenna, to ease the financial burden.
He returned to Dublin on Good Friday and reported the news to GAA president James Nowlan before falling ill and being taken to St Vincent's hospital, where he died four days later.
The Dineen/Hill 16 terrace now holds 13,000. Don't mention the war
England don't arrive for another two weeks but the jibes about Bloody Sunday and 700 years of oppression have begun in earnest, one bookmaker even offering odds on a 19-16 win.
The following comment was posted, from Ireland, it seems, on the London Times website:
"Scotland weren't much better than a Guinness Premiership or Magners League team, but you can only beat what is put in front of you, and Saturday represents a very good start. Ireland may well be missing Brian O'Driscoll as well as Shane Horgan and don't have the resources in depth to overcome such losses. However, neither will England have the armoured cars and machine guns they had the last time they entered Croke Park!"
The comment soon disappeared off the website. We wonder why.
Uniformly impressive
Army captain David Lavin will lead the Irish Defence Forces into battle against their French counterparts at the Curragh Camp rugby ground tomorrow (kick-off 2.30pm).
Lavin has an impressive pedigree: he captains Lansdowne RFC and was a team-mate of Brian O'Driscoll on the 1997 Blackrock College Senior Cup team.
Lavin, the go-to guy for lineouts, unfortunately missed the Leinster Schools Cup semi-final against Clongowes Wood after suffering a burst appendix just days before. Blackrock lost 16-14.
Other AIL players featuring in the traditional forces international include Galwegians' Lt Denis O'Brien and Terenure's Lt Conor Connolly.
Hostelries to the rescue
Fear not, ye Southsiders! Your hostelries have devised ways of getting you in and out of Croke Park in speed and comfort.
Kiely's pub in Donnybrook is bussing punters to and from the stadium for 5, with a free pint thrown in. The Mount Herbert Hotel, near Lansdowne Road, is putting on a three-course meal and a similar transport deal, for 45.
There may, however, be a minor snag. Traffic.
As anyone who has driven to Croke Park on All-Ireland Sunday can attest, 80,000 people tend to cause a fairly heavy traffic pile-up.
It might be quicker to simply walk or, perish the thought, drink on the Northside.
Ryan gets the call
There is just one change to the Irish woman's team to play France from the side that lost to Wales last week, Navan flanker Sinéad Ryan replacing Rachel Boyd. The game will be played at Templeville Road, St Mary's College RFC, this Saturday, kick off 2.30.
IRELAND:S Belton (Bohs); J Feighery (Bohs), L Cantwell (Richmond), S Houston (Blackrock), G Davitt (Blackrock); J O'Sullivan (Richmond), T Rosser (Blackrock); F Coghlan (Bohs), J Limbert (Cooke), M Barrett (Highfield); C Mahon (Bohs), G Healy (Rathdrum); E O'Sullivan (Clonakilty), S Ryan (Navan), O Brennan (Blackrock). Replacements: Y Nolan (Blackrock), L Guest (Clonakilty), D Clarke (Blackrock), R Boyd (Cooke), L Beamish (Bohs), M Kelly (Bohs), A Greensmith (Shannon).
