He was from Craigbane village in County Londonderry and played Gaelic football for his local club, Craigbane GAC.
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Michaela was the daughter of one of Ireland's best known sports figures, Mickey Harte, manager of the Tyrone Gaelic football team.
Mrs McAreavey was the daughter of Tyrone Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte.
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Earlier this month in Dublin, Ireland, the star of the Gaelic football league was exposed as a director of an illegal dog fighting ring.
The team's success has reportedly prompted a fivefold increase in interest in the sport in Ireland, a country more associated with Gaelic football, rugby union and soccer.
Those games are at Croke Park, the stronghold of Gaelic football, and are being viewed as 'must win' if the Republic are to retain hopes of reaching the finals.
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The London branch of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) has always benefited from a steady supply of immigrants who trained with Gaelic football clubs from an early age in Ireland.
The GAA holds a major meeting this weekend to discuss proposed changes to gaelic football rules but there are no plans to revisit the issue of opening Croke Park to soccer and rugby.
"I'm still only 21 but I agree that it won't be too long before I'll be one of the more experienced players - particularly the way gaelic football is going at the moment".
McGinley, who sank the winning putt in the 2002 Ryder Cup, started having knee problems as a 19-year-old when he broke his left knee-cap playing gaelic football, an injury that turned him towards golf.
"It's great that we can celebrate being Irish because we have a very strong community in Birmingham with world class Irish dancers, musicians and a strong Gaelic football culture, and all of these things are greatly underrated, " she added.
As a young man Jack Lynch (he was never John) gained fame in his native Cork in Gaelic football, in which players can use their hands as well as their feet, and in hurling, an Irish form of hockey.
At primary level, last year a new sports programme was launched for primary schools where coaches from the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Irish Football Association go into schools to work with children aged four to eight.
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