That’s the way it’s gone now. Poor oul PJ.
50 clubs 
One for the “That never happened” thread.
Hello Croke Park this is PJ have ye my two tickets ready?
50 clubs??
It doesn’t say whether he comes back for the match at all
thats not the point
He must be an awful hard man to get along with
I was torn whether this was a clare roasters post or a crap journalism post
To play with 50 clubs you’d have to be changing sides at half time in matches
Legendary GAA Figure Honoured By Native County In The United States
August 14, 2007
Chicago, USA, 14th August 07 - A true GAA legend who played with fifty-two clubs in eleven cities and in four countries was honoured by has native County in Chicago last night. P.J. O’Dea who played both football and hurling with Clare, Munster and London was presented with an engraved plaque by the Clare Tourist Council at Chicago’s historic Gaelic Park. The Chairman of Clare GAA described the Kilrush man as a “stalwart of the GAA in America.” Michael McDonagh added, “P.J. O’Dea’s remains a proud West Clare man to this day and the entire County is delighted to see that he is finally being officially recognised for his invaluable contribution to the GAA.” Speaking during a function at Gaelic Park, Mr. O’Dea said he was honoured that a delegation from Clare had travelled to meet with members of the Irish community in Chicago. Known affectionately in Chicago as ‘The Man From Clare’, Mr. O’Dea added that his love for Gaelic Games went with him wherever he travelled and that he remained passionate about hurling and football. Commenting on a playing career that spanned three decades, he explained, “Medals were not important to me, I was just happy to have my health and play the games.” According to Cllr. Flan Garvey, Cathaoirleach of the Clare Tourist Council, “PJ is seen as a father-figure by Chicago’s Irish population, in particular by people from County Clare. He has worked selflessly for decades to assist the many thousands of Irish people who have travelled to this area in search of new beginnings. He is also highly regarded by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.” Cllr. Garvey added that PJ O’Dea has an unquenchable love for Gaelic Games and that he remains a prominent figure in the development of the GAA in the United States. “PJ never misses an All-Ireland at home and travels every year. He is considered by many as the sportsman supreme and is one of the greatest living ambassadors for Gaelic Games and the Clare Tourist Council feel strongly that P.J should be honoured by his native county”, continued Cllr. Garvey. Born in Kilrush, P.J. O’Dea won his first county medal in 1939 and represented Clare in minor, junior and senior hurling and also played senior football with Clare and with the Munster teams in 1951 and 1952. Before moving to Dublin to play with Sean McDermott’s, PJ lined out in attack with Treaty Sarsfields of Limerick collecting both senior hurling and football winner’s medals. He then went to England and played with the Holy Rosary club in Birmingham and won an All-Ireland hurling medal with Warwickshire. From there he immigrated to the US where he played hurling and football in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City. He finally settled down in the ‘Windy City’, Chicago with his wife Mary. Despite the many injuries he received during his 30-year playing career, PJ lined out for the Chicago-based Shannon Rangers Erin’s Own and St. Mel’s club. Meanwhile, the ceremony marking the achievements of P.J. O’Dea was followed by a presentation on the recently opened Michael Cusack Centre in the North Clare village of Carron. Paddy Maher, Manager provided a ten minute talk on the founder of the GAA. Members of the Clare Association in Chicago, along with a travelling delegation from County Clare, were present at the presentation ceremony in Chicago. The delegation, which includes Clare County Council, the Clare Tourist Council and Shannon Development, has travelled to the U.S. to meet with members of the Irish-American business community in Chicago and to showcase Clare’s tourist attractions to over 150,000 festivalgoers at the Milwaukee Irish Fest in the neighbouring State of Wisconsin. “We have household names who have played our games, from the Burren to Doon Lake, George Comerford, Considines, Goggles Doyle, Jimmy Smith and Larry Blake. We had Tommy Doyle and P.J. O’Dea, Jordan’s dash and dare. With spirit of the Bannermen, in the storied County Clare.” - ‘The spirit of the Bannermen’
A fair whack of clubs alright, but still you’d be closer to 20 than 52. 30 years playing the first 13 of which it would seem were in Clare presumably for the one club (lets say three being generous), so you are talking more or less 3 clubs a year after that 
PJ is surely due a ban from somewhere or other with his multiple registrations
Seems auld PJ’s tale has grown a few legs over the years
http://mikehoulihan.com/tag/pj-odea/
By
Mike Houlihan
I’ve been trying to limit my candor on Facebook ever since inadvertently insulting a friend’s mother.
But of course Facebook friends are not real friends. They are mostly for our own self-amusement whilst goofing off on the internet.
And the Internet can be a scary place. That’s why I never “accept” the friendship of those anonymous hot chicks who keep hitting on me. I know I’m gorgeous gals, but I ain’t that stupid.
However, the other day I got a friend request that taught me a valuable lesson.
I was amusing myself on Facebook, throwing bombs at Hillary and linking to weird news stories from wacky tabloids, when I get a friend request. Who’s this? Stephen Mullen, name doesn’t ring a bell, so I check out his page, he’s a young guy from Ireland. Well that’s good enough for me.
Mr. Mullen proceeds to tell me he is visiting Chicago from Tuam and his dad suggested he try to contact some old friends. “Would the names PJ O’Dea or The Notre Dame Inn mean anything to you?”
Would they? PJ O’Dea, “the man from Clare”, is a true GAA legend who played with 2 clubs in 11 cities and in four countries. He won his first county medal in 1939 and represented Clare in minor, junior, and senior hurling and also played senior football with Clare and with the Munster teams in 1951 and ’52. He won an All-Ireland hurling medal and then emigrated to the US where he played hurling and football in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and was the proprietor of the Notre Dame Inn here in Chicago for years. He’s been my friend for over 30 years and is the narrator of the Irish epic film, OUR IRISH COUSINS.
Long story short, I put Mr. Stephen Mullen in touch with Mary and PJ O’Dea and the next day I’m picking him up at the Metra station to bring him to meet the O’Dea’s on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
As I sat in the O’Dea’s living room and watched this young man tell the story of his father Frank from Knocknagur, and his fond memories of Mary and PJ, a Celtic connection was made. PJ had clippings for Stephen to bring back to Frank along with his best wishes. Later that day I took Stephen out to Queen of Heaven cemetery so he could visit the graves of his aunts Nell and Bridie and before dropping him back at his hotel I insisted we visit one more grave in Mt. Carmel cemetery.
On the way back he said, “My dad will be gobsmacked…it was a day of meeting extraordinary people like Mick Houlihan, PJ O’Dea and his wife Mary, the grave sites of my grand aunts, and to top it all off…along with all those great and fantastic people, the last place we visited was the grave of Al Capone!”
I figured if the kid was gonna see Chicagoland, might as well show him the sights.
Stephen’s father Frank sent me a note the other day.
When Stephen was going to Chicago for a few days over the Easter he asked me if there were any of my old friends that he might look up. I told him as it was almost 44 years since I was in Chicago, that many of the people I knew then would be quite elderly and some may even have passed on to their eternal reward.
I mentioned a few names one of whom was PJ O’Dea and the Notre Dame Inn. PJ was so kind to me when I was in Chicago in 1972 and 73 as a college student on a J1 Visa.
I hadn’t heard from PJ or had any contact with him since I left Chicago 43 years ago. Just imagine my amazement when Stephen, informed me that, thanks to you, he had located PJ, who was hale and hearty, and was able to visit with him and his good wife Mary. Stephen video recorded PJ and I was absolutely thrilled to hear him recall some of the events in Chicago when I was there 44 years ago. I was amazed at how vividly he recalled some of the incidents that happened in the Notre Dame Inn and on the football field almost a lifetime ago.
Mary, his wife, was the first person I met when I arrived in Chicago in ’72. It was such a coincidence as Mary is originally from my parish Kilconly in Co. Galway.
I had such a brilliant time in Chicago, playing football with St Mels… and all the wonderful people I met – Mike Moran, Batty Boyle, Pat McGrath, Mike Scanlon, Mike O’Connor are a few that readily come to mind. I often think about them and wonder what became of them all?
One of my outstanding memories was celebrating in the Notre Dame Inn, with PJ O’Dea -a Clare man, and all those crazy Limerick men, after Limerick winning the McCarthy Cup in ’73. Boy did they love their hurling!
Please pass on my best wishes to PJ O’Dea and his lovely wife Mary. Though I never had any contact with them since I left Chicago in ’73 I never forgot their kindness to me all those years ago.
So there’s the lesson, a simple act of kindness goes a long, long way in making real friends. An Irish welcome can last forever.
Not sure what’s going on with the box in the middle 
I can rest easy knowing I’ve exposed a 93 year old GAA legend as a fraud
Eoghan Moloney has some serious questions to answer over his journalistic integrity
He probably picked that up in Limerick
Sure you know yourself, as the years go on an auld story grows legs. 20 clubs turns into 25, into 30 and if you live to be 93 I suppose the stories start taking on a life of their own.
Is there some sort of ombudsman we can write to?
Better interest rate than the banks!