Roscrea Man Launches International Board Game   You are in · RoscreaOnline · Community · People Profiles

For the first time in its history, the GAA has officially endorsed a GAA Board Game. The game is called ’League Leader’ and is set to take the country and indeed the world by storm.

The brains behind the operation can trace their roots all the way back to the GAA stronghold of Limerick Street, Roscrea. They are no other than Patrick Hanlon and his son Gareth, two names that will come synonymous with toy stores all over the world in the weeks, months and years ahead.

Patrick is the son of the late John Hanlon, a popular local lad who spent most of his youth in Roscrea, until he went to fight for freedom in World War II. His brothers, John and Noel, remain in the area to this present day, and both have established their own very successful and respectful businesses, highlighting the vast amounts of entrepreneurial skills and ability that lies within the family.

When Patrick's father returned from World War II, he returned to the beautiful and bustling city of Belfast. It was here that Patrick would spend his youth, in a city that would change entirely and become the constant focus of the world's media for all the wrong reasons by the time Patrick left Belfast for Waterford in 1972 for a new job and better standard of living.

Patrick Hanlon & his son Gareth with their newly launched board game - 'League Leader'.

For the last thirty years, Patrick has been involved in sales and marketing through liaisons with a number of national and international companies. The experience gained from these years makes Patrick the ideal man to promote and develop the game, to a stage where 'League Leader' is easily recognisable and available to a global market

However, for all his prowess, it is not Patrick but his son Gareth who takes the credit for the inspiration behind this fascinating new board game. Gareth who studied chemistry in Wales, decided after a short while that a career in science wasn't for him. What he really wanted out of life was to be his own boss, a young successful entrepreneur with a product that would make him every bit the success he constantly yearned for. Gareth, a keen hurler, won an U-16s Munster medal while in secondary school and played alongside many of the Waterford team most notably Paul Flynn, who went on to win their first Munster Senior Championship since 1963 by beating Tipperary, the then reigning All-Ireland Champions.

Gareth's love of the GAA and his desire to have his own business and be his own boss provided the perfect ingredients that when blended together would produce 'League Leader'. League Leader is patented as the only board game, which acts as an apparatus to provide a game encompassing the rules, game play and strategies associated with Gaelic Games. The dice determines the length of moves of each player around the board, whilst also determining scores attained by each player when interacting with the board. The game play incorporates all the familiar aspects of Gaelic Games, including rules, terminology, tactics and of course, excitement.

When Gareth approached his father with the idea a little over two years ago, Patrick knew straight away that his son had hit on something good, something if managed properly, would have enormous potential. When Gareth then informed Patrick that he was the first person he had told about the idea, Patrick was delighted. Straight away the two put the wheels in motion to obtain an international patent on the game.

The father and son then approached the GAA, who needed little convincing regarding the merit and potential of the game. Like Gareth and Patrick, the GAA felt that 'League Leader' would provide a unique promotional tool for Gaelic Games both home and abroad. The result of this philosophy is that today the game is available in both hurling and Gaelic football version. Indeed as well as a generic version of the game, it is also possible to purchase the board game in your own county colours.

The national launch of the game took place in Waterford a little over five weeks ago. Already the game has achieved much national acclaim and the future looks very bright indeed, with business experts predicting huge success over the months and years ahead. For the future, Patrick and Gareth have already blue printed a number of different plans. Already orders are flooding in from North America and Irish Clubs in Canada, UK and even Dubai. The game is already for sale on the merchandise section of the official GAA website. In the last few days Patrick has secured and exclusive deal with Musgraves, which will see the game on the shelves of over eighty affiliated shops nationwide which fall under the Musgrave brand, such as Super Valu and Supertoys. Locally, one can purchase this highly addictive and entertaining game at venues such as News & Views, Roscrea, Kelly's in Birr, Lar na Pairce in Thurles, Kelly's in Tullamore, World of Wonder in Nenagh and Supertoys in Abbeyleix.

Patrick who is married to Jean and who also has a daughter named Laura, has also decided that now is the time to move back to his roots. Over the coming months, Patrick will finally get to realise his lifelong dream, to come back and live among his friends and family in Roscrea. He intends to set up a central distribution centre for the game at a suitable destination in or around Roscrea. Patrick says that because Roscrea is so central and so close to all of the country's ports and airports, the area is ideal for distributing nationally and exporting on an international basis.

Patrick expects exports to be quite high as currently he is in negotiations with various sporting bodies around the world about establishing soccer, American football and Aussie rules platforms of the game. From an Irish perspective, it is worth nothing that both Patrick and Gareth have recently been in contact with Mr. Bertie Ahern, Foras Na Gaeilge and the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Mr. Eamon O Cuiv regarding establishing an Irish language version of the game.

A documentary about the game and how it developed will be screened on RTE over the coming weeks. A date has not yet been set so keep and eye out on the Tipperary Star or www.roscreaonline.com for more details as to the date and time of what will no doubt be another captiviating piece on yet another tremendous Roscrea and Irish success story.