Chris O’Dowd tells Jimmy Fallon about Gaelic sports

Roscommon funnyman Chris O’Dowd appeared on US television recently and told host Jimmy Fallon about Ireland’s national sports.

The Moone Boy star was on the show to promote his upcoming comedy-drama ‘Juliet, Naked’.

They started talking about the recent FIFA World Cup and O’Dowd said that he loved it but added that he was ‘more of a Gaelic football guy’.

He then went on to explain what Gaelic football is as Fallon looked on in a mixture of confusion and amusement.

O’Dowd said: “Gaelic football is a sport they just play in Ireland. It’s played a lot by farmers, people from the countryside, very rural, very rough, brutal but beautiful like a big wave or having a statue fall on your nuts or something.”

To be fair to our American friends, Gaelic sports can probably seem pretty odd to the uninitiated. Hurling, for example, could be argued to be a cross between hockey, football (soccer), rugby and basketball – with the occasional bit of boxing or UFC thrown in.

O’Dowd – who is a former Roscommon minor goalkeeper – also spoke about his own experiences playing Gaelic football – and how he loves it even though he constantly got hurt.

He said: “I broke my nose a couple of times, this finger is a different size than this finger, different kind of ankles… I have the skeletal structure of a very old giraffe.

“Great sport! You should try it, if you like wrestling or death.”

The conversation got back around to the World Cup and O’Dowd revealed he was working in an Irish bar in Paris the last time France won the tournament in 1998.

He had a great story about the celebrations which involved a lot of alcohol, a six man dingy and waking up by the Eiffel Tower.

Take a look at the video below.

Chris O’Dowd tells America about the joys of Gaelic sports

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