noon
` I choose Dooley , ' ` I choose O'Connor , ' ` I choose Dimpsey , ' ` I choose Riordan , ' an ' so on till there was twinty-five or thirty on a side . Thin wan cap'n 'd kick th ' ball , an ' all our side 'd r-run at it an ' kick it back ; an ' thin wan iv th ' other side 'd kick it to us , an ' afther awhile th ' game 'd get so timpischous that all th ' la-ads iv both sides 'd be in wan pile , kickin ' away at wan or th ' other or at th ' ball or at th ' impire , who was mos ` ly a la-ad that cudde n't play an ' that come out less able to play thin he was whin he wint in . An ' , if anny wan laid hands on th ' ball , he was kicked be ivry wan else an ' be th ' impire . We played fr 'm noon till dark , an ' kicked th ' ball all th ' way home in the moonlight . `` That was futball , an ' I was a great wan to play it . I 'd think nawthin ' iv histin ' th ' ball two hundherd feet in th ' air , an ' wanst I give it such a boost that I stove in th ' ribs iv th ' Prowtestant minister -- bad luck to him , he was a kind man -- that was lookin ' on fr 'm a hedge . I was th ' finest player in th ' whole county , I was so .