In 1890 Crecrin Harps played Graiguecullen in the County
Carlow final. The Harps men were beaten by a single point scored between
two posts which were beside the goal.
Crecrins defender Jim Carthy moved
up in attack, Graiguecullen managed to get the ball and sent it over his
head and Jim was left stranded.
A Graiguecullen man got the ball and with
his chance he scored the only point of the match. John Lennon of
Knockballystine was captain that day and his team mates were Joe Lennon
King’s Cross, William Doyle Coolmanagh ,John and Edward O’Brien Crecrin,
Michael and Pat Treacy, Michael Donaghue, Martin Keogh, Pat Murphy, John
Sheppard, Jim Kennedy, Charlie Breen , Pat Mulhall The Rock . Patrick
O’Neill, Knockeen. Pat and John Bolger , John Condron, Kilquiggan Pat
Timmons and Jim ‘Red’ Tyrrell, Killinure , and of course Jim Carthy,
Knockballystine.
As can be seen football teams had 21 players in those
days.
- Junior Hurling Team of 1958
- Back
Row: Danny Moore, Paddy Keegan, Dick Ryan, Mick O’Neill, Ned
Hughes, Dinny Byrne, Dan Cash, Seamus Martin, Ned Kelly, Paddy
Maher, Tom Loughman, Paddy Brennan. Front Row: John Alcock, Noel
Alcock, Jim Byne, Pat Hayden, Tommy Alcock, Noel Bolger, Sean
Moore, Martin Kelly. Source Anna Nolan Gough (Facebook)
The Gaelic Athletic
Association (G.A.A.)
Organisation of the G.A.A.
The Gaelic Athletic Association (G.A.A.) was
founded on November 1st 1884, by a group of spirited Irishmen who had the
foresight to realise the importance of establishing a national
organisation to revive and nurture traditional, indigenous pastimes.
Until that time all that was Irish was being
steadily eroded by emigration, desperate poverty and outside influences.
Within six months of that famous first meeting, clubs began to spring up
all over Ireland and people began to play the games of Hurling and Gaelic
Football and take part in Athletic events with pride. From 1925 the G.A.A.
handed over the organisation of Athletics to a separate organisation.
The Irish who emigrated brought their national
games with them and both regional and club units are now well established
in America, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Canada, mainland Europe and
in many other parts of the world where the large Irish diaspora are
located.
Clubs
The G.A.A. has over 2,500 clubs in Ireland alone.
The playing of Gaelic Games is based on the G.A.A/ Club, and each of the
32 Counties in Ireland have their own Club competitions, culminating in
County Winners in championship and league. Club units outside of Ireland
have their own league and championship competitions with the format
dictated by the number of players and clubs available.
Clubs are generally based in a specific
geographic area (usually a parish), and draw their players from that area.
In certain cases, e.g. universities, the club will represent an
organisation or institution and will draw their players from the members
of that organisation.
Clubs will field one or more teams at various
levels, and will play in their county's leagues, cups and championships.
Most clubs will have both hurling and football teams, but some clubs will
concentrate exclusively on one or other of the two Gaelic Games.
The winner of the County Championship will go
forward to represent that county in the Provincial Club championship, and
should they win that, to the latter stages of the All-Ireland Club
Championship, the finals of which are played in Croke Park on St Patrick's
Day (17th March). Inter-county teams are selected from the best
players from the clubs in every county.
Counties
The county is a geographical region in Ireland,
and each of the thirty-two counties in Ireland organises it's own GAA
affairs through a County Board. Counties have a number of Divisional or
Juvenile Boards to organise competitions at district and youth levels.
The County Board (and / or subsidiary boards)
will organise competitions for the clubs within its jurisdiction. They are
also responsible for the organisation of teams to play at inter-county
level, at all age groups from Under-10 to Senior.
The county teams play in their respective
Provincial Championships at all grades, and if successful will go on the
play in the All-Ireland series. A current experiment in hurling allows the
defeated senior and minor hurling finalists in Leinster and Munster to
re-enter the championship at the All-Ireland Quarter-Final stages.
Provinces
The Provincial Councils are the organisations
responsible for the arrangement of G.A.A. matters within their Province.
They organise the Provincial Championships for clubs and counties in both
hurling and football, and look after organisational and disciplinary
matters in their jurisdiction.
Inter-Provincial teams in hurling and football
are selected from the best players from the counties in every Province and
compete for the annual Railway Cup Hurling and Football competitions.
National Organisation
The National Organisation (G.A.A.) is run by
Central Council (Árd Comhairle), with the Management Committee (Coiste
Bainistí) controlling day-to-day affairs. They run the All-Ireland series
of the club and county championships, and look after the Railway Cup
competition.
It is at this level that rule changes and
amendments to GAA structures are implemented, and major changes to GAA
affairs will be ratified by these bodies.
Source: P.MacSuibhne book 'The Parish of
KILLESHIN, Graiguecullen'. 1972.
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