Cats in the Cradle McCarthy Cup
What you gonna do when you grow up?
What you gonna do when you grow up?
The Beginning
A short history of the GAA. On Saturday the 1st of November 1884, while Ireland was under British Rule, a group of prominent men held a meeting in Hayes Hotel, Thurles Co. Tipperary to discuss athletics in Ireland.
Micheal Cusack and group of men who had the foresight to realize the importance of having a national organization to make athletics more accessible to a larger audience therefore understood the value of the cultivation and preservation of national pastimes, and formed the Gaelic Athletic Association
There were seven founding members, it is interesting to note four were members of the IRB. Athletics at that time was the preserve of the landed gentry. All that was Irish at that time was being eroded by poverty and emigration. The Irish language was under threat as was the way of life. Therefore they were determined to sponsor native Irish games and discourage English Games. It gave Irish men a sense of pride and gave birth to a new sense of spirit in rural Ireland.
At Home
Shortly after this historic meeting GAA clubs began to spring up all over the country. In the beginning most members were farm labour’s small farmers and barmen. But by the turn of the century men influenced by the Gaelic League began to join. These were mainly civil servants and clerks.
Abroad
Those who left the Emerald Isle took their games with them. Therefore North America became the second home of the GAA with over a 100 clubs thriving in Irish communities in Boston, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco.
From its primitive origins, the GAA has developed and refined over the years. It is still an amateur association with the volunteer ethos an integral part of the organisation. Like our love for Craic agus ceol, our language and our land, the GAA is deeply embedded in our psyche.
Spillane Boys ” Off to kick a ball about “
Courtesy of John O’Shea New Jersey
Crossing the County Bounds Commission
Dublin Supporters Croke Park
All Ireland Final Kerry V Dublin
Power Clan O’Neills Jersey