Éire Óg

Carrickmore Carrickmore () is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Omagh East, the civil parish of Termonmaguirk and the Roman Catholic Parish of Termonmaguirc between Cookstown, Dungannon and Omagh. It ha ...

is a hurling club from

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

. Their seniors have won the

Tyrone Senior Hurling Championship The Tyrone Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Tyrone GAA clubs. The Tyrone County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1905. Éire Óg Carrickmore are the title holders ...

a record 30 times, with the most recent in 2023, and their first in 1972.

Founding

While memories exist of the ancient game of

camán A hurley or hurl or hurling stick (Irish: ''camán'') is a wooden stick used in the Irish sports of hurling and camogie. It typically measures between 45 and 96 cm (18 to 38 inches) long with a flattened, curved ''bas'' ( , " palm of ha ...

, a precursor to the modern game of hurling, having been played locally in the 19th century, it was not until 1968 that hurling was revived in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

by Kerryman Gerry Ryle. Gerry had come to teach at Dean Brian Maguirc School and upon coming across unused

hurley Hurley may refer to: Places ;In the United Kingdom: * Hurley, Berkshire * Hurley, Warwickshire * Hurley Common, Warwickshire ;In the United States: * Hurley, Alabama * Hurley, Mississippi * Hurley, Missouri * Hurley, New Mexico * Hurley, New Y ...

s in the school gym in 1968, hurling came to life in Carrickmore. From that point Gerry bestowed his passion and enthusiasm for the game hurling upon the youth of the Dean who continued their interest after leaving school to the natural progression of forming Carrickmore's hurling club under the umbrella of St Colmcille's in 1970.. However, it was not until 1974 that the club was named Éire Óg and separated from the

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

Achievements

In 1970, history was made when the Juveniles won the Tyrone Championship, beating

Dungannon Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...

in the final The club struggled to survive in those early days and only for the determination of people like Oliver Kerr, the club would not have made it. In 1976, the club colours of black and amber, inspired by

All Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

winning champions

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

, were first worn. The Seniors first won the County Championship and took home the Benburb Cup in 1972, and during the 70s twice again took it back but it was during the 80s that Éire Óg first had its great success with the underage players of the 70s coming of age. They won the County Championship a remarkable 8 times in a row from 1982 to 1989. By 1990 they had appeared in the County final a staggering 13 times in a row. In 1998, the Seniors broke through to the next level and won the

Ulster Shield The Ulster Shield is the premier knock-out competition for ladies' hockey teams in the Ulster province of Ireland. It is one of the oldest ladies' hockey competitions in the world, with the first competition being held in 1896. Ireland was the fir ...

, while in 2001, the Dean won their first Ulster Vocational Schools U16 championship and then the Minors won the Ulster Championship in 2003. Success was had as well in the Armagh League which was won for the first time in 2004, the historic year of the "clean sweep" in which Carrickmore hurlers and footballers won all county titles at all levels, while the U16s won their first Armagh League title in 2006.

Camogie

The woman's game

Camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

was established in the parish in 1978, and flourished until 1989. During those years the camogs enjoyed a lot of success and participated at U14, Minor, U21 and Senior while a number of the players also represented Tyrone at county level. However in Camogie's

centenary {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at ...

year 2004, Camogie was re-established in Carrickmore under Éire Óg by Bríd Uí Dhonnghaile and they now compete at U10, Post Primary, U14, U16, Minors and seniors.

References

External links

* "Eire Óg Carrickmore", GAA Info, https://web.archive.org/web/20120515012041/http://m.gaainfo.com/club.php?co=tyrone&club=eireogcarrickmore&width=1280&height=1024 Accessed 23 December 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Eire Og Carrickmore Hurling clubs in County Tyrone