St. Mary's, Athenry is a

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

club located in Athenry in

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

, Ireland. In men's competitions, the club is a dual club competing in both

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

and

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

at various age levels. The club also competes in

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 ...

competitions, and has won several county, province and national titles in the sport.

History

Athenry GAA club was founded in 1885. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the club fielded both

and

teams. The club also participated in

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

competitions. While

was played locally from at least the 1920s, Athenry's camogie club was formally established in 1973.

Hurling

The club contested its first county final in 1977. Victory on that occasion went to Kiltormer. Athenry's next county final appearance came in 1987, when they were victorious. They defeated Castlegar 1-12 to 2-6. They went all the way to the All-Ireland final but they were defeated by Midleton from Cork. Athenry also went on to compete in the next two county finals in 1988 and 1989 where they were defeated on both occasions. 1991 was Athenry's next county final appearance; however, they were again defeated by Kiltormer. Athenry's second county title came in 1994 after they defeated Sarsfields 2-6 to 0-9. Following this county final victory, six county titles (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004), six Connacht titles (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004), and three All Ireland titles (1997, 2000 and 2001) were achieved in a ten year period from 1994 to 2004.

Honours

All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Club Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county club hurlin ...

(3): 1997, 2000, 2001 * Connacht Senior Club Hurling Championship (8): 1987, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004 * Galway Senior Hurling Championship (8): 1987, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004 * Galway Intermediate Hurling Championships (2): 1960, 1998 * Galway Junior A Hurling Championships (1): 2019

Camogie

Athenry

club won the All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. They won further Connacht titles in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and were Galway senior champions on 13 occasions. The club was founded in 1973 by Gilbert McCarthy, a teacher at Presentation, Athenry, Christy Kelly and Anthony Poniard. Their initial club success was based on the successful Presentation School sides and many of the players who won All-Ireland senior and junior championships in 1974. Kenny Park in Athenry is sometimes used as a home ground by the Galway senior camogie team. Club player Kate Moran died the day after an injury in an April 2022 match.

Honours

* All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship (1):

* Connacht Senior Club Camogie Championship (8): 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1986 * Galway Senior Club Camogie Championship (10): 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1986, 2006, 2007

Football

A team representing Athenry, competing as "Athenry De Wetts", won the Galway Senior Football Championship in 1903, 1904 and 1906. Later in the 20th century, teams from Athenry won several junior, minor and underage county football competitions.

Notable players

Eugene Cloonan Eugene Cloonan (born 22 December 1978) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a full-forward for the Galway senior team. Born in Athenry, County Galway, Cloonan first played competitive hurling whilst at school at Athenry Vocational Schoo ...

Jarlath Cloonan Jarlath Cloonan (born 1953 in Athenry, County Galway) was the County Galway Senior Hurling Manager, 1994-96. A former selector, Cloonan played a key role as Athenry won three All-Ireland club titles. He has held all the main officerships wit ...

Michael Crimmins Michael Crimmins (born 1974 in Birr, County Offaly) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Athenry and is a member of the Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province ...

* Brian Hanley * P. J. Molloy *

Joe Rabbitte Joe Rabbitte (born 22 April 1970) is an Irish former hurler. He played for his local club Athenry, and was a member of the Galway senior hurling team The Galway county hurling team ( ) represents Galway in hurling and is governed by Galwa ...

* Brian Feeney * Tom Flynn

References

External links

* {{Galway clubs Gaelic games clubs in County Galway Hurling clubs in County Galway