Croom GAA club is a

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

club located in

Croom Croom () is a village in County Limerick, Ireland. It is located just off the N20 (which has bypassed the town since 2001) on the River Maigue. It is 8 km southeast of Adare on the N20. History Cromadh (now Croom) was a village in th ...

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The club was founded in 1884 and fields teams in both

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 ...

and

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 ...

Location

The club is situated in the parish of Croom in central County Limerick in the south division on the banks of the Maigue. Bordering clubs include Granagh/Ballingarry, Croagh/Kilfinny, Adare,

Patrickswell Patrickswell, historically known as Toberpatrick (), is a small town in County Limerick, Ireland. It is primarily a commuter village for people working in Limerick, particularly the nearby industrial suburb of Raheen. The population was 847 at ...

, Crecora/Manister and Banogue. The club is roughly 20 km south of

Limerick City Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

History

The club was founded in 1884 as Croom Abú's and is one of the oldest clubs in the county. A direct relation of Eoin O' Farrell's was responsible for the formation of the club. Croom quickly became a force in hurling winning twenty-three West Senior Hurling titles from 1907 to 1943. During that period they also won County Senior Hurling Championships in 1908,1919,1924,1929, 1940 and 1941 along with a Junior Hurling title in 1922 and a minor in 1936. at this time they had built up a great rivalry with Ahane with whom they contested many county finals. Croom had many All-Ireland winners with Limerick in the early part of the 20th century, including Paddy Buskin in 1897, Mick Feely, Jack O'Shea and Ter Mangan in 1913,

Garrett Howard Garrett Howard (10 December 1899 – 20 January 1995) was an Irish hurler who played as a left wing-back for the Limerick, Dublin and Tipperary senior teams. Born in Patrickswell, County Limerick, Howard first arrived on the inter-county scene ...

, Mick Mullane and Tom Mangan, Howard, Jim Roche and Jack O'Connell in 1934, Howard and Roche in 1936 and Peter Cregan and Roche in 1940. In 1950, the club could only field a junior hurling team and they were moved to the south division in 1956. They then won the County Junior Hurling Championship in 1965. Croom first fielded a junior football team in 1954 winning the County Championship in 1967. At this stage, football was becoming the dominant sport in the club. They went on to win seven South Senior Football titles winning County titles in 1976 and 1983 beating

Oola Oola ( or ) is a village in County Limerick in Ireland. It is near the border with County Tipperary in the midwest of the country. The village is home to a church (Church of The Sacred Heart), a petrol station, a convenience store, two publ ...

and St. Kieran's along with several underage titles. Donal Murray was a member of the Limerick Senior Hurling team that lost the All-Ireland final to Galway in 1980. A South Senior Hurling Crown was won in 1982 but this marked the start of a barren period for the club. the mid-1990s marked an incredible revival in both codes at underage level. The now junior hurlers won the County title in 1996 and won the Intermediate title two years later. Croom won back-to-back Minor County titles in 1996/97 and won an elusive County Under-21 title in 2001 and had several players on the All-Ireland Under-21 winning teams of 2000-02 . The footballers won a County Minor crown in 1998 and followed it up by winning the County Under-21 titles in 1999 and 2000, along with a County junior title in 1999. There was also three Croom footballers on the Limerick team that won their first ever

Munster Under-21 Football Championship The Munster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Munster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest ...

in 2000. This was an era of unprecedented success for Croom but they never made the breakthrough at intermediate football or senior hurling, losing an Intermediate Championship final in 2000 to Gerald Griffin's and a County Senior Hurling final in 2007 when they were beaten comfortably by Adare. Four Croom men,

Stephen Lucey Stephen Lucey (born 4 January 1980 in Croom, County Limerick) is a former Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Croom and was with the Limerick senior inter-county team. He also played football with Limerick. Playing car ...

, Peter Lawlor,

Mark O'Riordan Mark O'Riordan (born 1980 in Croom, County Limerick) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Croom and with the Limerick senior inter-county team. He also plays with the Limerick senior football team. Playing career ...

and

Hugh Flavin Hugh Flavin is an Irish hurler who played as a centre-forward for the Limerick senior team. Flavin joined the team during the 2007 National League and was a semi-regular member of the starting fifteen over the following two seasons. He enjoy ...

, were part of the Limerick Senior Hurling team that lost the 2007 All-Ireland final. The underage success eventually wavered and throughout the late 2000s-early 2010s the club mainly fielded 13-a-side and 11 a-side teams, often amalgamating with neighbouring parishes to field a 15-a-side team. The hurlers lost their senior status in 2013 losing a relegation play-off to rivals

and will play at premier intermediate level for 2014 for the first time since 1998. The footballers were also relegated in 2013 marking a bad year for the club. They were beaten by old rivals Gerald Griffin's in the relegation playoff.

Honours

Limerick Senior Football Championship The Limerick Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top Limerick GAA clubs. The champions qualify to represent Limerick in the Munster Senior Club Football Championship, the winners of which progre ...

(2): 1976, 1983 *

Limerick Senior Hurling Championship The Limerick Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bon Secours Hospital County Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Limerick SHC) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Limerick County Board ...

(6): 1908, 1919, 1924, 1929, 1940, 1941 *

Limerick Intermediate Hurling Championship The Limerick Intermediate Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Limerick County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association for the third tier hurling teams in the county of Limerick in Ireland. The series of game ...

(1): 1998 *

Limerick Junior Hurling Championship The Limerick Junior Hurling Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition organised by Limerick GAA among the top hurling clubs in County Limerick. The winner qualifies to represent the county in the Munster Junior Club Hur ...

(3): 1922, 1965, 1996 * Limerick Junior Football Football Championship (2): 1967, 1999 * Limerick Under-21 Hurling Championship (1): 2001 * Limerick Under-21 Football Championship (2): 1999, 2000 * Limerick Minor Hurling Championship (3): 1936, 1996, 1997 * Limerick Minor Football Championship (1): 1998

Notable players

Conor Allis Conor Allis (born 8 March 1990) is an Irish hurler who played as a Centre-forward for the Limerick senior team. Allis made his senior championship debut for Limerick against Tipperary on 27 May 2012 in a 1-19 to 2-20 defeat at Semple Stadium, ...

Peter Cregan Peter Cregan (13 May 1918 – 12 August 2004) was an Irish hurler who played as a goalkeeper for the Limerick senior team. Born in Croom, County Limerick, Cregan first appeared on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen with the Limerick ...

* John Galvin *

* Peter Lawlor *

* Donal Murray *

* Jim Roche

References

* "One Hundred Years of Glory: A History of Limerick GAA", Ó Ceallaigh, Séamus & Murphy, Seán, 1984. * "Cromadh Abú", Croom GAA and Development Association publication, 2011.

External links

Croom GAA site

Limerick GAA site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croom Gaa Gaelic games clubs in County Limerick Hurling clubs in County Limerick Gaelic football clubs in County Limerick