The Lancashire County Board of the

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 ...

(GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Lancasír), or Lancashire GAA, is one of the county boards outside Ireland and is responsible for the running of

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

in the North West of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. With

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, the board makes up the British Provincial Board. The Lancashire board oversees the Lancashire Junior Championship, the Lancashire Junior League, and the first and second division of the Pennine League. The executive committee consists of a chair, secretary and treasurer, and the county has two representatives on the British Provincial Council Executive Committee. The county crest depicts the Celtic cross and shamrock, the red rose of Lancashire and a ship representing the voyage taken by all of those who have left Ireland to make Lancashire their home or the place they are passing through. The crest was designed by former county secretary Seán Hackett in 2007.

Clubs

In recent years the county has lost two clubs: St. Ann's, Manchester and St.Patricks, Chester. Ellan Vannin Gaels in the Isle of Mann have begun underage after stopping playing adult football in three years. There are eight affiliated clubs, the majority of which are based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. As of 2019, the clubs participating were:

Gaelic football

Clubs

Clubs contest the Lancashire Senior Football Championship.

County team

Football is the dominant sport in Lancashire GAA. The county featured in four successive All-Britain Junior Football Championships, losing the 2009 final but winning in 2010, 2011 (Lancashire 1-11, Warwickshire 0-04) and 2012 (Lancashire 2-10, London 0-10). In 2010 and 2011 Lancashire reached the semi-finals of the

All-Ireland Junior Football Championship The All-Ireland Junior Football Championship is a GAA competition involving four Junior Gaelic football inter-county teams. Prior to a change in competition structure in 2021, the competition was previously for all Junior Gaelic football inte ...

, losing to

Kerry GAA The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), or Kerry GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry, and for the Kerry county teams. The Kerry branch of the G ...

in 2010 and to

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional cen ...

in 2011.

Honours

** Runners-Up (4): 1949, 1953, 1958, 1963 * All-Britain Junior Football Championship ** Winners (5): 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 ** Runners-Up (2): 2007, 2009

Senior Club Championship Roll of Honour

*1951 Oisins *1952 John Mitchels *1953 Oisins *1954 - *1955 Shannon Rangers *1956 - *1957 Oisins *1958 St Wilfreds *1959 Oisins *1960 Shannon Rangers *1961 Harp & Shamrocks *1962 Harp & Shamrocks *1963 - *1964 St Brendans *1965 John Mitchels *1966 John Mitchels *1967 St Brendans *1968 St Brendans *1969 Oisins *1970 St Brendans *1971 St Brendans *1972 St Brendans *1973 De La Salle *1974 De La Salle *1975 St Brendans *1976 Oisins *1977 Oisins *1978 St Brendans *1979 St Brendans *1980 St Brendans *1981 Oisins *1982 Oisins *1983 St Brendans *1984 St Brendans *1985 St Brendans *1986 St Brendans *1987 St Peters *1988 St Brendans *1989 St Brendans *1990 St Brendans *1991 St Brendans *1992 St Peters *1993 St Peters *1994 Oisins *1995 St Peters *1996 St Brendans *1997 St Peters *1998 St Lawerences *1999 John Mitchels *2000 St Peters *2001 St Peters *2002 Oisins *2003 St Lawerences *2004 St Peters *2005 St Peters *2006 Oisins *2007 John Mitchels *2008 John Mitchels *2009 John Mitchels *2010 St Peters *2011 John Mitchels *2012 St Peters *2013 John Mitchels *2014 John Mitchels *2015 John Mitchels *2016 John Mitchels *2017 Oisins *2018 Oisins *2019 Oisins *2020 Oisins *2021 St Brendans *2022 St Brendans

Total

St.Brendans:21, Oisins:16, John Mitchels:12, St.Peters:11, St.Lawrences:2, Shannon Rangers:2, Harp & Shamrock:2, De La Salle:2, St.Wilfrids:1

Honours

*All Britain Junior Football Championship (3) **2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016; runners-up 2009

GAA History in Liverpool

The first match recorded in Liverpool was in 1901, where Liverpool Young Ireland's defeated Manchester Martyrs. According to Tommy Walsh there were 300 in attendance including the Special Branch, who were no doubt keeping a watchful eye. By 1906, both hurling and camogie were played in Liverpool and were played in the Aintree area, where the famous racecourse is located now. Later, the Young Irelands changed their name to Eire Og and then to St.Patricks by 1940. Today, if you had the finest of Liverpool up against the finest of Kilkenny on a hurling field; there would be only one outcome. In 1912 however, the two teams met in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final. The Cats won by 4-03 to 1-03, the game was played in Liverpool however unfortunately the exact location was not recorded and no one in the county board was about in that time to clarify things! By 1924 a new GAA ground was used at Dingle Brook Farm in West Derby. Two years later, the Provincial Council was formed and the only two affiliated boards were London and Liverpool GAA. The two boards fielded teams annually, in both hurling and football, to play each other for the P.J. O'Connor and Sam Maguire cups respectively. The hurling matches were normally won by Liverpool, while the football games were typically won by the London team. By 1926, the Liverpool County Board (formed before the Lancashire County Board), secured a pitch at Thingwall Road in Broadgreen. They were warned that if there were any fighting during games then they would lose the pitch! The following year the teams who were playing around Liverpool were as follows: * Granuaile (Southport) * Eire Og (today's John Mitchels) * Exiles * Gaels * Thomas Ashes * Earlestown * Terence McSwineys * Kathleen ni Houlihans (camogie, they represented the Gaelic League and St. Brigid's, Manchester) By 1927, the Secretary's report stated that there were five hurling, two football and two camogie clubs affiliated. Eleven years later, the teams in Lancashire were: * Eire Og (hurling and football) * Sean O'Donovans (hurling and football) * Patrick Pearses (football) * Kevin Barry's (football) During World War 2, the GAA in Lancashire had its ups and downs, one of the pluses was a new club being formed in Wigan. Between 1948 and 1950, John Mitchels GAC was formed, however according to Tommy Walsh, they didn't succeed in attracting the young Irish men into their ranks. They dissolved into the St.Patrick's Club, St.Patrick's hurling and John Mitchel's Gaelic football. Peter Delaney was one of the founders of the John Mitchels club and he became secretary of the larger club. By 1953, games were played at Yew Tree Field, Preston were playing Gaelic games and Lancashire got to the All-Ireland Junior Final, losing to Cork. Two years later, Gaelic games were being played at Thingwall Hall (St.Edward's Orphanage) and after that at Sefton Rugby Club, West Derby. There were many great players to grace the John Mitchels team over the years, however none more so than the great James McCartan snr and his brother Dan, as well as a smattering of Derry county players. The reason for this was during the Gaelic exhibition games at Wembley, John Mitchels took part in the festivities against London Shamrocks as a feeder for the bigger inter-county games. Of course making the long trip south resulted in not bring a full 15, so the aforementioned players togged out for the Liverpool team. By the 1970s and 80s the economic situation was improving in Ireland, therefore the influx of Irish playing Gaelic games in Britain was declining. By 1978 there were 40 underage games played at Newsham Park. A very strong group of families were active. The 1980s saw hurling die in Liverpool as well as the underage. On the plus side however, 1982 saw comprehensive fixtures being first produced, thanks to Peter Gallagher. John Mitchels adult team soon began to find it hard to field but thanks to Barry Morris, who also played with the club, reformed the club and affiliated it to the Lancashire County Board. The club of course, reached Croke Park to play in the All-Ireland Junior Final in 2009.

Hurling

Clubs

Clubs contest the Lancashire Senior Hurling Championship.

County team

Lancashire competed in the

Lory Meagher Cup The Lory Meagher Cup (; often referred to as the Meagher Cup) is the fifth-highest inter-county senior championship in hurling. Each year, the champion team in the Lory Meagher Cup is promoted to the Nicky Rackard Cup. The Lory Meagher Cup, wh ...

(Tier 5 of the

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

) for the first time in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. 2018 was their inaugural appearance in the national hurling league. They won the Allianz Hurling League Division 3B title at the first attempt. * National Hurling League Division 3B (1):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

The Lancashire Senior Hurling League (All Britain Hurling Shield Group A Northern Section) is currently contested by four teams: Wolf Tones, Fullen Gaels, Yorkshire Emeralds (

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

), and Ceann Creige (

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Facilities

There are seven pitches in Lancashire: *Wavertree Park, Liverpool - Liverpool Wolfe Tones *Chester University - St Patrick's *

Smithdown Road, Liverpool Smithdown Road is a historic street in Liverpool, England, which now forms part of the A562. The area was previously known as Smithdown (Esmedune or Smeedon in Olde English) and dates back to 1086 when it was listed in the Domesday Book. The cau ...

- John Mitchel's *Hough End - St Brendan's, St Peter's, Fullen Gaels *Old Bedian's - Oisín's *Turn Moss - St Ann's, St Lawrence's Two clubs from outside Lancashire play in Lancashire competitions also: *Chester Naomh Padraig GFC, Blacon Avenue,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

*Ellen Vannin Gaels, GAA Grounds,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

Notable players

Tom Scully Tom Scully (born 15 May 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played for the Melbourne Football Club, Greater Western Sydney Giants, and Hawthorn Football Club. A star midfielder at junior level, Scully was originally s ...

was a Gaelic football manager, priest and schoolteacher.

References

External links

* {{GAA bodies British GAA Gaelic games governing bodies in the United Kingdom Sport in Lancashire 1920s establishments in the United Kingdom Sport in the Isle of Man