The Laois 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 Luthchleas Gael Coiste Laois) or Laois GAA is one of the 32
county board
A county board is a common form of county legislature, particular of counties in the United States.
Related forms of county government include:
* Board of Supervisors — a form of county legislature in some U.S. states
* County commission, ...
s of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for
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 ...
in
County Laois
County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a med ...
. The county board is also responsible for the Laois county teams.
The
county football team contested the second ever
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...
(SFC) final in
1889
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada.
** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in t ...
. In 1926, the county won the final of the first
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
competition, defeating
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
. 1936 brought the team's only other appearance in an All-Ireland SFC decider.
The
county hurling team won an
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 ...
(SHC) in
1915
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction".
* January ...
.
History
Laois are a
dual county
Dual county ( ga, Contae déach) is a term used in Gaelic games to describe a county that competes at a similar level in both hurling and Gaelic football. For example, Dublin play in Division 1 in both the NHL and NFL, while Laois compete in the ...
, enjoying comparative success at both football and hurling. Laois are one of a select group of counties to have contested All Ireland finals in both football and hurling, and are six times Leinster Senior Football Champions, and three times Leinster Senior Hurling Champions.
In recent times Laois have been more successful footballers than hurlers. Laois minors have had considerable success over the past two decades, and the Laois senior footballers reached the Leinster final in 2003 (victorious), 2004, 2005 and 2018.
Laois hurlers currently compete in the
Joe McDonagh Cup
The Joe McDonagh Cup is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It forms the second tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and is the second highest level of inter-county champi ...
.
Sponsorship
MW Hire sponsored Laois GAA for 14 years, while Laois Hire was announced as its new sponsor in a five-year deal from October 2022 onwards.
Football
Clubs
The major local club competitions in Laois are the championships which are listed below.
In addition, all teams compete in the
All-County Football League from Division 1 down to Division 5.
Laois Senior Football Championship
The Laois Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by top-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1888.
Portarlington are the title holders ...
Laois Intermediate Football Championship
The Laois Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by mid-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1907.
The Heath are the title holders ...
Laois Junior Football Championships
The Laois Junior Football Championships are the lower-tier Laois Club Football Championships.
The Junior A and Junior B Championships use group phases then down to eight-four-two and the Junior C Championship operates similarly to the Senior Cha ...
Laois Junior B Football Championship
The Laois Junior Football Championships are the lower-tier Laois Club Championships, Laois Club Football Championships.
The Junior A and Junior B Championships use group phases then down to eight-four-two and the Junior C Championship operates sim ...
Laois Junior C Football Championship
The Laois Junior Football Championships are the lower-tier Laois Club Championships, Laois Club Football Championships.
The Junior A and Junior B Championships use group phases then down to eight-four-two and the Junior C Championship operates sim ...
Laois Under 21 Football Championship
County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medi ...
Laois Minor Football Championship
County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medi ...
Portlaoise
Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050, which was well above t ...
won
All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London.
The current champions are Kilcoo of ...
in 1983.
County team
Laois contested the second ever
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...
(SFC) final in 1889. In 1926, the county won the final of the first
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
competition, defeating
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
. 1936 brought Laois's only other appearance in an All-Ireland SFC decider.
Laois defeated
Monaghan
Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony.
The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Let ...
by a point in the
1985–86 National Football League final.
Liam Irwin
Liam Irwin is a former Gaelic football player with Laois in Ireland.
Nicknamed "George", he played at midfield and in 1986 was part of the Laois team that won the county's second National Football League title.
Liam also picked up an All-Star ...
and
Colm Browne
Colm Browne was a Gaelic footballer and manager with Laois. He also managed the Tipperary senior football team.
Browne won numerous honours in the game including an All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship with his club Portlaoise in 1983, ...
both won All Stars for their performances that year.
During the 1990s Laois had a number of successes at
minor and under-21 level, including
All-Ireland Minor Football Championship
The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under ...
s in 1996 and 1997. During the mid-2000s Laois football became a strong force at all age levels. Under former
Kerry and
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 ce ...
manager
Mick O'Dwyer, Laois finished as National Football League runner-up and
Leinster Senior Football Championship
The Leinster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship and shortened to Leinster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GA ...
winner in 2003. Laois would go on to contest the Leinster Senior Football Championship Final again in 2004 (lost after a replay) and 2005 (lost by one point). During the same period the minor county team won the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship again in 2003 and the
Leinster Minor Football Championship in 2004, 2005 and
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...
, while the under-21 county team won the
Leinster Under-21 Football Championship
The Leinster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highe ...
in 2006 and 2007.
Hurling
Clubs
The major local club hurling competitions in Laois are the championships which are listed below.
In addition, all teams compete in the
All-County Hurling League from Division 1 down to Division 5.
Laois Senior Hurling Championship
The Laois Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1888.
Clough–Ballacolla (incl Ballygeehan) are the ...
Laois Senior’A Hurling Championship
Laois Intermediate Hurling Championship
Laois Junior Hurling Championship
The Laois Junior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by lower-tier Laois GAA clubs.
Ballypickas are the title holders (2021) defeating near neighbours Abbeyleix in the Final.
Ballypickas are both the current hold ...
Laois Under 21 Hurling Championship
Laois Minor Hurling Championship
Laois Junior B Hurling Championship
The Laois Junior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by lower-tier Laois GAA clubs.
Ballypickas are the title holders (2021) defeating near neighbours Abbeyleix in the Final.
Ballypickas are both the current hold ...
Laois Junior C Hurling Championship
The Laois Junior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by lower-tier Laois GAA clubs.
Ballypickas are the title holders (2021) defeating near neighbours Abbeyleix in the Final.
Ballypickas are both the current hold ...
County team
Laois won one
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 ...
title, in 1915, when the day was so wet the team reportedly played the second half in their overcoats. The team currently competes in the
Liam MacCarthy Cup
The Liam MacCarthy Cup is a trophy awarded annually by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to the team that wins the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the main competition in the prehistoric sport of hurling. Based on the design of a me ...
(Tier 1 of the Senior Hurling Championship), but has also won three
All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship
The All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship was an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association between 1974 and 2004 for the so-called 'weaker' hurling teams in Ireland. The teams now play in the Joe McDonagh Cup (Tie ...
s. The hurlers reached
National Hurling League
The National Hurling League is an annual inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the league system. ...
semi-finals in 1981 and 1983 before losing the Centenary Cup hurling final to
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
in 1984, and were back in the
National Hurling League
The National Hurling League is an annual inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the league system. ...
semi-final in 1996. Laois most recently contested the
Leinster Senior Hurling Championship final in 1985, in what was to be a disappointing final defeat against
Offaly
County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, i ...
. Laois won the
Joe McDonagh Cup
The Joe McDonagh Cup is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It forms the second tier of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and is the second highest level of inter-county champi ...
in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, and went on to shock
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
in the preliminary quarter-final the next week to reach the All-Ireland Quarter Final. This was considered one of the greatest shocks in the history of the championship.
Camogie
Harps
The High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) is a high-precision echelle planet-finding spectrograph installed in 2002 on the ESO's 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile. The first light was achieved in February 2003. ...
won three
All Ireland junior club titles in 2006-8. Laois won the
Nancy Murray Cup in 2007. They won the third division of the
National Camogie League
The National Camogie League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Very Ireland Camogie Leagues, is a competition in the Irish team sport of camogie, played exclusively by women. The competition is held in three divisions graded by ability.
It w ...
in
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
. They won the under-16 B title in 2000.
Notable players include
soaring star award winners Louise Mahony
Louise Mahoney is a 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 hur ...
and
Eimear Moynan
Under Camogie's National Development Plan 2010-2015, "Our Game, Our Passion",
Carlow
Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272.
The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic boundar ...
,
Cavan
Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bal ...
, Laois,
Louth and
Roscommon
Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads.
The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who buil ...
were to get a total of 17 new clubs by 2015.
Ladies' football
Laois has a ladies' football team.
Bibliography
*
*
References
External links
Laois GAA siteLaois on Hoganstand.comNational and provincial titles won by Laois teamsClub championship winnersLaoistalk.com - news feed forum on Laois GAALaoistalk.com discussion Forum - Discussion forum for Laois GAATimes article on 2003 Leinster win
{{GAA bodies
Gaelic games governing bodies in Leinster
Leinster GAA
Sport in County Laois