The Limerick Desmond League is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league featuring amateur, junior, youth and under-17 teams from the part of

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 ...

west of the N20. Its top division, the Premier Division, is a seventh level division in the

Republic of Ireland football league system The Republic of Ireland football league system currently consists of 12 levels. Traditionally association football leagues in the Republic of Ireland have been classified as either senior, intermediate or junior. These leagues are effectively nation ...

. Desmond is a historical name associated with both Limerick and

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. See also the

Kingdom of Desmond The Kingdom of Desmond () was a historic kingdom in southwestern Ireland. It was founded in 1118 by Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh, King of Munster when the Treaty of Glanmire formally divided the Kingdom of Munster into Desmond and Thomond (, "North ...

and the

Earl of Desmond Earl of Desmond is a title in the peerage of Ireland () created four times. When the powerful Earl of Desmond took arms against Queen Elizabeth Tudor, around 1578, along with the King of Spain and the Pope, he was confiscated from his estates, s ...

History

The league was founded in January

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

following a meeting at the Desmond Castle,

Newcastle West Newcastle West () or simply Newcastle (''An Caisleán Nua'', formerly anglicized Castlenoe) is a town in west County Limerick, Ireland. It is the largest town in the county, excluding Limerick city, It is also the county town, and sits on the ...

. It was agreed to call the league – the Desmond League and its founding members included – Killonan F.C., Newcastle West A.F.C., Tralee Dynamos and A.F.C. Askeaton. These four teams contested the first league championship which was won by Killonan. In it early years the league also included teams from

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

. In 1966

Joe Wickham Joe Wickham (1890 in Phibsboro, Dublin – 3 November 1968 in Katowice, Poland) was the General Secretary of the Football Association of Ireland from the 1930s until his death in 1968 at the age of 78. He took over from Jack Ryder in 1936, having ...

initiated reforms that helped modernize the league and by 1969 it featured twenty teams. In 1971 Tralee Dynamos and Killarney Athletic left the Desmond League to become founder members of the

Kerry District League The Kerry District League (known as the Denny Kerry District League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league featuring amateur and junior clubs from County Kerry. The KDL is a winter league run by Adrian Casey. Its top divisio ...

. Recent seasons has seen the number of teams affiliated to the league and as a result, the number of divisions. The 2018/19 season saw the league reduced to three divisions (Premier Division, Division One, Division Two). The league has also seen a couple of club mergers. Killeany AFC merged with Bally Rovers to form Killeany/Bally Rovers FC, Newcastle West Rovers and Newcastle West AFC merged to form Newcastle West Town. Adare United and Kilcornan merged at underage but at junior level AK United and Adare United remain separate entities. On the pitch Chris Smith of Abbeyfeale United, Daniel Power and Mark Doherty if Newcastle West A.F.C have represented the Republic of Ireland amateur level, while Broadford United Youths and Newcastle West Rovers youths have reached a Munster Youths Cup semi-final, something which the league hasn't regularly seen. In 2019/20, just three divisions of ten teams affiliated. Ferry Rangers, Ballysteen, Feenagh, Rockhill Rovers and Killeaney/Bally Rovers all withdrew from junior football. Mountcollins and a number of B teams took their place. The league also entered the Oscar Traynor Trophy after a number of years absence.

2015–16 teams

List of winners by season

''List of Champions''
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Notes

References

{{Football in Ireland

External links

Association football in County Limerick 7 Association football leagues in Munster