The London 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 Londain) or London GAA is one of the
county boards outside 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
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
. The county board is also responsible for the London county teams and schools.
The
county football team compete in the
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship on an annual basis, the only English based team to do so. They participate through in the
Connacht Senior Football Championship as the Irish community in London are considered as part of the province of Connacht.
The
county hurling team competed in the
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, but having been relegated during the preliminary group stage of the Leinster Championship in the
2014 season, the team currently plays in the third tier
Christy Ring Cup
The Christy Ring Cup () is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. Originally introduced as a second-tier competition, it is currently the third tier overall in the inter-county hurling championship system. Eac ...
.
Overview
London played in three hurling and five football All Ireland finals in the early 1900s when the All-Ireland and All-Britain champions were paired in the final. London won the hurling All-Ireland in 1901, defeating
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 ...
by 1-5 to 0-4. The experiment was abandoned after 1908. Tim Doody, a native of Tournafulla Co Limerick, played in both All Ireland Finals, with London, on the same day in 1901, a record unlikely to be broken anytime soon. The early London teams of that era drew strongly on immigrants from the Cork area in particular.
Sam Maguire, who captained many of the teams, came from
Dunmanway. The GAA later named the
All-Ireland Football Championship's trophy in his honour.
London played the first ever recorded
composite rules shinty–hurling match with
London Camanachd
London Camanachd is a shinty club in England. They have historically been attached to the South District. They went into abeyance in 1992 but were reconstituted in 2005. They played the first officially recognised Shinty match outside Scotlan ...
in 1896.
Clubs
* Brothers Pearse
* Cu Chulainns
* Dulwich Harps
* Eire Og
* Fr. Murphy's
*
Fulham Irish
Fulham Irish GAA Club is a Gaelic Football and Hurling Club who play on Wormwood Scrubs in West London.
Fulham Irish GAA hold the unique status of being the only club in London to offer dual players Senior Football & Senior Hurling. It is a un ...
* Garryowen
* Granuaile
* Harlesden Harps
*
Kilburn Gaels
*
Kingdom Kerry Gaels
*
Neasden Gaels
Neasden Gaels GFC are a Gaelic Football team are based in Kingsbury, North London. Neasden Gaels were founded into the junior ranks of London GAA in February 1989 following a meeting between officials at McDonagh's Bar in Kingsbury, North West L ...
* North London Shamrocks
* Parnells
* Robert Emmets
* Round Towers
* St. Anthony's
*
St. Brendan's
* St. Claret's
*
St. Gabriel's
* St. Joseph's
*
St. Kiernan's
*
Seán Treacy's
* Tara
*
Thomas McCurtains
*
Tir Chonaill Gaels
* Wandsworth Gaels
Football
Clubs
Clubs contest the
London Senior Football Championship
The London Senior Football Championship is a Gaelic Athletic Association cup competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in London, England. The London Football championship began in 1897 with Ireland United winning the first title. Tir Ch ...
.
County team
London entered the
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 ...
in 1993 and were initially fairly successful with 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in their first campaign and the renewed effort coincided with a drive to establish the games in schools. London now fields its second team in the British Junior football and hurling Championships. Their first football team have competed in the
Connacht Senior Football Championship since 1975, but in the first 37 years of competing could only manage one win: a 0-9 to 0-6 defeat of
Leitrim in 1977.
After going down by 9-19 to 1-10 against
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 ...
in 1980 they staged matches at home in Ruislip and came close to victory against Leitrim in 1987,
Sligo
Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the largest urban ce ...
in 1988 and Roscommon in 2005. Among their footballers was Brian Grealish, whose brother Tony played association football for the Republic of Ireland. Due to the
Foot and Mouth crisis in England, London withdrew from the 2001 Connacht Senior Football Championship; their first round championship fixture against
Mayo was cancelled until the 2006 fixture between the teams. In June 2011, London were defeated in extra-time against Mayo in the Connacht Championship, London entered the first qualifying round and defeated
Fermanagh
Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of a ...
by 0-15 to 0-9 in Ruislip in the first round of the qualifiers, recording their first championship win for 34 years. London were drawn against
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, mapsize = 220px
, pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
for their second qualifying round match.
In 2013, the GAA banned London from travelling to Ireland for warm-up games, as a result of a GAA rule put in place to prevent teams travelling abroad for training camps in the run up to the championship, putting them at a major disadvantage to other counties. On 26 May 2013, London defeated Sligo by a scoreline of 1-12 to 0-14 to gain their first victory in the Connacht Championship since 1977.
Lorcan Mulvey
Lorcan Mulvey is a Gaelic footballer. He has played club football for Butlersbridge and also played for the Cavan county team at all levels. He played for the Cavan senior team for eight years until 2010. Since moving to London he has transferre ...
scored the vital London goal.
The day after they defeated Sligo was a
bank holiday
A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or h ...
in England so the players rested. London held
Leitrim in the Connacht semi-final then won the replay. After these three games they headed for the Connacht final - their first appearance at that level - but lost to
Mayo. They arrived in Ireland for the final on a specially charted jet. Thus they entered Round 4 of the Qualifiers for the All-Ireland Series - also their first time to feature there. They drew
Cavan, their first Championship meeting with them and the game was set for
Croke Park
Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and h ...
, another historic occasion for London. Cavan won by a score of 1-17 to 1-08 to proceed to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Lorcan Mulvey
Lorcan Mulvey is a Gaelic footballer. He has played club football for Butlersbridge and also played for the Cavan county team at all levels. He played for the Cavan senior team for eight years until 2010. Since moving to London he has transferre ...
was later nominated for an
All Star, but was not selected.
In 2018, London fielded a record six London-born starters in their championship line-up in their defeat to
Sligo
Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the largest urban ce ...
in the
Connacht Senior Football Championship, with a further two on the bench.
Hurling
Clubs
Clubs contest the
London Senior Hurling Championship
The London Senior Hurling Championship is a Gaelic Athletic Association cup competition between the top hurling clubs in London, England.
Top winners
Roll of honour
References
{{Gaelic games in Great Britain
Hurling competitions in ...
.
County team
London has a strong hurling tradition. It claims consistently good results 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. ...
. As a mid-table Division 2 side, London is actually placed above half the
counties of Ireland
The counties of Ireland ( Irish: ) are historic administrative divisions of the island into thirty-two units. They began as Norman structures, and as the powers exercised by the Cambro-Norman barons and the Old English nobility waned over time ...
, in strong contrast to the county's role as
whipping boys in the other
Gaelic sport of
football (see
London's record in football).
The county won the
1901 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (SHC). In the
1973 All-Ireland SHC, a London team that included six Galwaymen defeated
Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...
by a scoreline of 4–7 to 3–5 in the All-Ireland SHC quarter-final at
Ballinasloe. Galwaymen Frank Canning and Lennie Burke scored three of the goals against their old county.
London won five All-Ireland B Championships between 1985 and 1995.
London won the inaugural
Nicky Rackard Cup in 2005, defeating
Louth's hurlers by 15 points in
the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
. London won the
2011 Nicky Rackard Cup, defeating Louth in the final. London won the
2012 Christy Ring Cup
The 2012 Christy Ring Cup was the eighth season of the Christy Ring Cup since its establishment in 2005.
Teams
A total of eight teams contested the Christy Ring Cup, including seven sides from the 2011 Christy Ring Cup and London_GAA, London, who ...
, defeating
Wicklow by a scoreline of 4–18 to 1–17. This gained the county
promotion to the
2013 All-Ireland SHC. In the
2014 All-Ireland SHC, London finished bottom of the preliminary group after being beaten by Westmeath in the final game of the round robin stage in
Mullingar, and the county was
relegated back to the Christy Ring Cup for the 2015 season.
Ladies' football
History
Ladies' football in London has mirrored the growth seen in Ireland, where it is the fastest growing ladies' game. In London Parnells were senior champions and Fulham Irish were Junior champions for 2010. Many clubs now have ladies' teams. Senior teams are
Thomas McCurtains GAA
Thomas McCurtains is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Goodmayes, East London. The club covers a wide area and current players live in many different areas, including, Gants Hill, Woodford, Leyton, Leytonstone, Stratford, Romford, Dagenh ...
, Parnells, Kerry Kingdom Gaels, Fr Murphys, Holloway Gaels and Taras. Junior teams in London 2010 were Fulham Irish, Clonbony, Taras (Junior), Claddagh Gaels (Luton) and Dulwich Harps. In 2011, St Anthonys (Reading) joined the Junior ranks.
London have the following achievements in ladies' football.
*
All-Ireland Junior Ladies' Football Championship ''2''
**1993, 2008
*
All-Ireland Junior Ladies' Football Championship Finalists: ''1''
**2007
References
External links
Official websiteIn pics: London celebrate their historic victory over Sligo
{{DEFAULTSORT:London Gaa
British GAA
Gaelic games governing bodies in the United Kingdom