The Harps GAA is a

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 hurling (which is played by men onl ...

club 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 medie ...

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 ...

. It is a combination of players from the villages of

Cullohill Cullahill or Cullohill () is a small village situated on the R639 road in County Laois, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Cullahill takes its name from an ancient forest that covered Cullahill Mountain and extended down to Cullahill Castle. Histor ...

and Durrow. Hurling and camogie are the dominant sports in the club but, the club also fields

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

teams. The club colours are yellow with red trim, and its grounds are in Durrow and Cullohill.

History

The club was formed in 1984 as an amalgamation of the old clubs of Durrow and Cullohill. In their very first year, the club reached the

Laois Senior Hurling Championship The Laois Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois GAA, Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1888. Clough–Ballacolla GAA, Clough–Bal ...

final but lost to

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050 ...

in a replay. They returned to the final in 1997 and 1998 but lost both to Castletown and

respectively. In 2016, The Harps were relegated to second tier hurling to Senior ''A''.

Clare GAA Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

All-Ireland winner

Ollie Baker Oliver Baker (born 14 July 1974) is an Irish former Hurling, hurler who played as a midfielder for the Clare GAA, Clare senior hurling team. Baker made his first appearance for the team during the National Hurling League 1994-95, 1994–95 Nati ...

took on the club's hurling manager position in 2022.

Honours

;Hurling Championship * Laois Senior B Hurling Championship - 1996, 2001 * Laois Intermediate Premier Hurling Championship - 2020 *

Laois Junior A 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 holde ...

1984, 1991, 1995, 2005, 2020 *

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 ...

- 1992, 2008, 2014 *

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 holde ...

- 2005, 2011, 2022 * Laois Under-21 A Hurling Championship - 1990, 2006 * Laois Under-21 B Hurling Championship - 1998, 2003 * Laois Minor A Hurling Championship - 1986, 1987, 1992, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2019 * Laois Minor B Hurling Championship - 2001 * Palmer Cup - 2011, 2016 ;Football Championship *

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 ...

- 1994 *

Laois Junior A Football Championship 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 ...

- 1989, 2000 *

Laois Junior B Football Championship 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 ...

- 2012 *

Laois Junior C Football Championship 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 ...

- 2001 * Laois Under-21 B Football Championship - 1999, 2000 * Laois *Minor B Football Championship - 1995, 1996, 2005, 2016

Notable players

Club players who have represented their county or province include: * Mick Bolger, #2 on the 1985 hurling win over Wexford that qualified Laois for a Leinster final for the first time in 34 years *

Pádraig Delaney Pádraig Delaney (born 1999) is an Irish hurler who plays for Laois Senior Championship club The Harps and at inter-county level with the Laois senior hurling team. He usually lines out at as a left wing-back. Honours ;Laois * Joe McDonagh ...

* Morgan Kelly, #1 on the 1985 hurling win over Wexford that qualified Laois for a Leinster final for the first time in 34 years *

Brian Shortall Brian ‘Shorts’ Shortall is a former Laois minor Gaelic footballer and Australian rules footballer. Playing career Shortall is a native of Durrow, County Laois and played his club football with The Harps GAA and represented Laois GAA at m ...

, Australian rules footballer

References

Gaelic games clubs in County Laois Gaelic football clubs in County Laois {{Leinster-GAA-club-stub