Walsh Island is a

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 ...

club located in the village of

Walsh Island Walsh Island or Walshisland () is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It takes its name from the surrounding hinterland which is a fertile area of land on a hill (104m) located in an area of bogland known as the Bog of Allen, (hence, "island") ...

County 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, in hono ...

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 ...

. With 12 Senior Football wins and 2 Leinster Championship wins, they are one of the most successful clubs in the Offaly.

History

Before the club was formed in 1930, many players from Walsh Island played for nearby ''Geashill GAA''. It was decided that the club's colours would be the green and white hoops of Shamrock Rovers, the top

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 ...

club in Ireland. The hoops did not clash with any club colours in North Offaly and were adopted as the colours. The first match played by Walsh Island was against Ballykeane. The club won the Offaly Senior Football Championship in 1933, their first year in the competition. Walsh Island was now the dominant team in the county and remained so until 1943. After many years the club became the dominant force in Offaly once more in 1977, losing the Championship Semi Final to

Tullamore GAA Tullamore GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in the town of Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. The club is concerned with both hurling and Gaelic football and competes in Offaly GAA competitions. History Honours * Offaly Senio ...

that year and winning it for the next six consecutive years. In 1979 and 1980 Walsh island won the

Leinster Senior Club Football Championship The Leinster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played on a knockout basis between the senior club championship winners of the competing counties in Leinster. The current holders of the Leinster title are Ba ...

, becoming one of the only clubs in Leinster to have 2 consecutive wins in the competition and the second club from Offaly to win it.

Honours

* Offaly Senior Football Championships: 12 ** 1933, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1942, 1943, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 *

s: 2 ** 1979, 1980 * Offaly Intermediate Football Championship (1) ** 2009 * U21 Football Championship 1974 * Offaly Junior Football Championship (3) ** 1932, 1961, 1996

Notable players

Richie Connor Richie Connor (born 1954 in Walsh Island, County Offaly) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Walsh Island and, from 1975 until 1989, at senior level for the Offaly county team. Walsh later served as manager of ...

Willie Bryan Willie Bryan (born 1947 in Walsh Island, County Offaly) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Walsh Island and at senior level for the Offaly county team from 1966 until 1978. Bryan captain Captain is a title, a ...

Matt Connor Matt Connor (born 1960 in Walsh Island, County Offaly) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Walsh Island and at senior level for the Offaly county team from 1978 until 1984, when he was seriously injured in a ca ...

Liam Connor Liam Connor is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Rob James-Collier from 2006 to 2008. Storylines Liam first appeared on ''Coronation Street'' in August 2006 when he and nephew Ryan ( Ben ...

Tomás Connor Tomás may refer to: * Tomás (given name) Tomás is a Spanish, Portuguese, and Irish (also in the archaic forms ''Thomaz'', ''Thomás'' and '' Tomaz'') given name equivalent of ''Thomas''. It may refer to: * Tomás de Anchorena (1783–1847), ...

* Brian Connor

References

*http://www.walshislandgaaclub.com/index.html Gaelic games clubs in County Offaly Gaelic football clubs in County Offaly {{Leinster-GAA-club-stub