Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
: ''Na Géanna Fiáine CLG'' ) are a GAA club based in Oldtown,
Fingal
Fingal ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. ...
. They currently field a single junior
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 ...
, two junior
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 ...
and previously a ladies football team. At juvenile level they field at hurling only with teams at Under 9, 10, 12, 14 and 16. In
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
there is a Gaelic football club who also go by the same name and at Lakenheath U.S. air force base there is a hurling club also called Wild Geese.
History
The club was established in 1888 by Patrick Archer making it one of the oldest in Dublin. Other GAA clubs in the surrounding area at the time would have been the
Garristown
Garristown () is a village in north-west Fingal, Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the historic barony of Balrothery West.Naul. The club in Oldtown was called Wild Geese to commemorate those Irish who had travelled abroad to serve in the militaries of other countries.
Royal Irish Constabulary
The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...
records show that the club had 40 members in 1889 and 1890 meeting in Oldtown and Ballyboghill. P. Mahon was secretary and treasurer at the time and E. Gorman was captain. Wild Geese were one of nineteen clubs represented at
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...
s funeral in 1891. In 1893 P. Sutton attended the Dublin county boards annual convention as the club's delegate on 19 March. However in 1896 the club's name is missing from a list of those affiliated to the county board suggesting the club may have disbanded sometime between 1893-1896. In 1906 the nearest club to Oldtown was Naul but the club was affiliated along with Naul and Garristown in 1911 and again in 1915 and for the 1924-1925 season with the club disbanding once again.
While absent from the field of play in 1931 the club was reformed by Father Lennon and played their games in a field owned by Jim Hughes. Players were from not just Oldtown but also
Rolestown
Rolestown, (Irish: ''Baile Rothluis''), is a small village six miles (10 km) north-west of Swords along the R125 in Fingal, Ireland. It lies about halfway between Swords and Ashbourne. It is located around two parallel roads intersected b ...
and
Ballyboughal
Ballyboughal (), also sometimes Ballyboghil, is a village and district in central Fingal within the historic County Dublin, near the Naul. The name means ''the town of the staff'', and a major relic, the Bachal Isu, was protected in this area ...
. The team captain was Stephen Griffin. They won the Feis Cup beating
Donabate
Donabate () is a small coastal town in Fingal, Ireland, about north-northeast of Dublin. The town is on a peninsula on Ireland's east coast, between the Rogerstown Estuary to the north and Broadmeadow Estuary to the south. Donabate is a civil ...
in the final. Some time after however a dispute arose those from Ballyboughal and the rest in the club with those from Ballyboughal deciding to leave and set up their own club. In order to see who would keep the set of jerseys both sides agreed to a game to resolve the issue with Wild Geese winning meaning they kept the jerseys which are the club's colours to this day, black and amber. However the club was to disband sometime shortly after and this the years to come a club was established in nearby Rolestown called
Fingal Ravens
Fingal Ravens is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Rolestown, County Dublin, Ireland. Fingal Ravens won the 2007 Dublin Intermediate Football Championship and are therefore in the Senior championship for 2008.
The Senior team won the ...
.
Patrick Archer reformed the club in 1935 but it disbanded again sometime before 1947 before regrouping again in a year where the GAA appeared to undergo something of a revival in the area with Fingal Ravens, Garristown and Man O’War also affiliating. Ballyboughal had won a Junior Football Championship in that year. However both Wild Geese and Fingal Ravens were finding it difficult to field and Fingal Ravens joined up with Wild Geese. The club disbanded some years after and in 1952 Fingal Rovers hurling club was established in Rolestown with many players having previously played with Wild Geese among their membership. Meeting were held in Hurley makers Owen and Tommie Butlers and they travelled to matches in their van. Fingal Rovers were runners up in the Fingal Hurling League, losing to
Portrane
Portrane or Portraine (Irish: ''Port Reachrann'') is a small seaside settlement, three kilometres from,the small town of Donabate in Fingal, Ireland. It lies in the Barony of Nethercross, in the historic County Dublin.
Portrane has a long sa ...
but won a County special competition defeating Porton Docks in
Islandbridge
Island Bridge (), formerly Sarah or Sarah's Bridge, is a road bridge spanning the River Liffey, in Dublin, Ireland which joins the South Circular Road to Conyngham Road at the Phoenix Park.
Island Bridge and the surrounding area (often known ...
. Wild Geese reformed some years after and continued to compete on and off through the years.
Club facilities
The name Wild Geese made an appearance in ‘Gaelic weekly’ in 1954 where it was revealed the club had purchased a field and sown a crop of
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
. They had also plans to sow a crop of spring
oats
The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...
and it was hoped that this would make the ground easier to level and sow grass. Wild Geese played Ballyboughal on a challenge game at
Damastown
Damastown ( ga, Baile Dama) is a townland in the civil parish of Mulhuddart in Fingal, Ireland, on the outskirts of Dublin. The townland is located west of the village of Mulhuddart and is north of the N3 road. A link road is nearing complet ...
Sports in 1954 also with a picture of the team featuring in the
Irish independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis.
The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines.
Traditionally a broadsheet new ...
. Wild Geese were listed as one of eleven clubs who owned or leased their grounds in a special report by the county board.
In 1968, the club started work on the first full size indoor
handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
alley in the country, this was completed in 1969, Oldtown subsequently produced a series of world champions. Although largely unused in recent years, the alley was refurbished in advance of its 50th birthday.
In 2009 and 2010 the club refurbished their changing rooms, added a meeting room and public toilets, replaced pitch side fencing and upgraded their pitch.
Gaelic football
Since 1982 the club has fielded a single football team. In 1986 they were competing at the intermediate grade in the Fingal league and won the McArdle Cup in the same year. in 2007 they were relegated to Division 10. In 2008 they reached the Junior E Football Championship Final, losing out to Park Rangers. In 2009 they again made the final and defeated St. Brendan’s of
Grangegorman
Grangegorman () is an inner suburb on the northside of Dublin city, Ireland. The area is administered by Dublin City Council. It was best known for decades as the location of St Brendan's Hospital, which was the main psychiatric hospital ser ...
. The club also enjoyed successive promotions in 2009 they were promoted from Division 10 North to Division 9. In 2010 they were promoted to Division 8. The club won the Sheridan Cup in 2007 and 2009. In 2010 they were defeated by Stars of Erin of
Glencullen
Glencullen () is a village and townland in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in south County Dublin, Ireland. It is also the name of the valley above one end of which the village sits, and from which it takes its name, and is on the R ...
Hurling in Oldtown dates back to the 19th century. Founding member Patrick Archer found that the older people in the area were able to recall that hurling was a popular sport in Fingal up to around the 1820 and called camanachd, a word still used in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
describing their own native stick game,
shinty
Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, an ...
. The decline of hurling coincides with the
Tithe war
The Tithe War ( ga, Cogadh na nDeachúna) was a campaign of mainly nonviolent civil disobedience, punctuated by sporadic violent episodes, in Ireland between 1830 and 1836 in reaction to the enforcement of tithes on the Roman Catholic majority f ...
, the O’Connell campaign, the resulting decline in landlord-tenant relations and the farmers unwilling to lend their fields for games to be played as they at times ended in melees. Another influence was the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
who disapproved of the dances that took place after games.
In 2008 Wild Geese set up a hurling team and entered into Division 7 of the 8 divisions at the time and the Junior E Championship. Members of the hurling team did not all play football with the club with some playing with Fingal Ravens, Garristown, Clann Mhuire, Ballyboughal. They failed to win a game that season and were relegated to Division 8. The following year was to be their most successful to date. Wild Geese won Division 8 defeating Setanta of
Ballymun
Ballymun () is an outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland, at the northern edge of the Northside, the green-field development of which began in the 1960s to accommodate a housing crisis in inner city areas of Dublin. While the newly built housing was ...
in the league final. They also took part in the
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
hurling league and entered an Under 21 team into the hurling championship. They hosted the first ever Gus Warren Challenge Cup game against
Erin go Bragh
Erin go Bragh ( ), sometimes Erin go Braugh, is the anglicisation of an Irish language phrase, , and is used to express allegiance to Ireland. It is most often translated as "Ireland Forever."
Origin
''Erin go Bragh'' is an anglicisation of ...
winning 2-9 to 2-5. Mattie Lambe was also selected for the Fingal county hurling panel. In subsequent years Oriol Hally-Garcia, Dara O'Brien and Nathan McCaffrey were selected for the Fingal county hurling panel. Former
Clare 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 ...
manager
Ger Loughnane
Gerard "Ger" Loughnane (born 27 January 1953) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a right wing-back for the Clare senior team.
Born in Feakle, County Clare, Loughnane first played competitive hurling whilst at school in St. Flannan's Coll ...
took the team for a training session. 2010 was to be another hard year for the club and for the 2012 season the club dropped from Division 7 to Division 9 and the Junior F Championship. Aidan Lenehan wrote a book called 'There is a F in Hurling' which was published in November 2012. The book was about the setting up of a hurling team in the club, the challenges and difficulties encountered and the highs and lows experienced since the team's inception in 2007.
2018 was a very successful year for the Wild Geese hurlers. Not only are they fielding several underage teams, they now have two adult hurling teams. As of 2019 they will be participating in AHL7 and AHL9 respectively. 2018 saw the 1st team win Division 8 and go unbeaten throughout the campaign. They also lost out in the Quarter Finals of the Championship to eventual winners St. Joseph's OCB, who on their day would have been a match for many senior teams. Former Fingal hurling manager Mick Kennedy came on board and offered the team additional coaching experience.
;Roll of Honour
* 2018 Dublin Hurling League Division 8 Winners
* 2016 Dublin Junior E Hurling Championship Runners up
* 2009 Dublin Hurling League Division 8 Winners
* 2009 Gus Warren Challenge Cup Winners
Juvenile section
Wild Geese set up a hurling juvenile section in 2008 with Under 9, 10 and 11 teams. The Under 11 team won their league in 2009 and in 2010 the Under 13 team were Division 5 runners up. The club hosted the Division 4 hurling Feile in 2011. The competition was held in nearby Fingal Ravens ground in Rolestown as there was a need for two pitches and the club's ground at Oldtown only had a single pitch.
Underage Honours
* 2010 Dublin Under 13 Hurling League Div. 5 Runners Up
* 2009 Dublin Under 11 Hurling League Winners
Ladies' football
The club set up a ladies' football team in 2011 and hope to set up a ladies underage section in the future
Camogie
Wild Geese Gaa started a camogie team in 2018. It has been many years since Camogie was played on the hallowed pitches of Oldtown. They played their first game this year since the middle of the last century. 2019 has started positively with the Camogie set to continue and the girls actively seeking new members.
References
Other sources
* Dublin Ladies Gaelic websit * The Gaelic Athletic Association in Dublin 1884-2000 (2005) Editor and compiler: William Nolan Contributors: Jim Wren, Marcus de Búrca, David Gorry
Official Club Web-Site