John Mitchel's Hurling and Camogie Club is a

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

club based in

Birmingham, England Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands region, in England. It is the largest local authority district in England by population and the second-largest cit ...

, and is the oldest club in the Warwickshire GAA. It has been long one of the leading Warwickshire clubs in

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

, competing in the county Senior Championship, and in

camogie Camogie ( ; ) 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 "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

, competing at Junior level. There is an associated

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

club. The club is named after

John Mitchel John Mitchel (; 3 November 1815 – 20 March 1875) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist writer and journalist chiefly renowned for his indictment of British policy in Ireland during the years of the Great Famine (Ireland), Great Famin ...

, the 19th-century Irish revolutionary.

History

Early 20th century

John Mitchel's Hurling Club was formed in 1944 in

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

. In fact, the club supplied pitches and playing kit to the county, which is how the Warwickshire hurlers came to have a white strip. In the early years the club, Paddy Ryan from Pallasgreen,

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

and Mick Ryan from

County Laois County Laois ( ; ) 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 medieval kingdom. Hist ...

were at the helm. In the 1940s, the club was dominant in all competitions. Then in the 1960s, John Mitchel's built what was arguably their best-ever team - they reached their peak in 1971 winning the Warwickshire championship and getting through to the Championship of Britain final. Here they faced the Brian Boru club in

New Eltham New Eltham is a suburban area of South East Greater London, London, England, primarily in the Royal Borough of Greenwich with some parts in the London Borough of Bexley. It is located south east of Eltham and north west of Sidcup. History New E ...

, with Mitchel's winning what was a "highly competitive match".

Club reformed in 1990s

Some years later, the John Mitchel's hurling club folded due to lack of players. But in 1990, the club was reformed, and by 1991 they had regained the Warwickshire Senior Hurling crown. Soon afterwards an underage section was set up in the club. In 2004, the club beat

London GAA The London County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or London GAA is one of the County (Gaelic games), county boards outside Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in London. The county board is also responsible for the London ...

champions Brothers Pearse to win the club championship of Britain in

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is a suburb in the London Borough of Hillingdon in northwest London. Prior to 1965 it was in Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

. More than 30 years after that victory in New Eltham, the club had again claimed a British championship and this time went on to the All Ireland club quarter final losing out by a point. One hurler with the team in their glory days was Billy Collins from Limerick, who remained involved in the club and Warwickshire hurling until his death in 2008. He served as chairman of the County Board for over 25 years. He also helped develop and maintain

Páirc na hÉireann , near Bickenhill, Solihull, England, is the principal Gaelic games sports facility in the West Midlands. It is administered by the Warwickshire GAA. is located east of Birmingham near Birmingham International Airport. It is currently the ho ...

, in

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

, the county's ground. Collins' son, Michael, has also been involved with the club and county and was involved in the management of the county team in the

Nicky Rackard Cup The Nicky Rackard Cup (; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champi ...

and Leinster league. John Mitchel's regained the club championship of Britain in 2007, once again against Brothers Pearse in Ruislip, after a drawn game in Páirc na hÉireann. They retained the crown in Páirc na hÉireann in November 2008 to become the first holders of the Billy Collins Cup, which was donated by the Provincial Council of Britain.

References

{{reflist

External links

* http://www.johnmitchelsbirmingham.gaa.ie Gaelic football clubs in Britain Hurling clubs in Britain Sport in Birmingham, West Midlands