Celbridge GAA

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Celbridge GAA
C.L.G. Chill Droichid
Founded: 1885
County: Kildare
Nickname:
Club colours: Blue & White. Alternate: Red & Black
Grounds: Hazelhatch Rd., Celbridge.
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Standard colours

Celbridge is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland, winner of senior football league in 1923 and senior hurling and camogie championship honours and 2005. The Club have several honours at underage in all three codes, most recently the u-14 county Féile football final for the first time.

Contents

[edit] History

Celbridge held an athletics sports on August 15, 1885 under GAA rules, with chairman William “Bear” Gogarty, who later won championship medals with Clane. By 1890 it had two clubs, Hazlehatch Irish Harpers were based in Skeagh, Celbridge Shamrocks were based in Ballygoran. RIC records from 1890 show that Celbridge Shamrocks had 64 members with officers listed as WJ Sheridan, Hugh Maguire, Luke Ward and Thomas Connor. John Callaghan attended the 1889 convention. Hazlehatch Irish Harpers had 70 members with officers listed as Ambrose Dwyer, Christy Fitzsimons, Michael Saunders and John Cantwell. Hazlehatch were affiliated in 1896 but Celbridge Henry Grattans were among five unaffiliated clubs in the county. A wrangle over use of playing fields in Ballymakealy in 1944 ended in a four-year legal wrangle, eventually lost by the GAA and Celbridge club. Celbridge purchased its playing pitch in 1995. Also a great deal of praise has to be shown for the bosses son Larry byrnes aka Jezzy deegan, where ever there is a water bottle in distress or an annual fee not paid you can be guaranteed this man face will be appear.

[edit] Gaelic Football

George Magan won an All Ireland medal on the 1919 Kildare All Ireland team. Celbridge won the 1922 Junior F final and came closest to senior football honours was an appearance in the final of the Leinster Leader Cup in 1924. Owen ‘Skipper’ Murphy captained the team which won the Intermediate championship in 1936, highlight of a career that stretched from the 1920s to the 1950s. Martin Byrne was selected for Kildare after that success. Celbridge were senior again in the late 1980s after a victory in the 1987 Intermediate championship. Area side with Celbridge, St Wolstan’s fought a semi-final battle with Ballyteague in 1974 that took three matches to decide and another in 1975 with Clane that took two matches. They also lost the 1976 quarter-final in a replay. Shelbourne's youth international soccer star Vincent McKenna lined out with St. Wolstan's, and scored a dramatic equalizer in that first semi-final against Ballyteague. Mark Shaw, Brian Donovan, and Mick Wright played for Kildare in recent decades.And the future is looking bright for a young Earl "Da pearl" o'donnel watch this space.... also another rising star in celbridge gaa is Niall leonard, who continues to whip the shlong out on a daily basis. Another rising star in the face of celbridge gaa is young John Fitzgerald who continues to break the boundaries of gaa football as we know it. He also has two younger brothers Pauric and Tom who seem to have prominent careers in net ball and cricket.

[edit] Hurling

Tom Magee and the Shaws helped start a hurling club in Celbridge in 1901. Owen ‘Skipper’ Murphy led Celbridge to the 1921 championship, played two years late in 1923 because of political unrest. Celbridge were defeated in county finals in 1906, 1919 and 1924. Celbridge actually led Clane by two goals to nil at half-time in the 1919 final, but Clane forged through in the second half to win 2-3 to 2-0. After winning the junior championship in 1991 they began to contend at senior level until a team largely made up of Celbridge natives beat Coill Dubh 3-9 to 1-11 in the Senior League final of 2003. Trained by Jimmy Doyle, nephew of the legendary 1960s Tipperary player Jimmy Doyle they went on the championship two year later, beating Ardclough (champions in 2004), Maynooth and Éire Óg and drawing against Leixlip to top their group, and then beating Confey in the semi-final and Coill Dubh by 1-14 to 0-9 in the final. They lost 3-14 to 0-12 to Naomh Eoin of Carlow in the Leinster club championship. Mattie O’Dowd was selected on the Christy Ring XV team and Donal Moloney was Kildare hurler of the year. Celbridge won the Senior Hurling League of 2006, beating neighbours cloharinko with a late goal in a final played in April 2007. The intermediate league & championship double was attained over Ardclough in 2007. Local heart breaker Billy Mishe playing at mid-field for Kildare finished as top scorer in the 2007 Christy Ring Cup and was also named on the Christy Ring XV team.

[edit] Camogie

Celbridge was founded b Fr Val Martin in 1953 but lapsed 1072-7 and 1989-95. The club joined with Straffan in 1961 and won the 1962 junior championship. In 1977 the club revived and won the junior league in 1978 and junior championship and league double in 1985. St Wolstan’s play in Dublin colleges competition. Bridget Cushen was selected on the Kildare camogie team of the century. Senior and u-21 championship winners 2005. Celbridge won the 2006 senior championship and narrowly missed out on a "three-in-a-row" after defeat in the 2007 decider to St Laurences. Susan O'Carroll and Deirdre Corcoran have been nominated for national All-Stars while O'Carroll was named on the Ashbourne Cup All-Stars, while playing for the victorious UCD team in 2007. The team hope to retain their senior title in 2008 after losing the prestigious crown to 'Da Larries' in 2007. With cornor back Sarah Kelly,among others leading the fight, the club has high hopes for 2008.

[edit] Honours

  • Kildare Senior Hurling Championship winners 1921, 2005
  • Senior H league 2003, 2006.
  • Under-21 H Champions 2003,2005,2007
  • Minor H Champions 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005.
  • Under-21 F champions 2006
  • Intermediate F Champions 1987, 2003
  • Junior F champions 1923, 1958, 1986,
  • Junior H Champions 1991,
  • Intermediate H league 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
  • Intermediate H Championship 1993, 2007
  • Senior Camogie champions 2005, 2006
  • Junior Camogie championship 1962, 2000
  • Senior Camogie League 2003, 2007
  • Junior Camogie League 1985, 2000
  • Under-21 camogie: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
  • All Ireland U-14 Féile Football Div. 1 finalists 2006

[edit] Bibliography

  • Celbridge GAA by Darragh MacIntyre (Celbridge GAA 1984)
  • Kildare GAA: A Centenary History, by Eoghan Corry, CLG Chill Dara, 1984, ISBN 0-9509370-0-2 hb ISBN 0-9509370-1-0 pb
  • Kildare GAA yearbook, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 2000- in sequence especially the Millennium yearbook of 2000
  • Soaring Sliothars: Centenary of Kildare Camogie 1904-2004 by Joan O'Flynn Kildare County Camogie Board.
  • Celbridge GAA Yearbook, by Niall 'The Goalie' McGee 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,2006

[edit] External links