Canadian GAA

Canada GAA

Irish:	Ceanada CLG
Nickname(s):	The Maple Leaf County
County colours:	Light Blue, White
Ground(s):	Shamrock Field, Newfoundland
Dominant sport:	Gaelic football
Standard kit

The Canadian GAA is responsible for Gaelic games all across Canada. It has the same status as one of the county boards of Ireland and is one of over thirty regional GAA executive boards throughout the world. The board is responsible for Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and ladies' Gaelic football teams in Canada.

History

Gaelic games have been played in Canada since the foundation of the GAA. The Canadian County Board of the GAA has overall control of GAA activities in Canada and is reported to by

• Toronto GAA
• Western Divisional Board

Since 1959 up until the mid-1980s, Canadian GAA clubs had participated in the North American County Board Championships with the Montreal Shamrocks being the first Canadian club to win the 1961 Senior Hurling Championships.

There have been teams from Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver which were affiliated with the NACB in the past. The complexity of border crossings were always viewed as a significant obstacle over the years to sustain an ongoing and equitable relationship between Canadian and American GAA clubs.

The founding of the Canadian County Board took place on Sunday, November 15, 1987. The meeting was chaired by GAA President Dr. Mick Loftus of Crossmolina, County Mayo. Among those in attendance were Toronto’s Cormac O’Muiri, Ottawa’s Pat Kelly, Montreal’s Paul Moran and Paddy Dunne (R.I.P.). The first elections of officers were Toronto’s Paul Kennedy as Chairman, Vancouver’s John O’Flynn as Secretary and Ottawa’s Michael Connolly as Treasurer.

Twenty years later, the 2007 County Board consists of President Brian Farmer (Toronto), Vice-President Jarlath Connaughton (Ottawa), Treasurer Eddie Mangan (Toronto) and Secretary John O’Flynn (Vancouver) with over 525 registered players from four Provinces within Canada - British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia

The CCB is a democratic organization composed of the following units: (a) Clubs, (b) Divisional Boards, (c) Eastern Minor Board and (d) County Committee.

Toronto Divisional Board: Toronto, Brampton, Durham, Ottawa and Montreal.

Western Canada Divisional Board: Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.

In eight cities across Canada are twelve affiliated clubs: Vancouver Harps, Calgary Chieftains, Edmonton Wolfe Tones, Toronto’s St. Pat’s Canadians, St. Vincent’s, Gaels, St. Michaels, Durham - Robert Emmets, Brampton Roger Casements, Michael Cusacks, Ottawa Gaels Montreal Shamrocks, and Halifax Gaels. The majority of clubs have both men’s and women’s teams while the Eastern Minor Board is based in Ottawa. A few clubs have flourishing children’s programmes that have been recently developing and competing at the CYC youth tournaments since 2002.

There are two developing men’s teams that are not presently affiliated but have demonstrated a desire to make application for full membership with their local divisional boards. Red Deer’s Éire Ogs located in Red Deer, Alberta and Les Patriotes de Quebec located in Quebec City, Quebec are the clubs involved.

Ladies' Gaelic football

Honours

International Shield Winners 2005

See also