GAA club names.

[Feckitt]

Every now and again in the North attempts are made to demonise the GAA by certain sections of the media and political  groups who insist that GAA club names are something to be ashamed of.  This has been usually met with a mixture of stout defence and from some quarters an acceptance that the GAA can do more to be more inclusive.
In reality though the names of clubs throughout the country are an astonishing achievement in themselves.  To the best of my knowledge the names of GAA clubs are unparalleled anywhere in the world. 
In this years All Ireland club finals, Crokes beat Watty Grahams and Shamrocks beat Cuchullainns. Local History,  National Heroes,  National pride, mythology, , Patriots,  Saints,  Martyrs and much much more. In English football you have City, Rovers, Town, Wanderers,  Athletic. Bland  meaningless stuff. In America you just pick a wild animal or something..  Its time to celebrate the History and heritage of our great names.

With Glen getting to the AIF I read up on who was Watty Graham?  He was a Presbyterian Church elder from  Maghera, Co Derry who was hanged in the COI rectory Maghera for his part in the United Irishmen rebellion of 1798.
I think we should post the stories and backgrounds of our famous club names and celebrate one of the things that makes our organisation truly great.

[seafoid]

Great idea.
Saints and national heroes account for a lot of clubs . Some have unusual names like Clonmel Commercials and Dreadnoughts. Kilkenny football gave the world Railyard and Slatequarry Miners.

[Nanderson]

An Ríocht. Irish for the Kingdom which is what people would more commonly know our club as. Think it was named this way because of the Kingdom of Mourne would be a familiar name for the area of south down

[dec]

I read an article years ago by Tomás Ó Fiaich about the variety of history and culture you could learn just from the GAA club names in Armagh.
I posted it here http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=21062.msg1074228#msg1074228 the original seems to be no longer available.

History of Armagh Club Names

The following article appeared in an Armagh year-book in 1968 and again in 1998. It's contents however are relevant today and will always remain so.

Speakers at annual conventions recently have urged clubs, especially those in the North Of Ireland, to spread a knowledge of Irish history among their members. Where little or no Irish history is taught in the schools, the local G.A.A. club can help to make good this loss by sponsoring a short talk during the winter months in conjunction with a practice - Céili or language class. But even when this is impossible club members can learn a lot of Irish history in a painless fashion by merely asking for an explanation of the name of their own club and of each team which it meets in various competitions. The whole course of Irish history can be followed through the clubs of county Armagh alone. Let's try it out.

Pre-Christian Times

Our knowledge of pre-Christian Ireland has come down in sagas and heroic tales, which tell of the doings of Clann Eireann, the children of Ireland. Many of them tell of Ulster's struggle against the men of Connacht in which the hero's part fell to Cuchullainn. The great Irish epic Táin Bó Cuailgne recounts his exploits, even those on the hurling fields of Eamain Macha. Hence it is fitting that the present city hurling team should bear his name (Cuchulainn).

But the Tain also recalls that he got the name Cuchuiainn when as a youth he followed King Conor to a feast given by Culann the smith somewhere near the mountain which now bears his name (Sliabh gCulainn). Thinking that all his guests had arrived the smith released his ferocious watchdog, and when the youth arrived striking the ball before him with his camán, he was attacked by the animal. Taking quick aim before the dog reached him he drove the ball into the hounds mouth and down its throat with such force that the hound died on the spot. And to make up to Culann for the loss of his watchdog the young lad offered to take its place - hence his name Cu Chulainn, the hound of Cuiann.

This incident, if it ever took place, is probably to be placed in the area around Sliabh gCulainn; it is thus fittingly commemorated in the name of Mullabawn Cuchullainns. And that early semi-mythological period in our history has left some other names for instance, Keady Lamh Dearg hurling team, to commemorate the Red Hand of Ulster, and Portadown Tir na nOg, called after the land of Youth where our pagan forefathers believed they would find happiness after death.

The Island Of Saints

With the coming of Christianity in the fifth century we are on surer ground. It was inevitable I suppose, that St. Patrick's association with Armagh would make his name a popular name for G.A.A. clubs in the locality, and Dromintee, Carrickcruppen and Dorsey have all their St. Patrick's club at present. Despite the attempts of some of the scholars to make St. Patrick into two personages or to transfer his work from the north of Ireland to a region further south, it is not scholarship but tradition and local appeal which count when a G.A.A. club is being named. Hence St. Patrick, whatever the scholars may one day prove about him, is unlikely to be dislodged from the playing fields of Co. Armagh. In addition the name of Aghagallon Shamrocks pay tribute to one of the best-loved traditions connected with our National Apostle.

Not only St. Patrick, but some of the native-born saints also have been taken over as patrons of our local teams. Killeavy's is called after St. Moninna, who at the beginning of the sixth century founded a house for nuns on the lower slopes of Sliabh gCulainn - hence the name Cill Shléibhe, the church of the mountain. If moninna's foundation may be taken to stand for all the Irish monasteries which arose during the sixth century, another G.A.A. club preserves the name of one of the Irish missionaries who brought the faith to Europe in the following century. It is Whitecross St. Killian's, so called after a heroic figure who is almost forgotten in Ireland but is well remembered in Germany. According to a strong local tradition he was born at Mullagh, Co. Cavan in the first half of the seventh century. He preached the Gospel in what is now Central Germany and along with two companions, Kolonat and Totnan, suffered martyrdom at Wurzburg in 689. Several priests from Co. Armagh had the privilege in recent years of saying Mass at the altar where his relics are preserved in the crypt of the Newminster in Wurzburg. Thus in the persons of Saint Moninna and Killian are the two greatest glories of early Irish Christianity - the monastic movement at home and the missionary movement abroad - suitably commemorated by G.A.A. clubs in Co. Armagh.

Invasion Begins

The Anglo-Norman invasion of the twelfth century was but the first step in the long continued struggle between two races and two civilizations for dominance in Ireland. After the initial shock of the invasion was over, the Gaelic element made a recovery, and within a couple of centuries some of the invading families, notably the Fitzgeralds, had become, as the well-known phrase puts it, "more Irish than the Irish themselves".

This later mediaeval period of Irish history, when the Geraldines of Kildare were kings of Ireland in all but name, gave their title to Bessbrook Geraldines. And the music and song which filled their castle at Maynooth and the homes of the chieftans everywhere is re-echoed by the Harps of Armagh and Silverbridge.

No family fought more valiantly against the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the Sixteenth century that the various branches of the 0' Neills. Camlough Shane 0' NeilIs preserve the memory of a chieftan (c 1530 - 1567) who was more feared and hated at the court of Elizabeth I than any of his contemporaries. His son Henry was granted at the time of the Ulster plantation "the lands of Kamlough, Carrickabracken, Maghernahely, Carrickcruppan etc." and various other townlands in the vicinity of the modern village of Camlough for his loyaly to the Dublin government during their struggle against Hugh O' Neill.

It was in the Blackwatertown area that Hugh 0' Neill had some of his most spectacular successes. His siege and capture of Portmore, beside the present-day village, and his great victory at the Yellow Ford in 1598, fought over the boggy land around Tullygoonigan factory, give a peculiar appropriateness to the name Blackwatertown 0' Neill's.

After "The Flight"

The seventeenth-century wars between William and James produced one Irish hero - Sarsfield -who has been adopted by the G.A.A. club from the High-Moss - Derrytrasna area. But even when organised resistance on a large scale to the new Plantation was impossible, some of the dispossessed natives carried on spasmodically a kind of guerilla resistance movement. "Tories they were usually called in the middle of the seventeenth century, from the Irish word Tóiridhe, an outlaw, but towards the end of the century another word "Rapparees" becomes their more usual designation (from the Irish word Rópaire, a plunderer).

Both groups have left their mark on Armagh G.A.A. nomenclature. The most celebrated of the Tories, Redmond 0' Hanlon (d. 1681), whose remains lie in an unmarked but well-known grave in Ballynabeck old graveyard, has given him name to Poyntzpass Redmond 0' Hanlons, while Madden Rapparees commemorates the 'unknown soldiers' of the next generation

The United Irishmen

The late eighteenth century brought the Republican tradition into Irish history, and the United Irishmen aimed to reunite "Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter" in a union of hearts which would overthrow British rule in Ireland. While some of the most famous of the Northern united leaders like Mc Cracken, Hope and Monroe do not seem to be commemorated by any Armagh G.A.A. club, the founder of the movement Theobald Wolfe Tone (1763 - 98) is remembered by Derrymacash Wolfe Tones, and the Wicklow insurgent leader Michael Dwyer (1771 - 1816), who held out for five years with a small group of followers in the Wicklow mountains and ended his life in exile in Australia, is recalled by Keady Dwyers.

Other Armagh clubs of United Irish significance, such as Cullyhanna John Sheares and Carnally William Orrs and Mobane Emmets are now unfortunately only a dim memory from the 1890's and the early years of the present century. The various national movements of the nineteenth century have had surprisingly little influence on the naming of G.A.A. clubs in our country. Once we had Culloville Sons of O' Connell to represent the struggle for Catholic Emancipation (1829) and Repeal (1843), while the men of 1848 were commemorated in Armagh Young Irelands and Corliss Mitchells.

The Fenians were represented by Sheelagh Kickhams and the struggle for Home Rule by Skyhill Parnells and Crossmaglen Dillons. All these are long since defunct, but in a sense the Fenians live on in Lurgan Clan na Gael, which was the name of the American wing of the movement after 1867. Indeed of all the national leaders of the nineteenth century, only the Land League hero Michael Davitt (1846 - 1906) seems to have retained his hold on the affections of Armagh G.A.A. men. Not only is one of the country grounds - Davitt Park, Lurgan - named after him, but Ballyhegan Davitts still keep his memory green on the field of play.

More Recent Days

The struggle for freedom in the present century has added its share to Armagh G.A.A. nomenclature. Padraigh Pearse (1879 - 1916), leader in Easter Week, is commemorated by Annaghmore Pearses and by the city club Pearse Ogs. O' Rahilly, who lost his life in the evacuation of the G.P.O., is recalled by Collegeland 0' Rahillys. Nor have those young men who sacrificed their lives in bloody protest against the partition of our country been forgotten.

Dorsey Thomas Williams commemorated the Belfast youth who was hanged in Crumlin Road jail in 1942 and Clady Sean South the Limerick man who received his death-wound in the attack on Brookeborough barracks on New Year's Day, 1957.

While the Official Guide of the G.A.A. now lays down that "no club can be accepted henceforth unless it bears an Irish name", several Co. Armagh clubs seem at first to be somewhat out of harmony with the spirit of this rule, either because they were already in existence before the rule was introduced or because a local name has become so much a part of the G.A.A. history of a particular area that it is difficult to pass over its claims nowadays.

Thus it is hard to think of a Crossmaglen team as anything but the Rangers, as the name has been consecrated by almost unbroken usage there since it was borrowed from Dundalk Rangers in 1909. Names like Forkhill Stars and Culloville Blues, while they have not the long tradition of the Rangers behind them, may be presumed also to carry a certain local appeal. The same thing may be said of club-names derived from the patron saint of the local church or parish, e.g. Lurgan St. Peters. St. Marys which is used as an alternative name for the Blackwatertown club, was originally the name of the camogie club in that area founded sixteen years ago by the late Fr. Soraghan.

So the quest for new names goes on, as young clubs sprout up to take the place of those for which perhaps a local squabble or migration or discouragement has proved a fatal blow. No name can be more appropriate than one derived from the local history of the area in which it is to be used, for such a name instills a pride in the past of one's native district and it is the symbol of that basic loyalty, as exemplified by Matt the Thresher hurling "for the honour of the little village" in Kickham's Knocknagow, on which the G.A.A. was founded.

There is no scarcity of such unused names for Co. Armagh - names of local saints like St. Jarlath of Clonfeacle, St. Ernan of Kilnasagart and St. Ciaran of Tandragee; penal-day stalwarts like Richard Creagh and Blessed Oliver Plunkett and Patrick O' Donnel, the "Bard of Armagh";

Soldiers such as Owen Roe O'Neill whose family home was near Loughgall; Gaelic poets like art Mc Cooey of Creggan and Peadar O'Doirnin of Forkhill; 98 like the Rev. Steel Dickson, who after nearly four years in Fort George prison in Scotland spent over twelve years as Presbyterian Minister in Keady where he was subjected to hunger and assault because of his national loyalty, and Fr. James O' Quigley, a native of the parish of Kilmore, who was executed in Maidstone for his United Irish activities; distinguished musicians like Art 0' Neill from Maydown, "the last of the harpers", and Edward Bunting from Armagh, "the first of the great collectors", Brian McGurk, Dean of Armagh and Seamus Mc Murphy, Rapparee leader, both of whom died in the eighteenth century in Armagh Jail. These are some of the forgotten names of Co. Armagh "names in search of a team".

The Moral

Let the club name be not only one of historical significance in the district but one which will inspire patriotism, loyalty, courage and fair play, a reminder to be generous in victory, unbending in defeat and always to play the game. A well-chosen name should be an aid to discipline and devotion among club members and supporters.

A litany of well chosen names throughout the country should add to the harmony between clubs, for it will emphasise that over and above their athletic purpose they are all units in an association which should bring men closer together as sportsmen, Irish men and sons of God. For all those reasons it seems a pity that so many clubs are nowadays referred to merely by their geographical names that perhaps some of the players - not to mention supporters - are unaware that they have left a number of gaps in the above list for Co. Armagh, it is sufficiently complete to show that we have a lot to lose by continuing inadvertently to suppress so many of them.

A move to get them all into current use in this year when our year book makes its first appearance would be a laudable project and could be easily carried out by supplying the full title in all reports of games and fixtures in the local press. For, like the opening of the Easter Week Proclamation, the clubs of our country - as of the G.A.A. in general -have been baptized "in the name of God and of the dead generations from which Ireland receives her old tradition of nationhood".

Nara fada go gcluinfimid na hainmneacha atá lualte san aiste seO i mbéal an phobail mar thus.

Tomás O' Fiaich

[seafoid]

GRMA

[Shamrock Shore]

In Longford the early GAA in the county had some great club names.

A Longford exile has produced an extensive list here

https://longfordgaelicstats.ie/longford-club-names/

My own favourite is the very early club The Cranley Hearts of Erin

[johnnycool]

We're lesser known as John Mitchell's, A United Irishman, Presbyterian and all that, but his pro confederate slavery stance probably doesn't sit well when looked upon now.

He was right about this though;

"The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine...and a million and a half men, women and children were carefully, prudently and peacefully slain by the English government"

[Dreadnought]

Interesting topic and something I've read up on before. I recall there being 12 protestants who have clubs named after them, and that isn't including Douglas Hyde who has Roscommon's stadium named after him. The 12 are Henry Gratten, Wolfe Tone, Charles Stewart Parnell, Roger Casement, Henry Joy McCracken, John Mitchell, Watty Graham, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Robert Emmett, Thomas Davis, William Smyth O'Brien, and Thomas Russell. Mitchell in there would a contentious one now though.

Closer to home for me, Cavan has some lovely names too. Drung Dalcassians, Drumlane Sons of O'Connell, Mullahoran Dreadnoughts, Maghera MacFinns, Killeshandra Leaguers. A lot of others went by the wayside when you had multiple clubs in a parish and they end up dissolving or amalgamated. Loughduff Millesians, Loughduff Volunteers, Finea Knights of Freedom, Killeshandra Fontenoys, Doogarry Raparees are some who don't exist anymore. Ballyconnell First Ulsters (initially Ballyconnell Joe Biggars) are now called Kildallan too.

Cavan oddly has a few names which are more associated with soccer. Ramor United (which was a uniting of 3 clubs in the same parish), and Laragh United. Lacken Celtic and Cootehill Celtic too. Cootehill also wear green and white hoops, as the club was founded by emigrants returning from Glasgow, and founded the GAA club with a nod to Glasgow Celtic with the name and club colours

[John Martin]

John Martin who my own club, Glenn (Down), is named after was also a protestant.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Martin_(Young_Irelander)

[Brendan]

We're lesser known as John Mitchell's, A United Irishman, Presbyterian and all that, but his pro confederate slavery stance probably doesn't sit well when looked upon now.

He was right about this though;

"The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine...and a million and a half men, women and children were carefully, prudently and peacefully slain by the English government"

There was a campaign a couple of years ago I remember to have clubs change their name from Mitchell's, was around the time they were tearing down the slave trader statues in England

[Walter Cronc]

Interesting topic and something I've read up on before. I recall there being 12 protestants who have clubs named after them, and that isn't including Douglas Hyde who has Roscommon's stadium named after him. The 12 are Henry Gratten, Wolfe Tone, Charles Stewart Parnell, Roger Casement, Henry Joy McCracken, John Mitchell, Watty Graham, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Robert Emmett, Thomas Davis, William Smyth O'Brien, and Thomas Russell. Mitchell in there would a contentious one now though.

Closer to home for me, Cavan has some lovely names too. Drung Dalcassians, Drumlane Sons of O'Connell, Mullahoran Dreadnoughts, Maghera MacFinns, Killeshandra Leaguers. A lot of others went by the wayside when you had multiple clubs in a parish and they end up dissolving or amalgamated. Loughduff Millesians, Loughduff Volunteers, Finea Knights of Freedom, Killeshandra Fontenoys, Doogarry Raparees are some who don't exist anymore. Ballyconnell First Ulsters (initially Ballyconnell Joe Biggars) are now called Kildallan too.

Cavan oddly has a few names which are more associated with soccer. Ramor United (which was a uniting of 3 clubs in the same parish), and Laragh United. Lacken Celtic and Cootehill Celtic too. Cootehill also wear green and white hoops, as the club was founded by emigrants returning from Glasgow, and founded the GAA club with a nod to Glasgow Celtic with the name and club colours

Michael Davitt too I think

[Eamonnca1]

Every now and again in the North attempts are made to demonise the GAA by certain sections of the media and political  groups who insist that GAA club names are something to be ashamed of.  This has been usually met with a mixture of stout defence and from some quarters an acceptance that the GAA can do more to be more inclusive.
In reality though the names of clubs throughout the country are an astonishing achievement in themselves.  To the best of my knowledge the names of GAA clubs are unparalleled anywhere in the world. 
In this years All Ireland club finals, Crokes beat Watty Grahams and Shamrocks beat Cuchullainns. Local History,  National Heroes,  National pride, mythology, , Patriots,  Saints,  Martyrs and much much more. In English football you have City, Rovers, Town, Wanderers,  Athletic. Bland  meaningless stuff. In America you just pick a wild animal or something..  Its time to celebrate the History and heritage of our great names.

With Glen getting to the AIF I read up on who was Watty Graham?  He was a Presbyterian Church elder from  Maghera, Co Derry who was hanged in the COI rectory Maghera for his part in the United Irishmen rebellion of 1798.
I think we should post the stories and backgrounds of our famous club names and celebrate one of the things that makes our organisation truly great.

Bit harsh on other sports.

Bolton Wanderers are so-called because they initially had a hard time finding a permanent home. They moved to three different venues in their first four years.

Sheffield Wednesday started off as a cricket club whose players were workers who got half the day off on a Wednesday so they could train.

The LA Dodgers baseball team were originally the Broooklyn Dodgers. Their original ground was beside tramlines, and the fans had to dodge the trams when getting to the games. The fans came to be known as the "trolley dodgers" and the team adopted the name.

And there's a bit of blandness in the GAA. The Seattle Gaels, Denver Gaels, Washington DC Gaels, Houston Gaels, Greenville Gaels, Delco Gaels, Paris Gaels, South Africa Gaels, Zulu Gaels, Seoul Gaels, Saigon Gaels, Bondi Gaels, Penrith Gaels, and Connemara Gaels share their names with 51 clubs in Ireland!

[Champion The Wonder Horse]

This could be a superb thread. Interesting that Aghagallon has skipped Down and moved from Armagh to Antrim.

My club, Swatragh, is called after Michael Davitt, because we were founded in 1946, the centenary of his birth. We wear green and white hoops because Davitt cut the first sod at Celtic Park.

My late father always said we should have been called after Thomas Clark, a contemporary of Watty Graham's, from Swatragh. Exactly!

I've never worked out who Newbridge's Sean O'Leary was.

[AustinPowers]

We're lesser known as John Mitchell's, A United Irishman, Presbyterian and all that, but his pro confederate slavery stance probably doesn't sit well when looked upon now.

He was right about this though;

"The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine...and a million and a half men, women and children were carefully, prudently and peacefully slain by the English government"

There was a campaign a couple of years ago I remember to have clubs change their name from Mitchell's, was around the time they were tearing down the slave trader statues in England

Should the fact he  owned slaves mean he should be erased  from history ? Different times , and all that

In a few years ,  clubs/pitches might be named after  players/officials around  today.  They'll be calling for  names to be removed in years ahead,   because it was discovered someone  voted No in the  gay marriage referendum or  because he   burnt turf at home

[Eamonnca1]

Renaming clubs is not the same as "erasing history." You'd have to obliterate all mention of these people from history books or historical films and TV shows to do that. There's plenty of ways to preserve history without giving every single historic character a club named after them.