Wicklow GAA

Wicklow GAA
Irish: Cill Mhantáin
Province: Leinster
Nickname(s): The Garden County
County colours:          
Ground(s): Aughrim County Ground[1]
Dominant sport: Gaelic Football
Competitions
NFL: Division 4
NHL: Division 2B
Football Championship: Sam Maguire Cup
Hurling Championship: Christy Ring Cup
Ladies' Gaelic football: Brendan Martin Cup
Camogie: Máire Ní Chinnéide Cup
Standard kit
Regular kit
Change kit

The Wicklow County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) (Irish: Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, Coiste Chontae Cill Mhantáin) or Wicklow GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Wicklow. The county board is also responsible for the Wicklow inter-county teams.

Wicklow's Senior Football team play in the Leinster Senior Football Championship. Wicklow have had very little success at senior level, being the only Senior Football team in the province and one of two in Ireland not to have ever won a Senior title in either code, the other being Fermanagh.

Gaelic football

History

Wicklow are one of two counties never to have won a senior provincial championship (the other is Fermanagh), but Bray Emmets, the leading side of the early 1900s, won Leinster and All-Ireland honours when they were playing in the Dublin Championship. Wicklow were twice proclaimed Leinster champions for short periods. Bray were representing Wicklow in 1889, and when they beat Newtown Blues of Drogheda by 1-7 to 1-4 they claimed that they had won the "final of Leinster" because Queens County or Kilkenny had not shown up for a final. But four days later the result was quashed. In 1897 they became Leinster champions for a week. A downpour caused Dublin to presume the Leinster final would not be played, Dublin went home, the referee awarded a walk-over to Wicklow. But the following meeting of the Central Council ordered the match to be replayed and Wicklow lost by 1-9 to 0-3.

A League semi-final in frostbound 1947 came about in bizarre fashion: Wicklow were picked to represent an unfinished group in which some of the teams had not yet played. In 1954 Wicklow were leading Meath by two points after sixty minutes of play but Meath were saved by the clock. Nine minutes of lost time had elapsed before Meath scored the winning point! After surviving the "long count" Meath went on to win the All-Ireland, and Wicklow lost their best player of the decade, John Timmons, to Dublin.

A near thing against Meath, just off their four-match with Dublin in 1991 (Wicklow drew 0-12 to 1-9 and lost the replay by three points) heralded a great start to the 1990s. But Wicklow's only championship wins since were against Longford and Westmeath, and a 1996 League quarter-final appearance against Donegal their nearest to a breakthrough. Lying in wait for complacent opponents, particularly in Aughrim, for unsuspecting opposition has been the Wicklow trademark since. Exploits included a 1986 win over newly crowned League champions Laois at Aughrim, and a 1981 defeat by just two points against Dublin in the Leinster quarter-final, after a miracle save in the last minute by Dublin's goalkeeper John O'Leary.

Wicklow's biggest achievement remains the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship won by the Baltinglass club in 1990.

Recent Championships

Their biggest Leinster Championship win, and first ever in Croke Park, coming against Kildare in 2008 and then narrowly losing to Laois in the quarter finals in Dr. Cullen Park. In 2009 O'Dwyer again guided Wicklow past the first round as they beat Longford 2-12 to 1-13 in Portlaoise.[2]

Understandably, Wicklow had not won a senior championship game at Croke Park until May 2008 . On 18 May 2008, under Mick O'Dwyer Wicklow beat a very poor Kildare in Croke Park, with a scoreline of 0-13 to 0-09.

Under the management of Hugh Kenny Wicklow lined out against Meath in the opening round of the 2004 Leinster Championship. They were playing exceptionally well and were leading Meath by 1-6 to 0-7 early in the second half when midfielder Ciaran Clancy was harshly sent off. This seemed to knock the stuffing out of Wicklow who never recovered and were hammered 2-13 to 1-8.

Against Kildare in the opening round of the 2005 Leinster Championship they came very close to a first win leading Kildare but unfortunately for Wicklow, the age old problem of not being able to close out a game surfaced, and they were ultimately beaten by 1-17 to 2-12.

Then in the opening round of the 2007 Leinster Championship under the management of the great Mick O'Dwyer Wicklow almost had a highly fancied Louth side beaten but a couple of late scores saved Louth from being Wicklow's first ever Croke Park victims on a scoreline of 1-11 to 0-14. It then took Louth two replays to finish off Wicklow which they ultimately did in style back at Croke Park.

As Wicklow were a Division 4 team they were not permitted to enter the 2007 backdoor and so instead they entered the Tommy Murphy Cup. Wicklow did very well in reaching the final where they faced Antrim at Croke Park. They won the match in dramatic fashion with a late Tommy Gill goal in extra time, securing the Wicklow senior footballers second ever national trophy, and first ever win in Croke Park. The following year after defeat to Laois in the Leinster Championship, Wicklow got to the final of the Tommy Murphy Cup again but lost to Antrim.

Current football team

No. Player Position Club
1 Robert Lambert Goalkeeper Aughrim
2 Ciaran Hyland Right Corner Back Arklow
3 Paul McLoughlin Full Back Blessington
4 Aaron Murphy Left Corner Back Bray Emmets
5 Chris Murphy Left Half Forward Ballinacor
6 Dean Healy Centre Back St. Patrick's
7 Stepehen Kelly Left Half Back Éire Óg
8 Rory Finn Midfield Kiltegan
9 Niall Gaffney Midfield Bray Emmets
10 Darren Hayden Right Half Forward Éire Óg
11 John McGrath Centre Forward Baltinglass
12 Mark Kenny Left Half Forward Ballymanus
13 Paddy Byrne Right Corner Forward Ballymanus
14 Paul Cunningham Full Forward Bray Emmets
15 Mark Lennon Left Corner Forward Bray Emmets
No. Player Position Club
16 Will Hender Phillips Substitute Ashford
17 Jamie Snell Substitute Rathnew
18 Johnny Crowe Substitute St. Patrick's
19 Eoin Murtagh Substitute Dunlavin
20 Daniel Woods Substitute Éire Óg
21 Anthony McLoughlin Substitute Blessington
22 Patrick O'Connor Substitute Blessington
Gary Allen Substitute Dunlavin
24 Michael O'Connor Substitute Blessington
25 Sam Thompson Substitute Éire Óg
26 Conor French Substitute St. Patrick's

Squad as per Wicklow vs Laois All Ireland Senior Football Championship 2016,Leinster Preliminary Round, 14 May 2016

Honours

All-Ireland
Leinster

Hurling

Current Hurling team

No. Player Position Club
1 Ted Kennedy Goalkeeper Carnew
2 Geoffrey Bermingham Right Corner Back Kiltegan
3 Stephen Kelly Full Back Eire Og
4 Eugene Dunne Left Corner Back Avondale
5 Gary Byrne Left Half Forward Glenealy
6 John Henderson Centre Back Bray
7 Shane Byrne Left Half Back Avondale
8 Eamonn Kearns Midfield Avondale
9 Ronan Keddy Midfield Kilcoole
10 Christy Moorehouse Right Half Forward Bray
11 Mikey Lee Centre Forward Bray
12 Jonathan O'Neill Left Half Forward Glenealy
13 Andy O'Brien Right Corner Forward St Patricks
14 Wayne O'Gorman Full Forward Glenealy
15 Danny Staunton Left Corner Forward Glenealy

Wicklow hurlers' greatest achievement was a draw with Galway in the 1971 National Hurling League. Only a late point from John Connolly saved Galway from defeat. Wicklow also won the All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championships in 1967 and 1971. The Wicklow Senior Huling Championship 2014 consists of 8 clubs: Carnew Emmets, Glenealy (2013 Champions), Kiltegan, St. Patricks Wicklow Town, Eire Og Greystones, Avondale, Kilcoole and Bray Emmets (2013 Finalists). They have won the Kehoe Cup 7 times in 1989, 1991, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003.

Honours

Crest, colours and kits

Wicklow's traditional team colours are royal blue and gold. The kits are usually blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks.

Manufacturer Sponsor
Years Sponsor
O'Neills
1999-2003 Wicklow GoI
2004-2005 White Young Green
2006-2009 Ballymore Group
2010-2013 Brennan Hotels
2014 - Arklow Bay Hotel

Camogie

Wicklow was among the foundation members of the Camogie Association, several Bray members won All Ireland medals with Dublin, and the county supplied all the members of the Irish team that controversially competed in the 1924 Tailteann Games.[3] Lucy Cullen-Byrne served as president of the Camogie Association). The county contested the Máire Ní Chinnéide Cup finals of 2008,[4] 2009 and 2011.[5] They won Division 5 of the National Camogie League in 2009.[6]Knockananna won Division 1 Féile na nGael 1975 while Avoca won the Caithlín Ní Thoimín Shield in 1979 and Kiltegan won the Coiste Chontae an Chláir Shield at Féile na nGael in 1999.

Under Camogie's National Development Plan 2010-2015, “Our Game, Our Passion,”[7] five new camogie clubs are to be established in the county by 2015.[8]

Wicklow were beaten by Monaghan in the 2011 All Ireland Junior B Camogie Championship Final and have not fielded an adult team in inter-county competitions since.

Wicklow Schools GAA

There is a very strong emphasis on Gaelic games in schools in Wicklow, both primary and secondary schools. In almost all cases coaching is done on a voluntary basis by teachers who may have links to local GAA clubs.

The county's Vocational Schools team has won 12 Leinster and 3 All-Ireland Championships, the last coming in 2006.

Ladies' Gaelic football

Ann McGillycuddy of Wicklow won the inaugural ladies' All-Ireland Kick Fada Championship in 2001.

References

  1. ↑ Aughrim County Grounds
  2. ↑ "Wicklow 2-12 Longford 1-13". wicklowgaaonline.com.
  3. ↑ Moran, Mary (2011). A Game of Our Own: The History of Camogie. Dublin, Ireland: Cumann Camógaíochta. p. 460.
  4. ↑ 2008 Jun B Tyrone 4-11 Wicklow 0-3 on Camogie.ie
  5. ↑ {http://www.camogie.ie/Home/tabid/54/mid/411/newsid412/1782/Grennan-propels-Monaghan-to-victory/Default.aspx 2011 Máire Ní Chinnéide Cup final Monaghan 1-12 Wicklow 1-7 report on Camogie.ie
  6. ↑ 2009 Div 5 Wicklow 2-7 Monaghan 1-1 report on Camogie.ie
  7. ↑ "Final goal for camogie". Independent.ie.
  8. ↑ National Development Plan 2010-2015, Our Game, Our Passion information page on camogie.ie, pdf download (778k) from Camogie.ie download site
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