The Ladies of Ballykelly

Since it's foundation, the Ballykelly club has enjoyed the participation of it's lady members. The ladies contribution at that time was most prominent with the social scene of the club. An entertainment comittee was set up in and enjoyed great success with dance classes, badmington leagues and social nights. However female participation on the playing field didn't begin until the early nineties with mixed teams in the underage sector.

It was in the spring of 1994, twenty years after the first All Ireland ladies football final was played, that Ballykelly girls under 14 football team was registered. The squad consisted of 21 players in an age group from 10 to 14. These players were Niamh Binions, Coroline Colmey, Lisa Clifford, Jane Fitzgerald, Laura Flaherty, Pamela Brennan, Maire Dowling, Sasha Howard, Lorna Behan, Martina Foster, Geraldine McCormack, Deiredre Delaney, Laura Dowling, Lisa Maher, Margeret McCormack, Audrey Maher, Brenda Brereton, Crystal Mooney, Lynn Dowling, Louise Vaughan, Claire Fitzgerald and Gillian Whyte. Under the close supervision of Mentors Paddy Brereton and Pat Hickey this young and experienced squad soon blossomed into a team respectful of their mentors and proud of their club. This was a unique team as the players came from families who supported all three clubs of the parish. This was the first ladies team of the parish and it was the first time the three clubs were represented in one team.

The teams prospered in their first year in the competition and didn't go unnoticed by the county officials. The following season, to the delight of the club, six of the club players were called up for county teams. These players were U14 Margeret McCormack, Brenda Brereton, Martina Foster, Maire Dowling and U16 Deirdre Delaney, Geraldine McCormack. A great achievement for a very young team. The teams success continued for a further year drawing fresh players from all over the parish. In 1996 the teams successful ru came to an end. Several factors contributed to the demise including the dispersal of the palyers to different second level colleges. Several of the girls were approached approachedby the coaches of the underage boy's team, mainly the U14 team, where they continued to play.

In 1997 an amalgamation between Ballykelly and Athgarvan was arranged. Some of the players were therefore now representing Ballykelly on the boys panel and Athgarvan with the ladies team. During this season two of our players Maire Dowling at centre half forward and Margeret McCormack in goal contributed to to the capture of the county shield with the under 14 boys team. Meanwhile the club was being represented at intercounty level by several of the girls.

Now in 2001, the Ballykelly ladies have once again come together, and formed the Ballykelly Senior Ladies team, continuing the tradition of ladies in Ballykelly. Many of the same familiar names from down the years can be found among the panel. The Ladies are once again ready to make their mark in the history books of Ballykelly.

A brief history of the GAA

Records suggest that the game of hurling, or at least a form of it, was first played thousands of years ago. The writer George Orwell once said that football was a war by other means and it is clear that these early 'games' of hurling were played in a warlike fashion. Hurlers often died after receiving severe blows to the head. Many Irish folk stories give us the impression that hurling was used as a form of combat and self-defence.

When the Normans invaded Ireland in the 12th century they tried to kill off the game of hurling but none of their attempts succeeded and instead the invaders developed a love for the game.

Hurling originally developed in Leinster. It was played only in summer and a broad stick and soft ball were used. Steadily, counties all over the country developed hurling teams with the Munster counties proving the strongest. The national game of hurling was gaining a sense of direction but this was to be halted unexpectedly due to the great famine of 1847.

In the early 19th century hurling became slightly more civilised. The game was played between two neighbouring villages. On most occasions the pitch would stretch for miles across fields and wasteland. These were very physical games as the pride of the village was at stake.

The origins of Gaelic Football do not go as far back as those of hurling. It is believed that a form of Gaelic Football existed in the 17th century. Records of these matches were kept in the form of poetry. In the 18th century, newspaper reports of Gaelic football matches were common. Like hurling, these games involved huge numbers of players per team and the 'game' was played across many acres of land.

Games such as hurling, Gaelic football and handball were played all around the country throughout the 19th century but these games badly needed a governing body to organise games and to draw up rules and regulations. Irregularities with team numbers, the length of play, the size of the playing field and the type of ball used were common problems with the games in early times.

Michael Cusack, the founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association, was born in the Burren, Co Clare. Cusack was a keen sportsman and had a particular interest in athletics, hurling and Gaelic football. He moved from his native county in 1874 and became a professor in Blackrock College, Dublin. While in Dublin, he developed a passion for politics and the Irish language. An educational institution called 'Cusack's Academy' was established in Dublin and he constantly encouraged his pupils to participate in physical games.

At first hurling and Gaelic football played second fiddle to athletics. In 1873 an athletics meeting at Clonmel drew a crowd of 25,000. Also that year, the Irish Champion Athletic Club was founded. The ICAC rented the land beside Lansdowne Road train station (now the headquarters of the Irish Rugby Football Union) and soon athletics was more popular in Dublin than anywhere else in the country.

In 1877 Pat Nally, a leading figure in the Irish Republican Brotherhood and one of the country's leading athletes, supported a motion to set up an Irish Athletics Committee. Michael Cusack had similar views and it was athletics that was discussed rather than hurling and Gaelic football.

At the time Ireland was under British rule. The Irish Amateur Athletic Association was an Anglo-Irish organisation devoted to maintaining the high standard of English games in Ireland. Cusack wanted to establish a governing body for Irish games. He strongly believed that English games such as rugby and cricket would eventually wipe out all Irish pastimes. The country needed an organisation that could bring unity to Irish pastimes while the Irish people needed a feeling of national independence. The country supported Cusack in his quest for a governing body.

During the 1880s, The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) was in a bitter struggle with the British as they attempted to gain independence for Ireland. Like Cusack, the IRB were anxious about the rapid growth of English games in Irish society. The IRB decided Cusack was the right person to organise the games governing body.

The IRB approached Cusack suggesting he set up some form of athletic movement. An athletic organisation called the Dublin Athletic Club was established in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Cusack's real passion though was hurling. He wanted to see hurling reinstated as Ireland's national game.

A game known as 'hurley' was being played throughout the country. Today we know this game as hockey. Hurley was played in Protestant colleges. Cusack wanted to see the more physical game of hurling being played instead. Hurling had not been seen in Dublin for 50 years, so in 1882, Cusack founded the 'Dublin Hurling Club'. In time this club expanded and was known as the 'Metropolitan Hurling Club'.

The first meeting of the Dublin Hurling Club was held in the College of Surgeons. Catholics as well as Protestant 'hurley' players were invited to attend. Those attending decided that the transition from hurley to hurling would take time. Once the transition took place, hurling training sessions were regularly held in the Phoenix Park.

On November 1st 1884, after many unsuccessful attempts, the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded. The meeting was held in the billiard room of Hayes Hotel, Thurles, Co Tipperary. Maurice Davin, from Tipperary, was probably Ireland's most famous athlete at the time and it was he who chaired the meeting But it was Michael Cusack who did most of the debating and organising. Three secretaries were elected. They were Michael Cusack, John Wyse Power and John McKay. Even today the attendance for the meeting is still unclear, but it is reputed that between seven and 13 people filled the room in Thurles.

The meeting was brief. Cusack delivered a long-winded speech denouncing the press for their lack of interest in Irish games while Davin spoke briefly about how Irish people had allowed the English organise Irish games. Towards the end of the meeting, Archbishop Croke, Charles Stuart Parnell and Michael Davitt (founder of the Land League) were asked to become patrons of the GAA. All three accepted.

The GAA or Cumann Luthchleas Gael, as it is known in Irish, was a strictly amateur body. The principal objectives of the GAA were:

• to establish Irish games countrywide to
• draft new rules for Irish games
• to offer Irish people a different and enjoyable recreation
• to bring about the organisation of Irish sport by Irish men
• to put a sense of national pride back in the hearts of Irish people.

The first hurling match to be played under association rules was held in County Galway. It was played in January 1885 in front of an estimated crowd of 5000. The first football match under the rules was played in February 1885, between two local teams in County Kilkenny. The first 'All-Ireland' hurling final was held at Birr, County Offaly on April 1st 1887 between Galway and Tipperary while the first 'All-Ireland' football final was played at Clonskeagh between Louth and Limerick. The GAA was finally organised and the association received nation-wide approval.

The GAA based its clubs on parish and county units. Soon a feeling of local unity was born. The influence of the GAA and the role of the parish club restored pride and local enthusiasm in rural parts of Ireland. All matches were held on Sundays to allow working men become involved. The games would regularly be attended by hundreds even thousands of parishioners. In a move that remains controversial to this day, the GAA also acted as a de-Anglicising force - all RIC members and British soldiers were barred from the association.

In 1886, Michael Cusack was removed from his post as one of the secretaries of the GAA. Among those who ousted Cusack from his position were McKay, Wyse Power and John Clancy. They all believed Cusack was a very inefficient secretary who neglected his administrative duties and had been violent to those who disagreed with him. In 1887, Michael Davin resigned as President of the GAA but his departure was short lived as he was reinstated the following year.

The GAA has always had a republican connection and a strong link with politics. It was looked upon by many as a recruiting ground for the IRB - while being involved with the GAA, young Irish fighters could be groomed and moulded into strong fit soldiers.

The Gaelic Athletic Association holds a unique position in Irish culture. Over the years it has been transformed from an organisation symbolising the fighting spirit of Irish people in the 18th and 19th centuries to a highly successful commercial and cultural entity in modern Ireland.