Leixlip GAA
Encyclopedia
Leixlip GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA)
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

 club in Leixlip
Leixlip
-Politics:Since 1988 Leixlip has had a nine member Town Council , headed by a Cathaoirleach , which has control over many local matters, although it is limited in that it is not also a planning authority...

, County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. They were senior football finalists in 1986, club of the year 1979, and home club of Matt Goff
Matt Goff
Matt Goff was a Gaelic footballer on the Kildare, Leinster and Irish Tailteann games teams and one of a group of players who helped establish Gaelic Athletic Association as a sport in Ireland.He played in six All Ireland finals between 1926 and 1935, won an unprecedented six Leinster titles in...

 who featured on the Kildare millennium football team at full-back.

Geography

The Leixlip club was first affiliated to the Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

 in 1887. For the following few years progress was slow and club activity was haphazard. However, in 1912 a meeting was convened in the local school for the purpose of re-forming the club. John J Radley, a local school-master agreed to act as Honorary Secretary and another teacher, P Mullaney – then a member of the Leinster Council of the GAA – was appointed as his assistant. A committee was formed and, due to the influence of a local priest, Fr. Dooley, permission was given by the late William Mooney of Leixlip Castle, for the use of a field for matches and practice.

In 1939 a clubhouse was opened in the Main Street and was the centre of activities until the 1950s when a premises, now Tuthills Shop, was purchased on the Captains Hill and converted to a hall at a cost in excess of £600. It was named the “Joe Fox Memorial Hall” as a tribute to Joe’s many years of endeavour in promoting the ideals of Cumann Luthchleas Gael in Leixlip
Leixlip
-Politics:Since 1988 Leixlip has had a nine member Town Council , headed by a Cathaoirleach , which has control over many local matters, although it is limited in that it is not also a planning authority...

 and Co. Kildare. In 1954, £1,200 was spent on the purchase of out present grounds. The initial development cost £600 and the official opening took place on October 3, 1954. The above amount of money was a large investment in those days as Leixlip was then a very small village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 community.

On June 6, 1975, H.E. the President of Ireland, Mr.Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh served as the fifth President of Ireland, from 1974 to 1976. He resigned in 1976 after a clash with the government. He also had a notable legal career, including serving as Chief Justice of Ireland.- Early life :Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, one of four children, was born on 12 February...

, laid the foundation stone for the complex and on the October 1, 1978, the official opening was performed by then President of the GAA, Mr. Con Murphy. The Centenary Year of the GAA 1984 was marked by a special Club Day - ‘Lá na gClub'. The Club’s Centenary was celebrated in 1987 and proved to be a gala occasion, the centrepiece being a special Banquet at which the guest of honour was the Association's former President, Dr. Michael Loftus. The young members of the club put on a striking pageant – depicting the history of the club. It was an impressive performance and is now recorded for posterity on Video.

Radley Park was re-opened on May 12, 1991 by the then President of the GAA, Mr. Peter Quinn. May 16, 2004 saw the culmination of years of endeavour by the members and the financial and moral support of the local community when the Minister of Finance and TD, Mr. Charlie McCreevy officiated at the opening the club’s new facilities.

Gaelic Football

Six years after their foundation St Mary's lost a replayed junior final to Paul Doyle's Maddenstown team. Leixlip's team led by Tom Farrell and Ned Malone were defeated in the 1924 Kildare junior final by Roseberry, won the Intermediate championship in 1929 and played two Leader Cup finals in 1937, beating Carbury in a replay in Kilcock, and 1940, losing to Carbury
Carbury GAA
Carbury GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in County Kildare, Ireland, winner of 11 Kildare county senior football championships and participants in eight successive county finals between 1965 and 1972...

 in Rathcoffey.
Matt Goff
Matt Goff
Matt Goff was a Gaelic footballer on the Kildare, Leinster and Irish Tailteann games teams and one of a group of players who helped establish Gaelic Athletic Association as a sport in Ireland.He played in six All Ireland finals between 1926 and 1935, won an unprecedented six Leinster titles in...

 played on the Ireland Tailteann Games team of 1928 and won two All Ireland medals with Kildare.
Andy Walsh was an inter-county goalkeeper in the 1930s. Kerry All Star Jack O'Shea
Jack O'Shea
Jack O’Shea is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played football at various times with his local clubs St. Mary’s in Kerry and Leixlip in Kildare. He was a member of the Kerry senior inter-county team from 1976 until 1992...

 played with Leixlip in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Ronan Quinn and Enda Murphy represented Kildare on Leinster championship. Also Thomas Moolick plays for Kildare 1st team.

Hurling

Hurling was played sporadically in the early 1900s and revived in 1931. One of the clubs' greatest hurling achievements occurred in 1986 when it won the Kildare Senior Hurling Championship. Christy Timmins was the sides then manager.

Ladies Football

Leixlip are one of three original Ladies' Football clubs in County Kildare. They initially played in the Dublin leagues, affiliating to Kildare on the foundation of the county board in 1992.
They were Kildare junior champions in 2004 and intermediate champions in 2005.
They went on to win the Kildare Senior title in 2006,2007 and 2008.

Honours

  • Kildare Senior Hurling Championship Winners 1986
  • Kildare Senior Football Championship finalists 1986.
  • Kildare Senior Football League Division 1
    Kildare Senior Football League Division 1
    Kildare Senior Football League Division 1The Kildare Senior Football League Division 1 is an annual Kildare GAA club competition. 16 clubs play 15 games and are awarded 2 points per win and 1 point per draw. The top two teams qualify to play in the League Final , the winners are presented with the...

     winners 1937 and 1998, 1999
  • Senior B Football Champions 1999,2003
  • Kildare SH Finalists 1979.
  • Kildare U-21 Football Championship
    Kildare U-21 Football Championship
    Kildare U-21 Football ChampionshipThe Kildare U-21 Football Championship is an annual GAA club competition for Kildare GAA Clubs.-Roll of Honour:...

     1996
  • Kildare Minor Football Championship
    Kildare Minor Football Championship
    The Kildare Minor Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football club competition organised by Kildare GAA.-Roll of Honour:...

    1987, 1988,1990, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001 http://archives.tcm.ie/kildarenationalist/2001/09/25/story102.asp.
  • Kildare Intermediate champions 1929, 1934,
  • Junior A Champions 1954 1980.
  • Senior E Football Champions 2009
  • Kildare JH Champions 1962, 1971, 1977.

External links

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