J.K. Bracken's GAC

J.K. Bracken's GAA Club, Templemore
S.C. Ó Breacáin
Founded: 1992
County: Tipperary
Colours: White and Black
Grounds: Páirc Shíleáin, Templemore
Coordinates: 52°47′56.50″N 7°50′08.68″W / 52.7990278°N 7.8357444°W / 52.7990278; -7.8357444Coordinates: 52°47′56.50″N 7°50′08.68″W / 52.7990278°N 7.8357444°W / 52.7990278; -7.8357444
Playing kits

Standard colours

J.K. Bracken's Gaelic Athletic Club is a hurling and football club centred on the parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea in County Tipperary, Ireland. It plays in the Tipperary GAA county and Mid-Tipperary divisional competitions. JK Brackens is one of only two or three GAA clubs that consistently compete at senior grade in both hurling and football in the Tipperary club championships. The club is named after Joseph Kevin Bracken, one of the seven founding members of the Gaelic Athletic Association, who was from Templemore. He was also the first Chairman of the Tipperary GAA County Board. JK Brackens is also nationally renowned as one of the countries leading GAA Scór clubs.

History

Pre-Formation Era - the 1980's

The club was officially formed in 1992 with the amalgamation of the former GAA clubs of Templemore Éire Óg, Clonmore GAA and Killea GAA. There was always a strong tradition of Gaelic games in the parish even pre-dating the GAA, however before 1992 the parish had a disjointed approach to representation in club GAA competitions, with the Éire Óg Club represented the area in football, Clonmore intermediate hurling and the Killea club for junior hurling.

Throughout the decade prior to the club's formation, combined parish teams were entered in various competitions. In 1980 Clonmore and Killea amalgamated as Clonmore / Killea and enter hurling teams competing at junior, intermediate and senior levels. This arrangement continued until the GAA centenary year of '84 when Clonmore and Killea agreed to enter Junior and Intermediate competitions as single clubs but competed as one club at senior level, and it was under the name JK Brackens that this group played under. The following year JK Brackens competed at Minor and Under 21 hurling only, however in ’86 and ‘87 the Brackens represented the parish at senior grade once more. A senior JK Brackens selection did not feature in 1988 as Clonmore had won prmotion to senior ranks by virtue of winning the County Intermediate Huring Championship of 1987. Instead ‘The Brackens’ were represented at minor and under 21 grades only, and it was at these grades that JK Brackens claimed their first silverware, winning Mid Minor B and Mid Under 21 B hurling titles in 1989 and 1990 respectively.

The period from ‘79 to ‘91 was up to that point the most successful period for hurling in the parish, with Killea winning Junior A Mid titles in ‘89 and ‘91, (their first silverware since 1928), Clonmore winning Intermediate Mid title in ’79, ’84, ’86 and Mid and County honours in 1987. Add to this Minor and Under 21 B titles in ‘89 and ‘91 for the JK Brackens selection, the case for a single GAA club for the parish grew strong impedes with the common consensus amongst players and local GAA officials was that to compete and grow the games of hurling and football that a ‘one parish, one club’ approach must be adopted, just like the majority of GAA clubs throughout Ireland. It was also believed that that Gaelic football in the parish would receive a major boost with the inclusion of Templemore Éire Óg in a Clonmore Killea partnership and so it subsequently proved, with local Gaelic football benefiting from increased player participation, game preparation and on-field success.

Post-Formation Era - 1992 to Present Day

The JK Brackens was officially formed in 1992 and approved by Croke Park for a 5-year period. In 1997 some members of the Killea Club decided to leave the partnership and reform into their old entity however many player from that catchment area decided to play under the Brackens flag and likewise, some players from Templemore have decided to hurl with Killea. The JK Brackens Juvenile GAA Club was also formed in 1992. Its formation was less complicated as its predecessor, the Templemore Éire Óg Juvenile Club had catered for the youth of all the parish including Killea and Clonmore.

The newly formed Club was an immediate success with the Intermediate footballer and hurlers both winning Mid championships in ‘92 and there was also several titles won at Minor, U16, U14 and U12 levels. The footballers repeated their achievement in ’93 and also added county honours, thus winning promotion to senior ranks where they have remained since. The Mid Intermediate Hurling championship was ultra-competitive at this time and included teams such as Drom/Inch and Upperchurch/Drombane. JK Brackens had to wait until ’96 and ’97 for further Intermediate titles to add to the trophy cabinet. ‘Brackens lost two county finals in both of these years however they won promotion to senior level by virtue of winning two divisional crowns in a row, and have remained at senior grade since.

1997 was also the year that the 'Brackens won their first county hurling title winning the Under 21 B championship[1] in a side captained by Eamonn Corcoran. They had to wait until 2002 for their first title at senior level, winning the Mid Senior Football Championship, a historic achievement as they were the first parish side to regain the trophy in 38 years. They have subsequently won the title 5 time since the turn of the millennium thus breaking the dominance of Loughmore Castleiney. Brackens won their title in senior hurling silverware winning the Cahill Cup in ’07 and ’08,[2] and they won their first county titles at senior level in 2005 and 2006, winning the Tipperary Division 1 Football League, the former year a first senior county title for the parish in 69 years. Other historic milestones reached was the Under 12 County hurling title in 2003, the club's first A championship county title, and the same group of players won the A football crown at Under 14 in 2005.

Honours

Notable players

References

  1. ↑ http://fethard.com/nationalist/1997/19971227.html
  2. ↑ http://www.anfearrua.com/topic.aspx?id=573739
  3. ↑ "Guerins’ first-half goal brace fires JK Brackens past champions Loughmore-Castleiney". Irish Examiner. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  4. ↑ http://fethard.com/nationalist/1997/19971227.html

External links

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