Laois GAA

Laois GAA
Irish: Laois
Province: Leinster
Nickname(s): The O'Moore County
County colours:          
Ground(s): O'Moore Park, Portlaoise
Dominant sport: Dual county
Competitions
NFL: Division 2
NHL: Division 1B
Football Championship: Sam Maguire Cup
Hurling Championship: Liam McCarthy Cup
Camogie: Kay Mills Cup
Standard kit
Regular kit
Change kit

The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) (Irish: Cumann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Laois) or Laois GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Laois and the Laois inter-county teams.

History

Laois are a dual county, enjoying comparative success at both Gaelic football and hurling. Laois are one of a select group of counties to have contested All Ireland finals in both football and hurling, and are six times Leinster Senior Football Champions, and three times Leinster Senior Hurling Champions.

In recent times Laois have been more successful footballers than hurlers. Laois minors have had considerable success over the past two decades, and the Laois senior footballers reached the Leinster final in 2003 (victorious), 2004, and 2005.

Laois hurlers currently compete in the Liam McCarthy Cup, a competition reserved for the premiere hurling counties.

Gaelic football

Laois contested the second ever All-Ireland final in 1889 and also won the first ever National Football League final beating Dublin in the 1926 final. 1936 saw the only other appearance by Laois in an All-Ireland senior decider.

Laois beat Monaghan by a point in the 1986 National Football League final. Liam Irwin and Colm Browne both won All Stars for their performances that year.

During the 1990s Laois had a number of successes at Minor and U-21 level, including All-Ireland Minor Football Championships in 1996 and 1997.

During the mid-2000s Laois Gaelic football became a strong force at all age levels. Under former Kerry and Kildare manager Mick O'Dwyer, Laois were National Football League runners-up and Leinster Senior Football Championship winners in 2003. Laois would go on to contest the Leinster Senior Football Championship Final again in 2004 (lost after a replay) and 2005 (lost by 1 point). During the same period the Minor team were All-Ireland Minor Champions in 2003, and Leinster Champions in 2004, 2005 and 2007, while the U-21 panel were Leinster Champions in 2006 and 2007.

In 2006, Mick O'Dwyer's management of Laois ended and he was replaced by the former Limerick manager, Liam Kearns. After two years Liam Kearns was replaced by Sean Dempsey in 2008. Dempsey who had led the Laois minors to All-Ireland success in 2003 commenced a major re-building exercise in 2009 but failed to achieve any success and was replaced by Justin McNulty for the 2011 season. After three seasons in charge, McNulty stepped down to be replaced by Tomás Ó Flatharta.

Honours

All Stars

Laois have a total of 5 football All Stars.

Current football squad

No. Player Position Club
1 Graham Brody Goalkeeper Portlaoise
2 Damien O'Connor Right Corner Back Timahoe
3 Mark Timmons Full Back Graiguecullen
4 Stephen Attride Left Corner Back Killeshin
5 Darren Strong Right Half Back Emo
6 Robbie Kehoe Centre Back O'Dempseys
7 Colm Begley Left Half Back Parnells
8 Brendan Quigley Midfield Timahoe
9 John O'Loughlin Midfield St Brigid's
10 Niall Donoher Right Half Forward Courtwood
11 Conor Boyle Centre Forward Portlaoise
12 Evan O'Carroll Left Half Forward Crettyard
13 Ross Munnelly Right Corner Forward Arles/Kilcruise
14 Donal Kingston Full Forward Arles/Killeen
15 Tom Shiel Left Corner Forward Stradbally
No. Player Position Club
16 Eoin Culliton Substitute Timahoe
17 Gearóid Hanrahan Substitute Mountmellick
18 Ciarán Lennon Substitute Timahoe
19 Gareth Dillon Substitute Portlaoise
20 James Finn Substitute Ballyfin
21 Conor Meredith Substitute O'Dempseys
22 Billy Sheehan Substitute Emo
23 Eoin Lowry Substitute Killeshin
24 Paul Kingston Substitute Arles/Killeen
25 Mark O'Halloran Substitute Courtwood
26 Evin Keane Substitute The Heath

Squad as per Laois vs Kildare, 2015 Leinster Senior Football Championship Quarter Final Replay, 13 June 2015

Laois Club Football

The major local club competitions in Laois are the championships which are listed below.

In addition, all teams compete in the All-County Football League from Division 1 down to Division 5.

Laois Senior Football Championship

Laois Intermediate Football Championship

Laois Junior Football Championship

Laois Junior "B" Football Championship

Laois Junior "C" Football Championship

Laois Under 21 Football Championship

Laois Minor Football Championship

Hurling

Laois won one All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship title, in 1915, when the day was so wet the team reportedly played the second half in their overcoats.

Laois currently competes in the Liam McCarthy Cup (Tier 1 of the Senior Hurling Championship), but has also won three All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championships.

The hurlers reached National Hurling League semi-finals in 1981 and 1983 before losing the Centenary Cup hurling final to Cork in 1984, and were back in the National Hurling League semi-final in 1996.

Laois most recently contested the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship final in 1985, in what was to be a disappointing final defeat against Offaly.

Honours

All Stars

Laois have 1 hurling All Star.

Current hurling squad

No. Player Position Club
1 Eoin Reilly Goalkeeper Abbeyleix
2 John A. Delaney Right Corner Back Clough/Ballacolla
3 Cahir Healy Full Back Portlaoise
4 Brian Stapleton Left Corner Back Borris-in-Ossory/Kilcotton
5 Joe Fitzpatrick (c) Right Half Back Rathdowney-Errill
6 Matthew Whelan Centre Back Borris-in-Ossory/Kilcotton
7 Tom Delaney Left Half Back Clough/Ballacolla
8 Dwayne Palmer Midfield Camross
9 Paddy Purcell Midfield Rathdowney-Errill
10 Stephen Maher Right Half Forward Clough/Ballacolla
11 Zane Keenan Centre Forward Camross
12 Charles Dwyer Left Half Forward Ballinakill
13 Tommy Fitzgerald Right Corner Forward Portlaoise
14 Willie Hyland Full Forward Clough/Ballacolla
15 Joe Campion Left Corner Forward Borris-in-Ossory/Kilcotton
No. Player Position Club
16 Enda Rowland Substitute Abbeyleix
17 Patrick Whelan Substitute Borris-in-Ossory/Kilcotton
18 Ben Conroy Substitute Slieve Bloom
19 Conor Dunne Substitute Harps
20 James Walsh Substitute Ballinakill
21 Neil Foyle Substitute Borris-in-Ossory/Kilcotton
22 PJ Scully Substitute Borris-in-Ossory/Kilcotton
23 Dayne Peacock Substitute Abbeyleix
24 Brendan Reddin Substitute Castletown
25 John Purcell Substitute Rathdowney-Errill
26 Oisín Carroll Substitute Abbeyleix

Squad as per Laois v Dublin, 2015 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Qualifier, 4 July 2015

Laois Club Hurling

The major local club hurling competitions in Laois are the championships which are listed below.

In addition, all teams compete in the All-County Hurling League from Division 1 down to Division 5.

Laois Senior Hurling Championship

Laois Intermediate Hurling Championship

Laois Junior Hurling Championship

Laois Under 21 Hurling Championship

Laois Minor Hurling Championship

Laois Junior "B" Hurling Championship

Laois Junior "C" Hurling Championship

Camogie

Harps won three All Ireland junior club titles in 2006-8.[1][2][3] Laois won the Nancy Murray Cup in 2007.[4] They won the third division of the National Camogie League in 2010.[5] They won the under-16 B title in 2000.

Notable players include soaring star award winners[6] Louise Mahony and Eimear Moynan

Under Camogie's National Development Plan 2010-2015, "Our Game, Our Passion,"[7] Carlow, Cavan, Laois, Louth and Roscommon are to get a total of 17 new clubs by 2015.[8]

Bibliography

Clubs of Laois

see Category:Gaelic Athletic Association clubs in County Laois

References

  1. 2006 junior club final Harps 1-7 Keady 0-5 report in Irish Independent and Irish Times
  2. 2007 Junior club final Harps 2-8 Keady 2-7 report in Irish Independent, Irish Times and on camogie.ie
  3. 2008 Junior club final Harps 1-11 Kilmaley 3-2 Report in Irish Independent and on Camogie.ie
  4. 2007 Jun A Laois 1-15 Meath 1-9 in Leixlip report on hurlingblog.com
  5. 2010 Div 3 Laois 2-10 Meath 2-5 Division 3 final report on Hogan Stand, Laois Nationalist and Camogie.ie
  6. All-stars on camogie.ie
  7. "Final goal for camogie". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). 29 March 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  8. National Development Plan 2010-2015, Our Game, Our Passion information page on camogie.ie, pdf download (778k) from Camogie.ie download site

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.