Sarsfields GAA (Newbridge)

Sarsfields
Na Sairséalaigh
Founded: 1897
County: Kildare
Nickname: The Sash
Colours: Green with white diagonal stripe
Grounds: Rickardstown, Newbridge
Coordinates: 53°11′14″N 6°48′37″W / 53.18711°N 6.81015°W / 53.18711; -6.81015Coordinates: 53°11′14″N 6°48′37″W / 53.18711°N 6.81015°W / 53.18711; -6.81015
Playing kits

Standard colours
Senior Club Championships

All Ireland Leinster
champions		 Kildare
champions
Football: 0 0 23
Hurling: 0 0 2

Sarsfields is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Newbridge in County Kildare, Ireland, winner of 23 Kildare Senior Football Championships. The club name is linked to Patrick Sarsfield's castle in the area and the colours, green with white sash, were based on the colours allegedly worn by Sarsfield's men. Paddy "Boiler" White (grandfather of current Kildare footballer Gary White) was a member of the Kildare Gaelic football team of the millennium. Niall Buckley was an All Stars Award winner at midfield in 1997. Dermot Earley was an All Stars Award at left half forward winner in 1998 and at Mid-Field in 2009.

History

Newbridge has always had two and sometimes three GAA clubs. Newbridge 'Hare and Hounds' drew with Moorefield in the 1888 championship. RIC records from 1890 show that Hare and Hounds had 47 members with officers listed as James Farrell, Pat Cox, John Quinn and Edward Wallis. An application from a third club based in the CYMS, St. Conleth's, was rejected in January 1891 because membership was confined to Catholics. A St Conleth's team successfully affiliated in the 1900s.

Sons of Sarsfields & Marble Arch

Sons of Sarsfields, originally based in Roseberry near Newbridge College a mile outside the North-Eastern end of the town was founded by W. P. O'Sullivan in 1897. The club is now based at Rickardstown, Newbridge. The club was an amalgamation of players from other GAA clubs who decided to group together and form a stronger team to take on the challenge of the 'mighty' Clane who dominated Kildare GAA at the time. Roseberry, Sons of Sarsfields beat Naas in the 1904 county finals and won seven titles in succession, losing just five of their 47 championship ties in that period. St Conleth's fielded a football team after several Roseberry players defected to them in 1919. Another club, Marble Arch was founded in the 1920s, swept through the Junior Championship and lost the infamous 1932 Intermediate final to Castledermot. In 1933 Marble Arch won the Intermediate and Roseberry, Sons of Sarsfields the Junior championships.

Gaelic Football

Nine Roseberry players played on the Kildare team that reached the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final in 1903, Jack and Mick Fitzgerald, Jim and Mick Murray, Jack Gorman, Matt Donnelly, Jim Scott, Mick Kennedy and Frank 'Joyce" Conlan. A nephew of the team captain Jack Murray was Mick Geraghty who featured in the emergence of the new Sarsfields club that won five titles in seven years after 1945, including a three-in-a-row 1950-2. Roscommon star Dermot Earley featured on the Sarsfields team that regained the title in 1982, his son Dermot played on the team that won five county titles after 1993. Sarsfields' closest to a Leinster title came in 2005, when they beat Éire Óg of Carlow and Mattock Rangers of Louth but lost the Leinster final to Kilmacud Crokes 0–9 to 0–10, having trailed 0–8 to 0–3 at half-time and fought back bravely in the second half.

Hurling

St Conleth's hurling club (sometimes referred to as Newbridge College) won the Kildare senior championship in 1900 and 1901 and the junior championship in 1936 and 1938. After a number of years without a hurling team Sarsfields re-entered the junior league in 2007 and in June 2007 were crowned League champions after defeating Athy by 5–8 to 2–6. Sarsfields Hurling were 2009 Junior League and Championship double winners and now compete at Intermediate level. Sarsfield GAA club now has a vibrant hurling academy open to children from Newbridge and surrounding areas. Training for U5's and U6's takes place every Satursday morning from March to October @ 10am, with U8's, U9's and U10's training taking place at 7pm on Friday evenings. Helmets and hurlies are provided for newcomers.

Camogie

Newbridge Irish Ropes club affiliated briefly to Kildare camogie board in 1956 with their colours registered as kingfisher (turquoise), blue and white.

Ladies Football

Sarsfields were Kildare junior champions in 2003 and intermediate champions in 2004. They also won the Leinster Intermediate Championship in 2004 and the Ladies U14 league in 2007. They beat Moorefield in the minor Championship in 2008. They then went on to win their u15 County Championship in Division 1 in 2011. They again won the intermediate championship in 2014 and the first ever senior title in 2015.

Honours Sarsfields

References

  1. ↑ "McKenna turns the tide for Sarsfields". Irish Examiner. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "Sarsfields snatch title with late blitz". Irish Examiner. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.

Bibliography

External links

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