Éire Óg, Inis GAA
| formerly Ennis Dalcassians | |||||||||||||
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| Founded: | 1952 | ||||||||||||
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| County: | Clare | ||||||||||||
| Nickname: | The Town Townies | ||||||||||||
| Colours: | |||||||||||||
| Grounds: | Clonroadmore, Ennis | ||||||||||||
| Coordinates: | 52°49′54.6312″N 8°59′26.754″W / 52.831842000°N 8.99076500°WCoordinates: 52°49′54.6312″N 8°59′26.754″W / 52.831842000°N 8.99076500°W | ||||||||||||
| Playing kits | |||||||||||||
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Éire Óg, Inis GAA Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in Ennis, Clare, Ireland. The club plays both Hurling and Gaelic Football at all age levels.
Their most recent major achievement came on 7 November 2021 when they won the Clare Senior Football Championship for the nineteenth time, defeating Kilmurry-Ibrickane by 1-11 to 0-09 in Cusack Park.
Prior to the official club formation in 1952, the Ennis Dalcassians represented the county capital.
The Ennis Faughs were an amalgamation of the club with local rivals St. Joseph's, Doora-Barefield. They competed together from 1944-1956 and 1994-1995 when both clubs were not actually competing at senior level themselves. The Ennis Faughs competed in thirteen county football finals, winning five Senior Football titles in 1947, 1948, 1952, 1954 and again in 1994. They also won an Intermediate Hurling title in 1945, and an Intermediate Football title in 1946.
When combined with their predecessors the Ennis Dalcassians, Éire Óg are the most successful club in Clare at senior level. A combined total of 34 county senior titles have been won by the capital town, 15 Senior Hurling titles (1990) and 19 Senior Football titles (2021).
History[]
The club was formed at the end of February 1952, initially to cater for junior hurlers. The historic first meeting took place in a house in Steele’s Terrace, Ennis. The club’s first colours were all-white with a green shamrock and these jerseys were bought by the residents of Steele’s Terrace and the Boreen. In 1954 the club colours were changed to red with white collar and cuffs.
In 1953 the club decided to enter the senior ranks but were defeated by Clooney that year. In 1954 the club had its first senior victory when it beat Tulla in the semi-final of the . In 1955, with victories over Ruan, Clarecastle, Doora-Barefield and Tulla, Éire Óg reached its first senior final but were beaten by Newmarket-on-Fergus. The club's first major trophy was the when they defeated Feakle in the final by nine points.
In 1956 Éire Óg won its first Clare Senior Hurling Championship, defeating Clarecastle in the final by 4-05 to 2-08. In 1957 it won back-to-back senior titles, defeating Whitegate in the county final by 5-09 to 2-03. The club reached the county final again in 1959 but were defeated by Ruan. Éire Óg reached the county final in 1965 only to be defeated this time by Newmarket-on-Fergus. But in 1966 the club defeated Whitegate in the final by 2-08 to 1-04 to win their third title.
Éire Óg took complete control over the organisation of underage Gaelic Games in Ennis from the underage clubs Ennis Rovers and St. John’s, Ennis forming one combined underage club in 1974. A number of the 1966 senior team had been successful at underage with these clubs, which had won five titles in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965 and 1966 and a three-in-a-row of Under-21 A titles from 1964-1966. The Éire Óg underage club has been very successful since this take over, winning titles at every grade in hurling and football, the highlight being the Féile na nGael All-Ireland U-14 Championship which was captured by the club's Under-14s in Wexford in 1999.
The club qualified once again for the county final in 1975 only to be defeated by the East Clare amalgamation, Brian Boru's. Their next success was to come in 1980 when the club were victorious over Newmarket-on-Fergus. In 1982 Éire Óg defeated Sixmilebridge in the final on a score of 3-08 to 2-09. The following year Sixmilebridge reversed the result after a replay. In 1985, having reached the final, Éire Óg were defeated by Kilmaley. In 1990 Éire Óg won their fifteenth overall county title, this time defeating O'Callaghan's Mills 1-05 to 1-03. The club reached the final again in 1992 only to go down to Sixmilebridge.
In 1971 Éire Óg fielded its first football team and won the Clare Junior A Football Championship 1975 and 1976. The Clare Intermediate Football Championship was won in 1985 and so Éire Óg moved up to senior level. Immediately after promotion in 1986, the club reached the Clare Senior Football Championship final but were beaten by Cooraclare.
In 1975 Éire Óg purchased land from St. Flannan’s College at Clonroadmore, where the club is now based. Since then a lot of money and hard work has gone into pitch development, building the clubhouse and dressing rooms, and the addition of a floodlit all-weather pitch. In 2003 a second playing pitch was developed under a lease arrangement with St. Flannan’s.
The Clare Intermediate Football Championship was won again in 1995 and Éire Óg returned to the senior ranks. In 2000 Éire Óg football came of age when the club won the Clare Senior Football Championship for the first time. 2000 was the first year that a club has qualified for both senior finals since the Ennis Dalcassions won 'The Double' in 1929. The footballers beat Doonbeg, however the hurlers lost out to Sixmilebridge. A second football title followed in 2006.
In 2018, the club achieved a historic 'Double' when their second teams in both codes won the Clare Junior A Hurling Championship and Clare Junior A Football Championship.
Éire Óg Inis Academy was set up in 2012 following the break-up of the Ennis Urban Board. The Academy coaches girls and boys from U-6 to U-16 in the skills of both hurling and football. Our most successful year to date was 2017 when we won 5 County titles including representing Clare in the Féile na nGael All-Ireland U-14 Championship. However, the success of the Academy is not measured on county titles alone, as or even more important is that the children enjoy coming to Éire Óg and enjoy the friendly, fun and safe environment.
Major honours[]
Hurling[]
Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship Runners-Up:
- 1990
Clare Senior Hurling Championship: 15
- 1956, 1957, 1966, 1980, 1982, 1990
- As Ennis Dalcassians: 1890, 1911, 1914, 1915, 1924, 1928 (with Clarecastle), 1929, 1934, 1941
Clare Senior B Hurling Championship: 2
- 2007, 2014
Clare Intermediate Hurling Championship: 4
- 2011
- As Ennis Faughs (with Doora-Barefield): 1945
- As Ennis Rovers: 1927
- As St. John's, Ennis: 1958
Clare Junior A Hurling Championship: 4
- 1990, 2002, 2018
- As Ennis Dalcassians: 1927
: 2
- 1955, 1959
Clare Hurling League Div.4: 5
- 1989, 1990, 1995, 2002, 2008
Clare Under-21 A Hurling Championship: 6
- 1964, 1965, 1966, 1974, 1977, 2010
: 24
- 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1989, 1991, 1993
- As Ennis Dalcassians: 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1951
- As Ennis Rovers: 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966
- As St. John's, Ennis: 1955, 1956
Féile na nGael All-Ireland U-14 Championship (Christy Ring Trophy): 1
- 1999
Gaelic Football[]
Clare Senior Football Championship: 19
- 2000, 2006, 2021
- As Ennis Dalcassians: 1890, 1897, 1899, 1904, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1929
- As Ennis Faughs (with Doora-Barefield): 1947, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1994
Clare Senior B Football Championship: 1
Clare Intermediate Football Championship: 3
- 1985, 1995
- As Ennis Faughs (with Doora-Barefield): 1946
Munster Junior Club Football Championship Runners-Up:
- 2001
Clare Junior A Football Championship: 7
- 1968, 1975, 2001, 2013, 2018
- As Ennis Dalcassians: 1927, 1943
Clare Football League Div. 1 (Cusack Cup): 4
- 2003
- As Ennis Dalcassians: 1929, 1931, 1932
Clare Football League Div.2 (Garry Cup): 1
- 2018
Clare Football League Div.4: ?
- 2018
Clare Under-21 A Football Championship: 5
- 2000, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018
: 8
- 1979, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2012, 2017
Ladies[]
Éire Óg Camogie Club was established by Michael Brennan in 1967; his senior team enjoyed immediate success, dethroning 9 in a row champions, Killanena, in 1968. The team went from strength to strength, winning 8 senior titles in a row. There followed a two-year gap before Éire Óg captured four more senior titles in 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981. In the more recent past, the club won the Féile na nGael Divison 2 in 2010. Having competed for many years at Junior level, they finally made the breakthrough from junior to intermediate in 2012. Since 2012, the club has enjoyed much success at underage, but, the big prize of senior status continued to prove elusive until 2017, when they claimed the league championship double, defeating Broadford, Clarecastle/Ballyea, respectively. Minor B U21B championships were also won in 2017.
Ladies Football arrived in 2002, with an Under 12 and Junior teams. Barry Donnelly was first Chairman, succeeded by Alan Malone, who steered the club until 2014. Others involved were Sharon Malone and Claire Nihill. Shauna Keane and Orla McMahon have been playing members since the beginning, Shauna scoring the very first score for the new club in 2002.
Camogie[]
- Clare Senior Camogie Championship: 12
- 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
- Clare Intermediate Camogie Championship: ...
- 2017
- Clare Junior 'A' Camogie Championship: ...
- 2010
- Clare Under-21 'B' Camogie Championship: ...
- 2017
- Clare Minor 'B' Camogie Championship: ...
- 2017
- Féile na nGael Div.2 (Caithlín Ní Thoimín Shield): 1
- 2010
- Féile na nGael Div.3: 1
- 1986
Ladies Football[]
- Clare Junior Ladies Football Championship: ...
- 2014, 2015
- Clare Under-21 Ladies Football Championship: ...
- 2017
- Clare Ladies Football League Div. 3: ...
- 2014
Notable players[]
This is a list of club players who have won major medals with Clare:
Hurling[]
| Player | All-Stars | Senior | Intermediate | Under 21 | Minor | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-Ireland | Munster | League | All-Ireland | Munster | All-Ireland | Munster | Munster | |||
| Seamus Durack | 1977, 1978, 1981 | 1977, 1978 | ||||||||
| Stephen McNamara | 1995, 1997 | 1995, 1997, 1998 | ||||||||
| Colin Lynch* | 1997 | 1997 | 1997 | |||||||
| Kevin Moynihan | 2011 | 2011 | 2009 | 2009 | ||||||
| Ronan Keane | 2011 | 2011 | ||||||||
| Davy O'Halloran | 2013 | 2012, 2013 | 2012, 2013 | 2010, 2011 | ||||||
| Shane O'Donnell | 2013 | 2016 | 2013, 2014 | 2013, 2014 | 2011 | |||||
| David Reidy | 2016 | 2013, 2014 | 2013, 2014 | |||||||
| Liam Corry | 2014 | 2014 | ||||||||
| Danny Russell | 2016 | |||||||||
| Dara Walsh | 2016 | |||||||||
* Transferred to Kilmaley in 1998.
Gaelic Football[]
| Player | Senior | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Munster | All-Ireland (B) |
League (Div. 3) | |
| James Hanrahan | 1992 | 1991 | |
| Stephen Hickey | 2004 | ||
| David Russell | 2004 | ||
| Sean O'Meara | 2004 | ||
| Dean Ryan | 2016 | ||
External links[]
- Gaelic Athletic Association clubs established in 1952
- 1952 establishments in Ireland
- Gaelic Athletic Association clubs in County Clare
- Gaelic football clubs in County Clare
- Hurling clubs in County Clare