Hurling strongholds in footballing counties and vice versa?

Hawkeye9212 · 23-08-2019 11:52pm #1

I'd be interested to know which areas in each county buck the trend and have a preference for the minority sport in their county or at least compete at a similar level in both sports. I know that Burt in Donegal has a strong hurling tradition.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 24-08-2019 12:03am

Tooreen in Mayo. There are some hurling loving villages on the Roscommon-Galway border. Four Roads won the Connacht club hurling championship in 1988.

RMAOK · 24-08-2019 12:06am

So does this thread exclude strong duel counties like cork and Galway (for example)?

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 24-08-2019 12:10am

RMAOK wrote: »

So does this thread exclude strong duel counties like cork and Galway (for example)?

A strong hurling club in Connemara or north Galway would presumably be as much a rarity as it would be in Mayo.

Hawkeye9212 · 24-08-2019 12:21am

RMAOK wrote: »

So does this thread exclude strong duel counties like cork and Galway (for example)?

Nope.

RMAOK · 24-08-2019 12:22am

Railyard in Kilkenny is often mentioned as a football stronghold in the county.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 24-08-2019 12:33am

Not quite the same, but Waterford has a great record in women's football, whereas the men's team is very weak.

sportsfan90 · 24-08-2019 12:35am

While Cork has historically been competitive in both codes, hurling is by far the preferred sport. But in large areas of west Cork, it's entirely football with no hurling whatsoever. I remember being brought there as a child and passing a club ground, the nets behind the goals had very large mesh. I couldn't understand it at the time, that surely the sliothar would pass through the net every time. Obviously the nets were designed with just football in mind.

That's not to say many from that area don't have an interest in watching hurling - I'm sure there's plenty from West Cork that will be travelling to the U20 hurling final tomorrow.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 24-08-2019 12:38am

sportsfan90 wrote: »

While Cork has historically been competitive in both codes, hurling is by far the preferred sport. But in large areas of west Cork, it's entirely football with no hurling whatsoever. I remember being brought there as a child and passing a club ground, the nets behind the goals had very large mesh. I couldn't understand it at the time, that surely the sliothar would pass through the net every time. Obviously the nets were designed with just football in mind.

That's not to say many from that area don't have an interest in watching hurling - I'm sure there's plenty from West Cork that will be travelling to the U20 hurling final tomorrow.

How popular is football in the stronger hurling areas?

sportsfan90 · 24-08-2019 12:47am

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

How popular is football in the stronger hurling areas?

It's mixed but most still try to be some bit competitive even at junior level. Unlike the football areas, pretty much every predominantly hurling club will also field football teams. I can think of only two that don't, although there may be others. So there are actually more football clubs in Cork than hurling.

Fr Tod Umptious · 24-08-2019 1:00am

North West Kerry.

Draw a triangle, Tralee north to Listowel, Tralee west to Ballyhigue, and the coast as the third side.

Everything in that triangle is hurling.

The 8 teams in the county championship come from there.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 24-08-2019 1:03am

I once met a girl from that part of Kerry and she said they barely played football at all.

conor05 · 24-08-2019 1:48am

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

I once met a girl from that part of Kerry and she said they barely played football at all.

Hurling mad area in that part of North Kerry. As passionate as any part of Kilkenny or Tipp. Young lads going round with Hurley’s, hardly any footballs to be seen.

I have went to one or two of their county finals back in 2012/2013, and there was close to 6,000 at it.

Great occasion and the rivalry was ferocious.

The problem is they only have 8 serious senior clubs to pick from, they would need another 8 again to match the top teams in Liam McCarthy.

They have a few quality players at the minute, particularly Shane Conway from Lixnaw.

Fr Tod Umptious · 24-08-2019 9:43am

Kerry county hurling final is tomorrow by the way.

Causeway v Lixnaw.

Kerrydude1981 · 24-08-2019 10:28am

Kerry clubs play each other too much, too many competitions

St Brendan's played Causeway in the semi final last week and that was their third meeting of the year and they have one more game to play against each other before the year is out, the county league final

Kerry clubs should look into playing games in Limerick or Cork district leagues, Dr Crokes hurlers played in Duhallow Junior league this year

Utopia Parkway · 24-08-2019 11:51am

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Kerry county hurling final is tomorrow by the way.

Causeway v Lixnaw.

By God.

Bonniedog · 24-08-2019 11:53am

Is Brendans basically the same club as Ardfert?

I know Brendans don't play in black and white.

kksaints · 24-08-2019 4:17pm

St Mullins in Carlow would be a traditional hurling stronghold in a predominantly football county.

cms88 · 24-08-2019 9:53pm

Bonniedog wrote: »

Is Brendans basically the same club as Ardfert?

I know Brendans don't play in black and white.

Technically two clubs. Ardfert in football and St Brendans in hurling. Some lads from the other hurling clubs play football with them

DellyBelly · 24-08-2019 10:01pm

RMAOK wrote: »

So does this thread exclude strong duel counties like cork and Galway (for example)?

I'm afraid Cork ain't strong anymore

Bass Reeves · 24-08-2019 10:24pm

Hurling is usually played in the better land in a county. As one friend of mine used to say. You cannot find a sliotar in the rushes

Bonniedog · 24-08-2019 10:26pm

cms88 wrote: »

Technically two clubs. Ardfert in football and St Brendans in hurling. Some lads from the other hurling clubs play football with them

I remember Johnny Egan played hurling for Kerry and won two club All Irelands with Ardfert, I think, about 15 years ago,

Bonniedog · 24-08-2019 10:29pm

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Hurling is usually played in the better land in a county. As one friend of mine used to say. You cannot find a sliotar in the rushes

North County Dublin and Meath be exceptions to the good land part!. Hurling didn't exist in north county until relatively recently. Not exactly sure what the history in Meath is, but imagine it be similar.

Hurling in city was brought by people coming here from places like Tipp particularly in early 1900s.

castletownman · 24-08-2019 10:31pm

In Wexford, Oulart the Ballagh, Buffers Alley and Rathnure would be the three predominatedly hurling strongholds, with the first two neighbours and the third in a small pocket of their own in the blackstairsmountains. To be fair to the Alley, at least they more often than not field a football team at junior B level but the other two don't concentrate on it as a rule (even though Rathnure won a senior football title in 1950s!). It must be said though that the majority of clubs within the county would side towards hurling.

The football pockets wouldn't be as concentrated, although it probably could be argued that the countryside around New Ross is probably football-orientated considering the amount of senior clubs in the code from that area. My own club Castletown and Kilanerin are definitely 'football first' and are indeed the only two senior teams north of Enniscorthy and are surrounded by clubs in the district that concentrate on hurling (with Naomh Eanna and Ferns the only two at the top grade). But Castletown and Kilanerin still compete in hurling and will actually meet in the Inter A quarter finals in a fortnight (well under different names

).

There is a sort of snobbery towards football in the county though. Shelmaliers and Starlights are the last two senior football champions, and are dual. But a lot of 'experts' claim its impossible for a dual senior club to win a hurling title because of the extra workload, when often it works the other way with momentum etc. St.Martin's too have had massive underage success, have a tonne of talent coming through, won a maiden senior football title in 2013, get to the quarter-finals at least in the competititon every year, and always seem to claim that football is a hindrance to their hurling credentials!

conor05 · 25-08-2019 12:35am

Bonniedog wrote: »

I remember Johnny Egan played hurling for Kerry and won two club All Irelands with Ardfert, I think, about 15 years ago,

Kilmoyley seems to be a real hurling stronghold in North Kerry. No football played at any grade in Kilmoyley

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 25-08-2019 1:33am

Bonniedog wrote: »

North County Dublin and Meath be exceptions to the good land part!. Hurling didn't exist in north county until relatively recently. Not exactly sure what the history in Meath is, but imagine it be similar.

Hurling in city was brought by people coming here from places like Tipp particularly in early 1900s.

Hurling was historically played more in the south of the country. The midland bogs generally act as a northern boundary on the sport. Places that didn't have a history of it didn't take it up when the GAA was founded.

Road-Hog · 25-08-2019 4:58am

Dunmore East (Gaultier being clubs name) in Waterford is a football only area surrounded by 2 x hurling only clubs ie Ballygunner and Passage.

Mantis Toboggan · 25-08-2019 10:03am

Seems that in general the hurling clubs compete at some level in football but the football clubs generally ignore hurling.

Bonniedog · 25-08-2019 10:06am

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

Hurling was historically played more in the south of the country. The midland bogs generally act as a northern boundary on the sport. Places that didn't have a history of it didn't take it up when the GAA was founded.

So there was hurling in south Meath before GAA?

There was a junior club in Garristown north Dublin in early 1900s but story was that they only started when they saw city teams playing. Maybe they had some tradition after all.

Likewise the only "native" county senior hurling team before 1920 was Thomas Davis in Tallaght. Which again perhaps suggests some pre 1884 connection.

25-08-2019 10:23am

If Tripp’s John McGrath was a dub ,he’d be playing next Sunday

HartsHat · 25-08-2019 10:43am

Hurling in Meath is very strong in Trim (30 odd hurling championship to 1 in football) and some of the areas around have no interest in football at all:

Boardsmill (play a bit of football but they're obsessed with hurling)
Killyon (Hurling only)
Kiltale (Hurling obsessed with football on the side)
Rathmolyon (Hurling only)

cms88 · 25-08-2019 12:23pm

conor05 wrote: »

Kilmoyley seems to be a real hurling stronghold in North Kerry. No football played at any grade in Kilmoyley

Well Ballduff play both and would be the only ''dual'' club in that part of North Kerry, as Ardfert are two different clubs

Bonniedog · 25-08-2019 12:41pm

What club did Seán Boylan play with?

Had old paper from around 1967 I think, which had photo of him playing for Meath.

Uncle was playing for Dublin against Galway same day in league.

Of course it was "tidied" over the years.

Legalfarmer89 · 25-08-2019 12:59pm

In Galway south of the motorway is hurling and north of the motorway is football, although there are exceptions and there would be hurling only teams/areas in what would seem North Galway(Turloughmore & Pearses who would have played football at one stage but not sure now)

Around the mid section of the county some neighboring parishes concentrate on hurling and another parish on football(Ahascragh/Foghenagh hurling & Caltra Football, Cappy Hurling & Gabriel’s Football, Abbeyknockmoy Hurling & Monivea Abbey Football, Carnmore Hurling & Claregalway Football) and there would be a crossover in players.

To be fair some of the football areas do have hurling teams(Skehanagh in Menlough Parrish, Sylane in Corofin Parrish & Ballygar, Annaghdown, Mountbellew/Moylough are dual, very few dual clubs for some reason) but the football would take precedence. I don’t think there is the same correlation in south Galway. Loughrea are the only team in South Galway with a football team(A few have underage but don’t have adult teams). Think Kiltormer might have one also.

Galway city is mixed and all sports would nearly be equal(hurling/football/rugby)

To be honest Junior Soccer probably has the biggest numbers in the City. Basketball madly enough seems to be popular in spots.

Connemara is predominately football but just past the City, Moycullen would be a dual club while Spiddeal, Barna/Furbo and Micheal Breathneachs do put out Hurling teams in what would be a football mostly area.

johnconnors · 25-08-2019 1:31pm

HartsHat wrote: »

Hurling in Meath is very strong in Trim (30 odd hurling championship to 1 in football) and some of the areas around have no interest in football at all:

Boardsmill (play a bit of football but they're obsessed with hurling)
Killyon (Hurling only)
Kiltale (Hurling obsessed with football on the side)
Rathmolyon (Hurling only)

A number of years ago [2014 , I think], happened be up around the Kildalkey area of Meath. Looking for directions [no sat-nav then], I stopped outside a house and knocked on the door. A rather irate gentleman answered and curtly told me to come in, - muttering; "such a time you had to call". The reason for his displeasure was that I had interrupted him [and his dog] watching a hurling match between Waterford and Cork. Not a word was spoken until half time. I said that it was strange to see a man with such interest in hurling in the heart of a football county. The answer I got was; "We'ed have no time for that auld football around here, -- it's all hurling in this area". - -

Three years ago, I happened to be in Ballina, Mayo just prior to Mayo playing Dublin in the All Ireland. Wishing people the best of luck in the forthcoming final, can you imagine my surprise to meet a man who showed only a mild interest in the fortunes of his counties footballers. He told me that in the area where he came from, hurling was the only game - and he was none too impressed with my ignorance of a recent success in the Nicky Rackard Cup.

beggars_bush · 25-08-2019 2:17pm

Bonniedog wrote: »

North County Dublin and Meath be exceptions to the good land part!. Hurling didn't exist in north county until relatively recently. Not exactly sure what the history in Meath is, but imagine it be similar.

Hurling in city was brought by people coming here from places like Tipp particularly in early 1900s.

Not true
The first hurling club was established in Dublin in 1882

kerosene · 25-08-2019 2:28pm

The Ards area of Co Down would be hurling mad, while the rest of the county is 90%+ football. The 3 teams in that region, Ballycran, Ballygalget and Portaferry play in the Antrim hurling leagues.

Although two clubs in the Belfast area, bredagh and carryduff have had county minor success recently, which would have been unheard of years ago, which is encouraging.

Stacksofwacks · 25-08-2019 5:29pm

West Limerick around the kerry border would be a big football area with very little hurling played. West Clare the same with the hurling played in and around the Ennis area. South Tipp around Clonmel and Ardfinnan is a footballing stronghold but most would be dual clubs. Same in West Waterford. East Cork is a predominantly hurling area, whilst North and mid Cork would be dual.

Bonniedog · 25-08-2019 5:33pm

beggars_bush wrote: »

Not true
The first hurling club was established in Dublin in 1882

Metropolitans were only functioning club for years.

More accurate, however, to have said 1890s was decade when hurling really took off.

Point anyway, is that it did not exist in Dublin until after GAA was founded although the creation of early clubs in Tallaght which was then rural south county and Garristown might point to some lingering tradition.

kksaints · 25-08-2019 7:16pm

castletownman wrote: »

In Wexford, Oulart the Ballagh, Buffers Alley and Rathnure would be the three predominatedly hurling strongholds, with the first two neighbours and the third in a small pocket of their own in the blackstairsmountains. To be fair to the Alley, at least they more often than not field a football team at junior B level but the other two don't concentrate on it as a rule (even though Rathnure won a senior football title in 1950s!). It must be said though that the majority of clubs within the county would side towards hurling.

The football pockets wouldn't be as concentrated, although it probably could be argued that the countryside around New Ross is probably football-orientated considering the amount of senior clubs in the code from that area. My own club Castletown and Kilanerin are definitely 'football first' and are indeed the only two senior teams north of Enniscorthy and are surrounded by clubs in the district that concentrate on hurling (with Naomh Eanna and Ferns the only two at the top grade). But Castletown and Kilanerin still compete in hurling and will actually meet in the Inter A quarter finals in a fortnight (well under different names ).

There is a sort of snobbery towards football in the county though. Shelmaliers and Starlights are the last two senior football champions, and are dual. But a lot of 'experts' claim its impossible for a dual senior club to win a hurling title because of the extra workload, when often it works the other way with momentum etc. St.Martin's too have had massive underage success, have a tonne of talent coming through, won a maiden senior football title in 2013, get to the quarter-finals at least in the competititon every year, and always seem to claim that football is a hindrance to their hurling credentials!

Id say that Wexford town is something of a football stronghold in Wexford with four football teams compared to one/two hurling clubs (not sure what you'd call Clonard these days).

ForestFire · 26-08-2019 12:05pm

They actually sell footballs in Elverys in Kilkenny city...I $h1T you not....:eek:

Okay they are kept well hidden under the counter and you have to ask for them, but they are there trust me

Bonniedog · 26-08-2019 12:32pm

ForestFire wrote: »

They actually sell footballs in Elverys in Kilkenny city...I $h1T you not....:eek:

Okay they are kept well hidden under the counter and you have to ask for them, but they are there trust me

"I have a friend who thinks he might like to play football...."

BloodyBill · 26-08-2019 12:51pm

Stacksofwacks wrote: »

West Limerick around the kerry border would be a big football area with very little hurling played. West Clare the same with the hurling played in and around the Ennis area. South Tipp around Clonmel and Ardfinnan is a footballing stronghold but most would be dual clubs. Same in West Waterford. East Cork is a predominantly hurling area, whilst North and mid Cork would be dual.

Absolutely agree with the West Limerick border area. Also hurling around the Northside of Limerick city would be strong in a Rugby/Soccer city. Na Piarsaigh is surrounded by Famous Rugby clubs like Shannon..and smaller rugby clubs like St Mary's and Thomond. The only hurling area it borders is Cratloe and Meelick in Clare .
I would say the real hurling only area in Clare is not around Ennis. It's around a 10 mile radius of Sixmilebridge in South East Clare. Clonlara, Parteen, Shannon, Clooney Quin,Newmarket...Kilaloe,Broadford and then on up the East to Feakle and beyond...which is further than 10 miles. Cratloe being the only real successful dual club in that bunch..

bruschi · 26-08-2019 12:54pm

kksaints wrote: »

Id say that Wexford town is something of a football stronghold in Wexford with four football teams compared to one/two hurling clubs (not sure what you'd call Clonard these days).

not really. Just happens that the Vols stopped hurling as it meant players who played football with Vols and hurled with Harriers had to stop hurling with Harriers or else change football clubs. Clonard are an exclusively hurling only club now too. Hurling in the Harriers is taken a lot more seriously than football in most of the other clubs in the town. Of the football teams in the town, you have Vols, Maudlintown, St Josephs and Sarsfields, with only Sars in senior and struggling for years to stay there. The others plod away at Intermediate level, Maudlintown probably the best equipped going forward.

Most of Wexford is dual, there wouldnt be any large pockets of one over the other noticeably bucking a trend. Other than the hurling only clubs in Oulart and Rathnure, every other team fields in both codes is some shape or form. whilst Faythe Harriers are a hurling club only, most of their team will line out with Sarsfields or the other football clubs. I wouldnt be surprised too to see Oulart or Rathnure fielding football teams in the future as Oulart have done very well with underage football primary school teams.

Dick Turnip · 26-08-2019 1:29pm

The northern part of Westmeath is the hurling stronghold in that county. If you take the N4 as the dividing line then most of the hurling clubs in the county are located north/north west of the N4 and Mullingar. There seems to be a good few 'hurling only' clubs but there would be a football club in the same parish. A lot of the clubs here would be junior in the football championship. This would be a very rural part of the county, a lot of these clubs are small villages and parishes.

p.s. - I'm not from Westmeath myself so open to further clarification on any of the above!

Also, from my limited knowledge of Tipperary GAA it seems that the south east part of the county is the football area, particularly around Clonmel.

Danno · 26-08-2019 2:52pm

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

North West Kerry.

Draw a triangle, Tralee north to Listowel, Tralee west to Ballyhigue, and the coast as the third side.

Everything in that triangle is hurling.

The 8 teams in the county championship come from there.

I think this anomaly could be down to the "Seven Septs of Laois" that were settled there in north Kerry back when the English were taking over Laois and Offaly.

Meanwhile back in Laois, all of west Laois is hurling while east Laois is Football.

Bonniedog · 26-08-2019 2:58pm

Danno wrote: »

I think this anomaly could be down to the "Seven Septs of Laois" that were settled there in north Kerry back when the English were taking over Laois and Offaly.

Had never heard that one. Interesting.

I have family living in exile in Coill Dubh in Kildare which is one of strongest hurling clubs in county, all hurling at one time, not sure now.

The houses around the green were built to house Bord na Móna workers and most of them came from north Kerry and story is that it was these people who brought hurling with them. Not sure about other hurling part of the county.

hardybuck · 26-08-2019 4:43pm

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

Not quite the same, but Waterford has a great record in women's football, whereas the men's team is very weak.

Large swathes of West Waterford would have been footballing areas until the late 90s when hurling in the county took off again, and many clubs in those areas would still concentrate on football or at least be 50:50 between hurling and football.

Clubs like the Nire and Stradbally would have reached Munster club finals a few times in recent years but just fell short.

Waterford reached three Munster U21 football finals in the 90s.

They won the 2003 title, powered by the Brick Walsh in particular, beating Cork in the semi and pipping a Kerry team that included Gooch Cooper, Declan O'Sullivan, Bryan Sheehan, Kieran Dohaghy, Seamus Scanlon et al. Dublin beat them in the All Ireland semi and went on to win their first All Ireland U21 a few weeks later - Alan Brogan was the star of that Dublin team team.

They also got to a Munster U21 final in 2006, and got promoted to Div 3 of the league a few years later. Up until a few years back they would have been at a similar level to Tipp - who subsequently powered on to a new level.

What happens to good footballers in Waterford - many of them get selected to play for the county hurlers. The County Board wouldn't be great at ensuring that football development got much attention in recent years either.

Bonniedog · 26-08-2019 4:50pm

hardybuck wrote: »

The County Board wouldn't be great at ensuring that football development got much attention in recent years either.

Met a lad called Drummy years ago. Think his family used to do the scoreboard in Fraher's field. Football fanatic.

Didn't the county board have the senior club final around Christmas one year?

hardybuck · 26-08-2019 5:08pm

Bonniedog wrote: »

Met a lad called Drummy years ago. Think his family used to do the scoreboard in Fraher's field. Football fanatic.

Didn't the county board have the senior club final around Christmas one year?

More than once in recent years the county final was played too late to allow a Waterford team to play in the Munster championship - which is pretty frustrating as the teams would normally be competitive.

The football championship would have been sacrificed in those years to try and scrape the hurling team into the Munster club - not terribly well run club setup in Waterford at all.

As an aside, I think the minor footballers and the U21 footballers were the only Waterford teams to win Munster championship fixtures at any level in 2019.

Also, the Waterford senior footballers are the only senior team to win a championship fixture since 2017 - beating Wexford in the qualifiers. The hurlers haven't won a championship game since winning the All Ireland semi final in 2017.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer · 26-08-2019 5:13pm

I would have thought of Waterford as a place without much football, but it seems almost every county plays quite a lot of football.

Hurling strongholds in footballing counties and vice versa?

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