Raheny GAA Club

Naomh Barróg GAA Club

Introduction

The response to the e-

Newsletter has been one of

gratitude for giving so many

people the opportunity to recall

and renew scenes from their

past. Everyone of us love to

connect with people we knew

and to remember events that

happened in our younger and

formative days. People are

reminded of events that they

have forgotten all about. Many

people would not be aware

that Dunne’s Stores applied for

planning permission to build a

96,000 sq ft shopping centre in

Kilbarrack Foxfield in 1974 in

the location where the Fox-

hound Pub the Shops and the

Church are now. There are

many other nostalgic memo-

ries to tell as we publish our

different issues.

The past four issues told the

story of the hundreds of fami-

lies moving into the area with

families laying down roots and

the part KADCA, the church,

schools and clubs played in

welcoming the people and

To show their support to the

school they donated two sets

of jerseys early 1974 for the

school to use. This gesture

was appreciated by the

school. These jerseys along

with other sets were used to

organize a successful Street

League in the School in May

where every boy was proud to

represent his particular road.

Raheny GAA Club was found-

ed in 1958. It was the local

club for interested children

from around the area to join at

that time. Raheny would have

been aware of the successes

of the Scoil Lorcáin school

teams. Martin Heffernan, a

Tipperary man who lived in

Kilbarrack Gardens was a

member of the Raheny Club.

He had two sons Francis and

John attending the new Boy’s

School in Kilbarrack. His son John

was in Mr Fields class and playing

on the successful school teams.

The Club asked Martin to ap-

proach Mr Fields with the intention

of supporting the school and invit-

ing any boys interested to join the

Club. Mr Fields being a Raheny

man himself, with connections to

the Club when he was a young

boy was agreeable.

Inside this issue:

Kilbarrack-Foxfield Road Leagues May/June 1974

2

Saturday morning in St Anne’s

2

Deciding the future 2

Kilbarrack Residents oppose Complex

3

“A large store, a lounge bar, 32 shops, a car..”?

3

Dunne’s Stores on Women’s Prison Site?

3

Profile: Maurice Cassidy

4

Down Memory Lane 4

Conclusion 4

History of the Club (1974-2014)

6th March 2014

Issue 5

their children to the new and developing community.

In the early years the thought of a Gaelic Club being formed was never

mentioned or considered. The success of the teams in Scoil Lorcáin

in Croke Park in the early 70’s was phenomenal. A love for Gaelic

Games because of this success was occurring and the community

were very aware of what was happening and supported it.

The next issues will tell the story that eventually led up to a Club being

formed in the parish and what were the influences that precipitated

this. The important thing during the early 70’s was to give the young

people the opportunity to play Gaelic football and through the success-

es they experienced to grow up good and decent young citizens.

The original Scoil Lorcáin Jersey -1972

Did you know

1. From 1977 to 1984 no

Gaelic Games were

played in the parish

2. In 1982 after many

years of negotiations

Naomh Barróg succeed-

ed in obtaining the site,

where the Female Prison

was to be built. This Pris-

on is now in Clondalkin.

During 1974 Raheny GAA Club orga-

nized a Street League that took place on

Pitch 9 and 10 in St Annes. The competi-

tion took place every Saturday morning

for a couple of weeks after Easter. I am

not absolutely certain about the time.

As we explained at the beginning of our

story, Gaelic Games were new to the

Kilbarrack boys who had no tradition in

playing Gaelic football and no culture or

understanding of what a GAA club was.

They did not show much interest in get-

ting involved. To encourage the boys Mr

Fields and Mr Sansome would meet the

boys at Scoil Lorcáin every Saturday

morning and bring the ten or twelve boys

who showed an interest down to Raheny.

They were separated and put on different

teams. They found it difficult to be sepa-

rated from their friends. They were en-

couraged to stay at it. One Saturday

morning something controversial must

have happened because Mr Fields was

approached to be told “ to get these xxx

back up to Kilbarrack”. That finished our

involvement in the Street Leagues.

Deciding the future Mr Fields and Mr Sansome dis-

cussed what had happened the previ-

ous Saturday and were not happy

with the comment that was passed.

Talking with the players about what

happened it was obvious that they

were reluctant to continue being in-

volved. Reflecting on the situation,

they realized asking the boys to go

down to Raheny was not going to

work.

It was important to realize and under-

stand that the majority of the boys

attending the school and playing on

the school teams were only after mov-

ing into Kilbarrack. .

Probably most of them did not even know

were Raheny was. Being involved in a

GAA Club was also foreign to them be-

cause they were only being exposed to

Gaelic games for the first time. Their world

at that time was Kilbarrack. St Anne’s Es-

tate had not been discovered by them yet.

It was during this discussion that Mr Fields

and Mr Sansome suggested that “we

should form our own GAA Club.in Kilbar-

rack-Foxfield”. Their main concern was to

look after the boys from KIlbarrack. The

seed had been sown. This was around

May 1974. It was decided to hold a meet-

ing in Scoil Lorcáin and to invite the par-

ents to attend to get their opinion.

Kilbarrack-Foxfield Road Leagues-May/June 1974

Saturday mornings in St Annes

The Briarfield Grove Team-Finalists 1974

Front row: Stephen Doran, Noel Mc Kenna,

Philip Colgan, John Doran

Second Row: Tony Mc Donald, Philip Mc

Guinness, Philip Martin, Maurice Cassidy,

Robert Mc Kenna, Ray Hogan, Martin Horan,

Thomas Mc Keown

Back Row: Denis Garvey, Paul Brogan, Joe

Styles, John Mc Connell, John Ansley, John

Clarke, David Cummins, David Campbell,

Michael Corrigan.

Thornville Road Team-Finalists 1974

Competition Time? If you can name the

boys in this team you can qualify for a

prize. One name will be drawn from the

drum. Email the team as they appear in

the photo to dfields17@hotmail.com.

Names from this team will be printed in

Issue 6.

Page 2 Naomh Barróg GAA Club

The Road Leagues were a great success.

Every road and street in Kilbarrack had their

own team. Teams from the following roads

were represented: Thornville Road, Thorn-

ville Ave and Park, Briarfield Road, Briardfield

Grove, Roseglen Rd and Ave, Foxfield,

Greendale Ave/Rd and St Margarets, Kilbar-

rack Rd/Ave/Gdns/. Nearly 200 boys from

4th class to 6th class in Scoil Lorcáin partici-

pated in the Road Leagues with the games

being played after school during the months

of April, May and June. Mr Fields and Mr

Sansome got wonderful support from the

teachers in the school.

The competition was played on Kilbarrack

United’s pitch across the road from the school.

Their support was always available. The bull-

dozers' had not moved in yet and from the

photos of the teams you will see the houses on

Greendale Road still under construction

The eight teams involved enjoyed the league.

The standard was of a high standard and it

gave boys who did not get on the school teams

the opportunity to play Gaelic Football com-

petitively. It also afforded them to mix with

boys out of other classes and to mix with boys

from the same street.

The two roads to reach the final of the Street

Lleague were Thornville Road and Briarfield

Grove.

The Thornville Road Team-1974

The Briarfield Grove Team-1974

”But last year, Mr Ben Dunne of Dunne’s

Stores was given an option on the 6.5 acre-

site and just before Christmas he sought

planning permission for a large store, a

lounge bar, 32 shops and a car park for

500 cars.

The 900 member Kilbarrack and District

Community Association are opposing the

proposed complex and on January the 15th

1974 put their objections to the Commis-

sioners’ Planning and Development Com-

mittee. KADCA insists that the 3 acre site

would be totally inadequate for the area

which at present has 1850 children in its

two primary schools. Moreover next Sep-

tember a £500,000 Community School for

800-1000 pupils will be opened on the es-

tate.

The Association pointed out that the es-

tates roads are unsuitable to cope with the

volume and kind of traffic which the shop-

ping centre would attract….”.

Dunne’s Stores on Women’s Prison Site?

“A large store, a lounge bar, 32 shops, a car park for 500 cars” ?

Kilbarrack and District Community As-

sociation was founded in 1971. It was a

well organized association that worked

tirelessly for the good of the people and

to make sure that their welfare was

protected and that proper facilities were

provided. They led the campaign to

object to a major complex being devel-

oped at the expense of open space

being eroded by interested parties.

The following article appeared in the

Irish Independent in 1974. It will be of

interest to Naomh Barróg people and

what could have been.

“Why Estate doesn’t want Shop Com-

plex”. (Headline in Irish Independent)

This next paragraph from the same article

in the Irish Independent will surprise mem-

bers of Naomh Barróg and friends. If

what was proposed happened how would

that have effected Naomh Barróg when it

was founded in September 1974. When

the Club was founded the space we

played on was eventually taken from us

for development and we were left home-

less. The article continued…

PRISON SITE

“The residents are not opposed absolutely

to the building of shops. After a referen-

dum they decided overwhelmingly that 4

acres of the disputed site should remain

an open space with a smaller shopping

centre on the remainder.

KADCA also pointed out to the Commis-

sioners that the Dunne Complex could be

resited about a mile away on Kilbarrack

Road on the place designed by the Depart-

ment of Justice for its new Women’s Pris-

on....”

“The Department of Education also agrees

with KADCA that there is a space problem.

Mr Michael Woods, a former association-

chairman said that if the Dunne Complex

went ahead there wouldn’t be any space

left for the Community School. He said the

usual open space allocation for a school of

that size is 15 acres”.

Kilbarrack Residents oppose Shopping Complex

The original plan for the Kilbarrack area

looked good in 1966—a seven acre park

and 21 acres of green space. The newly

weds thought that the era of concrete

jungles had come to an end”.

“ The Association stated that requests by

the Department of Education to allocate

the site to the Community School for

recreational purpose was refused by the

Corporation on the grounds that the

£90,000 offered by the Department was

not sufficient”..

“The Corporation acquired the site for

about 15,000 pounds and has sold it for

230,000 pounds”.

Page 3 Issue 5

“Plans for a 6.5 acre Shopping Complex in

the Kilbarrack-Foxfield estate in North

Dublin are being apposed by the local

residents…

Foxfield-Kilbarrack is a mixed private/

Corporation housing estate of about 1,100

houses...According to statutory regula-

tions this portion of a wider Corporation

development should have 10 acres of

open space. However the only open

spaces at the moment are one of three

acres which is adjoined by the disputed

6.5 acre site. Both sites are in the centre

of the estate.

Dublin Corporation’s own 1966 plan for

the area sowed a seven acre and a provi-

sion for a small shopping development”.

Members of KADCA pictured on the site

which is in dispute, Mrs Irene Molloy, Mr

Dermot Mc Elroy, Mrs Maria Lynch, Mr

Michael Woods

Naomh Barróg succeeded with support on

getting the Prison site relocated.

“I was always delighted when the Maths

lesson was interrupted for matters Naomh

Barróg. Great work for putting this togeth-

er”, ( Fr Stephen Monaghan, originally

Foxfield Park now Chaplain in St Patrick’s

Training College, Drumcondra.

“ Fantastic to read about and to see friends’

pictures from yesteryear. Please keep

sending as they are great and nice to share

with the family”. ( Declan Maguire, original-

ly Thornville Park now living in Scotland)

“ Just to say I enjoyed reading the Newslet-

ter. It got me thinking about the days when

I was involved with Dessie and bringing

Katie in her wheelchair to the matches in

Páirc Bharróg and St Annes” .

(Val Kinlough, Greendale Avenue)

“Red and Green’s the colour’, Gaelic is the

game,

We are all together and winning is our aim,

So cheer us on through the sun and rain,

Kilbarrack, Kilbarrack is our name”.

(Chant recalled by Barry Lonergan original-

ly Foxfield Park now living in Balbriggan)

Conclusion

Memory Lane

When Maurice heard Naomh Bsarróg was to

be founded he was delighted and could not

wait to get involved. He attended the first

meeting when the Club was formed in 1974.

In 1975 Maurice became Treasurer of the

Club a position that he was to hold with dis-

tinction until around 1992.

In 1977 when our first adult team was formed,

Maurice got involved with Paddy Rankin as

part of his management team.. This team

was to experience extraordinary success in

such a short period of time.. They were a

talented group of players, committed and

dedicated. The new Adult Team was to win,

Div 4 in 1978, Div 3 in 1979, Skipped Div 2

and were Runners up in Div 1.1981. They

achieved the highest accolade in Junior Foot-

ball when they won the County Junior Cham-

pionship in 1981 which entitled the team to

play Intermediate League and Championship.

For a Club to gain Intermediate status in such

a short period was unique and was the talk in

GAA circles.

When Paddy Glackin, traditional musician and

RTE producer became Manager of the Inter-

mediate team, Maurice was part of his man-

agement team. Here he was to experience

more success when the team won the Loving

Cup, a prestigious competition in Inter Foot-

vball. Then in 1990 the team achieved Sen-

ior status for the first time in its history when

they won the Intermediate Championship.

Maurice gained a reputation in the Club for his

prowess as a renowned umpire who always

favoured Naomh Barróg when there was a

question of making the right decision. He

always erred on the side of giving Naomh

Barróg the benefit of the doubt.

He attended the County Board for over 30

years as Club Delegate where he was highly

respected. We respect and appreciate a great

Clubman for his long and loving service.

sp space It was suggested Many people will find this issue interest-

ing. To think that Dunne’s Stories pro-

posed complex could have succeeded

to be located where Páirc Bharróg is

now. How would that decision have ef-

fected our growth and development.

If our experience encouraging the boys

to get involved with Raheny GAA Club

had a positive solution what would the

outcome have been.

Because of the controversy of insufficient

Profile: Maurice Cassidy

Suggestion from Hazel Mc Weeney who

now lives in the USA.

“Just a suggestion. Tell those with access

to colour printers to print the Newsletter

for old neighbours. It brings back a sense

of community. They could just drop it in

their letter box. I’m sure many would love

to see it. I’ll have one of my nephews print

it for my Mam”.

I support Hazel with her lovely suggestion.

Page 4 Issue 5

space recommended for the building of

a Community School, it was recom-

mended that the Department of Ediuca-

tion should purchase the site where a

Ladies Prison was to be built.

When Naomh Barróg was founded in

1974 nobody in the Club was aware of

these suggestions. In 1977 the Club

was left without a pitch. Luckily it had

the vision to move and have this site

relocated. The young people of the

community would now have open space

to pursue sport. How did Naomh Barróg

succeed in acquiring the site in 1982?.

Maurice was Club Treasurer for

nearly 20 years.