 | |
| Irish: | Londain |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s): | The Exiles |
| Founded: | 1896; 129 years ago (1896) |
| Province: | Britain |
| Dominant sport: | Dual county |
| Ground(s): | McGovern Park, South Ruislip |
| County colours: | Green White |
| Clubs | |
| Total: | 27 |
| County teams | |
| NFL: | Division 4 |
| NHL: | Division 3 |
| Football Championship: | Tailteann Cup |
| Hurling Championship: | Christy Ring Cup |
| Ladies' Gaelic football: | Brendan Martin Cup |
| Camogie: | Máire Ní Chinnéide Cup |
TheLondon County Board of theGaelic Athletic Association (GAA) orLondon GAA is one of thecounty boards outside Ireland, and is responsible forGaelic games inLondon. The county board is also responsible for the London county teams and schools.
Thecounty football team compete in theAll-Ireland Senior Football Championship on an annual basis, the only English-based team to do so. They participate in theConnacht Senior Football Championship, as the Irish community in London is considered as part of the province of Connacht.[clarification needed]
Thecounty hurling team competed in theAll-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, but having been relegated during the preliminary group stage of the Leinster Championship in the2014 season, the team currently plays in the third tierChristy Ring Cup.
London played in three hurling and five football All-Ireland finals in the early 1900s, when the All-Ireland and All-Britain champions were paired in the final. London won the hurling All-Ireland in 1901, defeatingCork by 1–5 to 0–4. The experiment was abandoned after 1908. Tim Doody, a native of Tournafulla, Co. Limerick, played in both All-Ireland Finals featuring London on the same day in 1901, a record unlikely to be repeated. The early London teams of that era drew strongly on immigrants from the Cork area in particular.Sam Maguire, who captained many of the teams, came fromDunmanway. The GAA later named theAll-Ireland Football Championship'strophy in his honour.
London played the first recordedcomposite rules shinty–hurling match withLondon Camanachd in 1896.[1]
| Team | Location | Football status | Hurling status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brothers Pearse | Wembley | — | Senior |
| Cu Chulainns | Rotherhithe | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| Dulwich Harps | Dulwich | Senior | — |
| Fr Murphy's | East Acton | — | Intermediate |
| Fulham Irish | Fulham | Senior | Intermediate |
| Gael Londain | Sunbury-on-Thames | — | — |
| Garryowen | Dollis Hill | Intermediate | — |
| Granuaile | Harrow | — | Intermediate |
| Harlesden Harps | Harlesden | Intermediate | — |
| Kilburn Gaels | Kilburn | — | Senior |
| Kingdom Kerry Gaels | Finchley | Senior | — |
| North London Shamrocks | Palmers Green | Senior | — |
| Parnells | Harrow | Senior | — |
| Robert Emmetts | Greenford | — | Senior |
| Round Towers | Mitcham | Senior | — |
| St Brendan's | Isleworth | Intermediate | — |
| St Claret's | Hayes | Intermediate | — |
| St Gabriel's | Wembley | — | Senior |
| St Joseph's | Brentford | Junior | — |
| St Kiernan's | Chipping Barnet | Senior | — |
| Seán Treacy's | Tooting | — | Senior |
| Tara | Greenford | Junior | — |
| Thomas McCurtains | Goodmayes | Intermediate | Senior |
| Tir Chonaill Gaels | Greenford | Senior | — |
| Wandsworth Gaels | Barn Elms | Senior | — |
Clubs contest theLondon Senior Football Championship.
London entered theNational Football League in 1993 and were initially fairly successful with 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in their first campaign and the renewed effort coincided with a drive to establish the games in schools. London now fields its second team in the British Junior football and hurling Championships. Their first football team have competed in theConnacht Senior Football Championship since 1975, but in the first 37 years of competing could only manage one win: a 0–9 to 0–6 defeat ofLeitrim in 1977.
After going down by 9–19 to 1–10 againstRoscommon in 1980 they staged matches at home in Ruislip and came close to victory against Leitrim in 1987,Sligo in 1988 and Roscommon in 2005. Among their footballers was Brian Grealish, whose brother Tony played association football for the Republic of Ireland. Due to theFoot and Mouth crisis in England, London withdrew from the 2001 Connacht Senior Football Championship; their first round championship fixture againstMayo was cancelled until the 2006 fixture between the teams. In June 2011, London were defeated in extra-time against Mayo in the Connacht Championship, London entered the first qualifying round and defeatedFermanagh by 0–15 to 0–9 in Ruislip in the first round of the qualifiers, recording their first championship win for 34 years. London were drawn againstWaterford for their second qualifying round match.
In 2013, the GAA banned London from travelling to Ireland for warm-up games, as a result of a GAA rule put in place to prevent teams travelling abroad for training camps in the run up to the championship, putting them at a major disadvantage to other counties.[2] On 26 May 2013, London defeated Sligo by a scoreline of 1–12 to 0–14 to gain their first victory in the Connacht Championship since 1977.Lorcan Mulvey scored the vital London goal.[3][4][5] The day after they defeated Sligo was abank holiday in England so the players rested.[6] London heldLeitrim in the Connacht semi-final then won the replay. After these three games they headed for the Connacht final - their first appearance at that level - but lost toMayo. They arrived in Ireland for the final on a specially chartered jet.[7] Thus they entered Round 4 of the Qualifiers for the All-Ireland Series - also their first time to feature there. They drewCavan, their first Championship meeting with them and the game was set forCroke Park, another historic occasion for London.[8][9] Cavan won by a score of 1–17 to 1–08 to proceed to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.[10]Lorcan Mulvey was later nominated for anAll Star, but was not selected.[11]
In 2018, London fielded a record six London-born starters in their championship line-up in their defeat toSligo in theConnacht Senior Football Championship, with a further two on the bench.
Clubs contest theLondon Senior Hurling Championship.
London has a strong hurling tradition. It claims consistently good results in theNational Hurling League. As a mid-table Division 2 side, London is actually placed above half thecounties of Ireland, in strong contrast to the county's role aswhipping boys in the otherGaelic sport offootball (seeLondon's record in football).
The county won the1901 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (SHC). In the1973 All-Ireland SHC, a London team that included six Galwaymen defeatedGalway by a scoreline of 4–7 to 3–5 in the All-Ireland SHC quarter-final atBallinasloe. Galwaymen Frank Canning and Lennie Burke scored three of the goals against their old county.
London won five All-Ireland B Championships between 1985 and 1995.
London won the inauguralNicky Rackard Cup in 2005, defeatingLouth's hurlers by 15 points inthe final.[12] London won the2011 Nicky Rackard Cup, defeating Louth in the final.[13] London won the2012 Christy Ring Cup, defeatingWicklow by a scoreline of 4–18 to 1–17.[14] This gained the countypromotion to the2013 All-Ireland SHC.[15] In the2014 All-Ireland SHC, London finished bottom of the preliminary group after being beaten by Westmeath in the final game of the round robin stage inMullingar, and the county wasrelegated back to the Christy Ring Cup for the 2015 season.[16]
Ladies' football in London has mirrored the growth seen in Ireland, where it is the fastest growing ladies' game. In London Parnells were senior champions and Fulham Irish were Junior champions for 2010. Many clubs now have ladies' teams. Senior teams areThomas McCurtains GAA, Parnells, Kerry Kingdom Gaels,Fr. Murphy's, Holloway Gaels and Taras. Junior teams in London 2010 were Fulham Irish, Clonbony, Taras (Junior), Claddagh Gaels (Luton) and Dulwich Harps. In 2011, St Anthonys (Reading) joined the Junior ranks.
London have the following achievements in ladies' football.
| Football Championship | |
|---|---|
| FBD League | |
| Football Competitions | |
| Hurling Competitions | |
| Football Club Competitions | |
| Hurling Club Competitions | |
