Caiseal Gaels
Caiseal Gaels Juvenile Hurling Club was founded in Carracastle in November 2008 following a public meeting where great support for establishing a hurling club was very evident amongst those present. The children in the local national school had been playing hurling for a couple of years and were eager for the chance to continue their involvement in the game. To provide this opportunity for the young people a juvenile hurling club was formed.
The other sports clubs in the area were very welcoming to our new venture and in particular we would like to acknowledge the continued support of Ballaghaderreen, Charlestown Sarsfields and Kilmovee Shamrocks Football Clubs and the handball clubs in Ballaghaderreen and Charlestown all of whom have done so much work through the years in encouraging gaelic games and promoting the ideals of the GAA.
The name Caiseal Gaels was chosen for the new club based on the fact that ‘caiseal’ is the Irish word for stone fort, and there are many such forts in the areas surrounding Carracastle. These places, namely Brusna, Dernabroc and Kilmovee provide many of the players for the various Caiseal Gaels team. Hurling is now played in the primary schools in the abovementioned areas and each of them has experienced the excitement of reaching schools’ county hurling finals in the last number of years.
Caiseal Gaels played their first ever games in 2009 and won the Mayo U12 and U13 B titles that year. The highlight of the year was when our U12 team travelled to Dublin and played matches on the hallowed turf of Croke Park as part of the ‘Play and Stay with the GAA’ initiative.
The club continued to flourish in 2010 and 2011 with players joining from the towns of Ballaghaderreen and Charlestown and we reached A finals in U13 and U14 even though we came up short on each occasion. This year began on a successful note with our u16’s winning The Eugene O’ Shea Shield and our U14 team qualifying to represent Mayo in the Feile na nGael festival of hurling which was held in Dublin from July 5th-7th .
Partaking in Feile has probably been the high point in the existence of our club so far. We finished top of our group, which featured two Dublin clubs, Good Counsel and St. Maur’s, as well as Aodh Ruadh of Ballyshannon, but lost out in the semi-final to eventual winners Easkey.
It was a marvellous occasion for the players and their families alike with such events as marching in the Feile Parade, behind the Artane Boys’ Band, from Croke Park to O’Connell Street likely to stay in the memory for a long, long time. As the MC for the parade, legendary commentator Micheal O’ Muircheartaigh, gave a brief history of the club from the viewing podium on the nation’s main thoroughfare, it illustrated the fact that Caiseal Gaels have travelled a long distance in a short period of time.
Caiseal Gaels would like to thank all our sponsors, and the businesses and individuals who have generously donated to us since our inception. The club would also like to thank the other sporting organisations in the area for their great sense of co-operation and support at all times. Caiseal Gaels are very grateful to Charlestown Sarsfields and Ballaghaderren GAA Clubs for the use of their fine facilities for home matches and to Ballaghaderreen Community Park Committee on whose pitch we regularly trained when the club was first established.
We currently train in Carracastle on the Community Pitch behind Carracastle NS and we are very thankful to the Community Council there for its use. We now cater for players from U8 to U16 and new players in the areas mentioned earlier are always welcome to come along and try out the game of hurling. For further details on training times etc. ring 087-1481843.
The other sports clubs in the area were very welcoming to our new venture and in particular we would like to acknowledge the continued support of Ballaghaderreen, Charlestown Sarsfields and Kilmovee Shamrocks Football Clubs and the handball clubs in Ballaghaderreen and Charlestown all of whom have done so much work through the years in encouraging gaelic games and promoting the ideals of the GAA.
The name Caiseal Gaels was chosen for the new club based on the fact that ‘caiseal’ is the Irish word for stone fort, and there are many such forts in the areas surrounding Carracastle. These places, namely Brusna, Dernabroc and Kilmovee provide many of the players for the various Caiseal Gaels team. Hurling is now played in the primary schools in the abovementioned areas and each of them has experienced the excitement of reaching schools’ county hurling finals in the last number of years.
Caiseal Gaels played their first ever games in 2009 and won the Mayo U12 and U13 B titles that year. The highlight of the year was when our U12 team travelled to Dublin and played matches on the hallowed turf of Croke Park as part of the ‘Play and Stay with the GAA’ initiative.
The club continued to flourish in 2010 and 2011 with players joining from the towns of Ballaghaderreen and Charlestown and we reached A finals in U13 and U14 even though we came up short on each occasion. This year began on a successful note with our u16’s winning The Eugene O’ Shea Shield and our U14 team qualifying to represent Mayo in the Feile na nGael festival of hurling which was held in Dublin from July 5th-7th .
Partaking in Feile has probably been the high point in the existence of our club so far. We finished top of our group, which featured two Dublin clubs, Good Counsel and St. Maur’s, as well as Aodh Ruadh of Ballyshannon, but lost out in the semi-final to eventual winners Easkey.
It was a marvellous occasion for the players and their families alike with such events as marching in the Feile Parade, behind the Artane Boys’ Band, from Croke Park to O’Connell Street likely to stay in the memory for a long, long time. As the MC for the parade, legendary commentator Micheal O’ Muircheartaigh, gave a brief history of the club from the viewing podium on the nation’s main thoroughfare, it illustrated the fact that Caiseal Gaels have travelled a long distance in a short period of time.
Caiseal Gaels would like to thank all our sponsors, and the businesses and individuals who have generously donated to us since our inception. The club would also like to thank the other sporting organisations in the area for their great sense of co-operation and support at all times. Caiseal Gaels are very grateful to Charlestown Sarsfields and Ballaghaderren GAA Clubs for the use of their fine facilities for home matches and to Ballaghaderreen Community Park Committee on whose pitch we regularly trained when the club was first established.
We currently train in Carracastle on the Community Pitch behind Carracastle NS and we are very thankful to the Community Council there for its use. We now cater for players from U8 to U16 and new players in the areas mentioned earlier are always welcome to come along and try out the game of hurling. For further details on training times etc. ring 087-1481843.
