History
The club was founded in the Summer of 2002 on the south side of Tower Grove Park, by three former Milwaukee Hurling Club mates, Paul C. Rohde, Dan Lapke, and Patrick O’Connor. The vision included introducing the sport of hurling to the metro St. Louis, Missouri area, creating opportunities to play the sport, developing better hurlers, and developing strong St. Louis representation in nationwide competition. Through targeted recruiting and promoting the sport, potential Hurlers continued to join, and in Autumn 2002, small scrimmages were being held at the southwest corner, and eventually the northeast section of Tower Grove, to allow for the continued growth.
In March 2003, the downtown and AOH-Dogtown St. Patrick's Day parades saw hurling represented for the first time in the history of St. Louis. On April 26, 2003, St. Louis played its first national match at Chicago's Gaelic Park, defeating the University of Notre Dame 3-9 (19) to 2-3 (9). A follow-up loss to Atlanta in the tournament placed St. Louis a respectable 2nd place in its first outing as a Club. Two subsequent matches against Milwaukee rounded out national competition for St. Louis in 2003.
In May 2003, the St. Louis Hurling Club was honored, one year ahead of their objective date, with the rare invitation to join 21 other American cities aligned with the North American County Board (NACB). NACB is overseen by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), the governing body of hurling at its top level in Ireland. The St. Louis Hurling Club is the first association of American-born hurlers ever invited to join NACB in a club's first year of organization, and is the second-largest club of primarily American-born hurlers in North America. A seven-members executive committee was formed on May 22, 2003, for two year terms, with the founding president's term serving as four consecutive years.
Television, radio, newspaper and magazine exposure increased the number of interested hurlers, and in September 2003, the first ever St. Louis Hurling Club season was held, an 8-week league featuring three teams: Brown & Brown Financial, Black Thorn Sons of Liberty, and McGurk's Black Shamrocks, with McGurk's defeating Brown & Brown, winning the first ever Gateway Cup on November 22, 2003. September also brought a Proclamation from the Irish Consulate office, commending the club on its league and advancing the sport of Hurling.
In April 2004, the club's success allowed for the addition of a fourth team, Llywelyn's Red Dragons, and began its Spring league, welcomed by the Missouri House of Representatives through a state resolution commending the club for its success. Black Thorn Sons of Liberty defeated McGurk's for the Spring league Cup on June 19, 2004. In September, the St. Louis Hurling Club traveled to Boulder, Colorado, representing St. Louis in a NACB finals tournament for the first time ever. The result included victories over Milwaukee and a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Seattle. The National Championship for the new Jr.-C Division belonged to St. Louis.
The St. Louis Hurling Club began its Autumn 2004 season on September 18 with a Proclamation from the City of St. Louis, congratulating the club on its National Championship and commemorating the first anniversary of the inaugural league, where Hurling was played among St. Louisans for the first time. Mayor Francis Slay proclaimed September 25, 2004 “St. Louis Hurling Club Appreciation Day”.
St. Louis won the Junior D Gaelic Football Championship in 2013 at the NACB Finals in Cleveland, OH. They defeated Indianapolis(2-10 0–7), Baltimore(5-13 0–7), Houston(6-9 0–7) on the way to the Championship. In the Championship they defeated a tough Buffalo side by a score of 2–4 to 0-8 and won by a late goal by club legend John Behl.
Currently, the club operates an eight-team hurling league (which, while co-ed, is also supplemented by a growing camogie competition) in the spring and summer and a six-team football league in the late summer and fall, hosting games at various sites throughout the St Louis metropolitan area. In addition to their representative side, they regularly join forces with other clubs in the Midwest to send teams overseas: most recently, in 2013 the "Heartland Hurlers", composed of top players from St Louis, Indianapolis and Kansas City, traveled to Ireland for a week of training and competition with sides from Kilkenny, Limerick and Tipperary, finishing with a tournament in Thurles where "the Interstate 70 Boys" reached the semi-finals and received recognition from Irish TV when the group was shown during a match at Semple Stadium.
Objectives
The club's objectives were set out January 10, 2003: (a) recruit at least 30 active members (exceeded), enabling a minimum two-team league, (exceeded with a three-team league) (b) increase awareness of the sport and the club in the metropolitan area through aggressive marketing, (achieved) (c) establish a strong national reputation of St. Louis hurling through victories in nationwide competition, (achieved) (d) improve quality of play to a level adequate for consideration into the North American County Board in 2004 (achieved one year ahead of schedule).
Alongside their Spring and Autumn leagues, the Club stays committed to representing the city in national competitions, festivals, and exhibition matches to promote the popularity of Hurling, Gaelic Football, and Camogie in St. Louis and across the country.
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of players and much terminology. The same game played by women is called camogie, which shares a common Gaelic root.
Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities.
The Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Dublin GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in the Dublin Region and the Dublin county teams. The teams and their fans are known as "The Dubs" or "Boys in Blue". The fans have a special affiliation with the Hill 16 end of Croke Park.
The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Derry GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The county board is also responsible for the Derry county teams.
The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Laois GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Laois. The county board is also responsible for the Laois county teams.
The Tyrone County Board, or Tyrone GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
The Down County Board or Down GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Down,.
The Fermanagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Fermanagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
The United States County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or USGAA, is one of the 3 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in North America, and is responsible for Gaelic games in the United States. The county board is also responsible for the United States county teams.
Borris–Ileigh Gaelic Athletic Club is a Gaelic games club that is based in the village of Borrisoleigh, County Tipperary, Ireland. The club currently plays hurling and camogie in the county-wide and North division competitions of Tipperary GAA. It formerly participated in Mid Tipperary divisional competitions. It also plays Gaelic football at Junior and under-age levels. The club attracts members from the civil parish of Glenkeen which is co-extensive with the Catholic parish of Borrisoleigh and Ileigh.
CLG Eoghan Rua Cúil Raithin is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Despite some of the club's catchment area being in County Antrim, the club is a member of the Derry GAA. Eoghan Rua currently cater for Gaelic Football, Hurling, Camogie, and Ladies' Gaelic football and also compete in Scór and Scór n nÓg. The club's name commemorates Eoghan Rua Ó Néill.
Lucan Sarsfields is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Lucan, Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1886, making it one of the oldest GAA clubs in Dublin. Sarsfields were one of 16 teams which contested the Dublin Senior Championship in 1887. They were also involved in the Senior Championship of 1892, and the club has fielded Gaelic football, hurling and camogie teams ever since.
Erin's Own GAC Lavey is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the Catholic parish of Lavey, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The club is a member of the Derry GAA and currently caters for Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and ladies' Gaelic football.
Michael Davitt's GAC Swatragh is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the village of Swatragh. The club is a member of the Derry GAA and currently caters for Gaelic football, hurling and camogie. The club is named after republican patriot and revolutionary Michael Davitt.
Robert Emmet's Gaelic Athletic Club Slaughtneil is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based on the townland of Slaughtneil, near Maghera, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The club is a member of Derry GAA and competes in Gaelic football, hurling and camogie. The club is named after Irish patriot and revolutionary Robert Emmet and the club plays its home games at Emmet Park.
Although many hurling clubs exist worldwide, only Ireland has a national team. Ireland's national hurling team and the Scotland shinty team have played for many years with modified match rules in international composite rules—much like international rules football brings together Gaelic football and Australian rules football. This match is the only such international competition.
Trillick St Macartan's is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the parish of Trillick in western County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It competes at Senior level in Tyrone GAA competitions. The club plays Gaelic football, ladies' Gaelic football and camogie.
Erin go Bragh GAA are a Dublin-based Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Clonee, Littlepace/Castaheaney/Ongar district in Dublin 15. The club currently fields one team in junior football, one junior hurling team and one camogie team. They also have a boys and girls juvenile section fielding from Under 8-minor in football, hurling and camogie. There is also a club of the same name based in Warwickshire, England.
Liatroim Fontenoys is a Gaelic Athletic Association Club in County Down, Northern Ireland. The club promotes hurling, Gaelic football, and camogie.
St Martin's GAA club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Murrintown in the Parish of Piercestown, County Wexford, Ireland. The club was founded in 1932 and fields teams in both hurling and Gaelic football. The women's arm of the club fields teams in both camogie and ladies' Gaelic football.
