Clonad GAA is a

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') 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 pla ...

club in County Laois,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

which fields teams from Under-10 right up to adult level. While Clonad GAA club has successfully fielded underage and adult Gaelic football teams in the past, football is not played in the club at present. These days, club members interested in football usually play with the neighbouring football clubs at The Heath and Ballyroan. The club colours are green with a gold sash.

History

Although it is known that a GAA club existed in the area in the late 19th century and that the nearby Barrington estate was a patron of a hurling team in the 18th century, the present club was founded in 1915 by Lar Brady and Jim Bergin to promote

in the country area to the south of

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050, which was well above ...

. Clonad was promoted to the senior grade in 1927 and won its first Laois senior

title in 1930. The club has added 13

Laois Senior Hurling Championship The Laois Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1888. Clough–Ballacolla (incl Ballygeehan) are the ...

s since then, the most recent being in 1992. Other years are as follows; 1930, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1962, and 1970. Clonad has also won the O'Bradaigh Cup twice, the Centenary Cup in 1984 and U-21 and minor hurling titles in recent years. The captain of the last Laois team to win the

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship The Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-county hu ...

in 1949 was a Clonad player,

Paddy Ruschitzko Paddy "Rusty" Ruschitzko (29 April 1917 – 4 March 2004) was an American-born Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Clonad and was a member of the Laois senior inter-county team from the 1930s until the 1950s. Ruschitz ...

. Other renowned Clonad players were Andy Bergin, Jack Dick Conroy, Joe McCabe, Joe Styles, Billy Bohane, Andy Dunne, Paddy Norton, Ollie Fennell and George Conroy, who was former chairman of the club. In the 1950s Clonad won the Laois Junior Football Championship and Laois Intermediate Football Championship. Despite this success the emphasis was always on hurling and football has only featured infrequently since then. Recent developments at the club include the construction of a ball wall designed and used for hurling skills which is used by the Laois Senior hurling team and other teams in training drills and was the first of its kind in Laois. Two more additional changing rooms have been built and the club has now formed a camogie club. The senior team had not performed well in the

in recent years and was relegated to intermediate status for the first time ever in 2008. JimBergin(1874-1958)

Achievements

: (14) 1930, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1970, 1992

Notable players

John Killeen John Killeen (1920 – June 2005) was an Irish hurler who played as a left wing-forward for the Galway senior team. Playing career Killeen made his first appearance for the team during the 1944 championship and was a regular member of the sta ...

Pat Roe Pat Roe is a former Gaelic football manager and player. He played at senior level for the Laois county team and later managed three county teams: Carlow, Wexford and Offaly. Playing career Roe played for the Laois senior football team from t ...

* Peter Conroy

External links

Gaelic games clubs in County Laois Hurling clubs in County Laois {{Leinster-GAA-club-stub