Ratoath GAA
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Ratoath GAA is a
Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...
football and hurling club based in and around the town of
Ratoath Ratoath () is a commuter town in County Meath, Ireland. A branch of the Broad Meadow Water (Broadmeadow River) () flows through the town. The R125 and R155 roads meet in the village. At the 2022 census, there were 10,007 people living in Ra ...
, in
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
, Ireland. The club plays Gaelic Football competing in
Meath GAA The Meath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) () or Meath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Meath, as well as for Meath county teams. Football County team ...
& Leinster competitions. The club plies their trade in the
Meath Senior Football Championship The Meath Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in Meath, Ireland. Qualification for subsequent competitions The winners of the Meath Senior Football Champio ...
since 2016 and won their first Meath Senior Football Championship in
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
. The club has tasted Senior success in hurling, winning the Meath Senior Hurling Championship in 1963 and are senior hurling champions for 2024 since winning the 2016 Meath Intermediate Hurling Championship.


History

Ratoath was founded in 1903, however in this period it was solely a hurling club. Ratoath won a Senior Hurling League title in 1912 (the first recorded honour for the club) and Junior Hurling Championships in 1929, '31, '40 and '57. For much of the 1950s, Ratoath amalgamated with surrounding clubs (Kiltale, Batterstown, Drumree, Skryne and some Priests from
Warrenstown College Warrenstown College was an agricultural and horticultural college run by the Salesians of Don Bosco, Salesian congregation, in Drumree, County Meath. History The Salesian order received the lands in Drumree under the will of Elizabeth Lynch, a d ...
) and won two Meath Senior Hurling Championships known as St. Patrick's in 1953 and '54. The 1960s were a golden period for Ratoath hurling. In 1960, Ratoath contested their first S.H.C. final, beaten by Trim on the day, however in 1963 they defeated St. Peter's Dunboyne to claim their first and only S.H.C. title. Down by 11 points during the second half, Ratoath battled to emerge victorious by a scoreline of 9–3 to 6–11 (30 points to 29). Ratoath went on to contest three more S.H.C. finals but lost out to Athboy (1967 & '68) and Kilmessan ('69). In 1981 and '83, Ratoath contested I.H.C. finals but were defeated by Kilskyre and Dunshaughlin respectively. Ratoath went on to annexe another J.H.C. title in 1989, beating Kilmessan in the final. Ratoath won the 2016 Meath Intermediate hurling championship by beating Kilskyre/Moylagh in the final. This win meant that they were Meath's representatives in that year's
Leinster Junior Club Hurling Championship ''For the senior hurling equivalent see: Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship'' The Leinster Junior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Leinster GAA Hurling Junior Club Championship) is an annual hurling comp ...
where they defeated Carlow Town Hurling Club 2-20 to 2-9, Clodiagh Gaels (Offaly) 1-13 to 2-8 and Rosenallis (Laois) 1-20 to 1-16 after extra time to reach the final. They met Mooncoin (Kilkenny) in the Leinster final but were defeated 1-16 to 0-12. Mooncoin reached the 2016–17 All-Ireland Junior Club Hurling Championship final and were defeated by Mayfield (Cork) In their first season back in the Senior hurling championship, Ratoath made the quarter-finals by beating Longwood, Clann na nGael and Trim in the group stages. They were beaten in the quarter-final by eventual runners up, Kildalkey. Ratoath reached the Senior Hurling Championship Final in both 2020 and 2022. However, on both occasions, they were beaten by Trim. The football section of Ratoath was founded in 1956 and they took part in the
Meath Junior Football Championship The Meath Junior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by lower-tier Meath GAA clubs. The winner of this championship will be promoted to the Intermediate division. The winner also represents Meath in the Lei ...
. A J.F.C. wasn't attained until 1970 however, when they beat Navan O'Mahonys second string in the final. J.F.C. finals were reached 1992 and 2003, losing to Gaeil Colmcille's second string and Wolfe Tones respectively (Wolfe Tones went on to win the All-Ireland Junior Title. 2004 was a monumental year for the club. A J.F.C. title was claimed when beating Dunsany in the final, and Ratoath also went on to claim provincial honours. The
Leinster Junior Club Football Championship The Leinster Junior Club Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition between the winners of the Junior football competitions in 10 counties of Leinster GAA, Leinster, the Intermediate football champions of Kilkenny GAA, Kilkenny, the In ...
was won with a final victory over Kilclonfert of Offaly, however in the All-Ireland semi-final, they bowed out to Stewartstown Harps of Tyrone. Their time in the Intermediate ranks were short lived though and the club soon dropped down to Junior once more. Moynalvey defeated them in the J.F.C. final of 2008 but Ratoath made amends for this in 2012, when a youthful squad defeated local rivals Donaghmore/Ashbourne's second string 1–11 to 1–10. Following this after just three years in the Intermediate ranks, Ratoath claimed their first
Meath Intermediate Football Championship Meath Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association second-tier competition between Gaelic football clubs organised by Meath GAA. The winning club is promoted to the Meath Senior Football Championship. In the 2024 f ...
title when beating Nobber 1–15 to 0–5 with no fewer than five clubmen representing the Meath county seniors, and hence moving up to the
Meath Senior Football Championship The Meath Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in Meath, Ireland. Qualification for subsequent competitions The winners of the Meath Senior Football Champio ...
for the first time in the club's history. Ratoath went on to win beat St. Patrick's Donabate (Dublin), Railyard (Kilkenny), Castledermot (Kildare) and Athlone (Westmeath) to win the 2015 Leinster Intermediate Club Football Championship and bring the Seán Eiffe trophy back to Seán Eiffe Park. Ratoath were defeated by St. Mary's Cahirciveen in the
All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship The All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA. It is played between the Intermediate championship winners from each of the thirty-two counties of ...
who went on to win the final. After being beaten at the quarter-final stage in the Senior Football Championship in 2017 and 2018, Ratoath, managed by Davy Byrne, went on to win their first ever senior football title in
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
by beating Summerhill 3-15 to 2-13 in the final. Ratoath forward Joey Wallace was awarded the man of the match. Ratoath retained their senior football title in
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
by beating Gaeil Colmcille in the final 1-14 to 1-13. Joey Wallace scored the winning goal in 9th minute of injury time and was awarded man of the match for the second year in a row. Ratoath relinquished the Keegan Cup in 2021, losing to eventual champions Wolfe Tones in the semi-final. However, they regained it in 2022, beating Summerhill by 0-12 to 0-11 in the final with Jack Flynn being awarded the man of the match. Joined with Donaghmore, Meath Minor Football Championship honours were claimed in 1977 and '79 and in 1987 another title at the same level was gained, this time with St. Martin's. In 2011 Ratoath won their first ever M.F.C. beating Moynalvey in the final, and they successfully defended their title a year later this time against Donaghmore/Ashbourne. They regained the title in 2017 by beating Na Fianna in the final. U-21 Football Championship titles were garnered in 2013 and '14 with wins over Donaghmore/Ashbourne (0–12 to 1–8) and Navan O'Mahonys (1–13 to 1–8) respectively. Their third U-21 Football Championship was added in 2019, beating St. Peter's, Dunboyne 1-15 to 0-8 in the final. Ratoath won their first U-21 Hurling Championship title in 2017 by beating Na Fianna 1–11 to 1–9 in the final.


Honours

*
Meath Senior Football Championship The Meath Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in Meath, Ireland. Qualification for subsequent competitions The winners of the Meath Senior Football Champio ...
:3 **2019, 2020, 2022 *
Leinster Intermediate Club Football Championship The Leinster Intermediate Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played between the Intermediate football champions of the 12 counties of Leinster. The winners will represent the province in the semi-final of the All- ...
:1 **2015 * Meath Senior Hurling Championship: 2 **1963, 2024 *
Meath Intermediate Football Championship Meath Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association second-tier competition between Gaelic football clubs organised by Meath GAA. The winning club is promoted to the Meath Senior Football Championship. In the 2024 f ...
: 1 **
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
*Meath Intermediate Hurling Championship: 1 **1963, 2016 *
Meath Junior Football Championship The Meath Junior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by lower-tier Meath GAA clubs. The winner of this championship will be promoted to the Intermediate division. The winner also represents Meath in the Lei ...
: 3 **1971, 2004, 2012 *
Leinster Junior Club Football Championship The Leinster Junior Club Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition between the winners of the Junior football competitions in 10 counties of Leinster GAA, Leinster, the Intermediate football champions of Kilkenny GAA, Kilkenny, the In ...
: 1 **2004 *Meath Junior Hurling Championship: 5 **1929, 1931, 1940, 1957, 1989 * Meath Minor Football Championship:: 4 **2011, 2012, 2017, 2024 *Meath Under-21 Football Championship: 3 **2013, 2014, 2019 *Meath Under-21 Hurling Championship: 1 **2017 *Meath Under-19 Football Championship:1 **2018 *Meath Under-17 Football Championship: 1 **2017 *Meath Under-17 Hurling Championship: 1 **2017


References


External links

* http://ratoathgaa.ie/ * https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/ten-years-a-growing-bryan-mcmahon-sees-ratoath-cultivate-a-winning-dynasty-42147968.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratoath GAA Gaelic games clubs in County Meath