Shelmaliers 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 ...

club based in Castlebridge,

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The club was founded in 1886, with the name Shelmaliers being adopted in 1952, and fields teams in

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

and

camogie 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. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

Location

Shelmaliers represents a parish of three centres – historic

Castlebridge Castlebridge () is a small town in County Wexford, Ireland, around 5 km north of Wexford town. It is just north of Wexford Harbour, on the R741 road. Castlebridge is a rapidly expanding suburb of Wexford Town: its population has almos ...

, Screen at the northern end, and the seaside area of

Curracloe Curracloe () is a village in County Wexford, Ireland. Around northeast of Wexford town, it is on the R742 road at the junction with the R743 road. It is linked to the long and sandy Curracloe Strand (beach) to the east. Curracloe sees an in ...

. The club is in the "over the water" area, just north of the town of

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

History

Evidence suggests that the game of hurling had been played in the area long before the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884. Two years later in 1886 the club played its first game under the auspices of the association – a game of football against Our Lady's Island in October 1886. Over the next fifty years the club, under various names such as the Emmets, the Redmonds, and the Sally Beachers, enjoyed a golden age, winning thirteen senior hurling titles and one senior football title. The club represented Wexford in the All-Ireland championship on five occasions. Their finest hour was in 1910, when

, represented by

, won its first All-Ireland senior hurling title. The Shelmaliers name was adopted in 1952, when the old Ibars and Ardcolm clubs merged. County junior hurling titles followed in 1954 and 1966. Other titles have been annexed in the intervening period, winning a junior football championship in 1985, and an intermediate hurling title in 1997. John Hegarty managed the club to the Wexford SFC. He was still Shelmaliers manager when the County Board appointed him as manager of the county football team in 2022. He continued as club manager for the SFC.

Facilities

The 1970s saw the club move to its present grounds at Hollymount, the start of a process of development which is continuing today. The club now have three pitches, and have purchased land for a fourth pitch.

Notable players

* Ross Banville * Brian Doyle *

Jack Harding John Joseph Harding (January 4, 1898 – February 24, 1963) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at St. Thomas College—now the University of ...

Séamus Hearne Séamus Hearne (1932 - 7 November 2008) was an Irish people, Irish Hurling, hurler who played as a midfielder for the Wexford county hurling team, Wexford senior team. Born in Curracloe, County Wexford, Hearne first arrived on the inter-county ...

* Mick Morrissey *

Eoghan O'Gara Eoghan O'Gara (born 24 September 1985) is a Gaelic footballer who played as a forward at senior level for the Dublin county team. O'Gara attended St. Josephs BNS primary school in Terenure. Playing career O'Gara made his Championship debut for ...

, the Dublin All-Ireland SFC winner, transferred to the club in 2022 as his wife is from there

Honours

Wexford Senior Hurling Championship The Wexford Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Pettitt's SuperValu Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Wexford GAA clubs. The Wexford GAA, Wexford County Board of the ...

(2):

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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 ...

* Wexford Intermediate Football Championship (1): 2007 *

Wexford Intermediate Hurling Championship The Wexford Intermediate Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as The Courtyard Ferns Intermediate Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition contested by mid-tier Wexford GAA clubs. It is the 2nd tier of the Wexford GAA ...

(1): 1997 * Wexford Junior Football Championship (2): 1973, 1985 *

Wexford Junior Hurling Championship The Wexford Junior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Permanent TSB Junior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition contested by lower-tier Wexford GAA clubs. It is the 4th tier of the Wexford GAA hurling ch ...

(4): 1954, 1966, 1988, 2016 * Wexford Under-21 Football Championship (6) 2003, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016 * Wexford Under-21 Hurling Championship (2) 2008, 2009 * Wexford Minor Football Championship (5) 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012 * Wexford Minor Hurling Championship (5) 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2021

References

External links

Shelmaliers GAA Club website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelmaliers Gaa Gaelic games clubs in County Wexford Hurling clubs in County Wexford Gaelic football clubs in County Wexford