A Minor Miracle

The early teams were centered in the Bronx, northern Manhattan, and northern New Jersey, all within proximity to Van Cortlandt Park, Paddy’s Field in Woodlawn and Gaelic Park, the hub of the city’s Gaelic sporting culture. Over time, however, population shifts began changing the demographic. Today, in fact, as the Minor Board opens its fall season, the organization is less Bronx-centric than ever.
First, Rockland established a toehold as the Irish moved north. Rockland have long since shed their new comer status and are now every bit a member of the establishment as the four remaining Bronx clubs: St. Barnabas, Rangers, Celtics, and St. Raymond’s.
Rockland, in fact, have been such a success story that they now field both senior and junior football teams at their own Gaelic grounds in Rockland County. Now, as the Irish metropolitan diaspora continues, the New York Minor board has also expanded farther north.
The year 2001 saw the debut of the St. Brendan’s Gaelic Football Club of Orange County. “There were so many Irish families in the area, it was just a matter of someone stepping in and doing the work to get it going,” said Stephen O’Shea, the club president.
St. Brendan’s got off to a flying start, drawing close to 100 youngsters for their initial practices. They are already fielding teams in three grades: U-8, U-10 and U-12, and are planning on adding a U-14 team for the spring season.
While O’Shea said that most of the children were new to the sport, “the club got a great lift from 10 or 12 kids who had played for Rockland and had moved up here. Those kids were an inspiration to the others.”
Interestingly, two of the St. Brendan’s coaches came up through the New York Minor Board. Kieran Croke learned his football with the Celtics, and Marty Boyle was a stalwart of the Good Shepherd club. Boyle is an example of the demographic shift in the Minor Board. The Inwood side, which at one point fielded a successful senior team, has gone by the wayside as the Irish and Irish-American families needed to sustain it moved on to places like Orange County.
Ken Riley, who played for Sligo in Gaelic Park, is another driving force in the upstater’s success, which has already yielded an U-10 “B” championship. O’Shea credits the New York Minor Board, and to the existing clubs, who, he says, “have been very helpful.”
“Minor Board President Mike Keane came up and gave them a great talk, the gave us a lot of pointers,” he said.
The club has received support in other ways, as teams have been willing to make the drive north to play at the new club’s playing field in the town of Woodbury. Underage teams in the outlying areas have been hurt in years past by the opponents’ reluctance to travel to play them.
St. Brendan’s have not been subject to that sort of behavior, playing host to each of their rivals last season. Of course, for all the help any outside group can give, the impetus has to come from the membership if it is to flourish. Anyone who has been around these clubs knows about the fundraisers, dances, picnics, raffles, etc. needed to put together a team. Sponsorships have to be secured, playing facilities located, coaches found and then you have to get the kids to training and matches.
For St. Brendan’s, it all seems to be moving in the right direction, with a successful inaugural dance behind them and a large selection of players. Another new side is hoping to emulate St. Brendan’s success, but for the Shannon Gaels, it’s early days yet.
The Queens-based club is hoping to tap into the borough’s large Irish population to establish a team of their own, so that their kids don’t have to travel to participate. Club President Mike O’Reilly believes the Gaels can prosper and has been encouraged by the effort of both the players and the parents. The Gaels fielded a team in a U-7 tournament in June, “and we didn’t do too badly,” O’Reilly said. The Gaels, he added, will field an U-10 team this season, their first, and, “hopefully, we’ll move up,” U-10, then U-12, and so on.
O’Reilly never played football while growing up in Cavan, so he takes care of the administrative chores, leaving the coaching to others. He believes being involved in Gaelic football gives kids a great insight into their Irish culture. He mentions a man he works with, a young Irish American. “He wouldn’t know the shape of an Irish football,” he said. “I wouldn’t want that for my own kids.”
With two new clubs like the Shannon Gaels and St. Brendan’s, plus the success of the New York U-14s in winning the Feile Peile championship in Carlow last June, the New York Minor Board appears to be in good shape.
Minor Board President Mike Keane is understandably enthusiastic about the board’s future. He believes there is plenty of support for another team in the Putnam County area. Keane also contends that the success of the New York U-14 team, coupled with the U-18’s victory in the Cooley International Minor Competition in Louth, make this the Minor Board’s best year yet.