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There is a history of Gaelic Games in
our parish dating back to the 1700’s – in 1741 an “Inter County”
hurling game took place in Kildinan between Cork and Tipperary
selections. In the 1880’s after the GAA was founded, Rathcormac
Football team and Bartlemy Hurling team were very prominent in Cork
Gaelic circles under their patron Fr. Edmond Barry. Clubs and teams
came and went in Bartlemy, Rathcormac and Kildinan in the first
decades of the 20th century. In 1928 the two existing clubs in the
parish, Bartlemy and Rathcormac united to form Bride Rovers. Success
came quickly to the new club. Two East Cork Junior Hurling
Championship titles were won in 1930 and 1932 and the East Cork and
County Minor Hurling titles were also won in 1932.
Moving up to Intermediate grade
in 1933, the club got to the County Final and were beaten by Lough
Rovers. With little success at Intermediate level it was decided to
regrade to Junior in 1938 when they got to the East Cork final but
were beaten by Cloyne, which then included the young Christy Ring.
Though Con Murphy won a Senior Hurling All Ireland medal with Cork
in 1946, the 1940’s were lean years for the Rovers. In 1950 the club
folded up. A club started in Bartlemy in 1951 and kept going until
1955. In 1957 an U-16 East Cork title was won. In 1959 a new club,
St Bartholomew’s, was formed and reached the East Cork Junior B
Final of 1960. This club folded in 1961. For the next three years
players from the parish played with different clubs. In December
1964, the Bride Rovers Club was reformed and thankfully has remained
in existence since. In 1966 the East Cork ‘B’ Hurling Championship
was won and in the same year Seanie Barry won U-21 and Senior All
Ireland medals with Cork. East Cork ‘A’ Grade titles were won in
1968 and 1969 and a second ‘B’ grade title was won in 1975. In 1977
the club bought 7 acres of land to develop a pitch and the first
game was played there in 1983. The 1980’s brought 2 Junior Hurling
League titles to the club and a ‘B’ grade championship but no
success at ‘A’ grade championship level.
The pitch was officially opened
in 1985 with a Cork v Offaly game. In 1991 the club regraded to ‘B’
grade hurling and in 1993 the ‘B’ grade hurling and football double
was won. In 1997 the Junior ‘A’ hurling team got to the East Cork
final for the first time since 1973 but lost to Castlelyons. In 1998
the East Cork title was won for the first time since 1969 and the
club went on to win an historic County Junior Hurling title for the
first time. Bride Rovers won the Cork County Intermediate Hurling
Championship title for the first time in the Club’s history on 26th
October 2003, defeating Iniscarra in the Final. The club has also
contested 3 All Ireland 7-a-side Hurling finals in a row – winning
the title in 2000. The Club History “Bride Rovers Abu” was published
in 1999. In 2000 the U-12 hurlers brought the first ever Juvenile
County Hurling title to the parish.
In the Scor talent competitions
many East Cork titles have been won and County titles have been
captured in the Novelty Act and Question Time.
Brian Murphy was on three Cork
Inter-County hurling teams in 2003 U-21, Intermediate and Senior. He
won Munster medals at Intermediate and Senior level and an
All-Ireland medal with the Cork Intermediate team. In 2002 a
splendid new clubroom was built to facilitate meetings and to
provide catering for players after games and training. Also work is
ongoing with a New Referees Dressing room & a New Ladies /
Wheelchair accessible toilet.
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