MOOREFIELD  G.A.A. CLUB

(Achadh Mhordha)

Founded 1884

A club is normally a small unit in the Gaelic Athletic Association, whose aspirations are to mould a community together, using club achievements to do so. To capture the focal point in a community requires imagination, to retain it demands effort from the officers and playing members. When a club commands loyalty from its players and supporters through the years since its foundation, then it must have something special to offer. This loyalty together with tradition is the story of Moorefield G.A.A. club since it all started back in the 1880's, when in 1882 two brothers John O'Kelly, Moorefield Road and James O'Kelly of Ballymany were instrumental in forming the first Gaelic football team in  Newbridge. Calling themselves the J.J.O'Kelly's they arranged matches against teams from Eyrefield, Mountrice in Monasterevin, Kildare town and Milltown. This was not done without its share of problems and as could be expected the military authoruties (Newbridge being an occuped town at the time) did not take kindly to the locals starting a football game in opposititon to their own games, so there was continued harrassment of team officials and often gmes were called off or cancelled.  The harrassment of Moorefield officials continued well into the early 1900s, and it is a tribute to their spirit and dedication that they succedded in their aims.

When the Gaelic Athletic Assocation was founded in 1884 one of the first rules was that a team could not be called after a living person or persons.  So it was that the J.J.O'Kellys changed their name to 'Moorefield' the team having being originally formed in the townland of Moorefield.  The founder members of the new club were, the O'Kelly brothers John and James, Pat and Mick Behan, John Langton, Tom Lannery and Willie Geraghty.  Other families in the area who were to the fore in the early years of the club were the Dunnes, Halfords, Walshes and Dixons, all of Moorefield Road, Reddy's of Edward Street, Murphys of Morristown and O'Callaghans of the Main Street.

Throughout the history of the club and particularly during those lean years. when victories were limited and an extra effort was required to retain the interestes and loyalty of players, there would always be a few determined officers to sow the seeds of rejuvenation and who had the faith in themselves and their players to carry out the work required.  Proof of this is that the club has survived on a continues basis since its foundation.

The Moorefied Club has excellent facilities which are used very extensively by the community, the county and occasionally, by the Leinsted Council.  The Club, with 27 teams in hurling, football and camogie provides the opportunity for young people to play and enjoy our national games.  It has a sound underage coaching programme, it caters for social and cultural events, and is a focal point for the local community.

At the time of writing, moves are afoot to form a Ladies Football Club under the wing of Moorefield G.A.A., and it is anticipated the Club will be up and running and ready to write its own pages of history as we enter the new Millennium.

For the record:  Moorefield officials figured very prominently in the Kildare County G.A.A. committies in those early years of the association. Secretary: J.J. Murphy, Moorefield Road - 1895; Pat Walsh, Moorefiled Road - 1909.  Treasurers: James Kelly, Moorefield Road - 1892, '93 '94; Tom Lannery, Moorefield Road - 1895, '96 '97.  Leinster Council Reps: Pat Walsh - 1910, '11 '12. Central Council Reps: J. J. Murphy, Moorefield and Kilcullen, 1892; Pat Walsh - 1910

Football and Hurling within the Club

In the early years the club was unlucky on a number of occasions not the have won a senior football championship and it was not until 1932, that the first championship was won when they beat Celbridge in the Junior final 1-9 to 2-4.

The thirties right into the early forties proved to be a very sucessful period in the club's history when other titles were won such as the very coveted Feis Cup in 1934, The Tipperary Cup (Junior League) in 1936. They were to become intermediate champions in 1937 and again in 1939.  In the next four years Moorefield were unlucky again not to win the coveted serior football title.  Although there was some consolation in that the club won the Junior Hurling Championshop in 1941 and the Senior Hurling Title in 1943; Moorefield after a lean spell returned to junior ranks in 1947 when a number of the older players retired and fielding a comparatively young team in 1948 they duly won the Junior A Championship, beating Athy in the final after a replay.  A feature of this team was that it was backboned by five Murray brothers, Johnnie, Jimmy, Paddy, Hughie and Connie, another feature of this team was that Paddy 'Pop' Whyte was picking up his fourht championship medal with Moorefield, having already won an intermediate in 1939 and hurling in '41 and '43.

And so into the fifties where the first signs of the most successful team in the club history started to emerge in the form of a very good minor team in the middle fifties, at the same time the club reached the intermediate finals in 1956 and 1957, losing both to Kilcullen and Maynooth, nevertheless the team was maturing and in 1958, with the acquisition of Paddy Moore R.I.P., Billy Quinn R.I.P., and Thomas McCarthy, Moorefield went senior and proved themselves a formidabel side.  For the next nine years the team was the drawing card in the county and indeed outside as well, being invited into all the big tournaments and winning most of them.  Of course in the interim peroed they won three Leinster Leader Cups in a row, 1958, '59, '60. The junior Hurling Championship was won in 1961: the Senior Football Championship in 1962, in 1963 the Hurling Championship and in 1965 the Juvenile Hurling Championship.  Moorefield contested the senior football final aslo of 1965, losing to Carbury.

There followed a very lean period on the football scene and it was the hurlers who kept the flag flying during the in-between period, winning the Junior League in 1978 and the Championship in 1979.

And so into the eighties and with some good young players coming through from the Newbridge under-age club the signs were looking good again.  In 1984 of course Moorefield celebrated their one hundred years in existence along with the rest of the nation, and the club U.14 hurlers won the Centenary Cup, beating Kilcullen in the final.  It was at this stage that Sarsfields decided to field their own underage teams and of course Moorefield were forced to follow suit, this was, looking back, the right decision to take.   As statistics will show the club went from strenght to strenght, and there followed the most successful period in the history of Moorefield G.A.A. Club, from the winning of the Minor Championship in 1989, Moorefield have become the undisputed Kingpins of underage competitions, being awarded the very prestigious Bord Na Og's 'Club of the Year' on the occasions 1992 and again in 1998.

Leinster Leader, July 19th, 1947

An American contributer writes:  As the years roll by the Grim Reaper gathers in  his harvest. And when his sickle cuts down a choice speciment of common humanity there is left an aching void in many admiring and loving hearts.  Man is born to die, byt we can never forsee what the loss will mean till we have suffered it, and then all we can do is endure it with patience.

The recent reported death of Jim Scott of the immortal All Whited of 1903-05, brings vividly to my mind the astounding performances  of that peerless place-kicker in the Gaelic Athletic arena.  To us Kildaremen Scott was a legend, a modern version of Finn McCool himself, whose likes was never seen before and will never be seen again.  For twenty years Scott was the idol of Kildare football fans.  They travelled in thier thousands to all parts of the country to see him play, and never did he fail to delight his admirers and to add glory and prestige to his native county.

In Scott's youth, Newbridge his native place, was a garrison town. And Scott spent all his spare time playing soccer with British soldiers on the barracks square.  There he learned to shoot goals from all angles with great accuracy and extraordinary force.  I often wondered how Scott a light, slender lad, could kick with such power, for I saw much larger men who could not kick the ball half as far as Scott could.  It must have been the habit of constant practice for he was the world's greatest place kicker.

Shortly after that a Gaelic football team was organised in Newbridge and was named Moorefield.  Scott was the scoring machine on that team.  The strategy was to 'Give the ball to Scott'.  Two player were assigned to protect Scott. The others fed Scott the ball and scores were registered with clock-like regularity.  It was while playing with Moorefield against Roseberry in Kilcullen that Scott gave one of his amazing performances he scored two points from place kicks that were measured afterwards.  The distances were 72 yards one foot and 76 yards two feet, from the place where the ball was hit to the goal line.  But the crossbar is 8 ft. from the ground, the ball soared 3 ft. above the bar, and did not hit the ground for several yards.  So the actual distance was not less than 80 yards. 

Our commitment to the promotions and development of Gaelic is beyond question, and Moorefield players have served the county well over the years - names that spring to mind are men like Jimmy Cummins; Jimmy 'Ba' Dowing(Father of Sos); Toss McCarthy; Paddy Moore R.I.P.; Harry Fay R.I.P., and we in Moorefield are very proud of our own Seamus 'Sos' Dowling and Martin Ryan's contribution to the County Teams fantastic year in 1998.

We in Moorefield are ever mindful of the fact that the club of the future will have to gear itself to meet the ever increasing needs of modern society.  We now have a tremendous group of players and we believe that these young footballers will blossom over the next few years to assure the future of Moorefield as we head into the year 2000 and the New Millennium.

Camogie

When a bunch of enthusiastic young girls made a request that the club start a camogie team, it was decided to call a meeting to determine if the interest was for real or just a passing fancy with the young girls.  It transpried that the interest was real alright and the decision was taken to found a new camogie club in Newbridge under the wing of Moorefield.  That was in 1986 and the club has gone from strenght to strenght and are now fielding teams in all grades from Under 13 to senoirs.  That this important part of the club has taken root is due in no small way to the founder members; Ernie and Mary McMullen, Helen Durney, Winifred Murray, Ann McDermott, Nancy Cahill and people like Jimmy Donnelly who have carried on the good work since.