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History
Athy
Gaelic Football Club was formed on the 1st of
September 1887. The
first Chairman of our club was a local priest Rev. J Carroll and the
first
Captain was P.J. Lawlor. The club has continued each year since 1887.
It is on
record that the first football tournament organised by Athy G.F.C. was
in 1889
and the chief organiser of this tournament was Thomas Deegan - who was
employed
in Minch’s Malting
firm – a native of Cork. Four
teams
participated in this tournament – Monastervin, Kellyville, Mountrice
and the
host club, Athy. Athy were the victors.
The
playing pitch in these early days changed several times until 1905. In
1905 the
club rented a field at the Dublin
road from the South Kildare
Agricultural
Society – the present day Geraldine Park. The club had the initiative
in those
early days to erect a paling around the pitch and were the first club
in Leinster to do
so. This initiative and club’s effort were
rewarded when the All Ireland
finals were played in Athy in 1906 and 1907.
Athy won
their first Kildare championship in 1907 in the junior grade. The club
struggled in the senior grade for several years before reverting to
intermediate.
In 1929
Fintan Brennan {later a Leinster
Council
Chairman} became Secretary of the club and with the able assistance of
Willie
Mahon {grandfather of the 1987 Chairman, also Willie}, set about
reorganising
the club. Willie Mahon filled the position of Chairman until 1945 and
this
coincided with the golden era of Athy GFC. We won the Intermediate
Championship
in 1932 and the Senior Championship in 1933, 1934, 1937, 1942. Athy
lost the
senior championship final in 1946 and this signalled an ebb in the
fortunes of
the club until the late 1960’s and early 1970’s when men like Ted Wynne
and
Gerry O Sullivan resurrected the fortunes of Athy, especially in
underage
competitions. The club won the minor championship in 1966 and 1973 and
won the
Intermediate Championship in 1974.
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