Castlemartyr GAA

Castlemartyr GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the village of Castlemartyr, Cork, Republic of Ireland. The club fields teams in both Gaelic football and hurling. It is a member of the Imokilly division of Cork GAA.

Castlemartyr are one of the most progressive hurling and football clubs in the division. With two county titles to its credit, and All-Ireland hurling stars like Ted Sullivan, Billy Abernethy and the Dowling and O'Keeffe brothers in its hall of fame, Castlemartyr certainly has a proud record.

The Castlemartyr hurling club was founded in 1924, although the area had been noted for its fine hurlers and footballers long before that year. It is also true that a football team existed in Castlemartyr at the end of the 19th century. The early days of the club were not marked by any notable triumph, but in the early thirties Castlemartyr began to create a big impression in the divisional championship. They reached the East Cork final in 1935 and recorded the first of seven divisional successes.

They went on to the county final afterwards, and though they failed to capture the crown after four famous encounters with Mayfield, two of which were abandoned, their triumph in East Cork proved to be ample compensation.

Christy O'Brien, who had played with the Cork minors four years earlier, was one of the stars of the 1935 team. The late Dave O'Brien captained the side and the other players on the selection were Dermot Cusack, Willie O'Brien, Robin Forrest, Jerry Wade, Jack Whelan, Willie O'Reilly, Donnachadh O'Keeffe, Michael Dineen, Joe O'Brien, Jack Harte, Matty Harte, Liam Aherne, Willie John Hennessy, Joe Morgan, Jackie Collins, Eddie Hayes, Jackie Kelleher and Mossie Moloney.

School Title The following year,1936, Castlemartyr won the East Cork School Shield and some of youngsters who helped in that victory later developed into top class junior players. In 1936 also, Dermot Cusack and Dave O'Brien were selected for the Cork junior team, while Maurice Penderville gained his place on the county minor side and won a Munster medal. But the man who really brought renown to Castlemartyr in the thirties was the dark-haired hurler who was to give great service to Cork right up to 1943. His name was Ted Sullivan.

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