South Liberties GAA
| Saor Theas | |||||||||
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| Founded: | 1884 | ||||||||
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| County: | Limerick | ||||||||
| Nickname: | Liberties/Souths | ||||||||
| Colours: | Green and Gold | ||||||||
| Grounds: | Dooley Park, Knockea | ||||||||
| Coordinates: | 52°36′00.80″N 8°36′20.56″W / 52.6002222°N 8.6057111°WCoordinates: 52°36′00.80″N 8°36′20.56″W / 52.6002222°N 8.6057111°W | ||||||||
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South Liberties (Irish: Saor Theas) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in County Limerick, Ireland. The club is based in the parish of Donoughmore-Knockea-Roxboro, on the southern outskirts of Limerick City and is affiliated to the East Board of Limerick GAA. It is one of the oldest clubs in the country, founded in 1884, the same year as the GAA. South Liberties' home ground in Ballysheedy is called Dooley Park, in memory of one of the club's greatest players. The club has won many county titles during its history, most notably seven Limerick Senior Hurling Championships; in 1888, 1889, 1890, 1972, 1976, 1978 and 1981. The club currently fields teams in the Senior Hurling and Junior Gaelic football Championships in Limerick.
The club was founded in May 1884 when a group of people in the Ballysheedy area of County Limerick got together to play hurling. The club name reflects its location in the former "south liberties of Limerick"; this was the portion of the county of the city of Limerick outside the municipal boundary and south of the River Shannon, which was transferred to County Limerick in 1842. The boundaries of the liberties were marked with 'Liberty Stones' and the club has incorporated an image of the sole surviving stone into its crest. South Liberties' home ground in Ballysheedy is called Dooley Park, in memory of one of the club's greatest players. Johnny Dooley played for Liberties from the mid-1940s to 1970, when he died suddenly after playing in a county championship match. He was on the Limerick teams that won the All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championships of 1948, 1954 and 1957.
In the early days of the GAA, South Liberties were one of Limerick's greatest teams and contested the first five county finals, winning three of them in successive years, 1888–1890. A remarkable feature about these wins was that two of them were secured by the only score of an hour's hurling - one point in each case; made more remarkable by the fact that these games were played in the days when each side had 21 players and there were point posts at both sides of the goal, covering almost half of the end-line. On both occasions the point was scored by the same player, Con Sheehan, with Liberties defeating Murroe at Croom on 15 May 1888 and Kilfinane at Ráth Luirc on 13 July 1890. He also scored in the 1889 final when Liberties beat Caherline 1-2 to 0-3 at Croom on 13 July. John (Jack) Malone captained the Liberties' teams in all five finals. Many of the players that featured on those teams were forced to emigrate in the early 1890s and this coupled with the devastating effect that the Parnell Split had on GAA clubs meant that South Liberties ceased to be a force in Limerick hurling for another 75 years.
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