Straffan GAA
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| Founded: | 1885 | |
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| County: | Kildare | |
| Colours: | White with Blue sash | |
| Grounds: | Straffan GAA grounds, Straffan | |
| Coordinates: | 53°18′56″N 6°36′29″W / 53.315442°N 6.608105°WCoordinates: 53°18′56″N 6°36′29″W / 53.315442°N 6.608105°W | |
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Straffan Gaelic Football Club is a Gaelic football club in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland, which played a leading role in establishing the games in the county.
GAA official Tom Cribben claimed in 1934 that Straffan had kicked the first ball in county Kildare, the ball being brought over from Clongowes by Tom ‘Rabbit’ Delaney. Local tradition records games on Straffan estate, now the K Club, between insiders (estate workers) and outsiders (the villagers). Cribben also says the first man to throw in a ball to set two teams in motion under the GAA code was a Straffan man, Edward Kelly. Straffan is one of eight clubs, four in Kilkenny and four in Kildare, to participate in the first series of Gaelic football matches ever played on February 15, 1885. Straffan JL Carews played Sallins. RIC records indicate Straffan had 45 members in 1890, with officers listed as James Ennis, Edward Melia, James Pitts and Pat Leonard.
Straffan’s greatest achievement was the Intermediate Championship of 1966, with Tony Kane and Thomas “Cub” Walsh featuring on a team that was promoted to senior. Area side with Celbridge, St Wolstan’s fought a semi-final battle with Ballyteague in 1974 that took three matches to decide and another in 1975 with Clane that took two matches. They also lost the 1976 quarter-final in a replay.
After being beaten in two successive finals, Straffan managed to win the Junior B Championship in 1986. A lean period followed, however with the club having no notable successes in the 1990s. A revival occurred with the appointment of Billy Farrell as first team manager in 1999, and the team won the Junior B championship in 2001. 2005 was a reasonably successful year for the club, with the first team gaining promotion to division 2 of the Kildare Senior Football League, while the second team also won promotion to division 2 of the Junior Football League. Straffan began to gather momentum ever since promotion to division 2. priority for the club was to win the Junior football championship which had been a scorn for the club over the years. A junior final appearance was made in 2006 but Straffan were narrowly beaten by Nurney GFC. Numerous semi final appearances were made after that but with little success. However, in 2009 under the management of Liam McLoughlin Straffan finally broke the hoodoo and won the Junior football championship with a last minute goal by Andy O'Neill. Straffan fields 2 adult teams at the moment and forms St Edward’s along with Ardclough and Rathcoffey for underage purposes and St Edwards fields teams at all levels from Under 9 to Under 21.
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