Twentieth Anniversary of the Founding
of the Canadian GAA County Board
By JOHN O'FLYNN
Since 1959 up until the mid 1980s, Canadian GAA clubs affiliated and participated in the North American County Board with the Montreal Shamrocks being the first Canadian club to win the 1961 Senior Hurling Championship.
Other Senior Hurling Championships included Toronto's Garryowen (1965, 1970 and 1974), St. Mikes (1975) and St.Pat's/St.Mikes (1978). Teams from Ottawa, Hamilton, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver were also affiliated with the NACB at various times.
The complexity of border crossings were always viewed as a significant obstacle over the years to sustain an ongoing and equitable relationship between Canadian and American GAA clubs.
A decision was made where the founding of the Canadian County Board (CCB) took place on November 15, 1987. The meeting was chaired by GAA President Dr. Mick Loftus of Crossmolina, County Mayo.
Among those in attendance were Toronto's Cormac O'Muiri, Ottawa's Pat Kelly, Montreal's Paul Moran and Paddy Dunne (R.I.P.). The first elections of officers were Toronto's Paul Kennedy as Chairman, Vancouver's John O'Flynn as Secretary and Ottawa's Michael Connolly as Treasurer.
Others who have served on the County Board since its foundation include Diarmuid O'Connor, Noelle Russell, Sean Harte, Matthew Healy, Fionnuala McGovern, Pat Donnelly and Billy Millar.
Twenty years later, the 2007 County Board consists of President Brian Farmer (Toronto), Vice-President Jarlath Connaughton (Ottawa), Treasurer Eddie Mangan (Toronto) and Secretary John O'Flynn (Vancouver) with over 525 registered players from four provinces within Canada - British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.
The CCB is a democratic organization comprised of the following units: (a) Clubs, (b) Divisional Boards, (c) Eastern Minor Board and (d) County Committee.
Toronto Divisional Board: Toronto, Brampton, Durham, Ottawa and Montreal.
Western Canada Divisional Board: Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.
In eight cities across Canada are 12 affiliated clubs: Vancouver Harps; Calgary Chieftains; Edmonton Wolfe Tones; Toronto's St. Pat's Canadians; St. Vincent's; Gaels; St. Michaels; Durham - Robert Emmets; Brampton Roger Casements; Michael Cusacks; Ottawa Gaels; and Montreal Shamrocks.
The majority of clubs have both men's and women's teams while the Eastern Minor Board is based in Ottawa. A few clubs have flourishing children's programmes that have been recently developing and competing at the O'Neill's CYC youth tournaments since 2002.
There are two developing men's teams that are not currently affiliated but have demonstrated a desire to make application for full membership with their local divisional boards. Red Deer's Eire Ogs located in Alberta and Les Patriotes de Quebec located in Quebec City are the clubs involved.
For more information about the GAA in Canada, visit: http://canada.gaa.ie.
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