Cromane GAA Club

Club History..

Before the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded and before there were any proper rules a rough form of cross-country football called "caid" was played in the country area west of Killorglin town between teams from Caragh Lake (Muingaphuca and Scrahan) and Cromane (Lonhart, The Lake, Glosha and Cromane). These games were tough affairs and one ended with one of the Cromane players making off with the ball through the shallow waters on the eastern side of Loch Gainimh Bhain (the lake of the white sand).

After the formation of the G.A.A and when spare time from fishing and farming allowed Cromane men played football at local level, lining out against other teams in the parish and against Glenbeigh and surrounding areas. "The Kerry Sentinel" of 20/3/1909 reports on a game which took place on St. Patrick’s Day in Killorglin between Cromane Sarsfields and Glenbeigh Rovers which Cromane Sarsfields won by 0-2 to 0-1.

Throughout the twenties and thirties Cromane teams took part in all the local competitions – these were the years of players like (to name a few) John Sugrue N.T. (Jack’s father), Seánie Connor from the Cliff, Mick and Seán Moroney from Glosha, Paddy and Jerry Riordan from the Cross and Johnnie Foley from Cromane Lower. There was no proper pitch; football in these times was played in the field behind Cromane church, in Stookisland and down by the strand on the méidhe.

There is not much news from the war years but in 1954 there were two clubs in the parish, Killorglin and Cromane. In 1954 Pat O’Shea played minor for Kerry as a Cromane player and also in this year Cromane won it’s first divisional game in the Mid Kerry league by defeating Beaufort by 0-3 to 0-2. Players from this era included Michael O’Riordan and Bob McCarthy from Lios na Gaoithe and Stephen "Betsy" O’Sullivan from Cromane Lower. However emigration took its toll on both clubs and Cromane and Killorglin amalgamated in 1957. In 1958 the now-renamed Laune Rangers won their first Mid Kerry senior championship assisted by Pat O’Shea, Michael O’Riordan and Seán "Danlo" Teahan and Mickie Teahan of Dooks.

In the early ‘80s with the upturn in the area’s fortunes moves were afoot in Cromane to once more go it alone. Funds were raised and the present field in Lios na Gaoithe was bought. Cromane’s ambition was fiercely resisted by some elements within Laune Rangers and two unsuccessful applications were made to the Kerry County Board for affiliation before Cromane was finally affiliated in April 1985, following a compromise brokered by the Munster Council of the GAA. Cromane took as its name in Irish Réalt na Mara after the patron of our church, Our Lady Star of the Sea.

A lot of hard work took place to turn a boggy rushy field into a level surface fit for play. Wooden goalposts were replaced by steel ones in 1991 and a number of Silver Circles raised the wherewithal to begin work on the dressing rooms in 1992. The club ran up a deficit in completing the dressing rooms but the arrival of the weekly lotto on the scene saw the start of a turnaround and the debt was all paid off before the club convention in December 1998.

The club has further improved the playing surface by investing in sand slit drainage and sand spreading and now has what is probably the best field in Mid Kerry. New floodlighting has been installed and the construction of dug-outs completed. A new stand was constructed in 2002 which again proves the clubs strong progress through the years. The club has finally won funding from the National Lottery to further the development – all funding up to now had been raised locally.

Since 1996 Cromane GAA Club has been able to give something back to the community following the inception of The Brian Casey Memorial Match which commemorates footballer Brian Casey who died tragically in 1993. The funds raised from the day go to Scoil Réalt na Mara and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the event is going from strength to strength.

On the field of play the club has gone from humble beginnings to now field teams at U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16 and minor. In 1999 Cromane U-21s contested the final of the inaugural Mid Kerry U-21 championship and the club now fields two senior teams. Cromane men have assisted Mid Kerry teams at all levels as players and mentors – Cromane’s Brian O’Sullivan was Man of the Match when Mid Kerry last won the county senior football championship in 1992 while Mid Kerry won back-to-back minor titles in 1997 and 1998 under trainer Frank Walsh. Cromane won the county Novice B championship final in 1994 and again in 1998. In 1999 Cromane reached the semi-final of the county Novice A championship and won their first trophy in Mid Kerry by taking the O’Sullivan Cup while the B team reached the final of the Cahill Cup. In 1998 Seán O’Sullivan of Cromane Lower bridged a forty four year gap to follow in the footsteps of Pat O’Shea when he played a prominent part with the Kerry minors. He has now two All-Ireland senior championship medals under his belt and we hope there are a few more to come. Donnchadh Walsh soon follwed in Pat's and Sean's footsteps by lining out at mid-field for the Kerry minors in 2001. He played two years for the minors and then three years at under 21 level. He is now a member of the Kerry senior panel and has a bright future ahead of him.