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Montreal Shamrocks GAA

Montreal Shamrocks GAC
Founded 1948
County Canada
Division Quebec
Nickname Shamrocks / Na Seamróga
Colours Green and White
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The Montreal Shamrocks GAC is a sports club in Montreal, Canada, associated with the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland. They operate under the Canadian GAA board(Eastern Canada division).

The Montreal Shamrocks GAC was established in 1948 in order to promote Ireland's two most popular national sports - Gaelic football and Hurling - to the community of Montreal.

History

Ever since the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in 1884, and even prior to that, there is archival evidence that Gaelic football was played in Montreal. However there is more concrete evidence that, from 1945 and onwards, Irish immigrants gave exhibitions of their native games at Fletcher Fields and at the old MAA grounds.

In 1948 the Montreal branch of the GAA was officially convened under the presidency of Martin Greene. Greene applied for, and the next year received, official approbation from the president of the GAA in Dublin.

Subsequently the American County Board of the GAA was established to include Montreal and Toronto in separate divisions. Division IV saw Montreal in competition with teams from Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. Both Montreal and Toronto fared well in international competition as the cities were equally enriched by an influx of young Irish immigrants. Each did in fact, on more than one occasion, win the American Championship in both football and hurling.

In the early 1950s, the Montreal GAA, which had adopted the name of 'Montreal Shamrock Hurling and Football Club', was able to form an inter-squad league which consisted of five teams in hurling and four teams in football. Out of that league sprang the nucleus of the team that not only topped its Division, but also captured the Northern Division of the American League from Toronto at Kingston on October 4, 1959. Two years later, the Montreal Hurling team won the American Senior Championship against Boston GAA, while on the same day at Loyola Park in Montreal, the Montreal Football team narrowly lost to Boston Galway in a hectic final.

On 9 May 1965 the Shamrocks Football team played host to a visiting Australian Rules Football Team from Melbourne, playing the first half under GAA rules, and the 2nd half under Australian Rules. The score at the final whistle read: Montreal 29 - Melbourne 28.

On St Helen's Island Park, at the World Fair of Expo '67, the Hurling team soundly defeated the visiting New York-Kilkenny Champions, before several hundred fascinated spectators; while on the same day, the footballers were narrowly defeated by an all-star Toronto team.

On 29 October 1969, Montreal GAA entertained the Kerry Senior Football Team, All-Ireland Champions, who were on their way home from their successful American tour. Trainer Jackie Lyne and the Chairman of the Kerry County Board expressed their gratitude and appreciation to the Montreal Shamrocks Club for the reception and fraternity shown the visiting champions.


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