Coach Paul Donoghue with some of the Faughs players, who will make history with their visit to London this weekend.
By Cian Murphy
A little piece of hurling history will be made this weekend when a group of juvenile hurlers from the Faughs club in Dublin travel to play in London.
Faughs, one of the oldest hurling only clubs in existence in the GAA, will bring a group of 60 to London for a weekend blitz against local teams in what is the first ever official visit of a Dublin GAA juvenile hurling team to the city.
Local officials are thrilled to be hosting them, with three juvenile hurling teams in existence in the city and an impetus to return to the days of the late 90s and 2000s when there were seven juvenile hurling teams in operation in London.
Timmy Crowley, Faughs Juvenile Hurling Chairperson, said: “We’re proud to be making history with this trip and being able to give the players what will hopefully be a really memorable occasion. Faughs is a hurling only Dublin club that’s committed to developing young players and passing on a love of this great game to a new generation. Everyone in the travelling party is excited and looking forward to representing the club and Dublin hurling.”
Trevor Donohue, one of the Faughs coaches, said: "We're delighted to be retracing the journey taken by my own family and others who hurled in London in years gone by. This is a significant occasion to build links between Faughs, Dublin with London GAA and contribute to the growth of hurling beyond Ireland's shores."
Taking their name from the battle cry Fag a Bealach or Clear the Way, Faughs have a proud history and tradition stretching back to 1885 and are now based in Templeogue on Dublin’s southside with a vibrant underage hurling and camogie structure. Over several decades they would have been synonymous as being a place where country people based in Dublin would find an opportunity to play and have been the home to several iconic players.
They represented Dublin and won the 1920 All-Ireland senior hurling championship and have eight Leinster senior championship crowns and 31 Dublin senior titles, the last of which came in 1999.
After a display of beach hurling on Brighton Pier on Saturday, the Faughs players will travel to McGovern Park in Ruislip this Sunday where London clubs will play against Faughs in U10-U14 age grades with a London U15 team meeting their Faughs counterparts after that. Officials from the Irish Embassy in London will attend the proceedings.
The hope is that this will not only be the start of a more permanent link between London GAA and Faughs but also encourage other Dublin clubs to make the journey over.
