"Troubled Times"

The Early Years | Lahorna DeWets | Troubled Times | Kilruane MacDonaghs is Born |
North Championship Success

The 1916 Rising
The rebellion broke out in Easter 1916, resulting in most of the leaders being executed in Dublin. Those leaders included Thomas MacDonagh who was born in cloughjordan on February 1, 1878, the son of two school teachers in the village.
This is the proclamation of the Irish Republic, which he signed. Click on it to view the full proclamation.

Enter MacDonaghs(Glenahilty)
1918 is a historic year in Cloughjordans GAA history, because for the first time, the name MacDonagh appears in GAA circles in Ormond. The official parish team was MacDonaghs and some people called it Glenahilty.

The Glenahilty MacDonaghs team was drawn mainly from the Glenahilty, Kyle and Bantiss areas of Cloughjordan parish, and was the first to adopt the name MacDonagh.
MacDonaghs reached the North final in 1918 but were beaten by a Toomevara selection.

The green, white and gold of the Glenahilty MacDonaghs remained the official of all teams in our parish until 1959 or 1960. In that year the parish juvenile team beat Grange in the county final. They wore for the first time a new set of black and white jerseys.

Black and white are now the official registered colours of all teams in the club.

The years 1919 to 1923 were troubled years in Tipperary, and the GAA suffered. Many players were in jail, others were on the run and were not available to play hurling and football matches. Roads were often blocked with fallen trees, bridges were blown up. No championship games were played in North Tipperary in 1921.

Bloody Sunday
Sunday, 20 November 1920 is known as Bloody Sunday. Fifteen people were killed and about sixty injured when British forces fired on the crowds in Croke pard, during a football match between Dublin and Tipperary. This was a reprisal for the killing of fourteen British secret-service spies in Dublin that morning.

The Irish Free State came into being in December, 1921. Within a few months, civil war broke out between those who accepted the treaty and those who did not accept it. There was no time for hurling or football. It is interesting to note that while the Civil war split the country in two, it did not split the GAA.

<< Lahorna DeWets | Kilruane MacDonaghs is Born >>