[caption id="attachment_68920" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Frank Brady gives Cavan star Rosie O’Reilly the red card. "]
Though ladies football was played in the 1970s and ‘80s in New York, it was more of a novelty event rather serious competition.
However, it entered the sporting mainstream just over 20 years ago, when Cumann Peil na mBan was founded at the Riverdale Steakhouse, with Terry Connaughton being elected the first Chairman. Present at that inaugural meeting were Pat Magill, Marti Devaney, Joey McGovern, Mary Donnelly, Majella Dolan, Ann Burke, Joan McCarthy, Bernie Linnane, Mary Murphy, Ann Marie Madigan, Mary Anne Connaughton and Rosie O’Reilly. Marti Devaney was appointed secretary,
Mary Ann Connaughton was the treasurer and Mary Murphy was the PRO for the first year of organized competition in 1992. Seven teams played the first year, with Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Offaly, Monaghan, Westmeath and Roscommon contesting the first championship.
Cavan threw down a marker very early as they defeated Offaly in the championship and Leitrim in the cup. They repeated the feat the following year and have since gone on to win fourteen championships and ten cups, a remarkable achievement over 20 years.
Incidentally Cavan is the only team to survive without change while, while others have folded, reformed and amalgamated. The current Chairperson Rosie O’Reilly has played in all of these finals and perhaps in her memoirs she might divulge the formula for consistent success.
Na Fianna emerged from the amalgamation of Westmeath and Donegal, and entered the competition in 1993 along with Kerry. A year later Offaly would disband while Rockland and Mayo affiliated teams. Na Fianna soon challenged Cavan’s hegemony and succeeded in winning the double in 1994.
However it would be another 15 years before they would go to the top again -- winning the championship in 2009 and the double in 2010. It was the infusion of Mayo players from the disbanded club that was the catalyst that eventually propelled Na Fianna out of the doldrums to once again challenge Cavan’s hegonomy.
Incidentally Anne Leyden, despite establishing a career and a family, has been a mainstay of the Na Fianna squad through all the years. With the arrival of Na Misnigh on the scene in 1995 there were nine teams in the competition. Cavan had to share the honors as Leitrim won the Annie Kearney Cup in two consecutive years while Rockland won the Louis O’Hehir Cup in 1996. Eamonn Duffy became the Chairman for two years while New York were narrowly beaten by Tyrone.
Changing and reforming continued to be very much the norm in 1997 as Na Misnigh and Kerry joined forces to become An Chiarrai and the union had a modicum of success as the combo won the Louis O’Hehir Cup while it was business as usual for Cavan by winning the double.
Boston entered the Annie Kearney in 1998 but the form chart was consistent as Cavan repeated the double while An Chiarrai retained the Louis O’Hehir while victory continued to evade the ladies in Ireland as they went under to Roscommon. Anne Holland took the reins of the association in 1999 as seven teams contested the championship while Boston and Philadelphia participated in the Annie Kearney Cup.
Cavan were forced to split the honors as Leitrim took the Annie Kearney Cup while Monaghan hoisted the Louis O’Hehir Cup. New York’s fortunes changed in Ireland as they defeated Waterford in the semi-final but unfortunately lost to Tyrone in the final. Though An Chiarrai folded in 2000, three new teams came on board, namely Fermanagh, Stamford and Donegal. Cavan collected three trophies with relative ease while Rockland won the Peter Connaughton Cup. In 2001 Leitrim morphed into Kerry as nine teams contested the championship.
Cavan were toppled off their perch that year as Mayo won their first championship and thus began a very keen rivalry between these teams. Cavan settled for second while Kerry had a good year by winning the Peter Connaughton Cup. Mayo and Cavan finished in similar positions in 2002 while Donegal stepped up to take the Peter Connaughton Cup. Nollaig Cleary assumed the leadership role in 2003, a position that she would hold for the next seven years. The Fermanagh native was instrumental in setting up Gaelic 4 Girls, which is an under-age program to teach the basic skills so that eventually these young players will become an integral part of the senior system.
This program has gone from strength to strength as there are currently over six hundred girls playing in the tri-state area. In addition this program has given a great boost to the development of the Feile teams which are performing very capably in Ireland against very tough opposition.
On the senior scene Cavan and Mayo switched positions on the victory roster while Kerry put their name on the Peter Connaughton Cup. In 2004 it was similar standings with Cavan and Mayo while Monaghan picked up the third award.
The next year Monaghan repeated but the success was not enough to sustain them as they fouled while Mayo scored their first double. In 2006 Cavan returned to winning ways by winning the double while Fermanagh won the Peter Connaughton Cup. Meanwhile New York under-age teams were doing extremely well at the CYC as the fruits of Gaelic 4 Girls were becoming obvious. Cavan were still ruling the roost in ’07 as Rockland took the third trophy. The 2008 season started with a bombshell, namely that Mayo was folding.
This was almost inexplicable as the club had enjoyed a lot of success. Cavan no longer had to contend with Mayo but the transfer of a large cadre of talented players to Na Fianna soon turned them into very potent opposition. Still Cavan managed to win the double as Kerry/Donegal picked up the other accolade. The long drought ended in ’09 for Na Fianna as they won the championship while Kerry/Donegal won the Annie Kearney Cup. Cavan had the distinction of winning the Peter Connaughton Cup. The next year Na Fianna continued to flourish by winning the double, while Kerry/Donegal picked up the third trophy. Last year Cavan clinched the championship as Na Fianna won the cup. Kerry/Donegal completed the rest of the victory roster.
The Ladies generated plenty of excitement at the end of the season with their odyssey in the All-Ireland junior championship. They accounted for Carlow and Wexford in the preliminary stages, thus setting the scene for the final against Wicklow at Croke Park. After a tense and nail-biting affair, the game ended in a draw which was probably a fair result. The replay was more of the same but a combination of fatigue, better finishing and a late goal saw Wicklow clinch victory, though New York made them fight all the way for it.
Meanwhile on the home scene the organization continues to grow with currently five under-age and five senior clubs. In addition Gaelic football has been introduced to a number of high schools, and this could prove a great way to integrate the game into a wider community.
With New York’s longest serving player and most medaled player, Rosie O’Reilly at the helm now it will not be for want of diligence and devotion if Cumann Peil na mBan does not continue to grow.
