Courcey Rovers GAA
Encyclopedia
Courcey Rovers is a Gaelic Athletic Association
club based in the village
s of Ballinspittle
and Ballinadee
in County Cork
, Ireland
. The club fields both hurling
, Gaelic football
and camogie
teams. It has historically concentrated on hurling
. The club is part of the Carrigdhoun
division of Cork competitions. It used to be part of Carbery GAA
but moved in the mid 1970s to Carrigdhoun GAA
as it felt that it would be offered a higher chance to be able to win county championships, as there are more huling clubs in the south east division.
In January 1904, the first official West Cork Board was set up. They ran off the first official West Cork Football Championship. Whereas twelve teams entered the football championship only three of those formed hurling teams, namely Bandon, Clonakilty and Skibbereen. They were joined by newly formed Kilbrittain, Shannonvale, Clogagh and Ballinadee who did not field in football. Of those original seven, Kilbrittain and Ballinadee (Courcey Rovers) have since retained hurling as their primary game.
The very first draw for the West Cork Hurling Championship (part of the 1904 Championship) took place in January 1905 and resulted as Shannonvale V Clogagh; Ballinadee V Bandon; Clonakilty V Skibbereen; Kilbrittain a bye.
Bandon played Ballinadee in Bandon. The game was originally fixed for Kilbrittain but Ballinadee agreed to go to Bandon. However, when they saw the heavy state of the Bandon pitch they at first refused to play and the game was held up for an hour. When it eventually took place, Bandon were far superior, winning 5 - 9 to 0 - 0.
It was, in fact, the first recorded championship hurling game played in West Cork. The Ballinadee colures were red and white. When Ballinspittle later entered the hurling arena in the thirties, they were blue and white and became known as "The Old Blues"
Courcey Rovers GAA Club was founded in 1947 when the Ballinspittle and Ballinadee clubs agreed to merge to form one single club. The club met immediate success as in its very first year it won the South West Cork Junior A and Junior B Hurling championships. Highlights over the next three decades include winning eight out of eleven South West Hurling titles from 1947 including a Five-In-A-Row and reaching the County Finals of 1957 and 1970. The defeats in those deciders were against Tracton
and Cloughduv
respectively.
In 1974, Courcey's made the major decision and switched from the South West (Carbery
) to the South East Division (Carrigdhoun
) having won Fifteen Junior A Hurling titles in less than thirty years. This was the cause of much debate at the time, and still is to this day.
But Courceys Rover's day eventually came in 2001 when they won the Carrigdhoun Junior Hurling Championship
after many long years of trying.
Courceys now compete in the Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship
and still remain the only club in the SE division to claim to Cork Under-21 Hurling Championship
title when they defeated St Finbarrs in 1997.
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
club based in the village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
s of Ballinspittle
Ballinspittle
Ballinspittle is a village in County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland. It is in the parish of Courceys and lies about 8km south-west of Kinsale...
and Ballinadee
Ballinadee
Ballinadee is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It lies in the parish of Courceys, some 12 km by road west of Kinsale and 9 km South East of Bandon....
in County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. The club fields both hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
, Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
and camogie
Camogie
Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women; it is almost identical to the game of hurling played by men. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and world wide, largely among Irish communities....
teams. It has historically concentrated on hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
. The club is part of the Carrigdhoun
Carrigdhoun GAA
Carrigdhoun GAA is one of the eight baronies or Gaelic Athletic Association divisions that make up Cork. The division is made up of eleven Gaelic Athletic Association teams, making it one of the smaller divisions....
division of Cork competitions. It used to be part of Carbery GAA
Carbery GAA
Carbery GAA are a divisional team from the south-west division of County Cork, Ireland, in ancient Carbery. They compete in the Cork Senior Football Championship. They competed in the Cork Senior Hurling Championship up to and including 2010. They did not enter a hurling team in 2011...
but moved in the mid 1970s to Carrigdhoun GAA
Carrigdhoun GAA
Carrigdhoun GAA is one of the eight baronies or Gaelic Athletic Association divisions that make up Cork. The division is made up of eleven Gaelic Athletic Association teams, making it one of the smaller divisions....
as it felt that it would be offered a higher chance to be able to win county championships, as there are more huling clubs in the south east division.
History
Gaelic games in Courcey's date back to the foundations of the Association itself and beyond, but up until the 1940s there were various clubs scattered in the parish ( Old Head, Kilcolman, Old Blues, Castlepark) and then two clubs in the parish from Ballinspittle and Ballinadee.In January 1904, the first official West Cork Board was set up. They ran off the first official West Cork Football Championship. Whereas twelve teams entered the football championship only three of those formed hurling teams, namely Bandon, Clonakilty and Skibbereen. They were joined by newly formed Kilbrittain, Shannonvale, Clogagh and Ballinadee who did not field in football. Of those original seven, Kilbrittain and Ballinadee (Courcey Rovers) have since retained hurling as their primary game.
The very first draw for the West Cork Hurling Championship (part of the 1904 Championship) took place in January 1905 and resulted as Shannonvale V Clogagh; Ballinadee V Bandon; Clonakilty V Skibbereen; Kilbrittain a bye.
Bandon played Ballinadee in Bandon. The game was originally fixed for Kilbrittain but Ballinadee agreed to go to Bandon. However, when they saw the heavy state of the Bandon pitch they at first refused to play and the game was held up for an hour. When it eventually took place, Bandon were far superior, winning 5 - 9 to 0 - 0.
It was, in fact, the first recorded championship hurling game played in West Cork. The Ballinadee colures were red and white. When Ballinspittle later entered the hurling arena in the thirties, they were blue and white and became known as "The Old Blues"
Courcey Rovers GAA Club was founded in 1947 when the Ballinspittle and Ballinadee clubs agreed to merge to form one single club. The club met immediate success as in its very first year it won the South West Cork Junior A and Junior B Hurling championships. Highlights over the next three decades include winning eight out of eleven South West Hurling titles from 1947 including a Five-In-A-Row and reaching the County Finals of 1957 and 1970. The defeats in those deciders were against Tracton
Tracton GAA
Tracton GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the parish of Tracton in Cork, Republic of Ireland. The club is a member of the Carrigdhoun division of Cork GAA. The club fields teams in both Gaelic Football and Hurling, though it has won most success in hurling...
and Cloughduv
Cloughduv GAA
Cloughduv GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association based in the village of Cloughduv in County Cork, Ireland. The club is a member of the Muskerry division of Cork GAA. The club fields hurling team only...
respectively.
In 1974, Courcey's made the major decision and switched from the South West (Carbery
Carbery GAA
Carbery GAA are a divisional team from the south-west division of County Cork, Ireland, in ancient Carbery. They compete in the Cork Senior Football Championship. They competed in the Cork Senior Hurling Championship up to and including 2010. They did not enter a hurling team in 2011...
) to the South East Division (Carrigdhoun
Carrigdhoun GAA
Carrigdhoun GAA is one of the eight baronies or Gaelic Athletic Association divisions that make up Cork. The division is made up of eleven Gaelic Athletic Association teams, making it one of the smaller divisions....
) having won Fifteen Junior A Hurling titles in less than thirty years. This was the cause of much debate at the time, and still is to this day.
But Courceys Rover's day eventually came in 2001 when they won the Carrigdhoun Junior Hurling Championship
Carrigdhoun Junior Hurling Championship
The Carrigdhoun Junior Hurling Championship is a hurling competition organized by the Carrigdhoun division of Cork GAA in County Cork, Ireland. The winners represent the division in the Cork Junior Hurling Championship...
after many long years of trying.
Courceys now compete in the Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship
Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship
Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship is the second-tier hurling competition organized by the Cork Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The winners usually will play in the senior grade the following year for the Cork Senior Hurling Championship. This championship has been played for since 1909...
and still remain the only club in the SE division to claim to Cork Under-21 Hurling Championship
Cork Under-21 Hurling Championship
The Cork Under-21 Hurling Championship is a hurling competition for players under the age of 21. Clubs affiliated to Cork board compete to win this championship. Seven of the divisions in Cork organize their own championship . The divisional winners compete against each other to decide the county...
title when they defeated St Finbarrs in 1997.
Honours
- Munster Junior Club Hurling ChampionshipMunster Junior Club Hurling ChampionshipThe Munster Junior Club Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition played between the six best junior hurling clubs in the province of Munster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and are played during the winter months...
Winners 2001 - Cork Premier Intermediate Hurling ChampionshipCork Intermediate Hurling ChampionshipCork Intermediate Hurling Championship is the second-tier hurling competition organized by the Cork Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The winners usually will play in the senior grade the following year for the Cork Senior Hurling Championship. This championship has been played for since 1909...
Winner 2011 Runners-up 2004, 2008 - Cork Junior Hurling ChampionshipCork Junior Hurling ChampionshipThe Cork Junior Hurling Championship is the third tier championship for hurling clubs in Cork. The winners of this championship compete in the Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship in the following year. This championship is often considered the most difficult championship to win, since more teams...
Winners 2001 Runners Up 1957, 1970, 1997, 1999 - Cork Under-21 Hurling ChampionshipCork Under-21 Hurling ChampionshipThe Cork Under-21 Hurling Championship is a hurling competition for players under the age of 21. Clubs affiliated to Cork board compete to win this championship. Seven of the divisions in Cork organize their own championship . The divisional winners compete against each other to decide the county...
Winners 1997 - Cork Minor B Hurling ChampionshipCork Minor B Hurling ChampionshipThe Cork Minor B Hurling Championship is a hurling competition for Gaelic Athletic Association players under the age of 18 in County Cork, Ireland. This is the third tier championship, as stronger clubs will compete in the Cork Minor A Hurling Championship or the Premier Cork Minor Hurling...
Runners-Up 2001 - Carrigdhoun Junior Hurling ChampionshipCarrigdhoun Junior Hurling ChampionshipThe Carrigdhoun Junior Hurling Championship is a hurling competition organized by the Carrigdhoun division of Cork GAA in County Cork, Ireland. The winners represent the division in the Cork Junior Hurling Championship...
Winners 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001 Runners-Up 1976, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2010 - Carrigdhoun Junior Football ChampionshipCarrigdhoun Junior Football ChampionshipThe Carrigdhoun Junior Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition organized by the Carrigdhoun division of Cork GAA in Cork, Ireland...
Winners 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2011 Runners-Up 1975, 1986, 1987, 1990, 2001, 2005 - South West Cork Junior Hurling Championship Winners (15 titles) 1947, 1948, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1973, 1974
- South West Junior B Hurling Championship Winners 1944 (Ballinadee), 1945 (Ballinspittle), 1947, 1962, 1968, 1970
- South West Cork Junior B Football Championship Winners 1951, 1966, 1973 Runners-Up 1962, 1965
- South West Under-21 A Hurling Championship Winners 1969 Runners-Up 1965, 1970, 1972, 1974