Tommy Larkin's GAA
Tommy Larkin's Gaelic Athletic Club is a hurling club based in the Ballinakill and Woodford areas of County Galway, Ireland. It is a member of the Galway GAA branch of the Gaelic Athletic Association. It competes in the Galway Senior Hurling Championship.
Name
The club is named after two local men, both named Thomas Larkin, who played separate roles in local history.The first man, Tom Larkin of Gurteeny, Woodford, died in 1887. In 1886, during a week-long eviction at a premise known as Saunder's Fort in Woodford, Tom Larkin stood up to an RIC constable who was roughly treating a young girl and struck him. Larkin was subsequently arrested and imprisoned in the overcrowded Kilkenny Gaol where he died of reported neglect in 1887 aged 23.
The second man, Fr. Tom Larkin of Ballinakill, is known locally as "one of the most devoted lovers of all that was Irish: games, music and dancing". He fostered hurling in Ballinakill and in all East Galway when he was chairman. Fr. Larkin played a role in GAA affairs in County Galway in the 1920s and 1930s and he coached the Tynagh teams which won ten County Galway senior championships and supplied a number of players to the Galway team which won the All-Ireland of 1923. He was also the founder of the Ballinakill Céilí Band. He died in 1949 aged 58.
History
Tommy Larkin's Gaelic Athletic Club was founded in 1968 with the amalgamation of the Woodford and Ballinakill GAA clubs.Soon after amalgamation, adult hurling flourished with the senior team winning the county title in 1971. However, despite efforts from club members, the club struggled to compete in the late 1970s and 1980s due in the most part to emigration.
In 1990, the club was relegated to the intermediate ranks. This prompted a renewed commitment to coaching at underage level. Since the 1990s, the club has won several county titles at Under 12, Under 14, and Under 16, including two Féile titles.
Crest
The club's current crest, designed in 2004 based on an earlier crest, includes the "T" and "L" in Celtic monogram lettering as well as a hurley, sliotar and football.Notable people
- Cyril Farrell, three-time All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winning manager
- Jason Flynn, All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winner with Galway
- Éanna Murphy, inter-county hurler with Galway