Elphin GAA Club founded

1st April 1888

Elphin (Roscommon)

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Elphin GAA Club is one of the oldest in the country. It is reasonably certain that it was formed in April 1888. Following the formation of the first Co. Board in Boyle in January 1889, Elphin was one of eighteen clubs affiliated and it was continued as a club to the present day. Indeed, according to a strongly held belief, Michael Kelly club secretary for many years, was one of number of Roscommon men to attend the first famous meeting in Thurles in 1884.

From 1888 to 1906 the Elphin team was known as the William O`Brien’s (named after the famous M.P. and editor of ‘United Ireland’). The William O’Briens were the leading team in the country in that period and won five finals in a row from 1901-1906.

They represented Connacht in Jones’s Road in 1906 defeating Monaghan, the Ulster champions, but lost the final, at the ‘Market’s Field’ in Limerick to none other than Kerry.

During the following two decades success on the field was very limited but “The Orchard” was acquired and opened as one of the first G.A.A. pitches in the county, in 1916.

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Hi. Do you know who the gentlemen in the photo are? My husband's late grandfather was Michael Kelly, mentioned in the article. We have only seen a couple of photos of him as an older man and would love to know if he is one of these men!

Many thanks

Jenny Kelly

Monday 25th May 2020 02:55PM

Many thanks

Jenny Kelly

Monday 25th May 2020 08:29PM

Great news (Thanks to @RosCoachingGAA on Twitter, for this response):

Front row: G Sheridan, M Kelly,T Murray, D Rourke, J Conroy , most of the names not been able to discover . Taken from Elphin gaa club history book 1888 to 1981.

IrelandXO_DM

Tuesday 26th May 2020 12:06PM

Thanks for such a quick response. Comparing M Kelly to the only two photos we have of grandfather as a much older man, the hairline, eyes and moustache are very similar. Very exciting!

Wednesday 27th May 2020 12:03PM

Do you know when this photo was taken please? Also, I have a photo found by one of our relatives of a football team, hopefully Elphin GAA. Is there someone who could help try to identify it?

many thanks

Jenny Kelly