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Where It all Started

Saint Brigid's G.A.A.Club is based at Russell Park Navan Road, Blanchardstown Dublin 15 and serves the communities of Blanchardstown,Castleknock Laurel Lodge, Corduff & and the Greater Dublin 15 area. It's main grounds are at Russell Park but it also has grounds at Beech Park Castleknock,Porterstown Coolmine.At present the Club caters for 55 teams at all age levels from nursery under 9 to Adult in Hurling, Football, Camogie, LadiesFootball & Handball.

The year was 1929 and the month was November as a group of people set off on their bicycles from Blanchardstown to Croke Park to witness history being made. The first Blanchardstown person was about to play a match on the hallowed green sod in Jones Road. His name was Johnnie Steward and he was selected to play left full back for O'Connell School against St. Mary's College , Dundalk in the Leinster College Final .

It was at O'Connell School that Johnnie started to play Gaelic Football and in 1929 he reached his first major achievement in winning a Leinster College medal . It was also the end of Johnnie's schooldays. Back home in Blanchardstown G.A.A. had not spread to the quiet village on the banks of the Tolka. Johnnie and his friends spent the long hot Summer evenings sitting by the river fishing with their homemade rods and lines and admiring Johnnie's medal . These talks would turn to forming their own football team and back again to Johnnie's medal and Croke Park .

On the 27th. of September 1931, still thinking and talking of setting up their own team in Blanchardstown they set off once more to Croke Park , this time to see the clash of Kerry and Kildare in the All-Ireland Final. The Kingdom and the Lily Whites had held the crown between them for the previous 5 years with Kerry winning three. The mighty Con Brosnan leading out the Kingdom that day looking for his fifth winners medal and the Lily White Captain Mick Walsh chasing his third medal.

After the match as Johnnie and his pals put on their bicycle clips at St. Peter's Church in Phibsborough still talking about the six points Kerry had to spare at the end of the match , they decided that the very next week they would see about setting up their Club .

The following week Johnnie got in touch with Bro. Gilroy at O'Connell Schools and asked how to go about forming a Club. He was told to go to the G.A.A. Headquarters at No. 9 Burgh Quay the following night and get the forms and rules.

Saint Brigid?s G.A.A. Club was founded in February 1932 when Johnnie Steward, together with his brother Liam and Pat Anderson , Billy McEntee Paddy Keane , Archie McEntee, Paddy Smith, Jeremy O'Neill, Billy Monaghan and Jim Mansfield got together in a shed in the parish field in Blanchardstown to form the Club .

The first Committee was Chairman Jim Mansfield , Secretary Liam Steward , Co. Board Secretary Johnnie Steward .

In 1934 the late Tom Russell N.T. was appointed Principal of Blanchardstown School and he took an interest in the Club . He was Chairman of Peadar Mackin G.A.A. Club , Westland Row and had a great wealth of knowledge about Gaelic games . Tom resigned the following year from the Peadar Mackin Club to join St. Brigid's . He later served as Chairman of the Dublin County Board from 1947 to 1956 .

The Club serves the communities of Blanchardstown, Castleknock, Clonsilla, Corfuff and Laurel Lodge in the Dublin 15 area and has strong links with all the local national and second level schools in these areas.

The Club caters for football, hurling, camogie, ladies football and handball. At present the Club caters for 55 teams in all the codes.

Players of note in the past included Fr. Michael Cleary, Paddy Downey (All -Ireland medal holder with Dublin), Mattie Keane (National league medal 1964), former Dublin manager Dr. Pat O? Neill played his football in the Club up to Under 21.

Where it all Began Part 2

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