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Gaelic Football has been played in the Pacific Northwest
since the 1920s. In the early years, it was usually in the
form of pick-up games at the annual Irish Club picnic. However,
in the late 1950s, the game became better organized in the
Northwest, team jerseys were purchased and challenge games
were organized against teams from Vancouver, BC, and even
against San Francisco teams. These Seattle teams were composed
of a few young Irish-born priests, other Irish-born people
living in the Seattle area,and a couple of their friends.
Contacts were even made in 1959 with the newly formed North
American County Board (NACB) with a view towards affiliating
with the GAA, but those efforts came to naught, and in the
late 1960s, Gaelic Football basically became dormant in
the Seattle area.
The game was revived here in 1979 when the Seattle
Gaels Club was formed. That year, the Gaels played a few
challenge games against a team from Vancouver. In 1980,
the Gaels officially affiliated with the NACB and the
first registered officers were: Danny Quinn Chairman,
Frank Shriane Vice-Chairman, John Keane Treasurer, John
Watkins Registrar; Brian Fitzgerald Secretary, and the
County Board Delegates were John Keane, Danny Quinn, and
Brian Fitzgerald. Also involved were Tommy Jordan, Tony
and Joe Coyne, Fr. John Madigan, John Duggan, and a few
others. The late Mike O'Malley also got involved, and
he became oneof the people who over the years until his
untimely death in 1996 had a huge influence on the growth
of Gaelic Football in the Seattle area.
The Seattle Gaels in 1982 amalgamated
with Seattle's Irish American Club and the Irish Festivities
Committee to form the new Irish Heritage Club, but the
Gaels still retained their distinct identity as a Gaelic
Football Club under the Irish Heritage Club's umbrella.
In 1980, a Tacoma team was also organized by Tom Quinlan
and John Duggan and they joined with Seattle and Vancouver
to form the Northwest Division of the NACB but the other
teams did not yet affiliate with the NACB. After playing
several challenge games against Vancouver and Tacoma,
the Seattle Gaels traveled to San Francisco's Polo Fields
to play the San Francisco Sean McDermott's in the North
American Senior Football Quarter-Final, losing in the
end by just 6 points in Seattle's first-ever officially
sanctioned Gaelic Football game.
The Northwest Division League was later expanded to include
teams from as far away as Calgary and Edmonton. However,
the Tacoma team folded after several very successful years,
including one year when they lost to San Francisco in
a Playoff game played in Tacoma. At various times, other
teams, including one from Portland and another Seattle
team, Pearse Ogs, also joined the Northwest League, but
these teams also lasted only a few years. The Northwest
Champions - Tacoma, Vancouver, Calgary, and most recently
Seattle - competed in the NACB Championship Playoffs on
an intermittent basis since 1980, but Seattle has competed
every year since 1994.
In 1997, the Seattle Gaels affiliated
two teams for the first time, the usual Men's team and
a new Women's team made up of a few experienced players
and mostly new players who were completely unfamiliar
with the sport.Both the Men's and Women's teams participated
in the North American Championship Playoffs that year,
and Seattle Gaels historywas made as both teams made it
to the finals of their respective divisions. This was
an especially tremendous achievement for the Seattle Gaels
Women as this was their first ever Gaelic Football season.
In 1999, the Seattle Gaels won their
first North American Championship when the Seattle Men's
team defeated the Atlanta Gaels in the NACB Junior "B" Final
at the GAA Playoffs in Chicago. At the same Playoffs, the
eventual Ladies Champions, the Florida Gaels, only narrowly
defeated the Seattle Women in the Junior Championship Semi-Final.
In 2004 the Seattle Hurling Club merged with
the Seattle Gaels to include a Hurling Team. The team went
on to compete that year at the Denver 2004 National Finals
in the Junior "C" division. The people in
the Seattle area are rightly proud of what their hard work
has accomplished here over the years.
In 2006, the Seattle Hurling Club became the NACB Junior "C" Champions when they beat the Denver Gaels at the GAA Playoffs in Philadelphia.
As in every city, it
takes tremendous dedication and commitment to come out year
after year to promote and develop the games of the Gael. Our
sincere thanks to those people who have contributed so much
to keeping Gaelic Games alive in the Pacific Northwest. |
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