Fingallians G.A.A. Club (Swords) has the distinction of being one of the the first GAA clubs affiliated to the Dublin County Board  in 1884 and has preserved an unbroken record of loyalty to the G.A.A. and service to the people of Swords ever since.

Mike Dunne of the Lees, Swords, farmer, coursing enthusiast, all-round sportsman and ardent Nationalist was the first captain of the club. He was succeeded by John Dunne, who, after emigrating to America, joined Major John McBride's Irish Brigade, which fought for the Boers in the South African War.

The next prominent captain was Frank Lawless, whose work for Ireland and for the G.A.A. is fittingly commemorated in the Lawless Memorial Park, Swords. As chairman of the club and with Bob Savage as captain, John Aidan McGuire as Treasurer and Peadar O Ceallaigh as Secretary, the club enjoyed a long era of prosperity and success.

In those halcyon days transport  to games for long distances was by Savage's Long Car, or more often by shanks mare. When the Fingal League was established by a group including Frank Lawless, John Aidan McGuire (Swords), Jack Nugent (Malahide), Paddy Maloney, John Rooney and Thomas Ashe, Fingallians were the first winners.

After the Anglo-Irish war and the Civil strife which followed, Michael Moran, Paddy Moran, P.J. Fogarty and others worked hard to re-establish the club on a firm basis. In 1925 Peadar O Ceallaigh was elected Chairman, an office which he held uninterruptedly until 1953.

Progress was steady and in 1931 Finns entered Senior ranks, winning the Dublin Senior League in their first year. After some years, however the club reverted to Junior ranks and after a good deal of hard work they achieved a long cherished ambition in 1942 in winning the Dublin Junior Championship for the first time, beating O'Dwyer's by one point in the final.

That team of the early forties proved to be one of the most successful in the history of the club, winning every Fingal compeition in 1942. It was captained by Nick Savage, whose father had captained a team of an earlier era. For the first time the club was strengthened by the inclusion of players from outside the parish  when units of the 7th Battalion were stationed in Collinstown and Brackenstown  in the "emergency" during  the years of World War II and two of their number, Paddy Murray who played for Armagh and Donal Begley from Tyrone were on the 1942 team.

At least four members of the team, Har Donnelly, Nick Savage, Colm Heenan and Kevin Quinn, played for Dublin in various grades. Har is the grandfather of Garry, one of the players  on the present senior team.

Around 1943/44 some other soldiers from the 7th Battalion joined the club, among them Hughie Carr and Dinny Byrne. This team reached the final of the 2nd Division of the Senior League in 1943 where they lost to Ard Craobh.

With the loss of the soldier members at the end of the war, when they all returned to their homes, the team was considerably weakened and finally was forced to ask for demotion to Junior status and for a time after this football was at a low ebb in the club.

The sixties started off well with the Minor team winning the Fingal league in 1961. In 1965 the senior team won the Fingal Championship and 8 other tournaments in one season. In 1968 Patsy Markham and Sean Foley played for the Dublin Junior team. Patsy was then promoted to the Dublin Senior team, playing right full-back in his first game which was against Longford.

Hard work put into the juvenile section in the early Seventies bore fruit with the emergence in 1976 of a very good Under 21 side which won the Dublin Div. 2 North U-21 League twice and the Fingal League U-21 twice. Most of the members of this team came together through the juvenile ranks, the most notable member of the group being Kieran Duff. The Junior team went to the final of the Dublin Junior Championship in 1979 and were somewhat unlucky to be beaten by one point by a very good Man O' War side.

The  club senior team, in the  80s which was considerably strengthened with the arrival  in 1981 of Harry Keegan, thegreat Roscommon defender and  All Star in 1978, 1980 and 1986. Our senior team had a notable year in 1982 winning the Fingal Championship that year and reaching the Final of Division 2 of the Senior Football League where they lost to Erin's Isle in a replay. In 1984 the Dublin Senior league Div 2 was won and the following year saw the team triumph in Division 1.  Also during the 80s Kieran Duff represented the club with honour, winning an All Ireland with Dublin in 1983 and twice being awarded All Star Awards in 1987 and 1988. On the Juvenile side we won for the first time ever the Under 15 Championship and A' League in the one season in 1985 and went on to win a Minor Championship in 1988.

In 1993 the Dublin Junior Football championship returned to Fingallians when a team captained by present Treasurer Declan Rickard claimed the title.  The senior footballers won the Division 2 title twice and also the St Vincent de Paul tournament twice as well.
 In addition to Kieran Duff we had a number of other players who played for Dublin at Senior, U21 and Minor level including one year when the club had 4 representatives on the county Minor hurling squad. In 1997 for the first time ever an adult  hurling team was fielded and in 1999  the club won a junior hurling league, the Eddie Barron shield and an U21 B hurling championship.

The history of the playing activities of Fingallians is  naturally what most people think of when you mention the club. However it is the the work done by the many committed volunteers over the 122 years of our history in providing the facilities, finance and foresight in planning, that have enabled the players to provide us with the thrills of the games.

Their work has brought us to where we are and we should remember them and honour them for what they have done.

La Na gClub 10th May 2009.

The Day Fingallians GAA Closed Swords Main Street
May 10th 2009   La Na gClub
After all the preparation over the previous few weeks the day finally arrives. An early start for the organising committee meant that everything had to be in place for the arrival of club teams and members to the clubhouse at 3pm. Mr meticulous Scully was on hand to over see the setting up of the pitches and marquees, Head chef Nick was in full flow to and fro wing from the clubhouse setting up his BBQ and vending machines of popcorn /candy floss for the younger club members.
While in the clubhouse the exhibit centre was going together as planned under the cool guidance of Dave and Derry.
Around twelve bells the first the problem arose, will we have enough of everything how will we keep the kids occupied for the few hours, were can you buy drawing pins (will Derry make his flight to London on time).
Within 20 minutes all problems solved and with some free tasters of candy floss /popcorn everything was ready and in place ready for the arrival of the masses, (we hoped)
A beautiful sunny day a big turnout of family and members graded from the Academy up to u14 assembled at the Lord Mayors Car Park to parade through Swords Village, maybe it would go to plan after all.
At 2pm the band started to get into place parents and kids started to take their positions in their groups, but who would hold the athletics banner up steps Dave (Daisy)Walsh problem solved
Daisy telling everyone he was the shot-putter champion within the group.
Just as the parade was about to leave a taxi pulls up in front of the gates and out steps our 1st lady president Noreen Mc Kittrick decked out in the club colours. As she moved around from group to group posing for photos the gardaí arrived to stop traffic and get us underway.
With an intake of air and an aon do tri the swirl of the pipes and the rattle of the drums of the Black Raven Pipe Band and headed by our grand Marshal our current Dublin County stars P Flynn, A Deasy, N Hurley from both grades we were on our way to showcase Fingallians GAA to the town of Swords after a very long time.
As we headed onto the main street the noise and colour from the kids with their flags and whistles and bands was starting to bring out people from the pavilions and other shops around the area, it was like a scene from a film set, with crowds of people bedecked in red and white winding the way onto main street and receiving tremendous applause from passers-by in their cars and on the footpaths.
As the parade moved into the centre of the town people came out of local pubs with their mobile phones taken pictures of the shear spectacle that was happening before them.
Even our new found residents from outside of Ireland were enjoying the atmosphere in the town clapping and cheering as we went by.
When the top of the parade reached North Street the back section of the parade with the help of Swords Marching Group entertaining everyone, it was only passing by the Town Mall on Main St.
As the parade headed for the motorway the scene that greeted it was amazing with the traffic being held up way past woodies and the over bridge full with people taken pictures and trying to out do the local paparazzi for the best advantage point to get the perfect  picture and cheering the kids as they went by. Old members mixing with new ones, granddads and nanny’s waving at the new generation of Fingallians and pondering on the times when they played for Fins.
Then the scene was set as we turned to head for Lawless Memorial Park our spiritual home for the last 125 years which was beautifully decked out with bunting and flags. At last we arrived in style.
After parading down the street each team was assigned a section of the all-weather pitch to receive a goodie bag from each of their mentors, it was like Christmas morning as each mentor walking across with a big sack full of goodies dishing them out to each kid. With the Pipe and Marching Bands providing the early entertainment to the crowds to get them in the spirit for the fun and games ahead throughout the day. Then the fun and games began with teams being assigned to different games which allowed them to showcase their GAA talents to their families and friends.
The skills consisted of penalty shoot outs, also hurling penalties with each child having to score against our very own shrek character. Then the were brought over to use the newest addition to our facilities (the Ball Wall) were they showed off the hurling and football skills with great gusto and panache.
Each team was given 15 mins at each skill station and this rotated throughout the day.
At the far end of the pitch the athletics group were in full swing allowing kids to compete in a multitude of different events from egg spoon, three legged races to long jumps etc.This was done by our hall of fame winners for 2009 Joe and Bernie Walsh who have been at the forefront of the athletics section since its formation in late 1960’s.
 The last event for teams was the 7 aside against each other which proved to be great excitement and was well coordinated all day by John Mc Gee with the flair and style of a seasoned referee.
The 7 aside turned into a spectacular event later in the day as mentors and parents from every team pitted the wits and skills against each other in what became 20 a-side instead of the regulation 7 , with no holds barred it became a game of cleverness over skill as it was every man/woman for themselves when they got the ball and the final score ended up all square according to the young ref Eoin Brady who raved in his task of overseeing such a bunch of raggle taggles to be grouped together on any pitch.
All through the day the were big queues for the vending machines of candy floss/popcorn were doing a roaring trade and kids and adults were enjoying their share.
Chef Nick and his staff were in dated with request for burgers and hotdogs and the smoke and flames from the roaring bbq reminded people of a Halloween nite , through out the day over 500 people were fed from the bbq which is great credit to the individuals involved for standing patiently over the stoves for nearly three hours.
In the main building the exhibition of the history of the club over 125 yrs went down a treat with old and new members recalling faces and places on show throughout the hall.
The exhibits were showcased on partition walls placed freely around which allowed people to move from one to another without blocking others from reading the stories from papers past or looking for relatives or family members who wore the red jersey with pride in all codes from football, hurling athletics, camóige through the decades of yester year. Also profiled were all the past and present players whom have been credited with wearing the jersey of their county at all levels and in both male and female codes.
Lastly the pride of the exhibit goes to the haul of medals that were donated by, Seamus McKittrick and Margaret McKittrick, Darragh O Murchú, Joe Evans, Paul Gormley, Gerry Greene, and also especially to Kieran Duff for his donation of his haul of medals that he won over the years playing for Fins and the Dubs and his All-Star awards which went down a treat with old and young alike, with people wanting photos taken beside and holding his all Ireland medals and all-star awards
The talking point of the exhibit was about his ripped jersey which was among his collection of jerseys that were on show from different teams that Kieran Duff played on Fins, Dublin, Leinster and Ireland, and who the person was that ripped it. Also on show was the jersey worn at the Sydney Olympics by one of our very own athletics stars Mark Howard.
The DJ tent was belting out tunes to entertain the crowds who were assembled seated along the front and side of the building enjoying the craic, food and drink and mostly the blazing sunshine which added to the atmosphere of the day. The day’s events were brought to a closure by the arrival over head of the Air Corps rescue helicopter which hovered over head to see what was going on below. (We thought it maybe landing to chauffer Derry to the airport quicker)
As the day drew to an end and the sunset approached a lot of members retired to the clubhouse to continue the party indoors which provided a perfect ending to a spectacular day, with all people commenting how we can better the day next year. As the headline said it was the day that we stopped Swords Main Street and showcased how with a little bit of effort and cooperation from all us as a club can highlight to others what a great people and facilities we have in Fingallians GAA.

                   May 10th 2009 will go down in history as the day Fingallians GAA closed Main Street, Swords!!

The establishment of the well-equipped Lawless Memorial Park deserves mention. The field was acquired from the Taylor brothers, Mark, Dick and Tommy, who not only met the committee reasonably, but generously guaranteed the purchase price in the Bank. Peadar O Ceallaigh, Cyril McGough and Paddy Moran were the negotiators on behalf of the club. As a result of the efforts of a hard working committee the entire debt on the Park was cleared off in the short space of two years.

Down through the years a lot of work has gone into improving and maintaining the pitch, acknowledged as one of the finest pitches in the country. A lot of the credit for the condition of the pitch goes to the late Peter McKitterick Snr.  our hardworking groundsman for many years. In recent years there has been extensive work carried out in re-generating the pitch to ensure that it continues to be one of the best playing surfaces in the country. The development of the new all weather facility meant that the main pitch was moved by over 20 yards.

Like every other club in bygone days dressing rooms, showers and such like were unknown. The warriors of old were accustomed to stripping at the side of ditches and washing in a nearby stream if one happened to be available.

The early dressing rooms in Fingallians were railway carriages and the running water was available if it was raining. An important step forward in the provision of club facilities occurred in the mid seventies with the erection of a prefabricated building to act as clubhouse. This building served us well but was replaced by a fine clubhouse opened on the 1st January, 1984 by the then Chairman  Danny Kelly. This was the centenary year of both the club and the GAA and was a fitting commemoration on such a momentous occasion.

In the late 1990s the club committee, under the Chairmanship of. Liam Connor set to work in further developing the clubhouse and building a new dressing room complex.  As the work of re-construction was underway a disastrous fire in November 1998 razed the structure to the ground. In what was a traumatic period Fingallians GAA club members rallied to the cause and with
tremendous fundraising efforts backed by bank loans and supplemented by a grant from the National Lottery the present clubhouse was opened on 24th September 2000. The total cost of the clubhouse amounted to almost IRL £1.5 million .

The clubhouse which contains a members bar and large function hall as well as a modern dressing room complex serves not just the members of the club but is also used by the larger community of Swords for everything from Christenings to Weddings and Funeral gatherings. There are also meeting and conference rooms which are used by a wide varieties of clubs, associations and local businesses. It is an indispensable part of the fabric of Swords and even the wider Fingal area.

The latest chapter in the development of Fingallians was marked by the official opening in February 2005 by An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern of the new All-weather training pitch. This wonderful enclosed facility measuring 100 metres by 45 metres and fully floodlit  is a boon for the training and skill development of teams from juvenile to adult ranks and is a major asset to the ongoing growth of Fingallians. It has been brought about by the trojan efforts of many club members in organising two major fund raising activities, a car draw and a hugely supported race night.The entire project including associated ground work cost over € 500,000 and although we received some assistance from the  National Lottery and  Fingal County Council, two thirds of the cost had to be generated by our own efforts.

Swords has been the fastest growing town in Ireland over the last ten years. According to the Census statistics the population of the town increased by 26% between 1991 and 1996 and further increased by 22% between 1996 and 2002.  Preliminary figures from the 2006 census show the current population of the Swords area is in excess of 50,000. With those figures it is easy to see the importance of the role of Fingallians GAA Club in providing an outlet for active and healthy games for so many young people.

At present, in addition to  our main pitch and All weather facility in Lawless Memorial Park we also have two pitches leased from Fingal County Council just across the footbridge in Balheary. All these in close proximity are vital in being able to meet the demand of so many young people. Indeed we will require additional playing fields in the near future.

The next stage in the Development of our facilities is the result of the club planning and development initiatives in 2006. Working groups have identified three major targets which will form the agenda for the next few years. These are  (1) the construction of a new training area and running track as well as a Hurling wall on the east side of the main pitch; (2) Floodlighting of the main pitch and (3) development of a spectator stand and additional dressing rooms on the west side of the main pitch.

The fulfilment of these plans will call for the support of all club members and a concerted approach to significant fund raising activities. They are essential if we are to move forward and ensure that Fingallians continues to be a major player in GAA activities in Dublin.

Without the help of all our mentors, players, parents, members, supporters and sponsors the sustained growth of the club would be impossible. In 2006 we saw the establishment of  a Fingallians Parents Association which gives an opportunity for parents to get involved in a meaningful way in contributing to the development especially of facilities for our younger members. Already they have been active in fundraising to improve the safety in our car park and ran a very successful Halloween function. We wish them well and look forward to many future initiatives from them.

We would like to invite residents of Swords especially those new to our community to drop in and visit  our clubhouse at Lawless Memorial Park just off the Estuary Roundabout or ring  01-8400125 or e-mail  to Fingallians@gmail.com .  New players at Juvenile and Adult level are especially welcome as well as adults willing to help with coaching and running teams. Every week we offer a full programme of social activities as well as a comfortable and inviting environment to meet and have a drink with fellow members and friends.