History of Naomh Jude

It was a great era for Football in Dublin way back in the 1970s. Heffos army was on the march. There were those remarkable battles with Mick ODwyer's legendary team of bachelors wearing the green and gold jerseys of Kerry. In the city and surrounds it became the thing to wear the navy and sky blue of Dublin.

New parishes were sprouting up everywhere in the suburbs. One such parish was Willington in Templeogue and it too became embroiled in the football fever.

Into this fever bed Bishop Galvin National School was born in 1975. There were 110 pupils in that opening year and the desire to play football and hurling was quite rampant among the kids. Internal leagues were introduced and these blossomed in the summer of 1977 into football being introduced into the Summer Project

It was on those balmy evenings at the Summer Project that St. Judes G.A.A. Club was conceived. The birth finally took place at a meeting held in Bishop Galvin School on the evening of July 18th 1978 when a committee was appointed to look after the affairs of the new Cumann Peil Naomh Jude.

Ernest Kenny was elected as the first Chairman with Cyril Bates as Secretary and John Gallen as Treasurer.

In a matter of weeks the season and the new club were under way. Two teams were entered in the South East Leagues at Under 10 and Under 14 levels.

There was an encouraging start, both sides playing some fine football and holding their own in very competitive Leagues.

The Under 10 side under Jimmy ODwyer, Donncha O Liathain and Seamus Durkin actually did extremely well and finished third of ten teams in their division. The Under 14 mentors were Ernest Kenny, Fr. Green and Charles Moran.

In those days St Judes were something of a nomadic outfit playing games wherever a pitch was available. Most of the home ties, though were played at Bushy Park and then later in Bancroft Park in Tallaght.

Progress was being made and the first honors to come to the new club was at Under 11A level in 1980 when we celebrated victory in the South East League. It was at this stage that St. Judes Club found a new permanent home in Tymon Park and with the acquisition of the playing fields there was a massive upsurge in interest and in the club's fortunes.

The number of teams was growing with each year, teams in all age groups, more than one team in some categories

And successes began to grow too. In 1981 our Under 10s won the South East League and the Under 12A side were runners up: in 1982 there was again success at Under 10 and the Under 12s finished third.

But the demands within the club were now growing also. A signal date in the history of the club arrived in February 1982 when a new Hurling and Camogie section was inaugurated and the name was officially changed to Cumann Luthcleas Gael Naomh Jude

Hurling and Camogie get off the Ground

The Hurling and Camogie section held their first official meeting on March 24th 1982. Finbar Murphy was appointed Chairman with Jimmy O'Dwyer as Secretary and Jack Boland as Treasurer.

It was decided to enter two hurling teams at Under 10 and Under 12 level..

Overall the club was now moving forward in relentless fashion. Further honors came in 1983, most significant being a runner up spot for the Junior footballers in Division 4. It was the first adult achievement for the club. Another significant happening that year saw a minor football team entered for the first time in competition.

On to 1984 when a first Camogie side carried the St Judes colours.

Honours gained included the South East Under 11 Football League and the Under 16 Division 3 South Football. But perhaps the most significant of all our Under 11 Hurlers ran up their League, it was the start of something big!

The Hurling and Camogie movement was now gathering momentum and the number of teams being fielded increased with each year. The benefits were there to be seen when the Under 10s won their League in 1985, the first hurling success in the club's short history.

1987 was to be a very special year in the history of the young club, quite apart from the playing side of things where the footballers won at Under 10 and Under 14 levels and the Under 12 side won the South Hurling League. In addition the Under 16 side ran up their league.

Tracing the Development

In 1984 the A.G.M had discussed the possibility of building a clubhouse at Tymon Park. In the Spring of 1985 Eoin Heraty presented a document to an E.G.M of the club at which the highly progressive decision was taken to go ahead with development. £200,000 was raised through a £100 pound ticket draw and various grants from the likes of the Department of the Environment and Dublin County Council. A second draw was held to bridge the gap and on Sunday October 11th 1987 the sparkling new clubhouse was opened by the G.A.A President, Dr. Michael Loftus.

Little did we know then that in less than ten years time we would again be working miracles in raising almost ONE MILION POUNDS for the clubhouse that is here today.

The new Members Lounge was the envy of all who visited it and quickly became a major success. John Gallen was the first manager but retired a year later to run his own business and Tommy Hickey took over as manager on May 1st 1988 and is still going strong.

What was to become known throughout Dublin as Seamus Durkan's Team was beginning to make its presence felt . Under the tutelage of Durkan and Michael O'Boyle this group of talented kids swept all before them, commencing with the Under 11 South East League and Centenary Cup with an unbeaten record.

Similar success followed at U12, 13, and 14 losing just one game in those three seasons.

But the big occasion arrived in 1989 when they beat Erins Isle in O'Toole Park to claim the U16 Dublin Football Championship.

The Junior Hurlers swept St Vincent's aside in the same year to win the Dublin Junior Hurling Championship.

It was in 1990 that St Judes decided to run an All Ireland Junior Sevens Competition and from then on the name of St Judes went the length and breadth of the country.

It was in 1990 that the Camogie U 11 won the League and Championship. It is worth noting that the Camogie section have won more League and Championship titles than any other section of the club (details on the Camogie Page).

By the mid '90s our young players were being regularly honoured by the Dublin underage selectors but the major breakthrough came in 1995 when Enda Sheehy was a member of the Dublin side which won the All Ireland final. Who could ever forget that night when Enda brought Sam Maguire to our clubhouse. A great honour to the club and all those mentors who had nurtured Enda Sheehy's talents through his formative footballing years.

By now Ciaran McGovern was also playing senior inter county football for Leitrim while Kerry hurling star Martin McKivegan was a member of our hurling side.

Much of the credit for the playing side of the club must go to the "Green Team" who since the early days of the club have coached the kids on Orwell Green at weekends. They look after them virtually from the nappy stage up to U/10 level and it is this team which has introduced practically every member of the club to hurling, football, camogie and ladies football.

It was at the beginning of 1996 that the much discussed EXTENSION to the clubhouse took a vital step forward when the Executive Comittee under the chairmanship of Sean Breheny decided to proceed with the idea.