Dundalk Young Irelands may be the oldest GAA club in the country but, significantly, it's their younger members who are re-inventing the famous Wee County outfit. Here's hoping the spectacular 2003 U14 Division One league success is a glimpse of things to come! Signs are encouraging that Young Irelands are finally starting to turn the corner. Now settled in its new home in the Upper Marshes, the GAA's oldest club has literally re-invented itself over the past 15 years or so and is beginning to reap the rewards of an intensive underage programme devised to restore former glories. Irelands are a Louth GAA institution, a veritable gaelic games monument. They've won the county senior football championship nine times and had five players on the Louth Team of the Millennium. However, times have been lean of late. Coinciding with a move from the club's traditional Seatown base to a new home a couple of miles away in the Marshes, Ireland slipped down through the ranks from senior to junior. It immediately became apparent that there would be no quick fix. A concerted and sustained effort at juvenile level was prescribed as the only remedy and the club's die-hards knuckled down... During the season gone by we witnessed the first tangible signs of genuine success. By virtue of a comfortable victory over town rivals Na Piarsaigh in the final, Young Irelands captured the 2003 all-county U14 Division One league ... their first Division One title in over 20 years. All this was achieved by a team playing Division One football for the first time! Clearly, the endless hard work and patience is paying off. Young Irelands are once more a force to be reckoned with at underage level, a fact that augurs well for the future prospects of the club's adult teams. Paul McArdle is the club's assistant secretary and registrar. He's also heavily involved in Young Irelands' progressive juvenile set-up and was co-manager of the all-conquering U14 team (alongside inspirational club stalwart Kieran Maguire). Paul describes the U14 league success as "a huge win for the club", continuing: "We hadn't had any underage success at 'A' level for over 20 years, so this is a major breakthrough and a landmark juncture on our road to recovery." Young Irelands beat Na Piarsaigh by 2-5 to 1-1 in the final at the Point Road on Thursday July 24th. Playing with the aid of a slight breeze, the winners got off to a dream start with a point from centre forward Derek Maguire followed quickly by a goal from influential captain and midfielder Barry Piper. Piper added a free at the end of the first quarter after Na Piarsaigh had pulled a point back. The Pearses sneaked a goal against the run of play just before the break to leave Young Irelands with a slender half-time lead, 1-2 to 1-1. Irelands were fired up coming out for the second half and they went on to dominate the remaining exchanges, holding the opposition scoreless for the entire half-hour. A Maguire point preceded Piper's second goal and the No.11 followed up with another brace of points to put the icing on the cake. Na Piarsaigh tried their utmost to get back into the game but found the Young Irelands defence impenetrable. Paul McDonnell, David Lennon and Craig McKenna were outstanding in the full back line, while the half back trio of Robert Agnew, Peter Nixon and Peter Flynn also excelled. After the match, minor board chairman Tomas O hEochaidh presented the Cookstown Fireplaces Division One Cup to winning captain Barry Piper, who paid tribute to the team mentors and also thanked the team's sponsor Abrakebabra. The U14 team was managed jointly by Kieran Maguire and Paul McArdle, with Gerry Nixon and Willie Newberry as selectors. Kieran also managed the U15s (in conjunction with Pat Bailey), while Paul, Tony Hande and club chairman Enda Murray were over the U13s. Young Irelands' traditional base was in the Seatown area and they always played in the Marist Grounds, at the centre of town. However, despite the goodwill of the Marist Brothers, this still wasn't their own pitch and it was inevitable that a day would come when Irelands would have to get a place of their own. In 1989, they relocated to the Upper Marshes area, leaving club chiefs with a whole new catchment area to develop (the traditional base is also being tapped). An inordinate amount of work has been invested at juvenile level in both the new and old areas (Seatown/Cluan Enda/Avenue Road). Paul McArdle notes: "There has been a huge transition taking place and it's only in the last three or four years that this has started to bear fruit. "At U15, U14 and U13 level down we're as strong as any club in the county and this is significant. The U14s have just brought a first 'A' league to the club in 20 years and we started out with 40 U13s this year... Our juveniles from 6 to 12 all play as Seatown-Cluan Enda in the town league and they're out in force on Cluan Enda Green every Monday evening." On Sunday morning September 21st, Seatown/Cluan Enda captured the U12 Cumann Peil na nOg league title with a 5-6 to 2-5 win over Muirhevnamor at Pairc na nGael. After the game, Cumann Peil na nOg's Kevin Gordon presented the cup to winning captain Dermot Mone. Young Irelands launched a flyer campaign at the start of the year to attract kids from the local area and were simply inundated by a flood of interest. "We have no shortage of kids and we have all the necessary structures in place facility-wise ... all we need now is more support from parents and adult members to help accommodate these kids. If we continue to make the same strides we've been making, I'm confident we'll bring through a successful adult side." On behalf of their juveniles, the club ran a PR campaign at the start of the year, organising new leisurewear for all the kids as an added incentive. A juvenile presentation night was held on March 22nd and this was also a resounding success. Furthermore, grant aid has been secured from the National Lottery and this will be used to install floodlighting this side of Christmas. By all accounts, there's no reason why the juvenile success shouldn't continue unabated. Speaking about the 2003 breakthrough, Paul points out: "That U14 team was started up by Kieran Maguire and Pat Bailey who were the two main driving forces behind the club when we moved in 1989. It was Kieran and Pat who set about developing the new base. "These U14s were essentially the first good team we've had since then. They won the league and we were very disappointed to be beaten by St Brigids in the semi-final of the championship. The team consists exclusively of players brought through and nurtured by Kieran since our move. We had also won the U13 'B' league in 2001." Young Irelands U14s topped their group in the league, winning all seven games - an incredible achievement in itself considering this was their first year in Division One! From there, they beat St Brigids/St Fintans in the semi-final and Na Piarsaigh in the league decider. The campaign began with a meeting of players and mentors back in late January/early February. The players were given new tracksuits and t-shirts before the training commenced in earnest: "A big effort is put into all our underage teams and this one was no different. The same will apply next year at U16 level and with the new U14 team - and all the teams. We're looking for support from parents, current players and ex-members. "These are exciting times and the club is moving forward but we need help and we're asking people to come along and show their support. I've no doubt that we'll be back in the big time if the present level of development continues, but a lot depends on whether we can bring in more support. The club receives a lot of goodwill locally and we've never had any problem drumming up support in the past, so I'm confident we'll be okay on that front." The level of progress being made by Young Irelands is incredible considering that the club has practically been forced to re-invent itself (complete with new club logo and a new kit design). Says Paul: "After we moved we came to realise through the 'nineties that we were going to have a barren spell. It had to happen... "Winning the intermediate championship in 1996 went against the grain and was a welcome bonus, but we quickly slipped back through the grades from senior to junior. Furthermore, we'd had no underage success for over ten years, so we knew there were lean times ahead. "Ten of the present first-team fifteen are under 21 and there's a gap there to be filled. Players tend to be at their peak in their mid-20s and when these lads reach that age, in five or six years, we should be strong again. Two-thousand-and-three was the first time in many years that Young Irelands had a team playing Division One football, so for the U14s to win the title outright was a truly remarkable accomplishment. In the coming season, the club will have Division One sides at minor, U16 and U14 grades. Four of the U14 side made the 2003 County Development Squad, namely Barry Piper, Derek Maguire, Shane Greene and Peter Nixon. It's been a long time since Young Irelands have been so strongly represented at county level and hopes are high that the famous Dundalk club will produce some county minors inside the next few years. Next year will see Ireland's oldest GAA club celebrate 120 years in existence. Club officers have something special planned to mark this unique occasion... Dundalk Young Irelands, 2003 Louth U14 Division One league winners: Cian Byrne; Paul McDonnell, Craig McKenna, David Lennon; Robert Agnew, Peter Nixon, Peter Flynn; Barry Piper (2-1), Niall Fergus; Sean McCourt, Derek Maguire (0-4), Shane O'Carroll; Colin Farrell, Shane Greene, Kevin Keelan. Subs used in final: Eoin Whearty, Sean Newberry, Gavin Coleman. Rest of subs: Sean Laverty, Stephen McMahon, Gareth Kerr, Richard Shaw, Dermot Mone and David Lally Tweet

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