I am here to find out what is the biggest club in Ireland in terms of club membership. My own club, although very small in stature and in close proximity with other clubs has just over 400 members.

What is the biggest club that you know of?

Nanderson (Down) - Posts: 83 - 05/04/2011 16:41:44    904223

Depends on what kind of members,if you include social members then I would say Naomh Fionnbarra in Cabra would be one of the biggest.

Frances56 (Dublin) - Posts: 378 - 05/04/2011 17:31:06    904310

Sarsfields in Newbridge is the biggest in Kildare in terms of members.

sashman (Kildare) - Posts: 465 - 05/04/2011 18:52:37    904432

Ballypickas

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 05/04/2011 20:36:40    904562

yea in terms of social memebers too. They all contribute to overall size of a club

Nanderson (Down) - Posts: 83 - 05/04/2011 21:04:05    904605

at a recent gaa conference we were told of 4 clubs which had in excess of 1,500 members, and st. malachy's in co armagh had 18 registered members in 2010

cuchulainn35 (Armagh) - Posts: 1688 - 05/04/2011 21:28:30    904639

Cork teams would have the biggest support !! Nemo or The Barrs probably i would think !!

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 05/04/2011 21:31:55    904647

Frances56
County: Dublin
Posts: 378

904310
Depends on what kind of members,if you include social members then I would say Naomh Fionnbarra in Cabra would be one of the biggest.


I remember I took an underage team there from Glasgow years ago. I think they had the cheapest beer in Dublin and about 1/4 million social members.

thistle_harps (UK) - Posts: 879 - 06/04/2011 20:44:21    905568

cuchulainn35
County: Armagh
Posts: 90

904639 at a recent gaa conference we were told of 4 clubs which had in excess of 1,500 members, and st. malachy's in co armagh had 18 registered members in 2010

18?? do they field many teams? are the committee not members?

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 06/04/2011 20:57:17    905598

Sarsfields in Newbridge is the biggest in Kildare in terms of members.

Really? You would imagine Naas, Larries or Leixlip would be close especially if you include juvenile members.

doublehop (Kildare) - Posts: 4172 - 06/04/2011 21:12:16    905622

doublehop
County: Kildare
Posts: 738

905622
Sarsfields in Newbridge is the biggest in Kildare in terms of members.

Really? You would imagine Naas, Larries or Leixlip would be close especially if you include juvenile members.

Dosen't Leixlip have two clubs though?

Confey and Mary's I think.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13796 - 06/04/2011 21:57:01    905679

I have to say I've never heard of Leixlip GAA being referred to as St.Mary's although I know that's their official title. I know they share a catchment area with Confey but have always assumed they have a lot more members since they would get most of the town. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm certainly not basing that assumption on anything scientific.

Naas have a huge population to pick from but have more of a rivalry with the rugby club for numbers than anyone else. Larries have about half the total area of the county to pick from a lthough not too many urban areas.

doublehop (Kildare) - Posts: 4172 - 07/04/2011 10:17:51    905762

doublehop
County: Kildare
Posts: 742

I have to say I've never heard of Leixlip GAA being referred to as St.Mary's although I know that's their official title. I know they share a catchment area with Confey but have always assumed they have a lot more members since they would get most of the town. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm certainly not basing that assumption on anything scientific.

Think it's fair to assume Leixlip / St. Mary's would have more members than Confey, they probably have the larger population by 2:1 or so maybe. If your including social members then they could have it about 3:1 in their favour, again though nothing scientific behind this, just (rational) assumptions. Celbridge though I'd imagine would be up there with them in numbers too, big population there and I'd certainly guess they could be one of the highest in the county.

Surely some clubs like Vincents, Ballymun Kickhams and Crokes in Dublin would be among the highest nationally? Ballymun have teams at senior and intermediate and a big pool to pick from, and Crokes could have a population of over 20,000 nearby with no other clubs in Stillorgan / Kilmacud.

if_in_doubt (Kildare) - Posts: 3691 - 07/04/2011 12:14:47    905916

Responding to previous comment :-
Due to the on-line registrations Croke Park can identify the size of each club and county There were 16,000 members in armagh last year , i don't know much about st. malachy's but they were recorded with 18 members,

all the top 5 clubs are in Dublin - Nemo i am pretty sure have 400-500 members which still is a very big number - one of the biggest in Armagh is Clann Eireann in lurgan with a large amount of social members

cuchulainn35 (Armagh) - Posts: 1688 - 07/04/2011 13:05:30    905971

In Down, there is a team called Bredagh which isn't a very successful club compared to others but has almost 1000 memebers

Nanderson (Down) - Posts: 83 - 07/04/2011 17:52:55    906306

st bridgets in blanch must have one of the biggest

booboo (Cork) - Posts: 1382 - 07/04/2011 17:58:05    906312

Nanderson
County: Down
Posts: 17

906306 In Down, there is a team called Bredagh which isn't a very successful club compared to others but has almost 1000 memebers

Have they a Bar. in some cases clubs run a members draw, resulting in anybody that buys a ticket becoming a member.

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 07/04/2011 18:46:08    906351

The trouble you could get into in todays climate for saying " I drove into Bredagh last night and had a great time " !!
Make sure you are not being taped !!

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 07/04/2011 19:24:23    906385

Would it not be bally boden st. enda's or kilmacud crokes I hear there have loads of underage teams as well as many teams in all adult level of hurling and football?

Hag_and_Cheese (Tipperary) - Posts: 6103 - 07/04/2011 19:34:23    906396

Rathnure in Wexford fielded 5 adult hurling teams in the championship a couple of years ago, Senior, Intermediate,Junior, and 2 junior b teams. Im not sure about this year but they defintely have 4.

890202 (Wexford) - Posts: 1278 - 07/04/2011 20:23:03    906451