The Cavan GAA club in New York is a success story to behold. One of the longest-established GAA clubs in NY - and still one of the most successful - Cavan's cross-Atlantic gaels enjoyed another landmark year in 2008. Breffni Blue caught up with chairperson Rosie O'Reilly to assess the current status of this veritable gaelic games phenomenon. Nobody is doing more to spread the Breffni gospel than the Cavan GAA club in New York, whose proud history of achievement is little short of spectacular. In terms of putting Cavan on the map, our cousins across the Atlantic are exceeding all expectations in the face of adversity. The men and women of this close-knit club are to be commended on their extraordinary contribution to Cavan and the GAA in general. Lavey lass Rosie O'Reilly is in her second year as club chairperson. Rosie - a former Cavan camogie player who has been representing the Cavan and New York ladies football teams for almost 20 years - was absolutely thrilled with how Cavan performed in New York in '08, as a total of six major trophies were on display at the annual Dinner Dance. The slew of silverware tells its own story "We had a very successful 2008," Rosie reflects. "With a distinct lack of emigration to New York since 9/11, we are trying to make do with what we have really and to bring a lot of Irish-Americans through into the games. We have a few Irish-Americans on the men's team and almost half of our ladies players would be second-generation Irish at this stage. We also have a very strong underage system up and running in the ladies side of the club, which should stand to us in the future. "We rely on students coming out for the summer and on summer sanctions. In men's football, each team is allowed six sanctions. Our ladies team is only allowed two, while the other ladies teams are all allowed four. That rule was brought in to try to prevent us from dominating ladies football in New York and obviously we're not happy with it. There have been 16 ladies championships played in New York and Cavan have won 13 of them. They brought in that rule to try to increase the chances of other teams beating us, but it didn't work last year because we did a clean sweep - winning the cup, league, championship and seven-a-side." It sounds like justice was served. How creating an uneven playing field can be deemed in any way fair or democratic is beyond this writer's comprehension The men also did Cavan proud in 2008, claiming two major competitions, as Rosie continues: "They won the John Joe Cassidy Memorial Cup. This is a seven-a-side competition which is organised by our own club in memory of our former member, who won All-Ireland medals with Cavan in 1948 and '52. It was really nice to win that one. "The senior men were also unfortunate not to make the senior 'A' play-offs. Instead, they went into the senior 'B' play-offs and they won that out. The top four of the eight senior teams in New York go into the 'A' and the next four go into the 'B'. We missed out on the 'A' section by one point and went on to win the 'B' competition in an outstanding final at Gaelic Park - a game everybody was talking about for weeks after. Our junior men also got to a cup final and championship semi-final." Needless to say, there are very strong Cavan connections throughout the club. All the team managers are Cavan people. The senior team is managed by Mike Reilly from Carrigallen, while Tom Cullen from Crosserlough manages the juniors and Dessie O'Reilly (Rosie's brother) is in charge of the ladies. The club officers are as follows: Honorary President - Peter McKiernan (who has been a member of the Cavan club for almost 50 years and was an officer of New York GAA for the last 40 years); Chaplain - Fr Terence Lee (Kill); Chairperson - Rosie O'Reilly (Lavey); Vice-Chairperson - Liam Moffett (Gowna); Secretary - Ann O'Reilly (Knockbride); Assistant Secretary - Patricia Sheridan (Ballyjamesduff); Treasurer - Paddy Reilly (Ballyjamesduff). Before becoming chairperson of the overall club, Rosie served in the ladies chair for 15 years. The ladies and men's club joined up last year, giving rise to a stronger unit - and no doubt an increased workload for the Lavey girl! The men train in Queens, while the women train in The Bronx. All club games in New York are played on the new astro-turf pitches at Gaelic Park. "When students migrate here for the summer, we provide a second home for them and they can play a bit of football and the club is a great way for them to make contacts and find their way around New York," says Rosie. "Our official title is the Cavan Gaelic Football & Social Club of New York and that really sums us up. It's much more than just a football club; the social aspect is very important as well. "The Dinner Dance this year was very successful. It fell on a very bad night weather-wise but we still had 250 in attendance despite the terrible weather. We had the six cups on display, which was unbelievable. Tom Cahill was the Guest of Honour. Brendan O'Reilly from Mullahoran was Senior Player of the Year, Gerry Fitzpatrick from Lacken was Junior Player of the Year, and Emma Clarke from Kingscourt was Ladies Player of the Year. It was a very successful night and a lot of people travelled out to New York from back home to support our honourees." The club is also exceptionally well supported by Cavan businesses and Cavan people based in New York. Sean McEvoy from Crosserlough - who owns Danny Mac's Bar on McLean Avenue in Yonkers - is the main sponsor. Senior manager Mike Reilly runs The Dug Out in Queens and also provides some sponsorship, as does Mc & O Construction Co., which is owned by Eamonn McDonnell and Gene O'Reilly from Kilbride. "The brilliant support we get from all the Cavan businesses keeps us alive," confirms Rosie. "For our dinner dance each year, they all take out a page in the journal for $100 each and that funding is also vital and much appreciated." Seven members of the Cavan club were on the New York side that faced The Underdogs team last year as part of the popular TG4 television series. There were also seven Cavan girls on the New York XV that famously played in the All-Ireland junior ladies football championship final at Croke Park in 1999, a team that was managed by Cavan man Philip Sheridan. Tweet

Most Read Stories