GAA Club Names

I see that Beagle has already put the question out to the Twitter world, but I'm curious to know where we stand here in relation to the controversy around the naming of GAA clubs after dead IRA/INLA members.  Dungiven Kevin Lynch's is the most high profile example (largely because its most famous current member is Joe Brolly), but there are others.

There's a lot to ponder:

-  Should clubs be named after dead IRA members?  
-  Should we let current clubs remain as they are, but prevent future clubs from following suit?
-  Should the GAA HQ be taking a firmer hand and forcing clubs to change, or is this the business of the local club or county    board?
-  Should the clubs themselves initiate a change as a gesture of goodwill?
-  Where does it end: Do we also change clubs named after the men of 1916 and the War of Independence, or 18th Century figures like Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet?

What do our members think?

It's an "iffy one" all right but what's done is done and all that.
TC alludes to a softening of attitude (unlikely) and I feel it's better to let sleeping dogs lie.

A dramatic U-Turn to reverse these club titles could cause the RSPCA to cry wolf and call for the disbandment of such noble clubs as The Fighting Cocks (Carlow) or The Cocks as they're generally called I gather.

It is a tricky one, Boxty.  

On one hand you have the origins of the organisation which are important to remember, and on the other hand we have to consider where we want to be in the future.

I'd be a believer in the freedom of speech and, consequentially, the right for people to call their clubs what they want.  However, with that kind of liberty comes responsibility and accountability, and I'm not sure that everyone recognises that.

I think we need to decide as an organisation where we want to go.  If we are content staying as we were in the 19th and 20th centuries, that is fine.  But if we want to grow our sports at home and eventually abroad, then we must realise that there isn't another sport in the world that routinely names their teams after political figures.  Now, it would be a brave man who would sit in the clubhouse in Dungiven (or anywhere, for that matter) and suggest a name change, but change always requires courage.

In short, I'd support a club's right to do as it pleases, but would hope that progress, responsibility and inclusiveness would be the the driving factors in any such decision.

To me, Lynches are names after a former club & county player who happened to be a hungerstriker. Kevin is someone who was by all accounts a great clubman and the only stories i've ever heard them speak of him have been antics that he got up to in order to play for Dungiven or Derry, Brolly is right, they are massively proud of him as a hurler & a clubman.

Lets be honest, the people voicing opinion on the names of GAA clubs haven't exactly said a lot about Sean Brown Park in Bellaghy have they? We all know that Sean was murdered for being a member of the GAA, nothing else! What about Steelstown Brian Ogs in Derry, named after a star player who was tragically taken by illness a few years back, surely the name has Irish language in it therefore potientally offensive? These people will only find another stick to beat the GAA with should the issue of names be resolved, whoever wants to play Gaelic football or hurling will play it, if you don't like the name Kevin Lynches then you could join Drum or Banagher as they are only a few miles away, it's not like there's no choice!

If GAA clubs wish to change their names then so be it, none should be forced to do so. That said, any new clubs being formed worldwide should be encouraged to have neutral names, a line in the sand moment if you please!

bald eagle wrote:To me, Lynches are names after a former club & county player who happened to be a hungerstriker.  Kevin is someone who was by all accounts a great clubman and the only stories i've ever heard them speak of him have been antics that he got up to in order to play for Dungiven or Derry, Brolly is right, they are massively proud of him as a hurler & a clubman.

Playing Devil's Advocate a bit here Beagle, but that is just not the case.  Kevin Lynch went to jail when he was 21, and never got out.  I find it very hard to believe that he made such a massive contribution to the club by that age that they named it after him, and that his being a hungerstriker was just coincidental.

As I said before, i believe the members should be allowed to call the club whatever they wish, but let's not pretend it is named after Kevin Lynch because of his contribution as a player/clubman.

What's age got to do with it? Because he was 21 he wouldn't have made a massive contribution? I suppose you think it's ridiculous that Steelstown in Derry City re-named their club after a 17 year old?

bald eagle wrote:What's age got to do with it? Because he was 21 he wouldn't have made a massive contribution?

Maybe you've missed my point.  You said it was named after him because of his contribution as a clubman and that by chance he also happened to be a hungerstriker, and I was pointing out that wasn't the case, as he was unlikely to have made that major a contribution to the club to warrant it being named after him by the time he was 21.  Did he really do much more for the club in his few short years than many others who were members for 40-50 years?

I'm in no way trying to downplay any of the enormous sacrifices that Kevin Lynch made for either his club or his country, rather all I'm doing is trying to be honest about why the club is named after him.  The reality is that the club carries Kevin's name because he died on hungerstrike, not because he captained the minors and maybe helped around the grounds on occasions. Surely you can't really believe otherwise?

On an aside note:

I ran a sports quiz last weekend (100 sports questions), handsomely paid, but the fail point was once again, in the fulcrum of Laois support, the name of the park in Aughrim......

Laois (NFL Chmps) 1986 V Wicklow...Seamus Aldridge ar an feadóg...Wicklow to win but....

There were cries of foul from the Dempseys (LS) counteracted by Balto crowd lead by O'Brien (WW) but when push came to shove, the old nugget (You make these up as you carry on)

The only Connacht man with 4 Celtic Crosses on the field of play....Football or Hurling.

Ah, the great Mattie Mac. A feat that no Ulster player has yet achieved, though I'd expect 3 to match it next year.