National Forum

Prominent Dual Clubs In A County

(Oldest Posts First)

https://hoganstand.com/Article/Index/338057

Just reading this on HS and it got me thinking, what dual clubs in each county have a realistic chance of doing the Senior Club Title Double - Football & Hurling.?

Dublin would have the Kilmacud Crokes, Ballyboden, Na Fianna and Cuala.

Others that come to mind are:-
Ratoath - Meath
Naas - Kildare
St Finbarr's - Cork
Loughmore-Castleiney - Tipperary
St Eunan's - Donegal
Slaughtneil - Derry
Moycullen - Galway
Eire Og - Clare

I know there must be a lot of other clubs in this position that dont come to mind immediately...

Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 4682 - 03/10/2025 08:49:30    2638321

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If you're talking a realistic chance of doing a senior double, only real one here in Wexford would be Shelmaliers (from the Castlebridge/Curracloe area, close to Wexford town).

Have to quickly add however that they won't do it this year, as they're already out of the hurling.

But leaving that aside, at the start of each championship season, they'd be seen as realistic contenders for both, and they've won both on a few occasions in the past decade or so:
- Hurling: 2014, 2020
- Football: 2018, 2021, 2023

We have some other clubs who are senior in both codes as well, but realistically, none of them would be seen as genuine contenders for both titles. And while it may sound harsh, some of them wouldn't even be seen as genuine contenders for just one or the other, and are instead regarded as outsiders in both football and hurling.

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3153 - 03/10/2025 12:07:56    2638348

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Replying To Fionn:  "https://hoganstand.com/Article/Index/338057

Just reading this on HS and it got me thinking, what dual clubs in each county have a realistic chance of doing the Senior Club Title Double - Football & Hurling.?

Dublin would have the Kilmacud Crokes, Ballyboden, Na Fianna and Cuala.

Others that come to mind are:-
Ratoath - Meath
Naas - Kildare
St Finbarr's - Cork
Loughmore-Castleiney - Tipperary
St Eunan's - Donegal
Slaughtneil - Derry
Moycullen - Galway
Eire Og - Clare

I know there must be a lot of other clubs in this position that dont come to mind immediately..."
Last club to do it in Wexford were St Annes. Shelmaliers, Rapparees-Starlights and St Martins have all come close since insofar as all have won Senior Football and Hurling titles, just not in the same year.
Current dual Senior clubs are Glynn-Barntown, Crossabeg, Shelmaliers, Gorey, and Rapparees-Starlights. Although St Martins, Ferns or St Annes might be dual Senior next year if they win Intermediate Football this year. As might St James or Fethard if they win Intermediate Hurling and stay up Senior in Football.
Rapparees-Starlights play Fethard in the Senior Football relegation final, while Crossabeg are in the Senior Hurling relegation final.
As regards this year only Gorey are still in both the Football and Hurling Senior Championships.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17185 - 03/10/2025 12:17:44    2638349

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Replying To Pikeman96:  "If you're talking a realistic chance of doing a senior double, only real one here in Wexford would be Shelmaliers (from the Castlebridge/Curracloe area, close to Wexford town).

Have to quickly add however that they won't do it this year, as they're already out of the hurling.

But leaving that aside, at the start of each championship season, they'd be seen as realistic contenders for both, and they've won both on a few occasions in the past decade or so:
- Hurling: 2014, 2020
- Football: 2018, 2021, 2023

We have some other clubs who are senior in both codes as well, but realistically, none of them would be seen as genuine contenders for both titles. And while it may sound harsh, some of them wouldn't even be seen as genuine contenders for just one or the other, and are instead regarded as outsiders in both football and hurling."
Cratloe did the double in Clare in 2014, having won the football the year before as well. They narrowly lost the Munster club football final in 2013 to Crokes and got to the Munster club hurling final in 2014, so they were definitely strong in both codes at the time.
I understand they would have been traditionally more of a hurling club, but with Colm Collins and others they developed significantly with the big ball too.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2581 - 03/10/2025 14:02:21    2638361

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Replying To Viking66:  "Last club to do it in Wexford were St Annes. Shelmaliers, Rapparees-Starlights and St Martins have all come close since insofar as all have won Senior Football and Hurling titles, just not in the same year.
Current dual Senior clubs are Glynn-Barntown, Crossabeg, Shelmaliers, Gorey, and Rapparees-Starlights. Although St Martins, Ferns or St Annes might be dual Senior next year if they win Intermediate Football this year. As might St James or Fethard if they win Intermediate Hurling and stay up Senior in Football.
Rapparees-Starlights play Fethard in the Senior Football relegation final, while Crossabeg are in the Senior Hurling relegation final.
As regards this year only Gorey are still in both the Football and Hurling Senior Championships."
Quite a few in Wexford so.
Fair play.

Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 4682 - 03/10/2025 14:30:47    2638366

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Replying To Fionn:  "Quite a few in Wexford so.
Fair play."
A thing to note also about our clubs is that their first teams in both codes have a majority of lads on both teams. Some clubs have nearly all the same lads on their 1st teams in Football and Hurling. There are numerous dual Intermediate clubs down here also, and likewise they have nearly the same first 15s in both codes.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17185 - 03/10/2025 15:04:55    2638369

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Replying To Fionn:  "https://hoganstand.com/Article/Index/338057

Just reading this on HS and it got me thinking, what dual clubs in each county have a realistic chance of doing the Senior Club Title Double - Football & Hurling.?

Dublin would have the Kilmacud Crokes, Ballyboden, Na Fianna and Cuala.

Others that come to mind are:-
Ratoath - Meath
Naas - Kildare
St Finbarr's - Cork
Loughmore-Castleiney - Tipperary
St Eunan's - Donegal
Slaughtneil - Derry
Moycullen - Galway
Eire Og - Clare

I know there must be a lot of other clubs in this position that dont come to mind immediately..."
Padraig Pearses the only club in Ros with a good chance of winning both. Could have done the double in 2020, won the hurling lost the football.

FullOfPorter (Roscommon) - Posts: 390 - 03/10/2025 15:53:32    2638375

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Replying To Fionn:  "Quite a few in Wexford so.
Fair play."
Well, there are quite a few in Wexford who are senior in both codes, or who have won both senior hurling and football over the past decade or so. But it's a different thing to ask how many are realistic contenders in both codes now.

And not to be picking a fight with Viking here, but I stand by my earlier assertion that Shelmaliers are really the only one.

Of the others currently senior in both codes, and no disrespect to any of them:
Glynn-Barntown: relatively weak in senior hurling - e.g. beaten by 20 points in a quarter-final last weekend. Won one senior football all the way back in 1996, and have only reached one final since then (2016). Highly unlikely to be in anybody's list of the top four in either code at the start of each championship.

Crossabeg/Ballymurn: weaker again in senior hurling, and favourites for relegation this year. They'd have some potential in football if they could concentrate on it more, but maybe are in the same position as so many dual clubs in Wexford in having to split their attention between the two, and traditionally having a preference for hurling. From a relatively small area, and realistically, probably punching above their historic weight by being senior in both, when traditionally they'd have been intermediate. And I mean that "punching above their weight" thing in the nicest way possible.

Rapparees/Starlights: for those who don't know - the Enniscorthy town club. They operate as Rapparees in hurling, and Starlights in football. They'd be closest to Shels in terms of being a contender for the double in a good year. Won football in 2017 and '20, and won hurling in '21, but the football end of things in particular has gone back a bit since then. They're in a relegation final this weekend. And like Glynn-Barntown, wouldn't have been in too many people's lists of top four football contenders at the start of the championship.

Naomh Éanna (Gorey): this is only their second year ever in senior football. They're still very much "a hurling club". They're contenders in hurling all right, and will play a semi-final next weekend, but again, not many would have them among the favourites for football at any stage of the year.

Others that Viking mentions:
St Martin's won football in 2013, and hurling in 2017, '19, and '24. Have also been beaten in a couple of hurling finals. But they dropped to intermediate football a while ago, and so obviously aren't contenders for the senior title.

Ditto with St. James' and Fethard, who aren't currently senior in both, and so therefore not contenders in both.

So, all things considered:
- there are five clubs in Wexford who could win a senior double, as they operate at senior in both.
- However, of those five, only one (Shelmaliers) would typically be seen as genuine contenders in both.

Hope Viking agrees that's a fair enough summary of the whole thing and sees I'm really not trying to pick a fight with him!

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3153 - 03/10/2025 16:04:51    2638377

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Celbridge GAA would also field strong teams at both senior codes.

Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 2528 - 03/10/2025 17:32:59    2638387

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Mount Leinster Rangers and Bagenalstown Gaels are the only dual clubs that are senior in both football and hurling in Carlow.

After winning the SHC earlier this year MLR caused a stir when they knocked Eire Og out of the SFC a few weeks ago, and the talk was that the double was on, but then they lost to Bagenalstown in the quarter final. If they didn't play hurling they'd definitely have the players to be good enough to win a SFC every few years but hurling is more important so that puts paid to realistic chances of winning the SFC when up against football only clubs who prepare all year for SFC only.

Bagenalstown could be similar and are in the SFC semi this weekend but they're a long way off winning a SHC even though they remain senior.

Both MLR and Bagenalstown mainly use the same players for hurling and football so its dual players they're calling on. I don't think it's quite the same in bigger town dual clubs e.g. likes of Naas could do a senior double with very few dual players.

Naomh Eoin (Myshall) are the last club in Carlow to do the double in 1986 but that was a golden generation for the them and they're still senior in hurling which is their first love but possibly now heading for junior in football. They will win the SHC again some time for sure but are unlikely to ever challenge seriously for a senior double again.

Onion Breath (Carlow) - Posts: 1670 - 03/10/2025 17:48:06    2638388

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Carnew are in both the Senior Football & Hurling finals in Wicklow this year. They've only come up out of intermediate football last year.

Hawkeye2 (Wicklow) - Posts: 175 - 04/10/2025 01:45:14    2638406

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Replying To Pikeman96:  "Well, there are quite a few in Wexford who are senior in both codes, or who have won both senior hurling and football over the past decade or so. But it's a different thing to ask how many are realistic contenders in both codes now.

And not to be picking a fight with Viking here, but I stand by my earlier assertion that Shelmaliers are really the only one.

Of the others currently senior in both codes, and no disrespect to any of them:
Glynn-Barntown: relatively weak in senior hurling - e.g. beaten by 20 points in a quarter-final last weekend. Won one senior football all the way back in 1996, and have only reached one final since then (2016). Highly unlikely to be in anybody's list of the top four in either code at the start of each championship.

Crossabeg/Ballymurn: weaker again in senior hurling, and favourites for relegation this year. They'd have some potential in football if they could concentrate on it more, but maybe are in the same position as so many dual clubs in Wexford in having to split their attention between the two, and traditionally having a preference for hurling. From a relatively small area, and realistically, probably punching above their historic weight by being senior in both, when traditionally they'd have been intermediate. And I mean that "punching above their weight" thing in the nicest way possible.

Rapparees/Starlights: for those who don't know - the Enniscorthy town club. They operate as Rapparees in hurling, and Starlights in football. They'd be closest to Shels in terms of being a contender for the double in a good year. Won football in 2017 and '20, and won hurling in '21, but the football end of things in particular has gone back a bit since then. They're in a relegation final this weekend. And like Glynn-Barntown, wouldn't have been in too many people's lists of top four football contenders at the start of the championship.

Naomh Éanna (Gorey): this is only their second year ever in senior football. They're still very much "a hurling club". They're contenders in hurling all right, and will play a semi-final next weekend, but again, not many would have them among the favourites for football at any stage of the year.

Others that Viking mentions:
St Martin's won football in 2013, and hurling in 2017, '19, and '24. Have also been beaten in a couple of hurling finals. But they dropped to intermediate football a while ago, and so obviously aren't contenders for the senior title.

Ditto with St. James' and Fethard, who aren't currently senior in both, and so therefore not contenders in both.

So, all things considered:
- there are five clubs in Wexford who could win a senior double, as they operate at senior in both.
- However, of those five, only one (Shelmaliers) would typically be seen as genuine contenders in both.

Hope Viking agrees that's a fair enough summary of the whole thing and sees I'm really not trying to pick a fight with him!"
It is. Although looking at what's coming GB and Gorey might be in that bracket in the coming years. Maybe 5.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17185 - 04/10/2025 11:51:05    2638416

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Replying To Bon:  "Celbridge GAA would also field strong teams at both senior codes."
Oh yep.

Would I be right in thinking that Tullamore and Portlaoise would be the only possibility of a double in their respective counties.?

Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 4682 - 04/10/2025 12:09:49    2638417

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Despite being a dual county, Galway does not have many dual clubs, and those that are are unlikely to challenge for senior titles in both codes. Annaghdown, Athenry and Salthill are examples of dual clubs but they generally are more focused on one code over the other. There are, however, some parishes with separate hurling and football clubs that pull from the same pool of players such as Ahascragh (hurling) and Caltra (football), and Abbeknockmoy (hurling) and Monivea-Abbey (football). Moycullen technically has separate hurling and football clubs even though they use the same grounds. Many players that play both football and hurling play with 2 different clubs. Alan Kerins for example won all ireland club titles with Salthill (football) and Clarinbridge (hurling).

tribesmen (Galway) - Posts: 152 - 05/10/2025 07:42:20    2638496

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