Castlegregory GAA

Castlegregory are a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the parish of Castlegregory in Kerry, Ireland. This is a Gaelic football only club, with no hurling played. The club is a member of the West Kerry division of Kerry GAA. They play their home games in the newly renovated surrounds of Pairc An Caislean located just outside the parish's main village of the same name.The club fields teams at all age groups from U10 through to Senior and has an excellent record at underage level with regular representation on county teams from U16 - U21.Many Castlegregory players have been honoured at Munster Colleges level with Tralee CBS and at Sigerson Cup level with various third level institutions. The success of the outstanding Micheál O'Shea with UCC stands out in the minds of most along with Seán Mahoney with ITT.HistoryFootball was played in Castlegregory long before the GAA was founded in 1884. The game of Caid was played in the parish of Castlegregory long before, and even after, the foundation of the GAA in Thurles in 1884. Caid itself seems to have been a combination of rough and tumble football and cross country running - the contestants being teams from neighbouring parishes.One such game took place between Castle and Cloghane in 1886 at Dowling's Big Field in Stradbally with both sides claiming victory. A replay finally took place 2 years later with Cloghane winning. A local balladeer recalled the game in a song called "The Kickers of Lios na Caol Bhuidhe" which contains the immortal line: "..they'd kick all before them from here to Tralee" Another line recounts events when the game became a little too robust: "The referee, with his whistle, was up on top a tree".!!!