National Forum

Meath Christy Ring Champions

(Oldest Posts First)

Comprehensive win over Down today. We are now ranked higher then ofally in hurling and up to the Mcdonagh Cup. Lots of potential for hurling development in Meath as we already have a base but many big football clubs that have potential to grow hurling. Great to see and can't wait to see how we get on next year.

Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 22/06/2019 16:17:10    2198596

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First trophy of the weekend!

RoyalBadger (Meath) - Posts: 571 - 22/06/2019 16:53:40    2198608

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Tis about time ye won something up there.
Sure down wouldn't be a whole pile at hurling in fairness and Offaly are a disaster at the minute.

catch22 (USA) - Posts: 2148 - 22/06/2019 17:10:23    2198614

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Congratulations to Meath!

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7821 - 22/06/2019 17:10:41    2198615

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Congratulations enjoy it and enjoy next year too come what may. Hope ye give em hell

Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1236 - 22/06/2019 17:17:39    2198616

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Great win for us royals, we are now in the race for Liam McCarthy via joe McDonagh cup next year, bring it on.

Royal.Legend (Meath) - Posts: 665 - 22/06/2019 17:24:50    2198618

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According to a recent article by sports journo Michael Foley the populations of Meath, Kildare & Wicklow have grown by 561% since 1971 but surprisingly outside of Dublin there's been a fall off in player registrations throughout Leinster.

As Meath are showing there's an appetite for hurling in the so-called weaker counties that needs to be exploited. At the risk of igniting another perceived 'Dublin-get-all-the-money' debate it does seem to suggest that now is the time to invest heavily (financially) in those counties and get more kids playing the game.

Congrats to the Royal. Onwards and upwards

Maroonatic (Galway) - Posts: 1060 - 22/06/2019 17:53:04    2198622

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Replying To Royal.Legend:  "Great win for us royals, we are now in the race for Liam McCarthy via joe McDonagh cup next year, bring it on."
A very very rare AI championship appearance in change kit for Limerick when we meet in the final. :)

Cant think of any other occasion unless we had to against London lonf ago in whenever BC

Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1236 - 22/06/2019 17:53:58    2198623

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Replying To Maroonatic:  "According to a recent article by sports journo Michael Foley the populations of Meath, Kildare & Wicklow have grown by 561% since 1971 but surprisingly outside of Dublin there's been a fall off in player registrations throughout Leinster.

As Meath are showing there's an appetite for hurling in the so-called weaker counties that needs to be exploited. At the risk of igniting another perceived 'Dublin-get-all-the-money' debate it does seem to suggest that now is the time to invest heavily (financially) in those counties and get more kids playing the game.

Congrats to the Royal. Onwards and upwards"
While I'm delighted we won, how does Meath winning the Christy Ring show that "there's an appetite for hurling in the so called weaker counties". Someone has to win the cup each year, and this year it happened to be Meath. We haven't proven anything or made any huge statement by doing so.

I may look miserable in saying it, but it's the same with the patronising crap you see about Leitrim, Sligo, Fermanagh etc. when they win the Lory Meagher. There's the token blather about "great strides made in X county hurling" and "shows how much they love their hurling up there" but in reality it's just a 5th tier team beating another 5th tier team. Some 5th tier county had to win it, it just happened to be them that year.

Since the CR, NR and LM cups were introduced, I think every lower tier county bar Wicklow, Monaghan and Cavan have won a national hurling championship title. Each of these wins has gotten the commentary of "passionate about hurling" and "shows the work they put in", but in contrast to these annual platitudes I don't think anyone can say there's been a nationwide lift in hurling spread or quality. Aside from the likes of Carlow, Westmeath, Kerry etc. catching up with Offaly and Antrim, there's been almost no narrowing of the gap.

A lot of counties need both internal and external work and support to make true the rosy picture people love to paint about hurling in some counties.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1643 - 22/06/2019 19:16:20    2198644

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Replying To Maroonatic:  "According to a recent article by sports journo Michael Foley the populations of Meath, Kildare & Wicklow have grown by 561% since 1971 but surprisingly outside of Dublin there's been a fall off in player registrations throughout Leinster.

As Meath are showing there's an appetite for hurling in the so-called weaker counties that needs to be exploited. At the risk of igniting another perceived 'Dublin-get-all-the-money' debate it does seem to suggest that now is the time to invest heavily (financially) in those counties and get more kids playing the game.

Congrats to the Royal. Onwards and upwards"
I get your general point although your figures are are a bit off (Meaths population increased by 172% between 1971 census and 2016 census where as the 26 counties population as a whole has increased by 59%). Funny thing is about Meath is there is actually more hurling clubs in south Meath than many outside south Meath realise. The most effective way to bring Meath up in hurling would be to invest in coaching in in a few secondary schools in south Meath. I'm sure it is a similar story in a number of similar counties.

bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1337 - 22/06/2019 19:16:31    2198645

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Well done to the Hurlers, hopefully this is a good omen :-)

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 22/06/2019 19:29:42    2198647

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The thing people miss about population growths in Meath and Kildare is the demographic is not Meath or Kildare GAA people. It's a lot of immigrants and migrants, many in blue jerseys. Now if the GAA had any interest in growing the sport of hurling they might invest in Meath hurling and grow the potential. However I suspect they'll keep investing in Dublin Hurling after all they are deserving of out of ratio investment and any opinion to the contrary is begrudgery

jonno (Kildare) - Posts: 260 - 22/06/2019 19:57:03    2198659

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Replying To CastleBravo:  "While I'm delighted we won, how does Meath winning the Christy Ring show that "there's an appetite for hurling in the so called weaker counties". Someone has to win the cup each year, and this year it happened to be Meath. We haven't proven anything or made any huge statement by doing so.

I may look miserable in saying it, but it's the same with the patronising crap you see about Leitrim, Sligo, Fermanagh etc. when they win the Lory Meagher. There's the token blather about "great strides made in X county hurling" and "shows how much they love their hurling up there" but in reality it's just a 5th tier team beating another 5th tier team. Some 5th tier county had to win it, it just happened to be them that year.

Since the CR, NR and LM cups were introduced, I think every lower tier county bar Wicklow, Monaghan and Cavan have won a national hurling championship title. Each of these wins has gotten the commentary of "passionate about hurling" and "shows the work they put in", but in contrast to these annual platitudes I don't think anyone can say there's been a nationwide lift in hurling spread or quality. Aside from the likes of Carlow, Westmeath, Kerry etc. catching up with Offaly and Antrim, there's been almost no narrowing of the gap.

A lot of counties need both internal and external work and support to make true the rosy picture people love to paint about hurling in some counties."
What would you prefer what hurling has now

Or

A 32 county champs which only a few can win like in football. How do we narrow the gap. Is it possible to show me a sport where 32teams routinely share the spoils in the top tier or a prolonged period in GAA history wben it happened

Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1236 - 22/06/2019 20:01:22    2198661

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Replying To Breezy:  "
Replying To CastleBravo:  "While I'm delighted we won, how does Meath winning the Christy Ring show that "there's an appetite for hurling in the so called weaker counties". Someone has to win the cup each year, and this year it happened to be Meath. We haven't proven anything or made any huge statement by doing so.

I may look miserable in saying it, but it's the same with the patronising crap you see about Leitrim, Sligo, Fermanagh etc. when they win the Lory Meagher. There's the token blather about "great strides made in X county hurling" and "shows how much they love their hurling up there" but in reality it's just a 5th tier team beating another 5th tier team. Some 5th tier county had to win it, it just happened to be them that year.

Since the CR, NR and LM cups were introduced, I think every lower tier county bar Wicklow, Monaghan and Cavan have won a national hurling championship title. Each of these wins has gotten the commentary of "passionate about hurling" and "shows the work they put in", but in contrast to these annual platitudes I don't think anyone can say there's been a nationwide lift in hurling spread or quality. Aside from the likes of Carlow, Westmeath, Kerry etc. catching up with Offaly and Antrim, there's been almost no narrowing of the gap.

A lot of counties need both internal and external work and support to make true the rosy picture people love to paint about hurling in some counties."
What would you prefer what hurling has now

Or

A 32 county champs which only a few can win like in football. How do we narrow the gap. Is it possible to show me a sport where 32teams routinely share the spoils in the top tier or a prolonged period in GAA history wben it happened"
I'm not arguing against tiered structures, I'm arguing against the notion that one county winning one tier once is evidence of anything.

The way Sligo have won the Lory Meagher and Nicky Rackard in 2 years is more likely to be evidence that they've put in hard work and have improved as a team.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1643 - 22/06/2019 20:09:49    2198665

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Replying To CastleBravo:  "
Replying To Breezy:  "[quote=CastleBravo:  "While I'm delighted we won, how does Meath winning the Christy Ring show that "there's an appetite for hurling in the so called weaker counties". Someone has to win the cup each year, and this year it happened to be Meath. We haven't proven anything or made any huge statement by doing so.

I may look miserable in saying it, but it's the same with the patronising crap you see about Leitrim, Sligo, Fermanagh etc. when they win the Lory Meagher. There's the token blather about "great strides made in X county hurling" and "shows how much they love their hurling up there" but in reality it's just a 5th tier team beating another 5th tier team. Some 5th tier county had to win it, it just happened to be them that year.

Since the CR, NR and LM cups were introduced, I think every lower tier county bar Wicklow, Monaghan and Cavan have won a national hurling championship title. Each of these wins has gotten the commentary of "passionate about hurling" and "shows the work they put in", but in contrast to these annual platitudes I don't think anyone can say there's been a nationwide lift in hurling spread or quality. Aside from the likes of Carlow, Westmeath, Kerry etc. catching up with Offaly and Antrim, there's been almost no narrowing of the gap.

A lot of counties need both internal and external work and support to make true the rosy picture people love to paint about hurling in some counties."
What would you prefer what hurling has now

Or

A 32 county champs which only a few can win like in football. How do we narrow the gap. Is it possible to show me a sport where 32teams routinely share the spoils in the top tier or a prolonged period in GAA history wben it happened"
I'm not arguing against tiered structures, I'm arguing against the notion that one county winning one tier once is evidence of anything.

The way Sligo have won the Lory Meagher and Nicky Rackard in 2 years is more likely to be evidence that they've put in hard work and have improved as a team."]Donegal won several championships in hurling. It hasn't changed anything in the county. There are no senior hurling clubs west of Glenveagh. The sport will only grow when more clubs are established. Young people will only focus on the sports available to them. Small pockets of hurling strongholds are not enough to sustain the development of hurling in the weaker counties.

Hawkeye9212 (Donegal) - Posts: 266 - 22/06/2019 21:58:49    2198732

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Also kildare have won 2 Christy Ring cups the last few years yet the standard of hurling in the county has never been so poor. Clubs that would at one time or another have won senior championships having to amalgamate at under age to field teams. Even playing at our level in the Christy Ring during Joe Quaid's reign had well documented struggles with lack of interest from an awful amount of county standard players.
The tiered system is without doubt the fairest system available but as other posters have pointed out this does not point to the growth or the progression of the game but merely teams finding their own level.

Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 1898 - 22/06/2019 22:30:17    2198748

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Congratulations Meath!

Trump2020 (Galway) - Posts: 2113 - 22/06/2019 23:13:33    2198770

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Replying To Bon:  "Also kildare have won 2 Christy Ring cups the last few years yet the standard of hurling in the county has never been so poor. Clubs that would at one time or another have won senior championships having to amalgamate at under age to field teams. Even playing at our level in the Christy Ring during Joe Quaid's reign had well documented struggles with lack of interest from an awful amount of county standard players.
The tiered system is without doubt the fairest system available but as other posters have pointed out this does not point to the growth or the progression of the game but merely teams finding their own level."
There is massive potential to grow hurling in our counties. The GAA need to stop obsessing over growing it in Tallaght, Adamstown or Abboystown. Kildare and Meath have so many big schools and clubs where the numbers playing hurling are either zero or very low. It was a proud day being in Croker yesterday knowing we're back in the preliminary competition for the Liam Mccarthy.

Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 23/06/2019 14:16:56    2198962

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Replying To Jack_Goff:  "There is massive potential to grow hurling in our counties. The GAA need to stop obsessing over growing it in Tallaght, Adamstown or Abboystown. Kildare and Meath have so many big schools and clubs where the numbers playing hurling are either zero or very low. It was a proud day being in Croker yesterday knowing we're back in the preliminary competition for the Liam Mccarthy."
They certainly scored a lot more than your big ball men who want to burn every Caman in the county.Meath have improved a lot in the last number of years but so have the Mcdonagh teams.Its not going to happen overnight but Dublin with all their population didn't do it overnight.The best measure of Hurling improvement in tiers 2 and 3 is Offaly going straight from McCarthy to Christy

jobber (Westmeath) - Posts: 1445 - 24/06/2019 00:26:36    2199553

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Replying To jobber:  "They certainly scored a lot more than your big ball men who want to burn every Caman in the county.Meath have improved a lot in the last number of years but so have the Mcdonagh teams.Its not going to happen overnight but Dublin with all their population didn't do it overnight.The best measure of Hurling improvement in tiers 2 and 3 is Offaly going straight from McCarthy to Christy"
yeah...the person who said about burning the hurleys had the same surname as the meath manager yesterday too...bit of karma now

preddan (Kildare) - Posts: 733 - 24/06/2019 13:13:53    2199877

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