It was a fairly good year for Louth's youngest GAA club. Though 2007 was only their second season to field teams, Cuchulainn Gaels broke new ground on two significant fronts: they captured their first ever county title and also earned county representation for the first time. Things are picking up nicely for the Carlingford/Omeath outfit. Obviously, expectations were modest regarding Gaeil Cuchulainn's 2007 prospects. After all, the club was fielding for only the second year and they were still seeking a competitive win at adult level. That breakthrough victory duly arrived early in the year and the club built upon it with a series of encouraging displays. Of course, nobody is getting carried away as the Cuchulainns still have a long way to go - but it's a case of so far, so good for the up and coming north Louth club. Cuchulainn Gaels have a great local support and also receive plenty of goodwill from the rest of the county. They have started to win games; they are attracting more players and putting out more teams. Furthermore, they produced their first-ever county player in '07 and also culled a county championship for the first time in their short history. Hardly the most sensational news to break in Louth during the course of the year but nonetheless significant moments in the formative stages of this forward-thinking and admirable club. With much thought and consideration going into developing suitable facilities, the future is looking reasonably bright for Gaeil Cuchulainn. It's notoriously difficult to get a new club up and running but the founding committee has been doing a sterling job thus far and the strong local support the club has generated vindicates the decision to form a GAA club to cater for Carlingford and Omeath. Club secretary John Bruen notes: "It was our second year taking part in competition and we set out to try to consolidate. We wanted to build upon 2006 and we generally had a very good year, particularly at underage level. "Og Sport went very well for us and it really suited us to be getting our U9s, U11s and U13s out on a regular basis. We entered the U14 eleven-a-side competition, which was out first time to take part in an official Minor Board competition. Our U13s then went on to win the U13 'C' Feile title, beating the Clans in the final. That was a landmark success as it was out first ever county title." The club also organised its own Blitz in the summer of 2007, with their U11s coming up trumps. This success was further reward for the hardworking ethos of juvenile coaching that was prominent in the club all year. "We kept the juvenile coaching going on Fridays, looking after players from literally five years old up to U14," says John. How important is it for a club in its infancy to be nurturing and developing underage talent? "It's crucial. We need players for the future and it's important that we get these young players coming through. The Feile was a massive day for everybody. We had a big crowd out supporting our team and you could see that there was a lot of pride in wearing the club jersey, which is encouraging." Such successes are vital. They generate a sense of occasion and offer the club identity. Even a new club needs a history and Cuchulainn Gaels can already claim to have one. The next task facing the committee is to develop facilities. To this end, they are launching a massive fundraising initiative to generate funds towards putting temporary changing room and toilet facilities in place at the current pitch (Omeath Sports Field). Chairman Roddy McQuaid speaks about the fundraising drive: "We're holding a large Christmas draw, with tickets costing 100 euro and 20,000 euro in prizes. We will need about 60,000 euro to put the temporary facilities in place and these are a must now with so many ladies and kids involved in the club. There are no changing room or toilet facilities there at the moment and the closest is five minutes away, so we need to get it sorted. "The tickets are on sale and the response has been good so far. All the players and committee members have tickers available and we've also sent them to all the other clubs in Louth as well as friendly nearby clubs like Burren and Killeavy. We're delighted that these clubs are supporting us. We've secured planning permission for the temporary facilities so we aim to have them up and running by next summer, when the new football season will be in full swing. "The other thing we need to address is to try to acquire land and develop a pitch of our own and a proper clubhouse but this is probably four or five years down the line." The first team was coached in 2007 by former Cooley, Louth and Armagh player Padraig O'Neill, who also lined out. Padraig was assisted on the sideline by Roddy McQuaid and Damien Lynch. John Bruen reflects: "We entered Division 4C again and we won our first three games. The age profile of the team was a bit high and we struggled a bit after that, but it was still nice to get a few wins under our belt. "We were beaten by Glen Emmets in the first round of the junior 2B championship, which was a big disappointment. The game took place in Tullyallen during a lightning storm and we were really disappointed to lose that one. But hopefully we'll have our own facilities in the very near future and we can then take things on from there." The club rounded off its year's activities with a dinner dance in Newry on Friday November 2, followed by its AGM on November 15. With somewhere in the region of 100 adult members, both these occasions were well supported. According to John: "We sold 200 tickets for the dinner dance, which we were happy with. Raising funds in important as it costs a lot of money to keep the various teams going. We're hoping to raise around 50,000 euro from our Christmas draw for temporary facilities, which should keep us going for the time being. "We also set up a ladies team, who played in the junior county league. Considering that only three of the girls had ever played a competitive game before, they did well. They even managed to win a game against Naomh Fionnbarra in Drumcar, which was very well received." John took charge of that team himself alongside former Clans and Louth footballer Gary O'Callaghan. "We know we'll have to step it up next year," he says. "We're also hoping to start an U14 ladies team to really get the whole thing going in 2008." John is delighted with the goodwill the club has received since its genesis: "The response has been fantastic in Omeath and surrounding areas. This region has languished since the early 'seventies, largely down to the troubles. We became isolated and this is the first time in the long time that the entire community has had a project to get involved in." It's not just about football. Culture is an important aspect of the club also. Irish language classes and Irish dancing classes have proven very popular within the club and they even held a round of tin whistle classes. Brid McDonald won an U16 Louth County Board Gaeltacht scholarship and also played for the county U16s. Meanwhile, Chelsea Byler had the distinction of being Gaeil Cuchulainn's first Louth representative when she appeared for the county minors against Wicklow in Greystones at the age of 15. As Gaeil Cuchulainn's continue to break new ground, the future looks decidedly promising. Tweet

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