Tuam Stars

Infobox GAA club
club gaa = Tuam Stars
irish = Réalta Thuama
crest =
founded = 1887
province= Connacht
county = Galway
nickname = The Stars
colours = Red & White
grounds = Tuam Stadium & Tuam Stars Grounds
f1= 0| f2=1| f3=25

pattern_la=_whitelower|pattern_b=_thinwhitesides|pattern_ra=_whitelower
leftarm= ff0000 |body=ff0000 |rightarm= ff0000|shorts=FFFFFF |socks=ff0000
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Tuam Stars ( _ga. Réalta Thuama) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the Tuam area in County Galway, Ireland. The club is a member of the Galway GAA. Underage teams up to U-16's play in the Galway league and championships. Tuam Stars are a Gaelic football club and are the most successful club in Galway Football's history

Foundation

In December 1887 Tuam's first football club was formed. It was agreed they would play under "association rules" but GAA clubs were springing up everywhere, bouyed by the Nationalist revival sweeping the country. Tuam's sportsman came under pressure to conform but the Tuam Hearld, the local newspaper, was opposed to the new Gaelic version of the game. An excerpt from the opposition of an writer of the newspaper read "There can be no doubt that the hit-or-miss, smashing, dashing, rough and tumble game played under the name Gaelic is not football". The writer recommended that there should have been a campaign by newspapers to insist ona proper code of rules. However such opposition did not stop the club and in February 1889, Tuam Stars was born, ignoring the trend for naming clubs after political heroes of the day. They played their first game on St.Patrick's Day of that year. They soon got the hang of it and by the mid-1890s, they had emerged as the strongest club in Galway.

Early History

Several titles were won by Tuam Stars in the early days of their history and a number of other Clubs reigned in the Town in those days-Tuam Krugers being the most noteworthy. Tuam contributed several players to the County team from their early days to the mid 19th century, most notably Jimmy O'Rourke, Martin Mannion, Tom Sloyan, Mick Stewart, Bill Birrell & Paddy Walsh. Championship success was scant enough during the 1930s but Senior success came again in 1942, 1943 & 1947 with a Minor success in 1945 which included the young "Terrible Twins" - Seán Purcell and Frank Stockwell.

Dominant Force

The 1950s were possibly the greatest and most successful in the history of Tuam Stars. Having won the Minor title in 1950 and 1951, the Seniors hit the top in 1952, lost in 1953 but were back again in 1954 to go on to a record seven in a row. This record sequence was the perfect evidence that the Terrible Twins were wreaking havoc amongst the ranks of Galway football. Purcell and Stockwell along with other Tuam players Jack Mangan, S.Colleran and C.Kelly would go on to win the 1956 All Ireland Football Championship for Galway, defeating Cork 2-13 to 3-7. Chairman of the Club during the 1940s Joe Mooney, was instrumental with Jim Nohilly, local Adm. Fr.Killeen and local traders in setting up the Development of Tuam Stadium, which was opened in 1957. Up to that Tuam Stars headquarters were at Parkmore on the Dublin Road, which the Club now uses as a training ground and plays some of its games.

1960s and 1970s

Tuam lost again in 1961 but were back again to win the Championship in 1962. As Senior Honours dried up, Juvenile/Minor Victories in 1970, 1971, 1973, 1978 and 1979 and Under-21 triumphs in 1972 and 1975 maintained the flow of silverware heading to Tuam. In 1971 Tuam had the honour of two Stars being selected on the first "ALL Star" team - Goalie P.J. Smyth & Right Full Back Johnny Carey of Mayo & Connacht fame. P.J.'s brother, Declan was to Star for Club & County in later years & has just finished a term as Louth Team Manager.

The 1980s

While great efforts were made in the 1970s by men like Pakie Walsh, Michael O'Neill, Brendan Doherty, Fr. Concannon, Neil O'Dea and the late Martin Dunleavy, Senior Honours escaped Tuam from 1962 to 1984. 1984 was a breakthrough year and the excitement in Tuam Stadium was overwhelming as the Cup was raised and Tuam Stars were once again County Champions. The young stock of the 1970s had come through to join up with Joe Kelly, [Oxy Moran] , [http://oxymoran.forumco.com/default.asp] [http://oxymoran.blogspot.com/] Declan Dunne & the evergreen Pat O'Neill, a member of Galway's 1983 All-Ireland final team who lost to Dublin, to beat a fancied Dunmore McHales side. While the "terrible twins" had been on the 1962 team, their sons were now on the 1984 winning team - John Purcell and Francis Stockwell. The team was captained by John Tobin and included Aonghus Murphy who was later killed in the Lebanon while serving with the United Nations peace keeping force. Supported by the Juveniles of the 1970s, the Stars went on to be well represented on Galway County Teams during the 1980s and went on to capture two further Senior titles in 1988 and 1989

1990s - The Glory Of 94

The Connacht Title eluded all our senior winning Teams and 1994 saw a determination creep into the Stars. The panel was boosted the return of Paud O'Dea & Cathal McGinn, who was the captain, from America coupled with the unexpected resumption of football by Jimmy O'Dea after injury. Linking up with their Under 21 mates and blending in with the new bunch made the Stars determined not to settle for just a County title this time around. After winning the County title in style, they travelled to Aughawillan and beat the Leitrim Champions in their own back yard, coming from 5 points behind at half time. With the Connacht title secured, the Stars set their sights on an All-Ireland Title. However, the Derry Champions, Bellaghy put paid to Tuam's hopes in the All-Ireland Semi Final. The success saw the rise of Ja Fallon whose displays in 1998, especially in the second half of the All-Ireland final, should rank him as one of the greatest footballers ever to come out of Galway. Despite the success of that memorable year in 1994, Tuam have not secured another County title since with the closest being the 1995 final defeat to Corofin.

2000 and onwards

The year 2000 saw the Stars Juvenile (under 16) team capture the double, League and Championship, a team undefeated in over 3 years. Tuam Stars were awarded the Juvenile Club of the Year 2000 with the chairman getting the Pa Burke award for the man who did most for football in Co. Galway. The day before the 2001 All-Ireland Final in which Fallon and Galway triumphed, All Ireland success came to Tuam Stars when they captured the Kilmacud All-Ireland Seven A Side competition for the first time. Kevin Reidy managed the team to a great victory. The team played seven games in all winning every one in style, defeating Castleblayney Faughs in the Final in a thrilling game. Tony Costello captained the team. Goalkeeper Michael Ryan was also honoured as the player of the tournament and it was well deserved. These triumphs were firsts for Tuam in the new era, with many more to follow, they hope. The new facilities on Dublin Road were completed in 2006 and are one of the best in the Country. In October 2007, they were featured on the program Grassroots Of The GAA on TV3. It focused mainly on what happens behind the scenes at the Club. The U-16 juvenile team were the only team to secure a title for the club for the 2007 season. They won the Division 1 Shield final against St. James' on home ground on the 23 November 2007 by a scoreline of 1-08 to 0-10.

Honours

*Galway Senior Club Football Championships: 25
**1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1994

*Connacht Senior Club Football Championship: 1
**1994

*County Senior Football Leagues: 14
**1952, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980

*Galway Minor Football Club Championships: 11
**1945,1950,1957, 1970,1971, 1972,1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983

* U-21 County Championship: 7
**1972, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1994, 2003

*County Junior Football Championships: 15
**1907, 1911,1915, 1916, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1984, 2004

*North Board Junior Championship Finals: 8
**1915, 1916, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1984,2000, 2004

*Kilmacud All-Ireland 7 a Side: 1
**2001

Famous Players - Past & Present

Brian Talty - Dublin team selector and All-Ireland runner-up with Galway in 1983

C.Kelly - All-Ireland Medal Winner with Galway in 1956

Frank Stockwell - All-Ireland Medal Winner with Galway in 1956 and member of the Galway Team of the Millennium

Jack Mangan - Captain of the Galway All-Ireland Winning team of 1956

Jarlath Fallon - All-Ireland Medal Winner with Galway in 1998 and 2001

Johnny Carey - 1971 All-Star winner

Pat O'Neill - All-Ireland runner-up with Galway in 1983

Paul Doherty - Current Inter-County Goalkeeper for Galway

P.J. Smyth - 1971 All-Star winner

Seamus Colleran - All-Ireland Medal Winner with Galway in 1956

Seán Purcell - All-Ireland Medal Winner with Galway in 1956 and member of the GAA Team of the Century and GAA and Galway Teams of the Millennium

External links

* [http://www.tuamstars.com/]