Grangegorman / St. Brendans
Grangegorman HC was formed in 1929. Its membership consisted of male staff employed in the hospital. The players would play hockey on Saturdays and soccer or gaelic games on Sunday. The grass pitch in Grangegorman was one of the best in Leinster and was used by the Leinster Branch when most other grass pitches were deemed unplayable.
By the 50’s, the teams were complimented by sons of the founder members. Outsiders were also welcomed into the club.
In 1960, the clubs name was changed to St. Brendans H.C. to coincide with the hospital name change. The club continued tinto the 60’s winning various Junior trophies. One cannot talk about St. Brendans without mentioning Barney McCabe who single handedly kept the club ticking over. He also brought along his two sons, Gerry & Bernard to play, the latter achieved International honours as a goalkeeper.
In the early 70’s, the club as a result of the influx of sons of staff members, together with their friends, formed the nucleus of a very good Junior team and the promise was fulfilled when this team reached an Irish Junior Cup final in 1974 only to be beaten by Lisnagarvey. In 1975, these players formed the backbone of the team that were promoted to the Leinster Senior League. The Gahan’s and the Brennan’s would become outstanding players during our time in the Senior League. The club were now fielding four teams which was an outstanding achievement considering our North inner city location.
In 1981, the club embarked in a recruitment drive to encourage young boys from the local areas to take up the game of hockey. There was some resistance to this at the tme as it was felt by them that only girls played hockey. However, with some persistence from Mick Ryan & Mick Kavanagh, about 15 boys joined the colts section of St. Brendans HC. These boys were joined by Mick Ryan’s two sons Alan & Paul, Albert, Sean & Gordon O’Reilly plus Dessie Farrell. Dessie went on to achieve international honours at under 16 & 18. The highlight of this exercise was when a colts selection comprising eight St. Brendans players managed by Mick Ryan, defeated a schools selection managed by Des Buggy. This event raised a few eyebrows at Leinster Branch level. Most of these lads are still with us and play a vital role at committee level to this day.