The Exiles · since 1914
From Irish soldiers playing hurling on Ascot Heath in 1781 to silverware at Croke Park in 2025 — the story of New York is inseparable from the story of Irish America and the GAA itself.
On 31 May 2025, New York lifted the Lory Meagher Cup after beating Cavan 4-17 to 2-17 — the first time a New York side had won silverware at GAA headquarters. David Mangan scored 1-7, including a penalty. Six weeks later, on 13 July, the footballers completed a three-in-a-row of All-Ireland Junior Football titles at the same venue, with Brian Coughlan kicking nine points in a 0-20 to 2-13 win over London.
On 6 May 2023, New York and Leitrim shared 0-14 apiece at Gaelic Park in the Connacht Senior Football Championship. New York won 5-4 on penalties — the first Connacht SFC win since the county entered the competition in 1999. Later that summer the footballers would lift the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship for the first time, beginning a three-in-a-row.
Larry McCarthy, a stalwart of Sligo New York and decades of administrative service, was elected the 40th president of the GAA in 2021 — the first ever to be based outside Ireland. His term, running to 2024, put a New York voice at the centre of the association and reinforced the overseas unit's role in the modern game.
At the urging of Canon Michael Hamilton and with the backing of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera, the All-Ireland Senior Football Final was played at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. Cavan beat Kerry 2-11 to 2-7 in front of 34,941 spectators. It remains the only All-Ireland Senior Football Final ever held outside Ireland — and it crystallised New York's place in the heart of the association. Original newsreel highlights survive; watch the Cavan captain John Joe O'Reilly lift Sam Maguire in Manhattan.
Watch on YouTubeGaelic games have been played in New York since at least 1781, when Irish soldiers held a recorded hurling match on Ascot Heath — open ground in what is now Brooklyn. Mass post-Famine emigration brought the sport firmly into the city, and by 1857 the Irish Hurling and Football Club had been founded: the first structured Gaelic club in the United States.
The New York County Board was formally constituted in 1914, the first North American county of the GAA. Its inaugural championships in 1915 set a structure that still frames competition today. The board has since weathered two World Wars, the Great Depression, the 1990s Celtic Tiger return migration, and the long reshaping of Irish America — and has emerged, in its second century, stronger than at any time in its history.
Today the board oversees 52 affiliated clubs playing football, hurling, camogie and ladies football across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Yonkers, Rockland and New Jersey. Its home remains Gaelic Park in the Bronx; its youth programmes, ~3,000 players strong, are now headquartered at Redmond Park in Yonkers. It competes within the Connacht province and, in 2025, lifted its first silverware at Croke Park.
A snapshot of New York GAA today.
Irish soldiers serving with the British Army stage what is believed to be the first organised hurling match in the city, at Ascot Heath — an open area in what is now Brooklyn. Tavern keepers and military men keep the game alive among the earliest Irish arrivals.
The first structured Gaelic football and hurling club in the city is founded, marking the beginning of organised competition. Over the next half-century, waves of post-Famine Irish emigration swell the sport's popularity across the boroughs.
Amid a thriving scene of Irish sport, the New York Gaelic Athletic Association is formally constituted as the city's first official county board — the first North American county of the GAA, thirty years after the association was founded in Thurles.
The board organises its first senior football and hurling championships, drawing participants from a wave of emerging county-affiliated clubs and setting the structure that still frames New York GAA competition today.
Following its 1926 purchase, Gaelic Park — at 240th Street and Broadway, adjacent to Manhattan College — opens its gates. It becomes the permanent home of New York GAA and the spiritual centre of the overseas game.
The only All-Ireland Senior Football Final ever staged outside Ireland is played at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. Cavan defeat Kerry 2-11 to 2-7 in front of 34,941 spectators — a day that crystallises New York's place in the heart of the GAA.
New York hurlers defeat Wexford, then one of the strongest hurling counties in Ireland, claiming the St. Brendan Cup in a signature mid-century victory.
The association marks 50 years of organised play with a packed calendar of visiting All-Ireland champions and exhibition matches — a high-water mark for Irish-American participation.
A New York hurling selection beats reigning All-Ireland champions Kilkenny over a two-leg series to win the World Championship Cup — still spoken of as one of the most famous exile wins in GAA history.
The New York Minor Board is established to govern underage Gaelic games after earlier youth league attempts had stalled. Today the board oversees around 3,000 young players aged 4–18 across 13 clubs in the tri-state area.
The Ladies Gaelic Football Association of New York (LGFANY) is founded by a group of Irish expatriates, with the first championship final held at Van Cortlandt Park. It remains the only LGFA county board outside Ireland and the UK.
New York win the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship — the first All-Ireland title ever won by an overseas unit.
Larry McCarthy of Sligo New York becomes the 40th president of the GAA, and the first ever to be based outside Ireland. His three-year term to 2024 puts a New York voice at the centre of the association.
New York end a 24-year wait for a Connacht Senior Football Championship win, drawing Leitrim 0-14 to 0-14 at Gaelic Park and winning 5-4 on penalties. In the same year they lift the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship for the first time — the start of a three-in-a-row.
Redmond Park opens in Yonkers — the first permanent home for the New York Minor Board. The $3 million development adds floodlit pitches, training areas and community spaces built to serve nearly 3,000 underage players.
New York complete a historic double at Croke Park. On 31 May the hurlers lift the Lory Meagher Cup, beating Cavan 4-17 to 2-17 with David Mangan scoring 1-7. On 13 July the footballers complete a three-in-a-row of All-Ireland Junior Football titles, edging London 0-20 to 2-13 with Brian Coughlan kicking nine points.
A small selection of openly-licensed images from Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress, and Flickr Commons.
The Polo Grounds in 1923 — decades before it hosted the 1947 All-Ireland Final.
Bain News Service / Library of Congress · Public Domain
Exterior of the Polo Grounds in the early 20th century.
Detroit Publishing Co. / Library of Congress · Public Domain
Aerial view of the Polo Grounds, 1921 — the distinctive bathtub shape.
Associated Press / Wikimedia Commons · Public Domain
A panoramic view of Gaelic Park, the Bronx.
Hugo L. Gonzalez / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
A young Larry McCarthy in 1975, years before emigrating to New York.
Glucksman Library, University of Limerick / Flickr Commons · CC0 1.0
A UCD Gaelic football team at Dublin Airport en route to Gaelic Park.
Bgaughran / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
