County: Limerick Colours: Blue and White | Nickname: The Steeplemen Date founded 1884 | |
Grounds: Fr. Hayes Memorial Park, Caherconlish | ||
Caherline GAA (Irish: Cathair Laighin) is a Gaelic Athletic Association hurling club based in County Limerick, Ireland. It is based in the parish of Caherline/Caherconlish in the east division of Limerick GAA.
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History
The club was founded in 1884, making it one of the oldest clubs in county Limerick. The early years of the club were its most successful, winning the Limerick Senior Hurling Championship on three occasions; 1896, 1905 and 1907. Caherline also lost two county finals in this period; in 1898 (When a lack of crowd control caused the match to be abandoned) and in 1908.
By the 1920s Caherline had slipped back to the junior ranks but returned to the limelight in 1927 when winning their first Limerick Junior Hurling Championship by beating Kilmallock in the county final. This was followed by a second junior title in 1931, when once again Kilmallock were beaten in the final.
The club went through lean times after this and were not to appear in another county final until 1974 when Glenroe were the victors in the county junior hurling final. Defeat was to be Caherline's lot once again in the 2001 county junior hurling final, losing out to Newcastlewest. These heartbreaking defeats were consigned to history however, when in 2007 Caherline bridged a 76-year gap and claimed their third junior hurling championship title defeating Effin in the county final.
In 2008 the club played in the county intermediate hurling championship for the first time and exceeded expectations by reaching the county final. However Bruff were to be the victors on this occasion, winning on a scoreline of 3-14 to 0-15 in Ballyagran on October 12, 2008.
The club's stay at intermediate level ended in 2015 when they were beaten by Claughaun in the relegation playoff. Caherline will play junior hurling in 2016 for the first time in nine years.
Caherline enjoyed a long season in their return to the Limerick Junior A hurling championship in 2016. Following a competitive East Championship, the club were crowned East Junior A hurling Champions for the first time since 2007 with a 14 points to 11 win over Ballybricken Bohermore. Had someone told you that Caherline would go on to compete in a further 4 championship matches that year, one may have believed Caherline were destined for county honours. However, despite disposing of Castletown-Ballyagran with ease in the county quarter finals, the club eventually lost out after a trilogy of games against St. Patrick's in the semi finals. These games had everything; last gasp equalisers, extra time, abandonments, red cards over-turned, hard fought comebacks. Eventually, Caherline lost out AET in the second replay on a 1-23 to 3-14 scoreline on the 22nd of October, 2016.
Junior A will be Caherlines lot again for 2017.