The birth of Eastern Gaels was driven in the main by just three words - Capacity, Opportunity and Participation.  The founding members recognised a real need for additional capacity and facilities for the playing and promotion of Gaelic games in East Meath.  They recognised a real need to give our rapidly growing community as much opportunity as possible to play our games and be part of an amazing organisation.  They recognised that the result of increased capacity and opportunity would lead to increased participation in our games.

The catchment area here in East Meath has a population approaching 30,000.  Since the early 1970s there has been one club in the area, St Colmcilles.  They have done fine work but the population explosion here over the last twenty five years has placed even greater pressure on scarce resources.  The founders of Eastern Gaels are all lifelong GAA members and recognised that the situation in East Meath was not healthy for Gaelic games and with an ever-growing population was only going to get worse. 

 

Eastern Gaels applied for membership of Meath GAA in September 2022.  The County Board convened a sub committee, led by Iar Uachtarán Liam O’Neill, to examine the viability of our club.  During the period late 2022 to early 2023 we travelled to the vast majority of Meath’s GAA clubs and met with their members to outline our ambitions and hopes.  We presented to the sub committee in late December 2022 and they subsequently endorsed our application.  Following a vote at the County Board meeting of 2 February 2023, Eastern Gaels were very proud to be affiliated as Meath’s newest GAA club and the first since 1965.

 

On Monday, 20 March, Eastern Gaels became the 45th member of Meath LGFA following our ratification at a committee meeting. Our club operates a One Club structure with a single brand, a common strategy with shared resources for facilities, fundraising and coaching, as well as promoting inclusivity, equality and a unified approach to Gaelic games development across all codes and genders.

 

Eastern Gaels quickly delivered on our promise to provide additional playing facilities in East Meath when we secured a lease on land in Tower Road, Mornington.  The site had hosted a local GAA team, Réalt na Mara, over fifty years previously.  With significant investment by members of our club, the land was ploughed and a future pitch was re-seeded.  The field was used for training and for our Academy during 2023 and 2024.  

 

In April of 2025 goalposts were erected and the pitch was marked, thus returning the field back to its previous use as a Gaelic games pitch, after a hiatus of half a century.  Páirc Réalt na Mara is only the second full-sized GAA pitch in our East Meath catchment area.

 

Eastern Gaels recognise that the future of our club rests in the youth of this area.  In April 2023, just two months after our affiliation, we launched our Little Stars Academy.  The Academy caters for children from age 5-11 and we have been active in Go Games since our inception.  During the Summer months our underage teams visit and host a number of clubs in Louth and Dublin as well as Meath.

 

We continue to grow the Academy but face huge challenges from other sports, especially soccer and rugby.  In 2026 we are delighted to have an U12 team competing in the Meath GAA Development Leagues and are growing our numbers consistently.  Our U10s and U8s are also progressing and involved in competitive games consistently. Our ambition is to develop teams from u12 upwards to compete in Meath County Board competitions on an annual basis.  

 

Eastern Gaels are also keen to promote hurling in our club.  As our numbers increase we will incorporate more hurling activity into our Academy.

 

We recognise that the real opportunity for the growth of our club is in East Meath schools.  There are 500 children entering the school system in our area each year and 350 leaving at the other end.  These numbers will continue to grow but the current participation rates in Gaelic games are very low.  There are five National Schools in the area and we have been active in four of them with our very own Schools Coaching Programme over the last couple of years.  Eastern Gaels are very pleased to have been financially assisted by Romar Energy in providing the Schools Programme, which sees two coaches operating in our schools throughout the Academic year.

 

Eastern Gaels have our own schools website which can be viewed here  https://clubandschoolgaa.wordpress.com/

 

One of our core aspirations is to re engage the many players locally who have stopped playing Gaelic games.  This has proved a challenging aspiration.  Difficulties with transfers have hampered our progress but we have a core of both young and not so young players who are enjoying the experience of Gaelic games – some returning to playing, with others enjoying it for the first time.  

 

As a new club in an existing ‘catchment area’ the first club rule has impacted us heavily, and negatively.  While the rule seeks to protect smaller clubs it would appear to work in the reverse for small clubs in our situation.  It is an issue that we have broached with the Demographics Committee and one that we feel will need to be examined carefully if new clubs in large urban areas are to be feasible and viable.  

 

Our adult team has participated in the Meath Junior B Championship since 2023.  Our League results have been encouraging and in 2026 we missed out on a League final on the head to head rule.  The Championship has proved more challenging as we are pitted against the first teams of our opponents, most of whom are several League Divisions above us.  But as our numbers grow and our players continue to develop and improve, we are hopeful of making a Championship breakthrough in the not too distant future.   

 

Eastern Gaels are delighted that our Ladies have given the club some of our greatest days in our short life to date.  The team played our club’s first ever game - a friendly in Castletown – and a very memorable occasion.  In our maiden year the Ladies won the Meath LGFA F Championship with a thrilling final win over Dee Rangers in October 2023.  

 

The Ladies also had the honour of playing the first competitive match in Páirc Réalt na Mara in April 2025 when they overcame Moynalvey in a pulsating League encounter.

We were very proud when Emma O’Sullivan became our first county representative, when she was selected as part of the Meath minor squad in 2024 and subsequently played for the Meath U20s in 2026. 

The Ladies section continues to grow and the team are hoping to do well in the Championship this year.

Gaelic4Girls (G4G)
In early 2026, Eastern Gaels were delighted to be chosen as one of just 23 clubs to host the 2026 LGFA Gaelic4Girls (G4G) programme, sponsored by Glenveagh Homes.  

G4G is a 10-week programme incorporating coaching sessions with fun non-competitive blitzes aimed at increasing participation in Ladies Gaelic Football. 

As part of the programme, our club was also delighted to be visited by Meath LGFA captain and G4G Ambassador Niamh Gallogly in early May.  Niamh was a huge hit with the girls and it was another memorable day in Mornington.

 G4G, which commenced on 6 March 2026 was such a resounding success that it did not stop there.  The girls continued training, developing their skills and another huge milestone for the club was reached when the girls played a first ever competitive game against Duleek-Bellewstown on 26 June.

The girls section continues to grow and the club intends to have underage teams competing in Meath LGFA competition during 2026.

Our club met with Benny Hurl and his National Committee on Demographics in June 2024 and outlined our progress and the challenges we have faced as a new club in a rapidly growing area. Eastern Gaels were delighted to feature prominently when the Demographics Committee's Report No One Shouted Stop - Until Nowwas published in December 2025.

We feel that our real and lived experiences can be of great use to Croke Park in dealing with the challenges facing the GAA as outlined in the above report.

We continue to make great progress as a young club and have overcome a number of stiff challenges in our first couple of years.  There are unique challenges faced by new clubs not least in building a membership from nothing and inculcating a sense of identity in the community and building a strong and healthy culture. We feel we have made good progress in this regard in a short time frame and in an increasingly challenging social environment.  

 

There are also of course huge financial challenges facing a new club and have shared our views with GAA HQ about the creation of a dedicated funding stream for such clubs and consideration around issues such as registration fees, membership and other onerous financial obligations. 

Eastern Gaels' purpose is to promote Gaelic games, culture and lifelong participation as a community-based volunteer-led organisation which enriches lives and the East Meath community, while our vision is to create a club that exemplifies the best of all that is the GAA and to ensure full engagement and involvement by our local community.

 

We look forward to working closely with the Meath County Board, Leinster GAA and Croke Park in the coming time to build on the strong foundations we have laid since February 2023.

If you would like to get involved in Meath and Ireland's newest club see here https://easterngaels.ie/contact

 

 

2 February 2023  Eastern Gaels affiliated as Meath GAA’s 61st and newest club and first since 1965

20 March 2023  Eastern Gaels Ladies affiliated as Meath LGFA’s 45th club
 
23 April 2023  Our Little Stars Academy opens in Mornington
 
13 May 2023  First ever game when the Ladies played Castletown
 
5 July 2023  Ladies first competitive win against Walterstown in Masita Cup
   
16 July 2023  Men make Junior B Championship debut v Cortown in Seneschalstown
 
September 2023  Our first Schools Coaching Programme starts in local schools

22 October 2023  Ladies beat Dee Rangers in Grangegodden to win Meath LGFA F Championship
   
11 January 2024   Emma O’Sullivan becomes the first Gaels player to be selected for intercounty panel when named in Meath Ladies minor squad.  Emma also played for the Meath u20s in 2026
 
23 March 2024  Men play first ever League game in St Vincent’s, Ardcath
 
6 April 2024  Visit of Bective Cannistown GFC to Mornington as we hosted our first ever Go Games

5 April 2025  First game in over 50 years takes place in Pairc Réalt na Mara, Mornington when Ladies entertain Moynalvey

19 April 2025  Men enjoy first ever away League win with victory in Moylagh
 
22 April 2025  Memorable first ever home League game for men with a famous win over Boardsmill in a deluge in Mornington

7 September 2025  Historic visit of Uachtaran Jarlath Burns to our home grounds at Pairc Réalt na Mara

 
8 May 2026   Meath LGFA Captain Niamh Gallogly visits Mornington as part of the Gaelic 4 Girls (G4G)  programme

26 June 2026  Eastern Gaels girls take to the pitch for a first ever fixture against Duleek-Bellewstown.