St. Patrick’s Day for many is an excuse to wear green and ingest a variety of emerald-colored libations. Irish immigrants to the U.S. changed the holiday from a religious celebration into one of secular revelry. Today, it’s an opportunity to acknowledge Irish American culture and contributions, like Guinness, Labor Day and Gaelic games. Denver’s Gaelic sports club, the Gaels, has a decades-long history in the city, with a reputation so strong team manager Jessica Fletcher said newcomers seek the team out specifically.
“I actually went looking for the Denver Gaels,” Fletcher said. “I moved over from Ireland and I was looking for some sort of community when I moved over, and I found the Denver Gaels and I was able to just fit right in with all of those people.”
Gaelic games are a collection of traditional sports—hurling, football, Camogie handball and rounders—native to Ireland. Denver is one of more than 50 cities across the U.S. where Gaelic games are organized and played. The Denver Gaels has been a United States County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association-registered team for 28 years, winning five national trophies in that time. Gaels players compete in hurling and Camogie, men’s and women’s Gaelic football and youth sports.
On March 10, members of the teams attended the Runnin’ of the Green race in Washington Park and demonstrated how to play Gaelic football to passersby who watched as Fletcher tossed a white ball—with similar paneling to that of a volleyball—to her women’s Gaelic football teammates. The game is played with 15 players from each team on the pitch, whose primary objective is to drive the ball through or over the goals.
“There’s a very low barrier to entry, right? As long as you can catch the ball and take a few steps with it, then you’re able to play and then those finer skills will come later as you keep playing,” Fletcher said.
Originally from Dublin, Fletcher grew up playing Gaelic games, which have a rich history in Ireland. While the sport of Camogie has only been around since the early 1900s, hurling is thought to predate Christianity, with references going back as far as 1200 B.C.E. Gaelic football, which combines aspects of rugby and soccer and is most similar to Australian rules, dates back to 1670.
“Hurling and football are specifically sports that were tied to Irish nationalism. It made a really big difference in Ireland gaining its independence because there was a time when people didn’t really have a strong association with their Irish roots,” said Denver Gaels club chair Paul Kosempel. “The Gaelic Athletic Association was formed in order to re-energize people around Irish sports, and it was actually a really big historical piece of Ireland gaining its independence.”
Colonizers and their sympathizers discouraged Gaelic games from being played, and there were periods when the games were at risk of dying out. The creation of the Gaelic Athletic Association, or GAA, in the 19th century was key to preserving the sports. Gaelic football and other games were gradually brought over to America by Irish immigrants, establishing GAA-affiliated clubs in major cities. The Denver Gaels are one of the top clubs in the country today. Last year, the women’s Gaelic football team managed to win the national title for the Jr. B division.
“It was a great achievement for us, and we’re so happy,” Fletcher said. “But it means that this year, we have to go up to the Jr. A level. So things are gonna get a little bit tougher, which is why we are really focused this season on training and getting as many games as we can.”
Following the end of the main marathon event in the park, the Gaels packed up their booth and the women’s Gaelic football team transitioned to a nearby field to have a casual “kickaround.” Even though the practice was informal, everyone on the field was fully invested in doing various passing and running drills.
Looking forward to the upcoming Summer season and a tournament in April, Fletcher and her teammates on the women’s Gaelic football team are already thinking about training and matchups.
“I’m still really nervous anytime I get on the field, but I at least know what it looks like now,” said Iris Wu, who joined the team last season. “So I’m really excited for the season. I think we can really ride the momentum of our win last year and put a really good squad together and just have a really, really great team.”
Player Deborah Rhodes said although she tries to say the team isn’t “super competitive,” quite the opposite seemed true as evidenced by their practice after the event. While many on the team are looking forward to the wins, others like Marie Louise Monaghan are there for the camaraderie.
“I am competitive, but I’m not very good, whereas all of my friends have been playing for a long time and are really good,” Monaghan said. “So I mainly just turn up for the craic [good times].”
The one uniting factor for all the ladies is their strong community, a theme that runs through all the Gaelic games.
“It’s a really good social club,” Monaghan said. “I would say when I just moved to America, ‘It was good fun.’ We’ve got pub activities after practice. It’s a good community, especially for expats. It’s welcoming for everyone, but if you’ve just moved here it’s a really good place to meet [people]. All of my close friends and my best friends are from the club.”
The Gaels will spend even more time together preparing for the upcoming season, doing some more recruiting events on St. Patrick’s Day at the Talnua distillery in Arvada and Clancy’s Irish Pub in Wheatridge. They are also hosting a clinic for new players on March 24. In the meantime, there’s a lot of hope for a good season and to grow the community even more.
“We’re really gonna build on the momentum from last year,” said player Taylor “TJ” Jensen. “I think we’re really getting back into some of the more social, community side as well as really the football side too.”
