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Post date: Jun 30, 2018 7:31:43 AM
Every parish was involved and matches were, in many cases, held at venues never before nor since used for the purpose. It all ran entirely without major incident and forced the abandonment of the requirement to seek a license to play a GAA match. This event, more than any other, galvanised the GAA as a major cultural and social force and is one of the key foundation stones of what is the most successful amateur sports organisation in the world today. It became known as Gaelic Sunday.
GAELIC SUNDAY
There is more information in relation to Gaelic Sunday set out below;
Many thanks to Brendan Berry for passing on the clippings from the Midland Tribune on the 3rd of August 1918 that mentions the games to be played in the Edenderry Area on Gaelic Sunday. Edenderry were fixed to play Clonmore as well in football also played Tullamore in Hurling at Rhode.
In the coming weeks we will be releasing more information in relation to the event and on Thursday 26th July Dr. Ciaran Reilly will host a lecture at Edenderry GAA that will touch on Gaelic Sunday and also revisit some great games between Edenderry & Rhode over the years.
With the generous co-operation of Rhode GAA & Offaly GAA we are delighted to announce that the opening fixture will be Rd. 5 of the Offaly Senior Football Championship. This promises to be an exciting fixture and will be made all the more special by the fact that it will be 100 years to the day since both clubs played in their Gaelic Sunday Fixture.
Following many years of hard work Edenderry GAA will Officially Open its new grounds at Weavers Fields. The Grounds are being sponsored by Rosderra Irish Meats and will be named Rosderra Weavers Fields.
Gaelic Sunday as it became known, took place on August 4, 1918 and was possibly the most successful peaceful protest ever held anywhere in the first half of the 20th century. In 1918, the British authorities in Ireland had tried to impose conscription to supplement the war effort as hostilities in Europe were coming to a crescendo. There was massive opposition to this in Ireland, particularly following the execution of the leaders of the Easter Rising only two years earlier. There was great frustration on behalf of the British authorities at this opposition and, sensing a growth in hostility and a rise in nationalist fervor, they looked at what might be helping to cause it. The GAA and its followers were identified as being among the causes of their difficulties. As a result, efforts were made to frustrate the GAA at every turn. Excursion trains to big matches were prevented from happening and the GAA was forced to apply for a license for every match they held. This, the GAA frankly refused to do. The issue came to a head on July 9th when an Ulster championship match was prevented from taking place in Cootehill by a huge RIC presence, who surrounded the field, preventing entry. It was agreed by the GAA after this and other provocative encounters between players and the authorities to hold a GAA club match in every parish in Ireland at precisely the same time- 3 pm on Sunday August 4. The protest was far more successful than could ever have been imagined and an estimated 54,000 players played a match with over 100,000 watching across the entir island.
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