FOR more than three decades, the Holloway Gaels GAA club has provided a lifeline for Irish women in London through football and friendship.
Now, after winning the All-Britain Championship last year, the club is preparing for a new campaign as this year’s championship gets underway in just a few weeks.
Chairperson Anne Marie Dargan, who moved from County Meath to London in 1995, has seen the club grow from humble beginnings into one of the most respected ladies' Gaelic football clubs in Britain.
“I joined the Holloway Gaels the next year,” she said. “I just used to live by Finsbury Park at the time, and that’s where the club trained."
“We were a very small fledgeling club at that stage, probably the worst team in London. At my very first training there were only three people there.”
Anne Marie recalled how difficult those early years could be, with the club often struggling to field a full team.
The club was formed by student nurses, Joan McEvoy and Anne Dunning, in 1993 (Photo by Holloway Gaels)“But one of the founders, Anne Dunning, was absolutely the backbone of the club. She was amazing at tormenting people to come out to play.”
The arrival of Offaly man Tosh Kilcommons as coach in 1997 helped transform the club’s fortunes.
“He brought great professionalism and football expertise to the game,” Anne Marie said.
Just a year later, Holloway Gaels won the junior championship in 1998.
“We went from the absolute bottom of the pile to winning our first silverware, which is absolutely amazing,” she said.
Over the following years the club continued to grow, eventually progressing to senior level in 2009 for the first time in its history.
“Since then, we’ve won a number of championships,” Anne Marie said. “We’ve been very true to ourselves in continuing to be a very inclusive club; it’s not just about winning the top competitions.”
The team trains every Monday and Wednesday (Photo by Holloway Gaels)Today Holloway Gaels remains unique within the London GAA scene as a fully female club run entirely by women.
“Female friendship is also a big part of it,” Anne Marie said.
“Our committee is 100 per cent female. We are a very self-reliant, very resilient club; there are no big egos in the club, and the girls all get along great.”
Vice chairperson Ciara Holland, from County Tyrone, said the club offers far more than football for Irish women arriving in Britain.
“I came to London in 2006, and I joined Holloway Gaels basically as soon as I arrived,” she said.
Ciara said GAA clubs often become an instant support network for emigrants settling abroad.
“For many Irish people, you move to a new place, and you join the football team, and that’s quite a lot of your new life sorted in a way,” she said.
“You’ve immediately got that social network.”
The club has expanded a lot in recent years, particularly following the Covid pandemic.
“After Covid we had loads of people who wanted to join, and that was when our membership was at its peak,” Ciara said. “We had about 80 people then.”
That growth led to the creation of a junior team, which has already enjoyed success this season.
“This year our junior team won the division three league for the first time,” Ciara said.
Holloway Gaels are hoping to train their All-Britain title this year (Photo by Holloway Gaels)Beyond football, members of Holloway Gaels have also become involved in charity work through the Irish Elderly Advice Network, supporting isolated older Irish people in London.
“Especially after Covid there were a lot of elderly Irish who were very isolated and alone and needed that human connection,” Ciara said.
“So we would take on the role as a befriender and give them a call every week and have a chat and catch up.”
The initiative has continued to grow, helping older members of the Irish community reconnect socially and regain confidence.
“These befrienders have given them the confidence to maybe get out and about a little more,” Ciara said.
As the new championship season approaches, Holloway Gaels are once again aiming for success on the pitch while having a good time and some craic off of it.
“The new championship starts in June, and we’re hoping to retain our title as the all-Britain champions,” Anne Marie said.
If you want to join or help out you can find them: here
The new season kicks off in a couple of weeks (Photo by Holloway Gaels)Everything from irishpost.com and the print edition is available on the Irish Post App — plus more! Download it for Android or Apple IOS devices today
