St. Barnabas Gaelic Athletic Club are a Nottingham club. It is Nottingham's sole provider of Gaelic sports. It was founded in 1947, initially to provide a social outlet for Irish immigrants who had moved to Nottingham. It also attracts members from the surrounding region including Chesterfield, Lincoln, Newark and Loughborough. The club is affiliated to and enters into competitions organised by Warwickshire GAA. This region today covers both the West and East Midlands of England, with its headquarters at Páirc na hÉireann, Bickenhill, Solihull. St. Barnabas continue to have close relations with the school which has provided a steady stream of footballers representing for St. Barnabas through the years.
Club profile
History
St. Barnabas GAA Club played its first games in 1947. Formed by a group of Irish immigrants in Nottingham immediately after the end of World War II who gathered to play informal games of hurling and Gaelic football on the banks of the River Trent, the club has won championships affiliated to the Warwickshire, Derbyshire and East Midlands County Boards, in hurling, Gaelic football and ladies' Gaelic football. Taking its name from Nottingham's Catholic Cathedral and acknowledging support provided by local clergy, the team initially played in green and red. There may have been an attempt to form an "East Midlands County Board", but this came to nought and it is reported that St. Barnabas had affiliated to the Warwickshire County Board in 1949 to enable it to play more games. Within months it was providing players to the County Hurling Team and making an impact in club competitions within the county, reaching the final of the Breffni Cup. In 1956, several GAA clubs in the East and North Midlands area came together with other, neighbouring clubs, including Lincoln, Stoke, Derby and Alfreton to form the Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire County Board. Around 1960, Stoke relocated to Warwickshire and Leicester joined and the board was renamed the East Midlands County Board, which enjoyed ten years of activity before it folded in 1970, due to a lack of new players migrating to the region. At this stage four clubs remained, St. Barnabas, St Colman's, St Colmcilles and Geraldines. Of these only St. Barnabas had a hurling team and Geraldines were unable to field. After suggestions of a link up with the Yorkshire County Board, St. Barnabas amalgamated with Derby to form St Bridgets, playing in green and white stripes and affiliated to Warwickshire once again. When St Bridgets folded around 1973 Nottingham based players joined St Colmcilles in Leicester. St. Barnabas was reformed in 1985, affiliating to Warwickshire and playing its first games for over 15 years in 1986 and its first games within Warwickshire for 30 years. Having left Warwickshire in 1956, the original club colours were now being used by another club, so after a couple of years playing in yellow, the club switched to maroon shirts and white shorts, which they have played in since. The reformed club entered men's football teams along with under 16 and minor teams along with a ladies' football team. When the hurling team was re-established in 2012, they adopted maroon and white hooped jerseys, so as to distinguish the team from the footballers, and in order to acknowledge input from a couple of neighbouring football-only clubs.
Structure
Today St. Barnabas GAA Club fields a men's senior football team in Warwickshire's 2nd tier competitions, a hurling team and a ladies' football team. Home matches are played at Trinity Catholic School and the club is in the process of relaunching its underage/juvenile section. In 2019 it provided players to Warwickshire's men's and ladies football teams and hurling team.
