Bunbury Gaels
Bunbury Gaels was founded in 2016 by a group of enthusiastic youngsters who included Ruairi McDonnell, Janette McAuley, Linda Courtney, Sharon Robinson, Gareth Johnston and Ronan O'Mara.
That year “The Gaels” entered both a mens and ladies team into the Perth GAA 7s competition which was held in Tom Bateman Park. The going was tough against the very competitive Perth clubs as well as a team from Singapore but “The Gaels” (particularly the ladies) held their own on what was a great weekend.
Following the GAA 7s comp and through to 2017 “The Gaels” played several challenge matches against Perth clubs before temporarily switching codes to AFL playing Leschenault Masters team and also finishing as runner up in the Bunbury AFL 9s comp.
Towards the end of 2017 the decision was taken to put the club into hibernation due to lack of players. This was done with a heavy heart…
Fast Forward 5 years to 2022 and the formation of the Southwest Irish Community Group re-ignited “The Gaels”!
Contact was made with Na Fianna Catalpa (GAA club based in Rockingham) and it was decided to play the inaugural Fr. McCabe Cup on St. Patrick’s Weekend.
The Fr. Patrick McCabe cup was named after a priest based in Dardanup that befriended JB O’Rielly and assisted in his escape to America.
With that the 2022 version of Bunbury Gaels was born. This version is very different to the last with “The Gaels” able to recruit some top class local athletes with a background in AFL and soccer.
An even mix of Australian and Irish talent was a recipe for success as Bunbury Gaels romped home to victory with joined captains Trevor Jameson and David Murphy becoming the first victorious captains to lift the Fr.McCabe Cup.
This whetted the appetite for more and a return game was organised for Easter Monday in Rockingham and with a team made up of mostly Australian athletes who were playing for the first time Bunbury Gaels had a convincing win to become the first team to retain the Fr McCabe Cup.
With the local Southwest sports season in full swing “The Gaels” are now already planning for next year, with an aim of building upon a great renaissance for Gaelic Football in the Southwest!
Interested in joining? Get in touch here
