In advance of its forthcoming National Finals, USGAA has announced the naming of a number of National Championships after individuals who contributed to Gaelic Games in the US.

This continues USGAA’s goal of acknowledging the important contributions of many individuals to the growth of Gaelic Games in the US. In line with recent years, past members will be honored by the commemoration of different championship trophies with their names in recognition of their service to the organisation.

“While Gaelic Games in the US has grown exponentially in the last 20 years, without the dedication and work of our past members, the foundations for that growth would not have existed”, said USGAA Chairperson Paul Keane. “As we continue to develop and expand as an organization, it is only fitting that we recognize the importance of their contributions to our success.”

Those remembered in 2024 are: John “Jack” Courtney, Buffalo; Nicole Killigrew, San Francisco; Bridie Joyce, Boston; Lori Kiely, Philadelphia.

John “Jack” Courtney (Senior Men’s Football):

Growing up near Castlegregory on Kerry’s Dingle peninsula, Gaelic football was always going to be in John Courtney’s blood.

Jack, as he was commonly known, and his future wife Mary met in the same one-room schoolhouse that was a feature of Ireland in the 1920’s, before moving to Chicago in 1930 just as the Great Depression was taking hold. With work scarce in Chicago and the offer of work in the steel mills of Lackawanna, outside Buffalo, both he and Mary took up the challenge.

At a formation meeting in the early 1950’s in Philadelphia, Jack became the first Chairperson of the North American County Board (now USGAA).

With immigration to America coming to a halt in the late 1960’s Jack continued to play into his early 50’s taking great pride to have played for Buffalo with his sons. One of his proudest moments was when his son, also named Jack, was the only American-born player to take the field against a visiting Down team who had just gone back-to-back winning the 1960 and 1961 All-Ireland Football Finals.

A keen writer, Jack was a regular contributor to the Irish World with his column ‘News from Buffalo’. Always maintaining his ties to his beloved Kerry, he subscribed to The Kerryman newspaper to keep up with all the local and GAA stories from the Kingdom.

Current Buffalo Fenians secretary, Tim Flanagan remarked that “a large part of the legacy Jack Courtney left for the Buffalo Irish community was a passion for the promotion and preservation of Gaelic games.”

Almost 90 years after he first arrived, a thriving GAA community still exists in the Nickel city.

Nicole Killigrew (Junior A Ladies Football):

In a year when we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Continental Youth Championships (CYC) it is fitting that one of the players that played in that first tournament in New York should be remembered.

Like the daughter of many immigrants Nicole Killigrew grew up in a GAA household in San Francisco where she learned about her Irish culture while playing a sport she so loved. Nicole’s parents Fiona and John recall how, since the time she could walk, she was always around various GAA teams, enjoying many days at Treasure Island supporting the various teams there before starting to play Gaelic Football herself with San Francisco GAA.

Nicole competed in the annual CYC event until, after graduating the youth program, she, along with her sister Rachel joined the Saoirse Ladies Gaelic Football team. Her finest hour was 2009 in Boston when she not only won the North American County Board (now USGAA) Intermediate title but was also voted Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Her playing days continued with the Fog City Harps, where, former teammate, Ashling Bryant remembers her “showing her dedication and commitment beyond all expectation, and proving that none of us ever have an excuse to give any less than our best at anything we put our mind to.”

An accomplished sportswoman, Nicole ran half marathons and also represented her University, Cal Poly Pomona, in D2 soccer where she excelled.

Nicole exemplified everything that is good about our games in the US – a youth player that graduated to the adult game embracing her culture, making life-long friends, and, leaving behind her mark on us all.

Bridie Joyce (Intermediate Camogie):

Bridget (Egan) Joyce was born and raised in Athenry, County Galway. She met and married Tim Joyce, also from Galway, coming to the US in 1952. Upon arrival she immediately joined her brothers in supporting the Galway Hurling Club of Boston.

Bridie, as she was affectionately known, was a long-time supporter of the Boston GAA as well as the Galway Hurling Club. A former player with Saint Mary’s Camogie Club of Athenry, she returned to those roots as one of the founding members as well as a player for the Eire Óg Camogie Club of Boston in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

In addition to being a supporter of the GAA in Boston she served on many committees. For twenty years she served as Secretary of the Boston GAA board where according to former NACB Chairperson Joe Lydon she was both honest and trustworthy, and a voice for the delegates and clubs she served.

“Bridie was a beacon for the Boston GAA, an extraordinary secretary long before the emails and texts of the digital age. She contacted each club delegate or referee by phone, letter, card, or in-person for games, meetings, or hearings. She didn’t think her job was done until she got her message across”.

She did it all while being a loving wife to Tim and a doting mother and role model to Ann Marie, and subsequently a wonderful grandmother to Ronan and Alan.

Lori Kiely (Junior B Camogie):

A proud Philadelphia woman, Lori Kiely was one of the founding members of the Notre Dames ladies football team. She spent 10 years as treasurer of the club from 1992-2002 and always remained ready to take the field when called upon.

Lori had the foresight to see that to protect the future of our Gaelic sports a younger generation needed to be engaged with and so she set about forming the Philadelphia Shamrocks Youth club in 2006. She committed wholeheartedly to the club and fulfilled a number of roles on the board over the years.

Fellow Shamrocks board member Elaine McIvor described Lori as “a great person, who volunteered for everything – especially when it came to the youth. No matter how busy her life got, she always found time for the GAA – nothing ever stopped her!”

GAA was a family affair in the Kiely household, with all four of her children playing and daughter Ciara (pictured above) continuing to this day.

Not only did she help the club locally but served on the Philadelphia Youth board until 2010.

She was particularly proud to bring a Camogie team from the club to the CYC, leading to the formation of the Philadelphia Shamrocks Youth Camogie team that continues to this day.

USGAA and Philadelphia GAA is in a better place today because of Lori Kiely’s contribution as player, board member, and coach.

 

“Each of these members served our Association in different but important ways.” said John O’Brien, one of the founding members of North American County Board in 1959. “Our goal in 1959 was to create a structure that brought all GAA people under the one umbrella. This then led to the emergence of events like this coming weekend’s USGAA Finals, where teams from each corner of the US compete for a National Championship.”

Founded in 1959, USGAA (previously North American County Board) is the Governing body of Gaelic Games in the US, outside of the area under the jurisdiction of the New York GAA Board.

With approximately 8,500 members at all codes, ages and levels, the pinnacle of the year is the UGAA Finals. This year’s showpiece event will see 110 teams play over 100 full-scale Championship games, as they compete for 22 National Titles across all 4 codes: Camogie, Football and Hurling.

To learn more about the 2024 USGAA Finals, in Treasure Island and Balboa Park, San Francisco (from August 16th-18th), please visit: www.usgaafinals.com

To learn more about USGAA activities throughout the year, please visit: www.usgaa.org

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