The stylish, hard-wearing tops, hats and jackets are from an Irish company and will look good at a match, training or around the village. Full details are available below:

Details and images of each design available below (Beanie Hats also available at €8)……all items will display Ranelagh Gaels club crest.

Rain Jacket (€37) - half zip jacket, hood rolled into collar, zip pockets

Windcheater (€27)

Fleece Jacket (€42) – full zip jacket, fleece lined inside

Please contact barrycoogan@gmail.com if you wish to place an order stating your size (S, M, L…) and the product you wish to buy.

On Monday nights we will be back at Clan na Gael Fontenoy‘s pitch in Ringsend, where there are floodlights and full dressing-room facilities. We are grateful to our neighbours for letting us use their facilities.

Training will start at 8.30 SHARP each week and for directions to the club click here.

On Thursday nights we will be on the beach at Sandymount from 8.0.

Players meet up at the car park closest to the roundabout at the end of Sydney Parade, in sight of the Esso service station.

For directions, click here.

All new players or anyone just looking to train with a club in Dublin are more than welcome to join in.

For further updates on training or any changes of times or venues, keep an eye on the website. If you have any further questions about training or fees contact info@ranelaghgaels.ie.

Details of ladies for the year ahead training will be posted soon.

Over the last few years the players have taken the training sessions and the likes of Enda, Colm, Conor and Brian have done a brilliant job.

But for 2012 we would love to have a trainer to work alongside manager Liam O’Hagan and anyone interested
should contact the club on the following email – ranelaghgaelsmail@gmail.com

The men’s team play in AFL Division 8, made the Junior C Championship semi-final this year and won the Murphy Cup.

At the start of this year the Gaels brought in Jimmy Trimble as trainer of the women’s team in what turned out to be a brilliant move and a similar success story with the men’s team would be great.

Murphy Cup Final
Ranelagh Gaels 1-8
Ballinteer St Johns 1-7

They were the sentiments of Murphy Cup winning manager Liam O’Hagan in the aftermath of his Ranelagh Gaels side’s nail biting win in Glencullen on Sunday. The Gaels came out the better in a dogfight where work rate and honesty of effort won the day. 

It was a great end to a long, tough year for Ranelagh; training for almost 11 months solid the lads richly deserved their silverware after having had a great championship run and another encouraging finish in the league.

 
The Gaels started the brighter and with the wind at their backs got into an early four point lead, Conor Harnett and Johnny Conlon doing the damage. The gap was narrowed after a contentious Ballinteer goal; a square ball went unnoticed by the umpires and it undid a lot of the good early work from the men in blue.

Enda Marren kicked over a crucial score just before the half time whistle to nudge the Gaels further in front, 0-6 to 1-1 at the break.

The performance of the defensive unit has been one of the key reasons for Gaels success this year and they produced a master class in the second half yesterday. Against a stiffening breeze, the ball was rarely out of the Gaels half of the field but the defence stood firm. The full back line of James Galvin, Denis Crehan and Martin Egan were outstanding throughout.

Between the posts, Laois net minder Conor Fingleton pulled off two wonderful second half saves to keep the lead intact.

With the cup looking to be heading to D6, Ballinteer emptied their bench, bringing on their imposing cavalry and reeled off a couple of quick scores. With the clock hitting the 60 minute mark the sides were level and extra time looked to be on the cards.

The Gaels weren’t finished yet though and summoned up the courage and the energy to launch one last attack up field. Eamon Courtney managed to hold onto possession near the touchline and the ball was worked into the on-rushing Harnett and he showed composure in slotting over the winner.

It was another emotional day in the history of Ranelagh Gaels, Manager O’Hagan summed it up in his address to the players – “I’m so proud of you lads…we’re a group of brothers”.

And that was the story of the Miracle of Glencullen. Maith sibh lads.

Post Game Interviews
Liam O'Hagan on today's performance.
Enda and Alan after the game.
Enda and Alan Blooper.

Ranelagh Gaels ended their 2011 Division 8 League campaign with a comfortable win at Bushy Park on Sunday morning. A league programme that began in February was wrapped up in early November with the Gaels lying 4th in the table.

The home side did all the running early on, winning plenty of breaks around the middle and feeding the hungry forwards. Some fine scores were taken with Enda Marren notching three from play while Barry O’Brien registered a brace of points.

The backs repelled anything Josephs threw at them, conceding only one point in the first half and Liam O’Hagan’s side had a healthy half time lead, 0-9 to 0-1.

The visitors threw caution to the wind after the change of ends and while they got some early points they couldn’t make a serious dent into the Gaels lead. The defence werent giving much away, with Denis Crehan and Martin Egan among those winning plenty of ball in the second half.

After weathering the storm, the Gaels extended their lead with Johnny Conlon tagging on a couple of points. Conor Harnett had the final say with two scores in as many minutes; his 1-1 putting the seal on a routine win.

The match served as a good warm for the upcoming Murphy Cup final, which will be the Gaels’ last assignment of 2011. Details of the fixture to follow….

RANELAGH Gaels’ brilliant run in the Junior C Championship came to an end at the semi-final stage on Sunday.

Having beaten teams ranked far higher than them in earlier rounds, most notably Naomh Fionnbarra in the quarter-finals, the Gaels finally came undone against an excellent Parnells side in Balgriffin.

Ranelagh came back from the dead to lead at the three-quarter hour mark, but ‘Nells showed real class and composure to pull away to a deserved five-point victory.

Liam O’Hagan’s side struggled to get their hands on the ball around the middle of the field, with their opponents winning clean possession from kick-outs and they were very snappy onto the breaks throughout.

This saw Parnells leading 1-4 to 0-1 coming towards half-time, but Ranelagh have shown incredible heart all year.

They displayed their courage again with two points before the break cutting the deficit and then two goals following the restart cracked this game wide open.

Enda Marren got the first and then Paidi Sugrue fisted home from a Gearoid O’Flynn prompt to put the Gaels one up, 2-3 to 1-5.

But this is when Parnells came into their own and they pushed their way back in front. The Gaels had a few more chances before the end, but the best team certainly won.

It has been another season of progress for Ranelagh Gaels on the field.

The second team made it to the second round of the Junior D Championship, the firsts were in the C semi-final and only just missed out on promotion from Division 8.

And there is still a chance to get some silverware before the end of the year with a Murphy Cup final against Ballinteer St John’s to come.

That game has yet to be fixed, but is expected in the next few weeks – so keep an eye on the website for updates.

Ranelagh Gaels 2-5
Naomh Fionbarra 0-9

Ranelagh Gaels battled their way to the semi-finals of the Junior C Championship with a brilliant away win against Naomh Fionnbarra on Sunday.

Playing against the Division 7 Champions on their home patch in a do-or-die quarter-final, the Gaels showed tremendous intensity to beat higher ranked opposition.

The ’Barrs are never easy to beat in Pope John Paul II Park, or the Bogies as it’s known locally.

But that’s exactly what Ranelagh did with a 60 minute display of real focus and intent. The mood was set from the moment the visitors set foot on the pitch and the players followed manager Liam O’Hagan’s instructions to the letter.

Finbarr’s had the better of the opening exchanges and they moved into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead on a slippery day, though their pitch was in great condition given all the rain that had fallen in the previous 48 hours.

One of the main reasons there was only two points in it at this stage was because of the pressure Ranelagh men were putting on their opponents.

The Cabra men hit several first-half wides, but they were all forced into taking tough options by brilliant defending, which started at the other end of the field with the full-forward line.

The midfield of Brian Regan and Alan Toolan, two men not long back from their respective honeymoons but still showing plenty of running, made sure they got a hand on every kick-out while the half-backs and half-forwards were snappy on the breaking balls.

Man of the Match Tom Cusack, who played the pivotal centre-back position, was just one of the men who repeatedly emerged from groups of players with invaluable possession.

With this work-rate it was inevitable that the Gaels were going to enjoy a good spell and this came either side of half-time.

Johnny Conlon coolly slotted home a penalty not long before the break after Barry O’Brien was fouled in the square.

This left the scores 1-2 to 0-3 at the interval and things got even better just after the restart when Paudie Sugrue hit the second goal to put six between the teams.

From here Fionnbarra started to chase the game hard and in middle ten minutes of the second half they really turned the screw, getting four unanswered points to cut the deficit to just two.

It was real backs-to-the-wall stuff for the Gaels at this stage, but once again the defence was superb.

The full-back line of James, Martin and Denis C put their bodies on the line to make sure that no goal chances were given up, while goalkeeper Conor Fingleton controlled his area well.

Ranelagh got a couple of late scores on the break to keep their noses in front, but it still came down to a few crazy scrambles in the box.

Unsurprisingly, the ’Barrs threw everything they had at it and lobbed a series of high, dangerous balls into the area, only to see them all sent straight back out again.

Liam headed off on his golfing holiday to Spain a happy man, though he’s leaving behind a squad of players focused on two weeks of hard work before the semi-final.

Some Interviews during today’s game. Click on the play button to listen.

Manager Liam talks after the game.
Captain Brian Regan.
 

Red-faced Peter Sweeney last night broke his silence on his dramatic late howler against Erin Go Bragh at the weekend.

On Saturday day night the horrified hack failed to make contact with a simple effort in front of goal, when an easy tap-in would have won the game against the Division 8 pace-setters.

The home keeper made a smart stop from Johnny Conlon’s low effort and all Sweeney had to do was toe-poke home from the edge of the square.

Instead, the mortified media man took a fresh-air shot and missed the ball entirely.

It was moved up the field and Erin Go Bragh scored a goal to set them on the way to a two-point win that had seemed unlikely just a few minutes previously.

Manager Liam O’Hagan would have taken him straight off, but he only had 14 players available and one of those, Conor Fingleton, was involved in a brawl with the opposition manager and another, Denis Doolan, was giving the referee a piece of his mind at the time.

“I don’t know what to say,” muttered Sweeney sheepishly afterwards.

“In fairness, the lads were great about it and Ian Naughton was the first one up to me to offer words of consolation.”

Naughton is, of course, the only man in Ranelagh Gaels history to score against his own team. He noted: “It was one €50 million Fernando Torres would have been proud of.”

Sweeney (pictured above falling over, as usual) added: “That was the turning point in the game. That and the three goals we conceded in the last five minutes.

“Let that be a lesson to you kids – drinking isn’t big or clever.

“I have been celebrating ever since Dublin won the All-Ireland and I didn’t take the wise advice I was once offered – if you can see three balls in front of you, always aim for the middle one…”

RANELAGH Gaels continue their preparations for next month’s Junior C Championship showdown with by participating in St Joseph’s OCB’s summer tournament.

The competition, which features eight clubs based between or close to the two canals that form the borders of Dublin City, starts Tuesday night with a quarter-final game against Clan na Gael Fontenoy in Fairview Park.

There are also a few tough training sessions planned for between now and next month’s Championship game in order to get the lads into the best possible shape.

The Gaels ladies team are continuing their preparations for their next Championship game on August 15 against Clan na Gael Fontenoy in Bushy Park with a 7.0 throw-in.

The next draw for the Ranelagh Gaels Club Lotto will be held on Sunday, August 28 in Birchall’s when the top prize will be €1,300.

Entry is just €2 and tickets can be bought at all of the local points of sale or you can play online at www.locallotto.ie.

Training session are on Mondays, when both teams will be out in UCD, with the lads training again on Thursday nights in Bushy Park. All training sessions start at 8.0. For further details visit our excellent club website – www.ranelaghgaels.ie.

Recently married Eamon Courtney returned from his honeymoon to hit a match-winning 1-4 for Ranelagh Gaels on Tuesday night.

The home team were struggling against Wild Geese in the second half when Courtney, who married the lovely Sharon just a few short weeks ago, slotted home a vital goal.

Showing no signs of a lack of fitness following his break from training, shortly before the end he clipped over a great point from a tight angle on the right to put two between the teams.

But the drama wasn’t finished there at Bushy Park, with captain Brian Regan – a man who is getting married in September – making a brilliant injury-time goal-line block to keep the visitors out.

The men from the North County were coming in waves and both Ronan Rasdale and Martin Egan made great catches under their own crossbar and cleared the danger.

Ranelagh gave a great last quarter performance to come from six points down and win this AFL Division 8 game.

However, this isn’t the first time that the Gaels have given themselves a mountain to climb.

Having won against St Mark’s in the League and Sylvester’s in the Junior C Championship after conceding large leads, it seems that this team need to have their backs to the wall before they start to play.

This will be a worry for manager Liam O’Hagan ahead of the next round of the championship against strong Naomh Fionnbarra in early September.

If Ranelagh Gaels play like they did in the final 15 minutes against Wild Geese, or as they did in the closing stages against Mark’s and Syls, they will be very tough to beat.

But further slow starts could cost them in the future.