Ballyboden Wanderers GAA

{{Issues|{{More citations needed|date=January 2025}}

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{{Infobox GAA club

| club gaa = Wanderers GAA Club

| irish = Na Fánaithe

| crest =Wanderers crest.jpg

| founded = 1910

| Reformed = 1980

| province=Leinster

| county = Dublin

| nickname = Wanderers

| colours = Black and red

| grounds = Frank Kelly Park, Mount Venus Road

| coordinates = {{coord|53|15|38.53|N|6|18|09.75|W|display=it|region:IE_type:landmark}}

| pattern_la=_redshoulders

| pattern_b=_Vwidered

| pattern_ra=_redshoulders

| pattern_sh= _red_sides

| pattern_so=_3 stripes red

| leftarm=000000

| body=000000

| rightarm=000000

| shorts=000000

| socks=000000

|}}

Wanderers (Irish: Fánaithe Bhaile Baodáin) are a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Ballyboden, Dublin, Ireland.

The men's first team won the Dublin Junior Two Football Championship in 2020.{{Cite news |last=Leonard |first=Stephen |date=1 October 2020 |title=Wanderers end long wait for championship success |url=https://www.echo.ie/wanderers-end-long-wait-for-championship-success/ |access-date=2025-01-22 |work=Echo.ie}} The club had previously won the Dublin Junior Football Championship in 1968 and 1928.{{Cite web |title=Roll of Honour |url=https://wanderersgaa.ie/honours |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=Wanderers GAA Ballyboden}}

History

Ballyboden Wanderers G.A.A. Club was founded in 1910. They played their first match against Clanna Gael Fontenoys in April 1910. The match was played by permission of Padraig Mac Piarais in the grounds of Scoil Eanna, Grange Road Rathfarnham. The club won the inaugural Dublin Junior Football Championship in 1928.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

The club disbanded in 1932 and while there some fixtures played in the intervening years, it was not officially reformed until 1961. After winning the Dublin Junior Football Championship in 1968, under the captaincy of Seán Doherty, the Ballyboden Club amalgamated with Rathfarnham St. Enda's in order to join the senior ranks under the name Ballyboden St. Enda's.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

In 1980, a group of breakaway members formed Wanderers. Since then, the club has grown and fields several football teams and juvenile hurling teams at juvenile and adult levels.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

The club has {{convert|8|acre|ha}} of ground incorporating two playing pitches, and a training area at Frank Kelly Park. These club grounds were officially opened in 1991 and were named for (and opened by) the club president Frank Kelly. Opened when Kelly was still alive, the grounds were the first to be dedicated in tribute to a living member of the association - in breach of the official GAA Rules.{{fact|date=March 2025}} Kelly died in 1995.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

The development of a new clubhouse commenced in 1998, when then Minister Tom Kitt "turned the sod" in March 1998. This clubhouse was officially opened early in 1999. In 2006, Wanderers opened a new meeting room and a weights room on the premises.

Colours and crest

=Jerseys=

The club has a black jersey with a red band, black shorts and black socks with red and white trimmings. The club's alternative jersey is red with a black band. The club tracksuit is black with red and white trimmings.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

=Club crest=

Image:Wanderers crest.jpg

The club's crest features the Whitechurch Carnegie Library at Taylor's Lane. The library was built in 1910. Generations of Wanderers players have assembled outside the library before matches, while the club committee has met there every Thursday for many years prior to the opening of the clubhouse. Club social events including card-playing, Irish-dancing and quizzes have also been hosted there. The Hell Fire Club at the summit of Mount Pelier is in the backdrop, while the blue coloured foreground symbolises the Owendoher and Little Dargle River which are boundaries of the Ballyboden parish. The triangular shape of the crest symbolises a modern club built on strong foundations. It mirrors the G.A.A. coaching emblem, which is considered a high priority in the club.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

Location

=Catchment area=

The majority of the club's 600 members were born or reside in Ballyboden parish.{{fact|date=March 2025}} The club's juvenile players attend the local primary and secondary schools. While the club has concentrated mainly on the promotion of Gaelic football, with some success at juvenile level, members are also involved in other social and cultural activities.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

=Grounds=

The club's headquarters are at Frank Kelly Park, Mount Venus Road, Rockbrook, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. There are two playing pitches, a training ground, and a new 250 square metre clubhouse. The club also use pitches at Scoil Mhuire school, Ballyboden.{{fact|date=March 2025}}