St. Nicholas' GAA

Located in the Blackpool area of Cork City's northside, St. Nicholas' Gaelic Football Club was founded in 1901. The club was named after Blackpool's old Catholic church of St. Nicholas. After entering a special MFC, the equivalent of the Cork JFC today, St. Nicholas' won three successive titles between 1907 and 1909.{{cite web|url=http://homepage.eircom.net/~nicksgaa/history1.htm|title=Club History|publisher=St. Nick's GAA website|date=|accessdate=27 June 2019|first=|last=}} The claiming of the Cork IFC in 1917 secured senior status for the club for the first time.{{cite web|url=https://gaacork.ie/premier-ifc-roll-of-honour/|title=Premier IFC roll of honour|publisher=Cork GAA website|date=|access-date=28 November 2021|first=|last=}}

St. Nicholas' won a second Cork IFC title in 1937, which was followed by the club's first Cork SFC triumph a year later.{{cite web|url=https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/St-Nicks-tradition-for-battling-has-stood-to-them-in-past-and-future-0bf04d94-9105-4d4e-af88-c2a05bd7f4fd-ds|title=St Nick’s tradition for battling has stood to them in past and future|publisher=Echo Live|date=30 November 2017|accessdate=27 June 2019|first=Denis|last=Hurley}} Sister club Glen Rovers also won that year's Cork SHC, which saw a number of players, including Paddy O'Donovan, Danny Matt Dorgan, Jack Lynch, Connie Buckley, Dan Moylan, and Charlie Tobin, claim a remarkable double. St. Nicholas' claimed further double titles in 1941 and 1954, when Christy Ring won his only SFC medal.{{cite web|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-40072742.html|title=Christy Ring and Gaelic football: An accidental if eventful, relationship|publisher=Irish Examiner|date=30 October 2020|accessdate=27 June 2022|first=Diarmuid|last=O'Donovan}}

The club brought its Cork SFC title tally to five following back-to-back final defeats of St. Finabrr's in 1965 and 1966.{{cite web|url=https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/arid-40250144.html|title=Reeling on the banks of the Lee: Cork sports success from 1965 to 1969|publisher=Echo Live|date=24 March 2021|accessdate=16 June 2023|first=Derek|last=Daly}} The latter win saw St. Nicholas' subsequently become the first Cork club to win the Munster Club Championship.{{cite web|url=https://munster.gaa.ie/history/sfclub_teams/|title=Senior Football (Club)|publisher=Munster GAA website|date=|accessdate=16 June 2023|first=|last=}}

The Munster title marked a high point for the club. After being beaten by University College Cork in the 1969 final, the club went into a period of decline and never again reached the final. The first two decades of the 21st century saw St. Nick's being regarded as perennial relegation candidates.{{cite web|url=https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/arid-40156808.html|title=Clubs having to play without county players is a slippery slope Cork shouldn't go down|publisher=Echo Live|date=28 March 2019|accessdate=16 June 2023|first=Mark|last=Woods}} A restructuring of the entire Cork football system saw the club move to the newly created Cork SAFC in 2020. Three consecutive relegations occurred over the following three years, with St. Nicholas' set to compete in the Cork Premier JFC in 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/arid-40102151.html|title=Bantry give St Nicks the Blues as city side are relegated from Senior A football|publisher=Echo Live|date=18 September 2020|accessdate=16 June 2023|first=John|last=Bohane}}{{cite web|url=https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/arid-40722993.html|title=PIFC: Macroom edge out St Nicks in relegation battle|publisher=Echo Live|date=16 October 2021|accessdate=16 June 2023|first=John|last=O'Shea}}{{cite web|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-40954046.html|title=St Nick's relegated from Intermediate grade|publisher=Irish Examiner|date=3 September 2022|accessdate=16 June 2023|first=|last=}}

• Munster Senior Club Football Championship (1): 1966
• Cork Senior Football Championship (5): 1938, 1941, 1954, 1965, 1966
• Kelleher Shield (5): 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970
• Cork Intermediate Football Championship (2): 1917, 1937
• Cork Under-21 Football Championship (1): 2003
• Cork Minor Football Championship (15): 1926, 1927, 1932, 1933, 1945, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1958, 1969, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1987, 2002
• Cork City Junior Football Championship (9): 1930, 1943, 1958, 1963, 1972, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985

• Denis Coughlan: All-Ireland SFC-winner (1973)
• Jas Murphy: All-Ireland SFC-winner (1953) with Kerry.
• Jack Lynch: All-Ireland SFC-winner (1945)
• Teddy O'Brien: All-Ireland SFC-winner (1973)
• Donie O'Donovan: All-Ireland SFC-winning coach (1973)

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080809075748/http://www.cork.gaa.ie/ Cork GAA site]
• [http://www.nicksgaa.com/ St Nicholas’s GAA website]

{{Cork clubs}}

{{Sport in Cork City}}

Category:Gaelic games clubs in County Cork

Category:Gaelic football clubs in County Cork