Hurling News

GAA 32 County Colours

One of the most fascinating of the Gaelic Athletic Association is the evolution of the colours which the county and provincial teams now wear. Colours have been used to distinguish opposing sets of players from each other for centuries. In the 18th and 19th centuries the usual practice was to wear everyday clothes, but with coloured caps or caps with coloured ribbons. Coloured sashes around the waist were also used.

However, it was not until 1913 that the GAA instructed county teams to register and adopt a particular colour scheme. prior to this it was usually the colours of the team which won the county championship that were used.

Gradually, distinctive county colours became established but in recent years modifications in the style and combinations of colours have been made for various reasons including the requirements of television. Most counties still retain their original choice of colours. Indeed, in many places even to-day, there exists a certain amount of superstition connecting the fortunes of teams with the colours of their jerseys.

In fact up to 1919 the Cork team wore a blue-coloured jersey with a saffron-coloured "C" emblozoned on the chest. All this changed in 1919 when Cork was preparing to play Dublin in the All-Ireland Hurling Final. In the week leading up to the game, British Forces broke into the county board offices on Maylor Street in the city centre and seized all of Cork's Jersey's. Because of this the county board borrowed jersey's from the now defunct Father O'Leary Temperance Association Team. Cork went on to win the game, ending a sixteen-year barren spell. Because of this win Cork decided to wear the"lucky" red jersey's in all future games. The red and white colour scheme that has been worn since has carried a psychological impact for opposing teams. This has led to the Cork strip being nicknamed the "Blood and Bandage"

Most of the article and the photographs below are taken from a poster published some years ago by Cumann Luthchleas Gael. ( Year not known)

The models used to model the jersey's from the different counties, were six great players from Raheny GAA Club. I am sure you will recognise the four club players that I have selected for this article. JC.

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