22 / matters magazine / school 2026 At a recent Irish Sports Expo, the Es sex men played the Jersey Shore GAA in a match billed – with admirable confidence – as the Garden State Championship. Es sex won. The wom en also compete through the New York Ladies Gaelic Football Associa tion, while youth travel teams play in places including Yonkers, Queens and Rockland County. One Essex youth player was selected for a New York Féile team and traveled to Ireland – proof that a child can begin as a curi ous local newcomer and find a path into a much larger sporting world. The club’s growth has been helped enormously by the West Or ange Recreation Department, which incorporated Gaelic football into its offerings and provides access to Stagg and Minish fields. Maplewood and South Orange residents register as nonresidents directly through the Essex Shillelaghs, paying a modestly higher fee. For families accustomed to fighting for field space and jug gling overlapping schedules, the ar rangement may sound almost suspi ciously civilized. In fact, practical family schedul ing helped shape the women’s pro gram. Kendall Blue first brought her two young children, who had no Irish background but quickly loved the game. When McGuire suggested that Blue join the women’s team, she said – as he remembers it – that she might do it if the adults and children practiced on the same night. So the club arranged exactly that, placing the groups on neighboring fields. Other mothers followed. Caroline Corrigan O’Hare de scribes a similar experience. “It’s re ally become an O’Hare affair for us,” she said. “My husband coaches, I play on the women’s team and our girls, 10 and 12, are out there too. So it’s something we all can participate in.” O’Hare, who has since joined the board, says the club brings together Essex Shillelaghs GAA Chair and Maplewood resident Jim McGuire takes the field during the Irish Sports Expo, where the club’s men’s team competed against Jersey Shore GAA. Photo by Charles Vollmer. different generations and skill levels while giving families a way to be ac tive, connected and part of a team. That may be the most important thing to understand about the Essex Shillelaghs: Irish heritage is celebrated but not required. The club’s leaders want Gaelic football to be seen not as an unfamiliar ethnic sport but simply as another good game – one that chil dren can begin young and continue playing well into adulthood. They are exploring school-based programs and would eventually like to add hurling, another traditional Irish game. For now, however, they are still introducing neighbors to the sport through clinics, games, parades and those highly effective lawn signs. At one West Orange St. Patrick’s Day parade, players carried footballs and demonstrated skills with children along the route. People stepped for ward to scan the signs’ QR codes as the group marched past: old-school marketing meeting a centuries-old game by way of a smartphone. So the next time you see a Gaelic football sign in Maplewood or South Orange, take a closer look. You may find a new sport for your child, yourself or – if the family schedule is properly engineered – everybody at once. The field may be in West Or ange, but the team is increasingly at home throughout SOMA. One of Adrianna Donat’s favorite parts of writing for Matters Magazine is discovering something new about the community she loves. She’s also a Re altor with Pollock Properties Group, helping people find homes – and new adventures – in SOMA. Same Day Dentistry & Emergencies Welcome Early Morning and Evening Appointments Available General Dentistry ■ Invisalign® ■ Implants Early Dental Care for Babies ■ Pediatric Dentistry southorangedentalcenter.com 481 SOUTH ORANGE AVENUE, SOUTH ORANGE, NJ 07079 Davia Strachan, DDS Pediatric Dentist Spec. Permit 4041 Call us to schedule your next appointment (973) 762-2660
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