LGBTQ+ club takes pride in blazing trail for GAA

They bring a whole new meaning to pride in the jersey.

Na Gaeil Aeracha teams are busy preparing for some important upcoming championship matches. The drills and target practice at their training session on a park pitch in the capital are run of the mill, but the club itself is an important sporting trailblazer in its own right.

Na Gaeil Aeracha is Ireland's first explicitly LGBTQ+ inclusive GAA club.

"It all started with a tweet," club founder Karl Shannon explained.

"I just put out that if anyone else was looking for something in the GAA similar to the Emerald Warriors in rugby and of course I got a lot of hits on that. A lot of people messaged me privately saying it’s definitely something they want to get into".

"Lo and behold, I had so many numbers I had to actually do something about it," the club chairman added.

"I was there setting up a club all through lockdown, zoom meetings galore and all that kind of stuff," Karl recalled.

That was peak pandemic 2020 - now two years on, the Dublin based club has over 100 registered members.

Their LGFA side notched up some notable junior cup victories while the men’s side are making their competitive debut this season.

"I guess I was just the first person to take the initiative to say let's get this done for the GAA and the LGFA," Karl said.

The reaction to Na Gaeil Aeracha has been overwhelmingly positive, say club officials.

"We have had great experiences... we have played a lot of teams and they have had really good stuff to say, really well received, really encouraging us to keep going and drive on, because we are starting from the start here," Karl said.

These sentiments are shared by LGFA co-captain Aoife Halstead.

"It’s brilliant to have a club like this to come onto the scene and