While the GGCB runs its own competitions, the 'All-Britains', a number of British counties play in the Irish competitions.
History
The Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in Thurles in 1884, with the main goal of the preservation and cultivation of Irish national sport. The late 19th century was a period in which the Home Rule movement was gaining traction in Ireland, and Gaelic games were seen as an outward expression of Irish cultural and national pride, and a rejection of ‘English’ games, such as association football and rugby.
Irish migration in the late 19th and early 20th century brought the Gaelic games over to Britain for the first time. Britain's first formal club was founded in Wallsend in 1885, and by 1901, clubs had been established in London, Glasgow, Manchester, and Liverpool. County boards were founded in London and Glasgow in 1896 and 1903 respectively, aligning themselves directly with the GAA in Ireland, and in 1901, London won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the only team outside of Ireland to do so. Many significant figures in both GAA and Irish history played in London during this early period, including Sam Maguire, Michael Collins, and Liam MacCarthy.
By the 1910s, football and hurling were being played all over Britain, with the boards for London, Liverpool, and Glasgow all playing against Irish counties at various levels and clubs emerging in Wales, Lanarkshire, and Warwickshire. In 1926, the GAA Central Council in Dublin took steps to formalise the administration of Gaelic games in Britain through the establishment of the Provincial Council. London and Liverpool were the 2 initial areas taking their places on the Council in 1927, with the Liverpool County Board changing its name to Lancashire and District in 1934. By 1957, the county boards of Derby, Gloucester, Lancashire, London, Warwickshire, and Yorkshire were active in England, with Wales and Scotland also continuing to develop. Hertfordshire became affiliated in 1960, and the Derby teams moved under the auspices of Warwickshire in 1970. Today, the seven county boards continue to compete along the boundaries established in 1957, with some teams having to compete in alternative county leagues due to lack of opponents locally (as can be seen with the Lancashire hurling league).
The Ladies' Gaelic Football Association was founded in 1974, and the first British ladies' teams were formed in London in 1976. By the late 1980s, county boards had been established in both London and the Pennine region (combining Lancashire and Yorkshire), and in 1989, Britain LGFA was officially formed as a province. The county boards of Warwickshire, Scotland, and Gloucestershire-Hertfordshire (Glo-Herts) were formed and officially affiliated in 1994, 2013, and 2015 respectively, with Gloucestershire and Hertfordshire splitting into separate ladies' counties in 2024.
While camogie has been played casually in Britain since the 1950s, it was the mid-1980s before official clubs were formed, including Erin go Bragh in Birmingham, and Tara, Croydon, and Newham Gaels in London. Camogie remains one of the least played of the Gaelic games in Great Britain; however, there is currently a senior and intermediate league and championship, with clubs operating in Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, and Manchester. There is currently no inter-county camogie fixtures, but there is plans for a London team to be formed in the near future.
Gaelic handball has a long history in Britain, with handball historians tracing the game in Scotland to as early as the fifteenth century, while Irish communities in Britain helped maintain and develop the sport during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Britain has played a notable role in the development of the sport outside Ireland, with London hosted the All-Ireland Senior Handball Finals in 1990, becoming one of the few locations outside Ireland to stage an All-Ireland final. Britain GAA are the national governing body for all codes of handball (including one-wall handball), with Britain entering a team in the World Handball Championships for the first time in 1984. In 2024, more than 500 competitive handball matches were reported across Britain, with players competing in domestic, Irish and World Championship events, and efforts have been made to expand and develop the sport, including targeted development initiatives in Scotland and plans for tournaments, coaching events and the creation of a wider British handball championship structure.
All seven counties compete in the All-Britain Football Championship; a junior-level competition; with London sending a 'home-grown' team of only players from the county originally. The winner of the All-Britain qualifies for the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship, however, a competition restructure by the GAA in 2022, a restructure in 2022 saw the All-Ireland JFC cease to be a tournament played between the junior teams of the 32 counties. Since the 2022 season, the All-Ireland JFC is contested between the winner and runner-up of the All-Britain, Kilkenny (who only have a junior-level county team), and a home-grown New York team (with USGAA added in 2024). This means that while British counties can win an All-Ireland, they can no longer compete against the 31 counties with senior county teams in any competitive matches (except London).
All seven counties have won at least one All-Britain, with Scotland becoming the last team to do so in 2014. Since 2022, London and Warwickshire have dominated the competition, competing in every final.
The All-Britain has seen multiple periods of dominance from one club, with multiple teams recording three-peats and one team, Kingdom, recording four consecutive wins between 1976 and 1979. However, teams have often struggled against Irish opposition, with John Mitchels being the only British men's club football team to appear in an All-Ireland final (twice, in the 2008-09 and 2014-15 seasons). No British club team has ever won a game in the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship.
All-Britain Club Football Championship roll of honour
Source:
1964 St Marys
1965 Round Towers
1966 St Marys
1967 Parnells
1968 Parnells
1969 St Marys
1970 Garryowen
1971 Sean Treacys
1972 Sean McDermotts
1973 Sean McDermotts
1974 De La Salle College
1975 Sean McDermotts
1976 Kingdom
1977 Kingdom
1978 Kingdom
1979 Kingdom
1980 Tara
1981 Parnells
1982 Hugh O'Neills
1983 Tír Conaill Gaels
1984 Parnells
1985 Kingdom
1986 Kingdom
1987 Kingdom
1988 John Mitchels, Birmingham
1989 Kingdom
1990 Tír Conaill Gaels
1991 Parnells
1992 Tír Conaill Gaels
1993 Tír Conaill Gaels
1994 Oisín
1995 Tara
1996 Tír Conaill Gaels
1997 Tír Conaill Gaels
1998 Tír Conaill Gaels
1999 Hugh O'Neills
2000 Tír Conaill Gaels
2001 Tír Conaill Gaels
2002 St Brendans, London
2003 Tara
2004 St Peters
2005 Harlesden Harps
2006 Fulham Irish
2007 John Mitchels, Liverpool
2008 John Mitchels, Liverpool
2009 Dunedin Connollys
2010 St Peters
2011 Cu Chullains
2012 St Peters
2013 John Mitchels, Liverpool
2014 John Mitchels, Liverpool
2015 John Mitchels, Liverpool
2016 Dunedin Connollys
2017 Dunedin Connollys
2018 Dunedin Connollys
2019 Thomas MacCurtains
2020 not played
2021 St Brendans, Manchester
2022 Glaschu Gaels
2023 Wandsworth Gaels
2024 Tara
2025 Tara
All-Britain Club Football Championship wins by club
Northern Intermediate Ladies' Football Championship
Scottish Junior Ladies' Football Championship
Warwickshire
Warwickshire Junior Ladies' Football Championship
Yorkshire
Yorkshire Junior Ladies' Football Championship
Inter-county level
While London compete in the Ulster Ladies' Senior Championship and the All-Ireland Junior Ladies' Football Championship, there has been no official 15-a-side inter-county ladies' football tournament since 2022. Instead, annual adult 9-a-side tournaments have been run, with full inter-county tournaments existing at different age-grade levels in the form of 'féiles': football tournaments that occur at one venue with all teams playing multiple games on the same day/across a weekend. While county teams from Lancashire and Scotland have both competed in the All-Ireland Championships, since the COVID-19 pandemic only London have resumed playing competitive fixtures against Irish opponents.
All-Britain Ladies' Football Championship roll of honour
1990 London
1991 London
1992 London
1993 London
1994 Lancashire
1995 Lancashire
1996 Lancashire
1997 Lancashire
1998 Warwickshire
1999 London
2000 Lancashire
2001
2002
2003
2004 London
2005
2006
2007 London
2008 London
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015 Scotland
2016 London
2017
2018 Yorkshire
2019 London
2020 not played
2021
2022 London
2023
2024
2025
All-Britain Ladies' Football Championship wins by county
National level ladies' club football in Britain is split into intermediate and junior levels. The junior competition involving the winners of the junior county championships in a knock-out format. However, the intermediate championship is contested between the winner and runner-up of the London Intermediate Ladies' Club Football Championship, contested between intermediate clubs in London, and the winner and runner-up of the Northern Intermediate Ladies' Club Football Championship, contested between the intermediate clubs in Lancashire, Scotland, and Warwickshire.
Emerald Gaels, a Manchester-based team, dominated the early days of the All-Britain, but in 2012 Parnells became the first (and to date, only) non-Irish club to win an All-Ireland championship, beating Cahir (Tipperary) in the final. In 2013, Dunedin Connollys went to the final of the junior competition, but lost out to Na Gaeil (Kerry).
All-Britain Ladies' Club Football Championship roll of honour
Intermediate
Source:
2010 Parnells
2011 Parnells
2012 Parnells
2013 Fr Murphys
2014 Dunedin Connollys
2015 Dunedin Connollys
2016 Parnells
2017 John Mitchels, Liverpool
2018 Dunedin Connollys
2019 Oisins
2020 not played
2021 Holloway Gaels
2022 Round Towers
2023 Tír Conaill Gaels
2024 Dunedin Connollys
2025 Holloway Gaels
Junior
Source:
1996 Emerald Gaels
1997 Emerald Gaels
1998 Emerald Gaels
1999 Emerald Gaels
2000 Emerald Gaels
2001 Emerald Gaels
2002 Emerald Gaels
2003 Emerald Gaels
2004 Emerald Gaels
2005 Tara
2006 John Mitchels, Birmingham
2007 John Mitchels, Liverpool
2008 John Mitchels, Liverpool
2009 Kingdom Kerry Gaels
2010 Oisins
2011 Fulham Irish
2012 Holloway Gaels
2013 Dunedin Connollys
2014 Wolfe Tones
2015 Oisins
2016 Glaschu Gaels
2017 Kingdom Kerry Gaels
2018 Roger Casements
2019 Oisins
2020 not played
2021 Tir na Nog
2022 Hugh O;Neills
2023 Glaschu Gaels
2024 Wandsworth Gaels
2025 St Kiernans
All-Britain Ladies' Club Football Championship wins by club
London are the only county from outside of Ireland to win an All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, doing so in 1901 by beating Cork in the final. More recently, London have recorded trophies in the Christy Ring and Nicky Rackard Cups, cementing their place as a mid-tier hurling county. Warwickshire and Lancashire have seen more mixed fortunes; Warwickshire have won the Lory Meagher Cup on two occasions, and gone contested a Nicky Rackard Cup final, while Lancashire have never won a trophy in the All-Ireland pyramid, coming runner-up in the Lory Meagher Cup on three occasions.
One team, Robert Emmetts, has won an All-Ireland, with victory in the intermediate championships in the 2006-07 season, while St Gabriels and Kilburn Gaels have both been runners-up in the competition. Despite Fullen Gaels' dominance in the All-Britain through the 2010s, winning seven championships in a row between 2010 and 2016, they only managed a peak of runners-up finishes in the All-Ireland competition, on two occasions.
All-Britain Club Hurling Championship roll of honour
Source:
1964 Brian Boru
1965 St Finbarrs
1966 St Finbarrs
1967 Brian Boru
1968 Cuchulainns
1969 St Chads
1970 Eire Og
1971 John Mitchels, Birmingham
1972 TBC
1973 Brothers Pearse, London
1974 St Gabriels
1975 Brian Boru
1976 St Gabriels
1977 St Gabriels
1978 St Gabriels
1979 TBC
1980 Brian Boru
1981 St Gabriels
1982 TBC
1983 Desmonds
1984 St Gabriels
1985 Desmonds
1986 St Gabriels
1987 TBC
1988 Desmonds
1989 Desmonds
1990 St Gabriels
1991 Sean Treacys
1992 Desmonds
1993 Sean Treacys
1994 Sean Treacys
1995 St Gabriels
1996 St Gabriels
1997 St Gabriels
1998 Brothers Pearse, London
1999 St Gabriels
2000 Fr Murphys
2001 Fr Murphys
2002 Sean Treacys
2003 Fr Murphys
2004 John Mitchels, Birmingham
2005 Thomas McCurtains
2006 Erin Go Bragh
2007 Brothers Pearse, London
2008 John Mitchels, Birmingham
2009 John Mitchels, Birmingham
2010 Fullen Gaels
2011 Fullen Gaels
2012 Fullen Gaels
2013 Fullen Gaels
2014 Fullen Gaels
2015 Fullen Gaels
2016 Fullen Gaels
2017 Brothers Pearse, Huddersfield
2018 John Mitchels, Birmingham
2019 John Mitchels, Birmingham
2020 not played
2021 Fullen Gaels
2022 Kilburn Gaels
2023 Sean Treacys
2024 Father Murphys
2025 Thomas McCurtains
All-Britain Club Hurling Championship wins by club
