club History
The Portland Hurling Club was established in the summer of 2007. After having briefly played with clubs in other parts of the country, Pete Marietta convinced a few locals to give the Irish sport a try.
By 2008, Portland had a full-fledged hurling team and joined the GAA. The first game was played on May 18th, 2008 in Concord, New Hampshire against our brother club: The Barley House Wolves. They put on a great show with bagpipers and a nice showing all around. It was not about winning or losing......we won. As the club grew, a few local Irishmen with prior playing experience joined the ranks. Also in 2008, we played in our first GAA North American County Board tournament in Canton, MA. The club played in the "C" division. Our first round opponent was the "C" club from Seattle, WA. They game was competetive, but we lost.
The club membership continued to grow in 2009, and we hosted our first 8-a-side fall tournament. Teams from New Hampshire and Montreal, QC came to town to face a split Portland squad. We again participated in the GAA North American County Board Tournament in Canton, MA. We again exited in the first round, losing our game to Denver, though we pulled to within 1 goal and a couple of points with only a couple of minutes to go.
2010 promises to be a huge step forward for the club, with the development of a local league with 3 teams that will play weekly. We also have travel team matches lined up with the Barley House Wolves (NH), Montreal (QC), and a new club in Worcester (MA).
