The Fingal hurling team which played in the 2008 Nicky Rackard Cup semi-final.
In 2007, the GAA announced that hurling teams from Fingal and "South Down" (i.e. excluding the Ards peninsula) would compete at inter-county level in parallel to the main Dublin and Down hurling teams, to encourage hurling in these areas where the game had not been strong.[4] In 2008, Fingal entered the Kehoe Cup which is a pre-season tournament for second and third-tier inter-county and third-level hurling teams. Fingal won their debut match against IT Tallaght by 3–12 to 1–11 to qualify for the quarter-final stages.[5] Their next match was drawn against Carlow whom they lost to by 1–13 to 1–10.[6] Later that year, both Fingal and South Down were entered into the Nicky Rackard Cup, a competition for the third-tier hurling teams of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. Fingal qualified for the semi-finals after finishing top of their group and beating Leitrim in the quarter-finals by 1–19 to 0–12.[7] However, Fingal lost the semi-final to Sligo by 1–16 to 0–11, who later went on to win the competition.[8]
Fingal claimed their first piece of silverware in 2012 when they won the Kehoe Cup Shield, beating Armagh in the final by 4–11 to 1–14.[9] They topped off the year by winning division 3A of the National Hurling League after Monaghan refused to play in the final.[10]
However in 2013 they won the National Hurling League Division 3A Final and a season later reached the final of the Nicky Rackard Cup where they eventually lost to Tyrone.
The Fingal hurling project was eventually disbanded in 2016.
Sponsorship
In April 2012, the Dublin County Board announced a new partnership with Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) which would provide the Fingal team with a sponsor for the first time in its 5-year history. The DAA had previously supported local GAA clubs in the Fingal area including St Margarets, Naomh Mearnóg and St Sylvesters.[11]
