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= Rockland GAA =

Rockland GAA (Irish: Talamh na Carraig) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Rockland County, New York. It is part of New York GAA. It currently caters for Gaelic football, Ladies' Gaelic football, Hurling and Camogie for ages 5 through adult.

Rockland GAA is a volunteer-run organization and they do not charge their players a registration fee. All money that comes through the club by fundraisers and donations.

History
The club was founded in 1972 by John Cawley, originally from County Mayo, Ireland, when he invited 30 boys and their families to learn Gaelic football at William O. Schaffer Elementary School in Tappan, New York. By mid 1973, Rockland GAA had enough players to enter 3 teams into the New York Minor Board Fall League. In 1974, Cawley and his teams began renting a field next to the Rockland Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg, New York where the club still resides today. After just four years since its founding, the club won its first underage championship in 1976. Over the next 20 years, Rockland GAA continued to grow, even starting the first Ladies Gaelic football team in 1995. By the mid 1990s, club members wanted to come up with a way they could purchase the field they had been renting from the state since the 1970s. In 1999, Chairman Tommy Fennell and former Chairman, Terry Greenan, along with 22 other families, put up their homes as collateral to buy the 12 acres from New York State. This made Rockland the first club outside of Ireland or England to own their grounds. Within 3 years, Rockland GAA had raised enough money to release everyones home.

On June 6, 2009, almost 10 years after purchasing the field, Rockland GAA began Phase 1 of their Center of Excellence. This included putting in a full size GAA pitch, two youth pitches, floodlighting and seating for over 1,000 people. This phase was completed in July 2010.

Phase 2 saw the development of the Rockland GAA Clubhouse. They broke ground on their new two-story building in April 2015. Three quarters of the work to build the clubhouse was donated from people within the club, from the steelwork and foundation to the electricians and air-conditioning. The project was completed in the summer of 2017 and included an outdoor pavilion, full length bar, kitchen, restrooms, two locker rooms, and a meeting room.

Rockland GAA celebrated the grand opening of their new Clubhouse with a three-day celebration which included Gaelic football, Ladies football, hurling, and camogie games from u8 through adult levels, including the u8 Dennis McHugh Memorial Tournament and the Robert McKiernan Cup. There were also numerous musical acts including The Whistling Donkeys, Kickin' Nash, Joanie Madden and Cherish the Ladies, Mickey Coleman, Ireland the Band, Girsa, Michael O'Sullivan and The Narrowbacks. The highlight of the weekend was the GAA All-Star match featuring over 30 GAA stars of the past including Sean Óg o Halpin, Peter Canavan, Paddy Bradley, Tomas O'Se, Dara Ó Cinnéide, and more.

On April 28, 2018, Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, made a visit to Rockland GAA.