Thurles Sarsfields GAA Club is a hurling and football club catering for ages 16+. The club has seven different teams competing successfully in various grades. It is Tipperary's oldest and most successful club and welcomes youths aged 16+ with the love of Gaelic Games in either a playing or administrative role.
Sarsfields clubhouse & field are located in Bohernanave, right beside Semple Stadium in Thurles. New development currently taking place at Toor, Killinan, Thurles consisting of 2 new playing pitches at present.
Meeting Times:
Team training usually takes place between the months of February and October with matches usually taking place in club grounds on average 4 to 5 times weekly.
Club Crest - Thro' the Thatch Source: (This article appeared in the 2005 Mid-Final programme and explains the significance and history of the Thurles crest)
The sportsgear worn by members of Thurles Sarsfields GAA Club has, for some time now, included a crest containing the legend 'Thro' the Thatch' and the words G.A.A., Thurles.
The origin of the legend dates back to the eighteenth century a time when hurling in the mid Tipperary area was flourishing mainly due to its association with the landed gentry. They were openly and actively involved in the hurling as players, team captains, trainers and powerful patrons. The newspapers of the time leave us in no doubt as to the influence of the landlords and the popularity of hurling, with several references to games played at Brittas, Thurles, Galbertstown, Loughmore etc.
Baron Purcell of Loughmore had his own private team with their hurling field beside his castle. in Thurles Lord Matthew, Earl of Llandaff, whose residence was in the town, also had his own celebrated team of hurlers of which he was justifiably proud. In a hurling match between teams of both of these great hurling patrons, one of the most famous of the Thurles team struck the ball with such force that it went clean through the thatch of a nearby cottage and broke several of the kitchen utensils inside. Ever since then 'Thro' the Thatch' has been a rallying cry for many a Thurles team.
As a crest, it was to be seen on the jerseys of the old Thurles "Blues" captained so successfully by Tom Semple in the first decade of the last century. Many supporters also wore a printed cardboard badge similar to the crest. Luckily, a few of these badges have survived to the present day and are treasured memorabilia of that bygone era.
The principal designer of the crest was Sarsfield's club secretary at that time, J.M. Kennedy. He was Thurles Town Clerk and he later compiled - A Chronology of Thurles (1945).
The Shamrock, with its traditional Christian and Irish symbolism, acts as a background to the crest. G.A.A founder Michael Cusack, who always held Thurles in high regard, added an extra dimension to the significance of the three-leafed shamrock. At the G.A.A foundation meeting in Hayes' Hotel in 1884, he sought to place the new association under the patronage of Archbishop Thomas Croke, Charles Stewart Parnell and Michael Davitt. As Cusack put it: - "Three names, as the three-leafed shamrock, that go to the heart of every true son of the Green Isle". Recalling the era of the Thurles "Blues" old hands remember that, during a game, whenever the tan (hurling ball) reached the forwards, the cry would go up - "Now lads 'Thro the Thatch'. it was invariably the signal for an all out Thurles onslaught.
