New GAA museum opens its doors in Co Kilkenny

Butler Handcrafted Hurleys, located just outside the parish of Ballycallan in Co Kilkenny, welcomed a gathering of hurling fans and past players from the parish and further afield on Saturday, as the county’s newest GAA museum opened its doors.

Launched by former President of the GAA, Nickey Brennan, the museum stores a vast quantity of GAA memorabilia, gifts, and handcrafted hurleys for all ages and has been a labour of love for founder Eamonn Butler over the past number of years, meeting fellow GAA fanatics and collecting items from all four corners of Ireland.

The idea was formed when Eamonn spoke to fellow local man Jim Whelan, a conversation which would eventually blossom into the newly-formed mecca. 

Little did the local man realise what was to come as people from all parts of the country came forward with jerseys and other forms of collectors items, while stars of the game, generously signed jerseys that currently hang proudly in Butler’s museum, now part of a wider GAA business. 

"It started at the beginning of Covid-19, one of my friends put me in contact with Jim Whelan from Graignamanagh and that got the ball rolling with contacts. I didn’t realise there was as big area in the country where people collect programmes," Eamonn said.

The current Graigue Ballycallan club secretary, founded his well-known hurley making business in 2013 and has created thousands of hurls for club and inter-county players across Co Kilkenny and beyond in that period.

This latest venture has put the hurleymaker firmly at the centre of GAA life in the community as visitors to the site can look forward to further hurling duels with a new stick or take a trip down memory lane in the local GAA shrine.

"We’re able to combine the two and that’s a great asset to have, it gets people talking when they come in," Eamonn remarked.

After years of tireless work, Saturday’s opening gave Eamonn an opportunity to take a much needed sigh of relief and enjoy the celebrations, hosted by the illustrious Seanchai, Jim Maher.

Despite the countless hours of work dedicated to the project, a thankful Butler praised all of those who contributed to the launch with their donations and expressed special gratitude to Jim Maher and Nickey Brennan for their contributions on the day.

The GAA family also played its part in the project with Graigue-Ballycallan and John Lockes GAA clubs, both located a short distance away, just two of many to offer their encouragement and support to the project. 

The Ballycallan-Tullaroan parishes in Co Kilkenny are well and truly to the fore for GAA heads as the new site joins the Lory Meagher Museum as ’must see’ attractions in the locality.

For further information you can email: butlershurleys@gmail.com or visit their website www.kilkennyhurleys.ie