TRINITY COLLEGE and the GAA are comfortable bedfellows nowadays. Long regarded as an enclave for garrison games in the heart of Dublin city, Gaelic games currently surpasses all other sports in terms of participation.

It is a simple matter of space that has enabled the Trinity GAA club to flourish. Off campus, as it turns out. There is a decent rugby pitch, College Park, and the wide-open cricket expanse, surrounded by a grass running track. But not enough room to cater for seven football, hurling and camogie panels.

There was a bit of fanfare last year when removable Gaelic goalposts were made available but without floodlights, outdoor training on campus is difficult. The rugby club have lent them their pitch for a few Colours matches but that wasn’t enough.

They found a solution down past the far end of Pearse Street.

“All the teams are based at Clanna Gael Fontenoy now,” explained Conor Laverty, Trinity’s GAA development officer. “They have top-class facilities in Ringsend. Most clubs have a decent main pitch but they have two fantastic pitches and the astro surface. It is a great set-up.”

Their relationship with Clanna Gael, a GAA club on the southside fringe of the city, meant increasing student interest in playing football, hurling or camogie could be facilitated.

“It has increased year on year for about five years,” said Laverty’s predecessor Eoin Vaughan. “Before that it was a matter of sourcing facilities. There was a pitch here, a pitch there and we had to travel out to the college grounds in Santry, north Dublin, which for some students meant a two-hour round trip. The development of the relationship between Trinity and Clanna Gael Fontenoy has been crucial.”

It has been mutually beneficial as the students assist in coaching juveniles out in Ringsend.

The GAA club has 400 registered members, while Laverty believes there are up to 350 active players – 140 players alone are playing men’s football from minor up to the senior panel.

“Football has really taken off where it wouldn’t have been popular before,” Laverty explained. “The recreational team provides an outlet for a lot of people who don’t want to be involved at the more serious end. It has also seen a lot of foreign students coming out to see what it is about.”

The comparisons with the numbers involved in more entrenched sports at Trinity are stark. Rugby and hockey have up to 180 active members each over seven and nine teams respectively; there are 110 (60 female and 50 male) rowers; 60 men are playing members of the soccer club.

Laverty is still only 26 but he has been coaching for 10 years and is part of the Down intercounty football panel. His role is jointly funded by the college and the Leinster Council, allowing him full-time status. This is only mirrored by rugby director Tony Smeeth and woman’s rowing development officer Andrew Coleman.

There have been other spikes in Gaelic games during Dublin University’s 419-year existence. The first meeting of the Irish hurling union took place on campus, House 17 in Botany Bay, to be precise, in 1879. The link with modern hurling, however, is tenuous. The GAA wasn’t formed until 1884 while hurling in Trinity during the 1870s more closely resembled field hockey.

The seeds of Gaelic games were planted during the 1950s. The presence of Kerry All-Ireland winner Colm Kennelly was crucial. Having Dublin legend Kevin Heffernan around the place also appeared to have helped.

Dr Pat O’Neill managed a 1991 team that included Joe Brolly to a Division One title. Two years later Brolly led the Derry attack to an All-Ireland title. Add two more seasons and O’Neill managed Dublin to an All-Ireland.

The next leap is to improve enough to return to the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup. “We had six scholarships this year, two football – Tomás Corrigan from Fermanagh and Seán Murray from Dublin,” says Laverty. “These are serious players. I know this because I have played against both of them with Down. We had dual players from Dublin in Kevin Fitzgerald and Barry O’Rorke. We had two Cadbury’s (sponsored) scholarships as well, Mark O’Sullivan from Meath and Paddy O’Higgins from Dublin.”

Ryan Casey replaced former Galway player Brian Talty as football coach, while former All-Ireland winning Clare hurler Stephen McNamara manages the senior hurling panel.

“Ducac, the governing body for all sporting clubs in Trinity, offer a lot of support,” said Laverty. “Coaches have introduced early-morning training, as a lot of successful GAA teams do. It allows players to get on with their studies knowing the hard work has been done.”