First Club in Newport
The first club founded in Newport in 1886 was the Young Ireland Hurling Club. William Lee was President, John Callaghan was Secretary and James Wixted was captain of the team.

First Newport team to play championship:
Even though GAA clubs were first established in Newport in 1886 and Newport representatives were involved in setting up the North Tipperary Board in 1901, it was not until 1909 that a team from the parish participated in the championship. Prior to that, travel to games was mainly on foot or by bicycle, and being on the periphery of the county, teams from Newport were at a disadvantage when it came to travelling long distances. Consequently, tournament games and local challenges were the main focus of teams and players. In 1909, Toor was the first team from the parish to participate in the championship when they lined out against Clonakenny in Templederry in the semi-final of the North Tipp senior hurling championship. It was a losing debut, as, despite a gallant performance, they went down on a scoreline of 2-5 to 1-4.

First All Ireland Medal
Martin Aherne was the first Newport representative to win an All Ireland medal, when he was a member of the Tipperary team which won the 1924 All Ireland Junior Hurling title. Tipperary, captained by Phil Purcell, swept aside all teams, scoring 25 goals in 4 outings, defeating Kerry, Cork and Limerick before accounting for Galway in the All Ireland Final which was not played until 31st August 1925. Martin was also the first Newport representative to play senior hurling championship for Tipperary when he lined out against Limerick in 1927. He also won a National Hurling League medal in 1927.

However, Dan Troy from Ballymackeogh, could be termed the first man from Newport to win an All Ireland, although he was not a Newport player at the time of his national win. Dan played with Newport teams at juvenile and adult level before moving to Limerick. He helped Claughaun to county senior hurling championship titles in 1918 and 1926 and won an All Ireland senior hurling crown with Limerick in 1918. He was renowned as one of the top centre forwards of his day, although injury cut short his inter county career.

Actually, another Newport-born man, Jack Rochford, although he never hurled locally, won seven All Ireland senior hurling medals with Kilkenny between 1904 and 1913. Jack, from the Threecastles club, was a noted full back during his playing days.

First Title
The first championship title was brought to Newport in 1924 when the Junior Hurlers defeated Curreeney-Killeen in the North Final in Nenagh by 6-1 to 1-0.

First Minor Title
Newport won its first North Tipp Minor Hurling title when defeating Kiladangan at Capparoe in the 1926 final, played in July of the following year.

First Senior Hurling title
The Newport senior hurling team of the late 1920s and early 30s was one of the best in the district and proved themselves not only in championship games but also in tournaments against clubs from Tipperary and Limerick. They lost the 1928 North Tipp Final to Toomevara and the West Final to Clonoulty in 1931. They eventually tasted championship success in 1932 when they were awarded the North Tipp title after Toomevara refused to play the final, pleading the absence of players due to examinations. They did have the opportunity to win on the field of play in 1935 when they overcame Kilruane MacDonaghs in the North Final played at the Showgrounds in Nenagh, despite having lost many players from the 1932 team to retirement and transfers.

First Multiple All Irelands
Newport had five players involved with the Tipperary minor hurling team in 1930 and were the only club from the North Division to be represented on the first fifteen. Tipp defeated Kilkenny in the All Ireland final, when Jack Coffey was full back, Jimmy Coffey and Jim Close in the forward line and Mick Boland among the substitutes. Ned Delaney had lined out in the opening round against Kerry but he had to forego the remainder of the championship when he returned to College.
Jimmy ‘Butler’ Coffey and Mick Crowe were the first Newport men to play minor hurling for the county, when they were on the side beaten by Waterford in 1928. Jimmy lined out with the Tipp minors in 3 successive years, 1928, ’29 and ’30.
Jim Close was the only Newport man to win two Munster Minor Hurling championships. He added an All Ireland in 1930, but was on the losing side in the All Ireland final of 1931. He then won an All Ireland senior medal with Limerick in 1934, two National Leagues and Limerick senior championships in both hurling and football with Ahane.

First All Ireland Senior Medal
Jimmy ‘Butler’ Coffey brought the first All Ireland senior hurling medal to Newport in 1937 when he was part of the Tipperary forward line which defeated Kilkenny in the All Ireland final played in Killarney.

First Football Title
Kyle won the first minor football championship played in North Tipperary when they defeated Nenagh in a replayed final at Boher in 1940, with the remarkable scoreline of 1-1 to 0-2. The Kyle club was founded in 1939 and only lasted a few years, but the Rockvale Rovers team of the later ‘forties featured many of the same players.

First County Title
Rockvale Rovers won the County Junior Football title of 1947. Having defeated Knockshegowna in the North Final, they overcame Clonpet from West Tipp in the county semi-final, before getting the better of Ballingarry in the county final played in Thurles in July 1948 by 2-3 to 1-3.

First County Hurling Title
The first county hurling title was brought to the parish when the Junior Hurlers took the 1957 title, overcoming Cappawhite in the final. This was in reality the Intermediate grade (also known as No. 1 Junior) and Newport were promoted to senior hurling for the following season.

First County Juvenile Title
When Newport’s Under 16 footballers won the county ‘A’ final in 1982, defeating Cahir in Ballycahill, they were the first team from North Tipperary to do so.

First County Juvenile Hurling Title
The county final victory of the Under 16 hurlers (B) in 1993, after a replay against Ballybacon-Grange in Cappawhite, was the first county under-age hurling title to come to the parish.

First County Juvenile Hurling ‘A’ Title
Newport’s victory over Cashel King Cormacs in the 2024 County Under 15 ‘A’ hurling final in Cappawhite was the first county title in a premier grade for a Newport juvenile team. They had also won the County Premier Féile na nGael competition earlier in the year.

First Field ownership
Mulcair Rovers was the first club in the parish to acquire its own playing field. The club had been using the ‘Longhouse Field’ at Cragg since the early 1930s, thanks to local landlord Charlie Going. They got legal title when Going’s land was divided by the Land Commission, on payment of £84 for 5¼ acres in 1946. Changing facilities with showers were installed in 1997.

First Dressing Rooms
Land was purchased from the Coffey Family in Newport in 1946 for the development of a playing field which would be known as the Paddy Ryan (Lacken) Memorial Park – Páirc Chuimhneacháin Pádraig Uí Riain. The field was levelled by local volunteers using shovels, horses and carts in 1948 and the official opening was held on 21st May 1950, featuring a tournament game between Tipperary and Limerick.
Two Dressing Rooms were constructed at the rear of the memorial entrance at Lacken Park in 1970. A viewing stand was erected in 1993-94. Building of a new clubhouse commenced in 1995 and officially opened by GAA President, Joe McDonagh in 1998. A second field adjoining Lacken Park was purchased in 1999. A Hurling Wall fronted by an astro turf area was officially opened by GAA President John Horan in March 2019.

First Female Chairperson
When Cora Moroney took on the role of chairperson of Newport GAA Club in 2004, she created history in being the first female in the role, not just in the Newport club, but also in the county.

First All Star
Conor O’Mahony was the first and only Newport player to win an All Star Award, when he was named at Number 6 on the 2008 hurling team. He won a second award the following year. He was also the first Newport man to lead out Tipperary in an All Ireland Final, when as Vice-Captain he deputised for captain Willie Ryan.

First Scór Titles
Newport’s first representatives in Scór took to the stage at Portroe on December 16th 1969.
Two representatives had the distinction of being the first to win North Tipp titles (at a time when competitors had to get through a Parish Final and an Area Final to qualify for a North Final), when in 1974, Eileen Briscoe won the Amhránaíocht Aonair and Brigid Lacey, Mary Lacey, Paddy Bradley, Ger Floyd and Breda Floyd won the Bailéad Grúpa.
Scór na nÓg was introduced in 1972 for competitors under 17 years of age. Denis Carey had the distinction of being Newport’s first county Scór winner when he won the Ceol Uirlise category in 1975.
Scór na bPáistí was initiated in 1991 for primary school pupils. Newport’s first North Tipp wins were recorded in Set Dancing and Instrumental Music in 1999, while the following year the Novelty Act group of Eoin Matthews, Joseph Moloney, Darragh McDonnell and Michael Wixted took county honours with their act entitled “Pea Shooter.”
Eileen Briscoe had the distinction of being the club’s first Munster winner, when she took the award for Solo Singing in 1982
There was a long wait for an All Ireland win: The Instrumental Music Group of Áine O’Malley, Ruairi Floyd, Louise Ryan, Niamh Floyd and Brian McAuliffe took the honours at the National Finals at the City West in Dublin in 2015.

First Guardian Player of the Week
In 1970, the Nenagh Guardian introduced a ‘Player of the Week’ award column. Michael ‘Neighbour’ Jones was named as the first recipient following his display against Kilruane MacDonaghs in the North Tipp Senior Hurling Championship on 19th April.

First North Tipp Hurler of the Year
Dinny Ryan was named ‘North Tipperary Hurler of the Year’ for 1988 following his displays throughout the Intermediate Hurling championship. He is the only Newport player to have received the overall award, although a number have been awarded for various grades.

First North Tipp Footballer of the Year
John O’Brien was the first Newport player to be named ‘North Tipperary Footballer of the Year’ when he received the award in 1983. Later recipients were Pat Shinnors (1985), Colm Moran (1986), PJ O’Rourke (1996) and Jack Delahunty (2018).

First to referee North Senior Hurling Final
Tim Ryan refereed the North Tipperary Senior Hurling Final in 1911. Mick Rainsford officiated at the finals of 1933 and 1938. Pakie Jones was in charge in 1967 and Denis Floyd in 1978.