Lally Lacrosse - Wooden Stick Company 

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Lally-Lacrosse-Factory.jpg

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  • Lally-Lacrosse-Trade-Document.jpg
  • Lally-Lacrosse-Copper-Advertising-Plate.jpg
  • Lally-Lacrosse-Extra-Special-Stick.jpg
  • Lally-Lacrosse-Pre-WWII.jpg
  • Patrick-Joe-Lally.jpg

Summary

Lacrosse was Canada’s first national sport. Nowhere was the game more popular than in Cornwall, which boasted World Championship teams. Lacrosse player Frank Lally retired from the game in 1889, and four years later opened his lacrosse stick factory in Cornwall. The business closed during the Second World War, but lacrosse stick manufacturing stayed on, in factories on Cornwall Island into the 1970s.

Photo: Albert Barnhardt is seen standing in the foreground of the Cumberland Street lacrosse factory.

Photo: The cover to a copper advertising plate.

In 1901 the firm advertised …that since Frank Lally was an expert in handling the lacrosse stick “…it was not a matter of surprise that he should turn out what is acknowledged by all players to be he best stick in the world.” Lally eventually had factories in Cornwall, Cornwall Island, and St. Regis.

Two pre World War I Lally lacrosse sticks. The stick on the left is for a goalie. The early sticks may be distinguished from latter models by the flat top. Newer sticks have rounded tops.

From the collection of the Cornwall Community Museum.

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PATRICK "JOE" LALLY

Date of Birth: August 27, 1868
Place of Birth: Cornwall, Ontario
Date of Passing: June 27, 1956

Career Highlights
1925 - Founder, Canadian Lacrosse Association
1927 - Lifetime member, Ontario Lacrosse Association,
1930 - Donated Lally Perpetual Trophy
1945 - Lifetime member, Canadian Lacrosse Association

Lacrosse was Joe Lally's life. Known variously as a father of lacrosse in Canada and "Mr. Lacrosse," he was involved in all aspects of the game and instrumental in the development of lacrosse as an organized sport in the first half of the 20th century. Lally spent his life in his birthplace, Cornwall, Ontario, where he was elected mayor in 1918. There he played and coached for local lacrosse teams. As a coach, he played a pivotal role in converting star Newsy Lalonde from goal to forward. But it was off the field that he made his greatest contributions to the sport he loved. In 1903, Lally took over the Cornwall-based lacrosse stick manufacturing business started by his brother Frank in 1881. Lally sticks were to become among the best-known lacrosse equipment in the world. Lally also made significant contributions as an administrator. In 1925, he was instrumental in establishing the Canadian Lacrosse Association, which made him a lifetime member in 1945—an honour that the Ontario Lacrosse Association had bestowed upon him in 1927. And, in 1930, he donated the Lally Perpetual Trophy, which was to be awarded annually to the winner of an international competition between teams representing Canada and the United States. Both Joe and Frank Lally were accomplished lacrosse players, and Joe was well known as a referee. Their nephews, Bill and Bun Cook, starred in the NHL with the New York Rangers and the former is an honoured member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Joe Lally is also enshrined in the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

From the collection of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.



Details

Location(s): Cornwall, Ontario, Canada

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