Ardmore GAC

St Mary's GAC Ardmore
CLG Naomh Mhuire Ard Mór
Founded: 1938
County: Derry
Club colours: Black & Amber
Grounds: McCourts Field
Coordinates: 54°57′43.69″N 7°15′59.76″W / 54.9621361°N 7.2666000°WCoordinates: 54°57′43.69″N 7°15′59.76″W / 54.9621361°N 7.2666000°W
Playing kits

Standard colours

Saint Mary's GAC Ardmore (Irish: CLG Naomh Mhuire Ard Mór) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Ardmore on the outskirts of Derry City. It plays in the Derry league and championships and currently caters for Gaelic football, and Ladies Gaelic football.

Ardmore fields Gaelic football teams at the Under-8, Under-10, Under-12, Under-14, Under-16, Minor, Reserve and Senior levels. Underage teams up to U-12s play in the North Derry league and championships, and from U-14 and above, teams compete in All-Derry competitions.

History

St Mary's GAC was formed in 1938.[1] In 1987, the club was awarded the North Derry Club of the Year award, an accolade it also claimed in 1993 and 2002.[2] Ardmore is currently in the process of purchasing land with plans to develop a floodlit playing field and training area with changing and meeting rooms.[2] In their earlier years the GAA club in the Ardmore area was named Glenkeen.

The first indication of them taking part was in the North Derry League of 1922 where they are shown as having 10 points from 7 games. The other teams in the league were Dungiven, Foreglen, Glack, Park, Dernaflaw Creggan(Faughanvale) Claudy and Slaughtmanus.

In 1929 a player named P. Doherty(Glenkeen) was on the Derry junior team that beat Antrim by 1-5 to 0-4 in the Ulster Junior Championship. The same player was also on the 1930 Derry team that beat Down at The Brandy well. There is a photo of that 1930 team but the individual players are not identified in it. Doherty played at left half back on the teams of those two years

Strangely in the 1930 competitions Glenkeen did not take part but there were three clubs in the Waterside area St. Patrick’s, Waterside, Corrody Harps and St. Patrick’s Corrody. Possibly Doherty played with one of these three.

In the 1938 North Derry League the name Ardmore appears for the first time, they were one of eleven teams competing.

In 1944 Ardmore were in the City competitions when an amazing 20 teams took part with 17 from the City and three from Donegal. In the 1944 City Championship a result can be traced where the score was Ardmore 3-4 Claudy 1-7.

The Ardmore club has made more comebacks that Frank Sinatra in the last sixty years. They came and went in virtually every decade and had players who represented Derry at minor and junior level, Connie McAllister and an O’Neill(Hughie’s brother) being two of them. I think there was a Quinn as well.

From the first GAA action in the City starting in 1888 until about 1918 it was mainly hurling with some rather colourful names of teams like Sunbursts, Bright Stars and Hibernian Band. Possibly some of these were teams rather than clubs.

Derry won the 1903 and 1909 Ulster hurling titles. On 14 November 1909 the hurlers all from the City became the first Derry team to play in Croke Park then Jones Road. They lost to Kilkenny by 3-17 to 0-3.

Honours

Senior

Minor

U-16

U-14

Club

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Ardmore GAC homepage". Official Ardmore GAC website. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Club Focus - St Mary's GAC Ardmore". Official Derry GAA website. Retrieved 2008-04-12.