Abbeylara Gaelic Football Club is a

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

club based in

Abbeylara Abbeylara () is a village in the easternmost portion of County Longford, Ireland, located about three kilometers east of Granard on the R396 regional road. Its name is derived from a monastery, the great Abbey of Lerha, founded in 1205 by Hib ...

County Longford County Longford ( gle, Contae an Longfoirt) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 46,6 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

History

The Abbeylara club can trace its origins back to the Ballywillan Michael Davitts club (founded in 1889 and named after

Michael Davitt Michael Davitt (25 March 184630 May 1906) was an Irish republican activist for a variety of causes, especially Home Rule and land reform. Following an eviction when he was four years old, Davitt's family migrated to England. He began his caree ...

) who competed in the first

Longford Senior Football Championship The Longford Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition organised by Longford GAA among the Senior grade Gaelic football clubs in County Longford, Ireland. The winning club qualifies to represent its coun ...

in 1890 (also referred to as Abbeylara Davitts). During the 1891 Senior Football Championship, the club name changed to Ballywillan Faugh a'Ballaghs. The club went into decline thereafter and the modern day Abbeylara club was affiliated in 1928. A 'United Gaels' amalgamation representing

Granard Granard () is a town in the north of County Longford, Ireland, and has a traceable history going back to AD 236. It is situated just south of the boundary between the watersheds of the Shannon and the Erne, at the point where the N55 nationa ...

and

reached the final of the

in 1947. The club crest depicts the ruins of the nearby

Abbey of Lerha An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

. Abbeylara reached their first county final in 1998. Abbeylara have won the

twice, in 2000 and 2006. They have been defeated in the Longford final in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. The Hand of Dalton = 2010

References

Gaelic games clubs in County Longford Gaelic football clubs in County Longford {{Leinster-GAA-club-stub