Allen Gaels Gaelic Athletic Association 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 ...

and

ladies' Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach na mBan) is a women's team sport. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a ...

club based in

Drumshanbo Drumshanbo (, ridge of the old huts) is a small town situated in the heart of County Leitrim, Ireland. Drumshanbo is surrounded by a scenic area of soft rolling hills, woodlands, lakes and the Sliabh an Iarainn and Arigna mountains. It is a wel ...

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

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 first GAA club was founded in Drumshanbo in 1889, St Patrick's. It died and was revived several times. As St. Francis', they won the 1963

Leitrim Junior Football Championship The Leitrim Junior A Football Championship is an annual football competition often contested by lower-tier or 2nd team Leitrim GAA clubs and is the counties third tier of football championship. The 2021 Junior A Champions of Leitrim were Mohil ...

. In 1969 Drumshanbo merged with Ballinaglera to form ''Allen Gaels'', taking their name from nearby

Lough Allen Lough Allen () is a lake on the River Shannon in northeastern Connacht, Ireland. Most of the lake is in County Leitrim, with a smaller part in County Roscommon. The lake lies to the south of the River Shannon's source, near the Iron Mountains, ...

. The club won two

Leitrim Senior Hurling Championship The Leitrim Senior Hurling Club Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Leitrim GAA clubs. The winners of the championship qualify to the Connacht Junior Club Hurling Championship. Carrick Hurling are the title ho ...

s in the 1970s. Ballinaglera left in 1981 to re-form their own club, but Drumshanbo continued with the "Allen Gaels" name. The club's peak came in 1991–2002, winning five senior football titles in twelve years. In 1997 Allen Gaels reached the final of the

Connacht Senior Club Football Championship The Connacht Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played between senior clubs in Connacht, with one qualifying from each of the five individual county championships. The winners of the Connacht football champ ...

, losing to Corofin. Noel Moran, Padraig Kenny, and Colin McGlynn also played on the successful Leitrim team of that era. In 1999, Allen Gaels' grounds were renamed the Shane McGettigan Memorial Park.

Honours

Gaelic football

Leitrim Senior Football Championship The Leitrim Senior Football Championship is an annual football competition contested by top-tier Leitrim GAA clubs. The Leitrim County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1890. St Mary's, Kiltoghert are the titl ...

(5): 1991, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002 *

Leitrim Intermediate Football Championship The Leitrim Intermediate Football Championship is an annual football competition contested by mid-tier Leitrim GAA clubs. The Leitrim County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthc ...

(1): 1989 *

(4): 1963 (as ''Drumshanbo St Francis''), 1987, 1994, 2008 *

Leitrim Minor Football Championship The Leitrim Minor A Football Championship is a football competition between the top-tier teams in Minor Gaelic football in County Leitrim, Ireland. The Leitrim County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Associati ...

(2): 1965, 1967 (both as ''Drumshanbo St Francis'')1994 as Allen Gaels

Hurling

(2): 1975, 1977

Notable players

* John Owens

References

External links

Official website
Gaelic games clubs in County Leitrim Gaelic football clubs in County Leitrim {{Connacht-GAA-club-stub