Annanough GAA 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 in

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

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

Annanough was founded in 1920 from a merger of the old Vicarstown and Moyanna clubs. Moyanna had won the 1891

Laois Senior Football Championship The Laois Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by top-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1888. Portarlington are the title holders ...

title while Vicarstown were

Laois Intermediate Football Championship The Laois Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by mid-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1907. The Heath are the title holders ...

winners in 1917 and 1919. Success wasn't long coming the new club's way with the legendary Dick Miller captaining Annanough to a three-in-a-row of

titles from 1924 to 1926. Another great Annanough team emerged in the 1950s to take two more

titles. Names like the Nerneys, Dunnes, Terry O’Connell, Ronan Donlan, Tom Gorman, the Murphys and of course the Millers backboned both club and county team at this time. Annanough went back to intermediate ranks before a Martin Stapleton captained side captured the 1978

title with a 2–9 to 1–4 win over Park. The 1980s saw Annanough resume their place as a football power within Laois, although the ultimate honour of a

victory eluded them, with the 1982 side particularly unlucky to meet a

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050 ...

side in the final, and Portlaoise went on to win the All-Ireland club championship. That was the only defeat suffered by Annanough in 82, when they did win the senior league, with John Nerney as captain. 1996 saw Annanough return to intermediate ranks and after the ill-fated Annawood senior amalgamation with

Courtwood Courtwood GAA ( ga, Cumann Luthchleas Gael Coill na Cúirte) is a Gaelic Athletic Association gaelic football club, located in the north east corner of County Laois in Ireland. The club is located in the eastern half of Emo, County Laois, Emo par ...

, the elusive sixth

title remains the goal of this proud club. 2018 saw the club win its first championship title in 40 years when they defeated O'Dempsey's to win the

Laois Junior Football Championships The Laois Junior Football Championships are the lower-tier Laois Club Football Championships. The Junior A and Junior B Championships use group phases then down to eight-four-two and the Junior C Championship operates similarly to the Senior Cha ...

for the first time ever.

Honours

: 6 **1891 Moyanna 0-4, Portarlington 0-2 (Captain: Frank Foley) **1924 Annanough 1-2, Ratheenabrogue 0-1 (Captain: Dick Miller) **1925 Annanough 4-2, Ballyroan 0-5 (Captain: Dick Miller) **1926 Annanough 1-2, Abbeyleix 0-0 (Captain: Dick Miller) **1951 Annanough 3-4, Portarlington 1-3 (Captain: Fran Nerney) **1956 Annanough 0-14, Park 0-5 (Captain: Tom Gorman) *

: 5 **1936 Annanough 0-10, Clonad 0-8 (Captain: Tom Dunne) **1940 Annanough 1-5, Worsted Mills 1-3 (Captain: Matt Dunne) **1946 Annanough 0-7, Timahoe 0-2 **1949 Annanough 6-8, Barrowhouse 1-5 (Captain: Fran Nerney) **1978 Annanough 2-9, Park 1-4 (Captain: Martin Stapleton) *

:1 **2018 Annanough 0-12 O'Dempsey's 0-10 (Captain: Shane Stapleton) *1968: Annanough, as part of the parish trio of Annanough, Stradbally and Timahoe, and that year under the name of Annanough, completed a ''three in a row'' of Under 21 championship wins, though the third win was without the Stradbally element. St Joseph's were the opposition on final day.

Notable players

*Terry O'Connell, played for Laois and Leinster and was an hour away from a

Leinster Senior Football Championship The Leinster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Leinster Championship and shortened to Leinster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA ...

medal in 1959

References

{{Laois GAA clubs Gaelic games clubs in County Laois Gaelic football clubs in County Laois