Ballyroan Abbey GAA is a

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

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

The original

Ballyroan GAA Ballyroan Abbey GAA was a Gaelic football club in Ballyroan, County Laois, Ireland. Founded in 1887, the club colours were sky blue and navy, originally having been royal blue with a dominant white V on the front. The club won eight Laois Se ...

club was founded in 1887. The club colours were originally royal blue with a dominant white V on the front, later being changed to sky blue and navy. The

club won eight

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 ...

titles in its own right, the most recent of which was in 1992. Ballyroan Gaels was a temporary amalgamation of the two neighbouring clubs,

Abbeyleix Abbeyleix (; ) is a town in County Laois, Ireland, located around south of the county town of Portlaoise. Abbeyleix was formerly located on the N8, the main road from Dublin to Cork. At one point, up to 15,000 vehicles passed along the town' ...

and Ballyroan. This amalgamation was made permanent in 2007, when they became known as Ballyroan Abbey GAA. This was also a year of great surprise, when they lost to The Heath in a relegation play-off game meaning they would take part at intermediate rather than senior level in 2008. However, 2008 saw the club make a swift return to senior ranks with a 1-12 to 0-10 win over Park/Ratheniska in the final of the Laois Intermediate Football Championship . By December of the same year, the

Leinster Intermediate Club Football Championship The Leinster Intermediate Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played between the Intermediate football champions of the 12 counties of Leinster. The winners will represent the province in the semi-final of the All- ...

had been added, with a win over Meath champions St Ultans in the final. In the 2009 season, the club skirted relegation with the lowest point being a loss to Crettyard in Laois Senior Football Championship before holding on to beat The Rock in that year's relegation playoff. However, 2010 saw the club impacted by injuries and transfers and they were relegated from senior ranks after four successive championship defeats. In 2014, the club again returned to senior football having won the 2013

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 ...

. It was their third attempt in a row to win a final and this time they came out on top. Numerous Ballyroan players including the likes of

Liam Irwin Liam Irwin is a former Gaelic football player with Laois in Ireland. Nicknamed "George", he played at midfield and in 1986 was part of the Laois team that won the county's second National Football League title. Liam also picked up an All-Star ...

, Pat Dunne, Micky Drennan, Tony McMahon, Michael John Tierney, Padraig McMahon and Marty Scully have played for the Laois senior team.

Achievements

(2) 2008, 2013 *

: (1) 2013 * Laois All-County Football League Div. 2: (1) 2012 * Laois All-County Football League Div. 4: (1) 2017

Notable players

* Padraig McMahon * MJ Tierney

References

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