Hunterstown Rovers 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 ...

( GAA) club located in

Ardee Ardee (; , ) is a town and townland in County Louth, Ireland. It is located at the intersection of the N2, N52, and N33 roads. The town shows evidence of development from the thirteenth century onward but as a result of the continued devel ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to 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 ...

. The club's pitch is located about 3 kilometres south of Ardee on the main Dublin-Derry Road ( N2). Hunterstown has teams at all age levels starting from U5's through to senior level.

History

The club was founded in 1941. After challenge matches against the O'Mahony's and Collon, the club affiliated with the Louth County Board in 1941, playing their first competitive match in March of that season in the Second Division Championship at

Dunleer Dunleer () is a town and townland in County Louth, Ireland. Dunleer is situated midway between Dundalk and Drogheda and is located on the junction of the R132, R169 and R170 regional roads that intersect the town. Dunleer used to be the p ...

. They won this match, against St. Colmcille's, Togher, on a scoreline of 2-4 to nil. In their next outing however, Hunterstown lost in Dunleer. In that season, Rovers won their section of the Ranafast Cup only to fall to Kilcurry in the competition's semi-final stages. From 1940 to 1980, Hunterstown played their football in a field owned by the Duffy family, close by the Travellers Rest. Because of its rather restricted size, it became known as the "Cabbage Field". Many visiting teams failed to come to terms with the pitch's pronounced slope. At the club's 1980 A.G.M. it was decided to investigate the possibility of acquiring a permanent and suitable location. Later it was decided that the most desirable property was a spacious field adjoining the already existing clubrooms. This was owned by the Lynch family and within a short period of time negotiations were opened and completed. Early in 1983 the first game on the new grounds was a Ranafast Cup meeting of Rovers and Sean McDermott's. A match between

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...

and

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

officially opened the brand new ''Páirc Baile Fiach'' in July 1984. The club's first jerseys were navy blue/sky blue vertical stripes. Hunterstown played in the

Cardinal O'Donnell Cup The Cardinal O'Donnell Cup is an annual senior league competition organised by Louth GAA for the Division 1 teams in Gaelic football in County Louth. Format All 12 teams play each other once, with the top four traditionally qualifying for the se ...

in 1946. The first success at County Board level came in 1954 when they won the Second Division Championship and the Ranafast Cup, beating Lann Léire in both finals at the Grove field in

Castlebellingham Castlebellingham () is a village and townland in County Louth, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The village has become quieter since the construction of the new M1 motorway, which bypasses it. The population of Castlebellingham-Kilsaran (named for ...

. The club was represented by right corner-back Ollie Reilly on the winning

team in the 1957 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. Rovers achieved senior status for the first time by winning the

Louth Intermediate Football Championship The Louth Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition, organised by Louth GAA, among the intermediate grade Gaelic football clubs in County Louth, Ireland. History The competition, introduced as a bridg ...

in 1993. The club has most recently enjoyed success in the Louth Division 3 League (2012 winners) and the 2013 Junior Championship, going on to compete in the

Leinster Junior Club Football Championship The Leinster Junior Club Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition between the winners of the Junior football competitions in 10 counties of Leinster, the Intermediate football champions of Kilkenny, the Intermediate football runners- ...

. Corner-forward Ryan Burns was a member of the Louth senior team that won the 2016

Allianz Allianz ( , ) is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management. The company is one of the world's largest insurers and financial services groups. The ...

National League Division 4. In November 2016, Jim Matthews was appointed as manager of the Senior football team.

Honours

(2): 1993, 1999 *

Louth Junior Football Championship The Louth Junior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition, organised by Louth GAA and contested by the junior One/A grade Gaelic football clubs in County Louth, Ireland. The winner qualifies to represent the cou ...

(4): 1959, 1987, 2013 *

Runners-Up (1): 2013 *

Louth Junior 2A Football Championship The Louth Junior 2A Football Championship is an annual knockout gaelic football competition organised by Louth GAA The Louth County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, Coiste Chontae an Lú) or Lo ...

(2): 1954, 1973 *

Louth Junior 2B Football Championship The Louth Junior 2B Football Championship is an annual knockout gaelic football competition organised by Louth GAA, contested by the second teams of Intermediate and Junior clubs in County Louth. Prior to 1994, the Louth Junior 2A Champion ...

(2): 2014 2018 *

Louth Intermediate Football League The Louth Intermediate Football League is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by Louth GAA for Division 2 teams in County Louth. Format At the end of the league programme, the team with the most points is automatically promoted t ...

(2): 1991, 2001 *Louth Intermediate Football League (Division 2B) (1): 2006 *Paddy Sheelan Shield (1): 2017 *

Louth Junior A Football League The Louth Junior A Football League, or Division 3A of the county football Leagues, is an annual Gaelic football competition. Introduced in 1921, it is contested by Junior clubs in County Louth. The captain of the winning team is presented with ...

(2): 1982, 2012 *

Louth Junior 2A Football League The Louth Junior 2A Football League, or Division 4 of the county football Leagues, is an annual Gaelic football competition that was introduced by Louth GAA in 1941 and contested by the second teams of Senior clubs in County Louth. The captain ...

(2): 1954, 1972 *Louth Junior 2 Football League (Division 5) (2): 2018, 2022

References

External links

Hunterstownrovers.gaa.ie
{{Louth GAA clubs Gaelic games clubs in County Louth Gaelic football clubs in County Louth