O'Donovan Rossa GAC Magherafelt ( ga, CLG Ó Donnabháin Rosa Machaire Fíolta) 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 ...

club based in

Magherafelt Magherafelt (, �mˠaxəɾʲəˈfʲiːlt̪ˠə is a small town and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,805 at the 2011 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county and is the social, econo ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The club is a member of

Derry GAA The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae Dhoire) or Derry GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in County Londonderry ...

and currently caters for

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 ...

Camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurling (which is played by men onl ...

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 ...

. The club is named after Irish patriot and revolutionary

Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa ( ga, Diarmaid Ó Donnabháin Rosa; baptised 4 September 1831, died 29 June 1915)Con O'Callaghan Reenascreena Community Online (dead link archived at archive.org, 29 September 2014) was an Irish Fenian leader and member ...

. The club have won the

Derry Senior Football Championship The Derry Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top sixteen Derry GAA clubs. The winners receive the John McLaughlin Cup and qualify to represent Derry in the Ulster Senior Club Football Champi ...

on seven occasions. Underage teams up to U-12s play in the South Derry GAA league and championships, from U-14 upwards teams compete in All-Derry competitions.

2019 Championship Football

2018 Championship Football

2017 Championship Football

History

O'Donovan Rossa GAC Magherafelt was established on 15 April 1934. The founding members were Pat McFlynn, Pat Keenan, Gerry Gallagher, Paddy Collins, John Walls, John Kearns and Charlie McFlynn. Having recently read

Patrick Pearse Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ga, Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who ...

's graveside oration at

's funeral, Pat McFlynn proposed the idea of naming the club after O'Donovan Rossa. His proposal was accepted and it was also decided that the club would play in red and white colours. Magherafelt moved to its current ground, Rossa Park in 1941, having previously played at Bellvue Park and Millbrook Park. The club won its first

in 1939 and added four more in the 1940s. In 1978 after a gap of 29 years, the club won the Senior Championship for a sixth time.

Rossa Park

The club's home ground is Rossa Park, located on the road between

and

Castledawson Castledawson is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is mostly within the townland of Shanemullagh (, IPA: �anˠˈʃanˠˌwʊl̪ˠəx, about four miles from the north-western shore of Lough Neagh, and near the market town of Mag ...

. In the past it was the main ground for

inter-county matches, but this ended in the 1970s.

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...

in Derry City is now the main county ground.

Football Titles

Senior

: 7 ** 1939, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1949, 1978, 2019 * Derry Senior League: 1 ** 2016 *

Derry Junior Football Championship The Derry Junior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Premier Electrics Derry Junior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by lower-tier Derry clubs. The competition receives coverage in ...

: 2 ** 1960, 1963

Minor

*Derry Minor Football Championship: 5 **1959, 1972, 1992, 2010,2021 *Hughes/McElwee Memorial Cup: 2 **2009, 2010

Under-16

* Derry Under-16 Football Championship: 8 ** 1958, 1959, 1964, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2016,2019 * South Derry Under-16 Football Championship: 4 ** 1958, 1959, 1964, 2004 * Derry Under-16 Football League: 2 ** 2007, 2008 * South Derry Under-16 Football League: 3 ** 1980,1990, 2004, * Derry Under-16 Ladies Championship:1 ** 2009

Under-14

* All-Ireland Féile na nÓg: 2 ** 2007, 2018, 2023 * Derry Féile na nÓg: 9 ** 1988, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 * Derry Under-14 Football Championship: 4 ** 1987, 2005, 2014, 2015 * Derry Under-14 Football League: 5 ** 2007, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 * South Derry Under-14 Football Championship: 7 ** 1985, 1987, 1988, 2005, 2009, 2014, 2015 * South Derry Under-14 Football League: 3 ** 1985, 1987, 1988, 2013, 2015 4 Note: The above lists may be incomplete. Please add any other honours you know of.

Well known footballers

*Pat Keenan - National League Winning Derry Captain 1947 *Francie Niblock *Father Larry Higgins *

Chuck Higgins Charles Williams Higgins (April 17, 1924 – September 14, 1999) was an American saxophonist. Higgins relocated from his birthplace of Gary, Indiana to Los Angeles in his teens, where he played trumpet and went to school at the Los Angeles Con ...

* Mickey Niblock * Hugh Niblock *Gerry O'Loughlin

External links

O'Donovan Rossa GAC website

References

{{Derry clubs Gaelic games clubs in County Londonderry Gaelic football clubs in County Londonderry Magherafelt