Seán O'Leary's GAC Newbridge ( ga, CLG Seán Ó Laoghaire Droichead Nua) 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 Newbridge,

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 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Newbridge has 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 ten occasions. Teams up to Under-12s play in South Derry league and championships, and those from U-14 upwards compete in All-Derry competitions.

2019 Championship Football

2018 Championship Football

2017 Championship Football

History

Gaelic games Gaelic games ( ga, Cluichí Gaelacha) are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the ...

had been played on the western shores of

Lough Neagh Lough Neagh ( ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake in the island of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. It has a surface area of and supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water. Its main inflows come ...

for decades before the founding of the club. Seán O'Leary's GAC Newbridge was established in 1925 and covered the Newbridge and

Ballymaguigan Ballymaguigan () is a hamlet and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is near the northwest shore of Lough Neagh and close to Magherafelt. The hamlet forms one part of a parish named Ardtrea North. Ballymaguigan is part of the ...

areas, both in

Ardtrea North Ardtrea North is the official name of Newbridge parish, the first parish (geographically) in the Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland diocese of Armagh. The Parish also incorporates the breakaway community of Ballymaguigan. Education and worsh ...

parish. The American Army built Toome airfield during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. This effectively split the parish in two, making it very difficult for the Ballymaguigan-based players to travel to the pitch and a separate club, St Trea's GFC, was set up in Ballymaguigan in 1944.

Gaelic football

Newbridge first won the

in 1937 and added further Senior Championship successes in 1940, 1945 and 1948. Success carried into the 1950s and the club won the Championship again in 1950 and 1955. With the emergence of the extremely successful

Bellaghy Bellaghy () is a village in County Derry, Northern Ireland. It lies north west of Lough Neagh and about 5 miles north east of Magherafelt. In the centre of the village (known locally as The Diamond) three main roads lead to Magherafelt, Port ...

side of the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was 1966 before Newbridge added another Senior Championship, and won the competition again in 1967 and 1970. O'Leary's won their most recent Senior Championship in 1989 and thereafter slipped down to Intermediate level. They won the Derry Intermediate Football Championship in 2002 and most recently in 2007. The club won Division 2 of the All-County League in 2008, and returned to competing at Senior level in 2009. Newbridge fields Gaelic football teams at U8, U10, U12, U14, U16,

Minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

, Reserve and Senior levels. In addition to winning the Derry Senior Championship ten times, the club has won the Derry Intermediate Football Championship twice. They currently compete in the Derry Senior Championship and Division 1 of the Derry ACFL.

Honours

(10) ** 1937, 1940 1945 1948 1950 1955 1966 1967 1970 1989 * Derry Senior Reserve Football Championship (2) ** 1987,1988 * Derry Intermediate Reserve Football Championship (1) ** 1999 * Dean Mcglinchey Cups (12) ** 1939, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1956 Note: The above lists may be incomplete. Please add any other senior-team honours you know of.

Notable players

Damian Barton Damian Barton (born 19 May 1962) is a former Gaelic footballer who played for the Derry county team in the 1980s and 1990s. He has served as manager of Derry senior football team. He was part of Derry's 1993 All-Ireland Championship winning s ...

- member of Derry's 1993 All-Ireland winning team *Henry Diamond * Tommy Doherty - former Derry player and team selector 1989 Derry Championship *

Hugh Francis Gribben Hugh Francis Gribben is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played in the 1958 All-Ireland Final. He was a brother of Roddy, Willie, Owen Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, ...

Owen Gribben Owen Gribben was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played in the 1958 All-Ireland Final. He was a brother of Roddy Roddy is a surname and a masculine given name, often a short form of Roderick. People Given name * Roddy Beaubois (born 1988), F ...

Roddy Gribben Roddy Gribben (1924/5-2017) was an Irish Gaelic footballer who played in the 1958 All-Ireland Final. He was a brother of Owen Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and ...

- former Derry player and manager *

Patsy McLarnon Patsy McLarnon is an Irish former 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 p ...

- former Derry player * John Murphy - won

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

with Derry in 1947

Camogie

The club also has camogie teams across various ages.

Website

The club launched its website in June 2009 with the aim of keeping the local community and exiles up-to-date with the activities around the club.

External links

Newbridge GAC website

References

{{Derry clubs Gaelic games clubs in County Londonderry Gaelic football clubs in County Londonderry 1925 establishments in Northern Ireland