O'Donovan Rossa GAC ( ga, CLG Ó Donnabháin Rosa) 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

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

. The club is a member of the

Antrim GAA Antrim may refer to: Boats * Antrim 20, an American sailboat design People * Donald Antrim (born 1958), American writer * "Henry Antrim", an alias used by Henry McCarty, better known as Billy the Kid, a 19th-century outlaw * Harry Antrim (188 ...

and currently fields teams in

Hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

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

Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

. The club is named after Irish patriot and revolutionary Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa and one of the club founders was Joe McKelvey.

History

O'Donovan Rossa GAC was founded in 1916 at Bunkers Hill, now the site of Kennedy’s old bakery in Beechmount Avenue on the Falls Road. At foundation, the membership was confined to Irish Volunteers and amongst the first members were Sean Osbourne, Joe McKelvey, Sean Hackett from Tipperary, with Sean O’Sullivan as the first chairman. Soon the young club was making its presence felt, winning the Hurling Championship in 1918, 1919 and 1921, while the footballers collected the Football Championship in 1920 and 1921, completing the double in 1921. For a number of subsequent years County Championships eluded the club, but in 1938 they had a narrow victory over Dunloy at Corrigan Park by 2 points to 1 point. At the start of the 1940s Rossa welcomed most of the St Mary’s C.B.S. team as members of the club. These players made their contribution to renewed success, winning many Senior Football and Hurling Championships in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1988, the club won an All Ireland Semi Final against Patrickswell GAA. In an epic game played in Limerick, Rossa emerged as one point winners against a Patrickswell side that included greats like

Gary Kirby Gary Kirby (born 12 January 1967 in Patrickswell, County Limerick, Ireland) is an Irish hurling manager and former player. He was named in a list of the "125 greatest stars of the GAA" in 2009, in which he was described as "one of the best playe ...

and

Ciarán Carey Ciarán Carey (born 16 January 1970) is an Irish former hurling manager, selector and player. Primarily playing at the centre-back position, Carey's club career was with Patrickswell and at inter-county level with Limerick. He was a key membe ...

. The team eventually lost in the All Ireland Final at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

to a

Buffers Alley Buffers Alley is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the villages of Kilmuckridge and Monamolin in County Wexford, Ireland. The club fields teams in Intermediate hurling, Gaelic football and camogie. It competes in Wexford competition ...

side led by

Tony Doran Anthony "Tony" Doran (born April 1946) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a full-forward for the Wexford senior team. Born in Boolavogue, County Wexford, Doran first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of seventeen when he fir ...

Notable players

Ciaran Barr Ciaran Barr (born 1964 in Belfast, County Antrim) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club O'Donovan Rossa and with the Antrim senior inter-county team from 1984 until 1994. He won an All Star award in 1988. Playin ...

- former hurling player * Jane Adams - camogie player

Honours

O'Donovan Rossa won the

Antrim Senior Hurling Championship The Antrim Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Bathshack.com Antrim Senior Hurling Championship and abbreviated to the Antrim SHC) is an annual club hurling competition organised by the Antrim County Board of the ...

in 1918, 1919, 1921, 1946, 1949, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1988 and 2004. The club also won the

Antrim Senior Football Championship The Antrim Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in Antrim GAA. The winners of the championship represent Antrim in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship ...

in 1920, 1921, 1927, 1930, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1973, 1989 and 1991.

Honours

Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship The Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Ulster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Ulster GAA, Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association and ...

(4) ** 1972, 1977, 1988, 2004 *

(15) ** 1918, 1919, 1921, 1946, 1949, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1988, 2004 *

(16) ** 1920, 1921, 1927, 1930, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1973, 1989,1991 *

All-Ireland Intermediate Club Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Club Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the second highest inter-county ...

(1) ** 2015 *

Ulster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship The Ulster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Ulster GAA Hurling Intermediate Club Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association and ...

(1) ** 2014 *

Antrim Intermediate Hurling Championship The Antrim Intermediate Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition, organised by Antrim GAA. Clooney Gaels from Ahogill are the title holders (2022). Honours The winners of the Antrim Intermediate Hurling Championship progress to th ...

(1) ** 2014

References

External links

O'Donovan Rossa GAC websiteOfficial Antrim GAA Website
{{Antrim GAA clubs Gaelic games clubs in County Antrim Hurling clubs in County Antrim Sports clubs in Belfast