St Joseph's GFC 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 ...

(GAA) club that fields

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 ...

teams in competitions organised by

Louth GAA The Louth County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, Coiste Chontae an Lú) or Louth GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Louth. The co ...

. It is based in the

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 ...

village of

Dromiskin Dromiskin (historically ''Druminisklin'', from ) is a village and townland in County Louth, Ireland. It is situated 10 km south of Dundalk, about 1 km inland from the Irish coast. History The village was home to a monastery for h ...

, near the county town of

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

. As of 2023, the club competes in the Louth Senior Championship and Division 2 of the county football Leagues.

History

The club was founded in 1961 when members of the two GAA clubs in the parish of Darver and Dromiskin - Darver Volunteers and Dromiskin Unknowns - decided to amalgamate. The new club's first major success came in 1971, when St Joseph's defeated St Patrick's of

Lordship A lordship is a territory held by a lord. It was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas. It originated as a unit under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. In a lordship, the functions of econ ...

in the final of the Louth Junior Championship. In 1983 they overcame Oliver Plunketts in the Louth Intermediate football final. The team progressed to the

Louth Senior Football Championship The Louth Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition organised by Louth GAA among the top Gaelic football clubs in County Louth, Ireland. The winning club qualifies to represent the county in the Leinster S ...

final in 1984, but fell to St Fechin's by five points at the Grove 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 ...

. A further Senior final appearance came in 1994, ending in a two-point defeat to Stabannon Parnells at

Haggardstown Haggardstown () is a townland and a civil parish located on the outskirts of Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. The civil parish of Haggardstown lies on the shore of Dundalk Bay, north of the estuary of the River Fane, and includes the village ...

after a replay. The Joe Ward Cup finally arrived in

at the third time of asking in 1996, when St Joseph's triumphed over Stabannon Parnells at Ardee's Páirc Mhuire, by 2–11 to 1–08. Ten more years would pass until St Joseph's won the Louth Senior Championship for a second time. On a wet day in Dundalk's Clan na Gael Park, the Dromiskin men defeated heavy favourites St Patrick's, who were chasing a third title in four years and whose side contained numerous

inter-county Inter-county, or inter county is Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) terminology which refers to competitions or matches between counties, as used in Gaelic games (differently from legal counties). The term can also be used to describe the players o ...

players. St Joseph's emerged as 2006 Louth Senior Football Champions by four points, on a scoreline of 2–07 to 0–09.

Honours

(2): 1996, 2006 *

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 ...

(3): 1983, 1990, 2016 *

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 ...

(1): 1971 *

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): 1982, 1988 *

Louth Minor Football Championship The Louth Minor Football Championship is an annual competition organised by Louth GAA between the premier teams in minor (under-17) Gaelic football in County Louth. Trophy The winning team is presented with the Father Larry Murray Cup, named aft ...

(3): 1994, 2009, 2010 *

Louth Under-21 Football Championship The Louth Under-21 Football Championship is an annual competition organised by Louth GAA for Gaelic football teams in County Louth. History First contested in 1972, the inaugural winners were Cooley Kickhams. As is the case nationally, amalgama ...

(1): ''1995'' *

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): 1983, 2012 * Louth Junior 2 Football League Division 4B (1): 2008 * Louth Junior 2 Football League Division 5 (1): 2017 * Louth Minor Football League (2): ''1993'', ''1994'' * Louth Minor 'B' Football Championship (1): ''2004'', 2018 ''Italics denotes combination team with St Vincent's''

Inter-county players

St Joseph's players who have represented

at senior

level include: * Jimmy McDonnell * Ollie McDonnell * Jimmy McDonnell Jnr * Pat Mulligan * Alan O'Connor * Stephen Melia * Danny Culligan * David Mulligan * Declan O'Sullivan * David Reilly * J.P. O'Kane * Martin Farrelly * Conal McCaul * Oisín McGuinness

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St Joseph's GFC (Louth) Gaelic games clubs in County Louth Gaelic football clubs in County Louth