Dorsey Emmet's Gaelic Football Club is a

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

club based in the hamlet of Dorsey and the surrounding area of Lower Creggan parish, in the rural south of

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Affiliated to

Armagh GAA The Armagh County Board () or Armagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The county board is resp ...

, it fields

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams at Under-8, U-10 and senior level, and is also involved in

Ladies' Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football () is an Irish team sport for women. 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 round ball toward ...

. The senior men's team plays in the

Armagh Junior Football Championship The Armagh Junior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by lower-tier Armagh GAA clubs. The Armagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1925. The national media covers the co ...

and (from 2013) in the Intermediate League. Dorsey's U-14 players are amalgamated with Newtownhamilton and play as Newtown Emmet's. The U-16s are joined with Belleeks and Newtownhamilton and play as Cavanakill Emmet's.

History

On 17 March 1917, the first recorded game of the Dorsey Emmet's took place in Caffrey's Meadow near Dorsey School, against Lislea. Their colours, green and gold, were a popular choice because of their patriotic associations. The

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

in 1919-21 saw a decline in interest in Gaelic football in the Dorsey area. In 1948 the Emmet's were reformed and affiliated, adopting the green and gold of the old team. Their first game was a challenge against neighbouring club Cullyhanna Kevin Barry's on Easter Sunday which ended in a draw, 3-02 to 2-05. In the face of economic depression and mass emigration the Emmet's managed to keep the club alive until 1956, when they were obliged to amalgamate with Cullyhanna. The combined Dorsey and Cullyhanna team, called Tom Williams GFC, were winners of the Silverbridge Cup in 1962. A Dorsey team, probably the amalgamation, won the 1964

, and, promoted to the Intermediate, lost the 1965 final to

Clan na Gael Clan na Gael (CnG) (, ; "family of the Gaels") is an Irish republican organization, founded in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister organization to the Irish Republican Bro ...

.Armagh GAA, ''Clár Oifigiúil, Craobh Idirmheánach Peile'' (IFC final programme), 6 October 2012 In 1999, Dorsey Emmet's reformed and affiliated for the 2000 season.Armagh GAA
website In 2003 the U-10 team won the 3rd Division shield against Whitecross in Belleeks. In 2006 the U-14 side also won a shield against Belleeks at the Silverbridge field. In May 2007, the Dorsey senior team took part in their first match to be broadcast live, on Five FM, playing Belleeks. In 2012 Dorsey's Senior Men's team was promoted from the Junior league to the Intermediate league in a landmark achievement for the club.

Honours

Armagh Intermediate Football Championship The Armagh Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by mid-tier Armagh GAA clubs.Armagh GAA, ''Clár Oifigiúil'' (programme), Intermediate Football Championship Final, 14 October 2012 The national m ...

** Runners-up 1965 (as Tom Williams GFC) *

(1) ** 1964 (as Tom Williams GFC) * Silverbridge Cup (1) ** 1962 (as Tom Williams GFC)

Ladies' Gaelic football

The Ladies senior team were awarded Club of the year in Armagh in 2008 and in 2010 were asked to participate in the 2010 Comórtas Peile Páidi Ó Sé tournament in the

Dingle Peninsula The Dingle Peninsula (; anglicised as Corkaguiny or Corcaguiny, the name of the corresponding barony) is the northernmost of the major peninsulas in County Kerry. It ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point of m ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

from 26–28 February. The Comórtas Ó Sé is an invitation-only senior club Men's and Ladies Gaelic football tournament.

Facilities

The decision to develop a playing ground was made in 2003, and was immensely ambitious for so small and young a club. Money to build the field was raised by the local community and the club. The project succeeded and the club's home ground is now the Rory McGee Park in Dorsey village, close to the church and community centre. The field was named after Rory McGee, the first secretary of the reformed club, who died in 2005 aged 26. The first official game played was in January 2007 when the Dorsey Senior Ladies team played Mullabrack Ladies. The Park was officially opened in April 2007.

References

External links

Dorsey Emmet's GFC websiteArmagh GAA
website, Dorsey Emmet's page
Dorsey Emmet's on Facebook
{{Armagh GAA clubs Gaelic games clubs in County Armagh Gaelic football clubs in County Armagh