Erin's Own Gaelic Athletic Club, Cargin is a sports club based in

Toome Toome or Toomebridge () is a small village and townland on the northwest corner of Lough Neagh in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies in the civil parish of Duneane in the former barony of Toome Upper, and is in the Antrim and Newtownabbe ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

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 ...

. It competes in the Antrim leagues and championships of the

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 ...

, in

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

and

camogie Camogie ( ; ) 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 "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

. Erin's Own provide Men's football (GAA), Ladies football (LGFA) and Camogie at all grades and age levels from Nursery to Senior level as well as Handball

History

Erin's Own Cargin, (Clann na hÉireann, Carraigín) based in Toome, Co Antrim, in the Parish of Duneane, was founded in 1923 on the Shore Road, Toome by a Priest from Tyrella, Ballykinlar, Co. Down called Fr Dan Magennis. Fr Magennis was a young curate at the Sacred Heart Church, Cargin and was heavily involved in sports around the area, ensuring the Toome Carnival was a huge success. The club prides itself as a key member of the communities around the Feevagh, welcoming those of all faiths, backgrounds, ethnicities and persuasions with a large emphasis on the ideals of the

Society of United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association, formed in the wake of the French Revolution, to secure Representative democracy, representative government in Ireland. Despairing of constitutional reform, and in defiance both of British ...

. It was one of the pioneer clubs who started the SW Antrim football and hurling leagues in 1924. This was the culmination of events and local groups leading from the Famine times coming together in an act of solidarity following the partition of Ireland. It was nicknamed 'The Emmet Band' after a local grouping called the Cargin Robert Emmet Band which had been formed in the 1870s. Erin's Own were one of the first clubs in Ireland formed during the turbulent period after the partition of the country and the erection of a border between the Irish Free State and the new Northern Government. Erin's Own was a key part of ensuring the social bonds of the people in the area were kept intact. Clann na hÉireann means 'The Children of Ireland' which was a declaration that the people of Cargin would always be 'of Ireland', regardless of Partition or Government. Another GAA club formed in Toome in 1926 called Lámh Dhearg, also from the encouragement of Fr Magennis, and who won the 1929 Antrim Senior Football Championship but eventually folded, the majority of its members then joining Cargin. Cargin have played in the Senior football championship since 1953 following their Junior Championship win of that year. In the same year they took the opportunity to play on McCann Fields on the Shore Road in Toome and since then have been a Senior club continuously. The Erin's Own club played the first "official" games of

rounders Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a wooden, plastic, or metal bat that has a cylindrical end. The players score b ...

in Ireland in June 1958 and were instrumental in its promotion. The club continues to offer a sporting and social outlet for the community ensuring healthy lifestyles and positive attitudes. The club's first Antrim Senior Football Championship arrived in 1974, following a victory over Sarsfields, Belfast in Casement Park. Cargin are now a 4-code club with Football, LGFA, Camogie and Handball all represented. The club remains at the cultural heart of the Toome community. In December 2024, the club released its Centenary book, documenting the rich history of Toome and the surrounding parish, the Gaelic Revival period, Irish War of Independence and the GAA in Duneane. The 560 page book was titled 'Clann na hÉireann: 100 years of Pride and Passion'.

Honours

* Antrim Senior Football Championship (13) **1974, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 *Antrim Intermediate Football Championship (2) **2001, 2002 *Antrim Junior Football Championship (2) **1953, 1991 *Antrim Under-21 Football Championship (3) **2006, 2008, 2010 * Antrim U-19 Football Championship (1) **2023 *Antrim Minor Football Championship (6) **1944, 1975, 1991, 2000, 2019, 2020 *Antrim Division 1 Senior Football League Champions (24) **1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 *O’Cahan Cup Winners (26) **1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2025 *Antrim Reserve Football Championship (10) **1998, 2005, 2007,2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2023 *Antrim Senior Hurling Championship (1) **1939 (Amalgamation with Tír na nÓg Randalstown & Kickhams Creggan) *Antrim Junior Hurling Championship (1) **1938 (Amalgamation with Tír na nÓg Randalstown & Kickhams Creggan) * South West Antrim U-14 League (1) **1999, 2002, 2019 * South West Antrim U-16 League (3) **1993, 2002, 2016 * South West Antrim U-16 Shield (2) ** 2004, 2005 * All Ireland Senior Mens Rounders (4) **1977, 1987, 1988, 1989 * All Ireland Senior Ladies Rounders (8) **1970, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1989 * South West Antrim U-14 Feile (2) **2018, 2019 * Antrim Camogie Junior Championship (1) **2015 * Antrim Minor B Camogie Championship (1) **2023 * Antrim Senior Ladies Football Junior B Championship (1) **2024 * Antrim U14a Ladies Football Championship (2) **2024, 2025 * Antrim U15a Ladies Football Feile (1) **2025 * Antrim Senior Ladies Football Division 3 (1) **2024

References

External links

Official site
{{Antrim GAA clubs Gaelic games clubs in County Antrim Camogie clubs in County Antrim Hurling clubs in County Antrim Gaelic football clubs in County Antrim