Errigal Ciarán GAC 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 ...

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 ...

club in southern

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

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. It represents the parish of the same name, which incorporates the village of Ballygawley and its surrounding area. The club was founded in its current guise in 1990, succeeding the Ballygawley St Ciaran's club which represented the parish from the 1920s until the 1980s.

History

From 1928 until 1982, the parish of Errigal Ciarán was represented by Ballygawley St Ciaran's. The club's re-formation as Errigal Ciarán in 1990 gave rise to a successful era over the next two decades, with the club's most recent success coming in 2022 when they captured their 8th

Tyrone Senior Football Championship The Tyrone Senior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Connollys of Moy'' ''Tyrone Senior Football Championship'') is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by top-tier Tyrone GAA clubs. The Tyrone County Boar ...

. The club has also produced a number of inter-county players, such as

Peter Canavan Peter Canavan (born 9 April 1971) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer, manager and pundit. He played inter-county football for Tyrone, and is one of the most decorated players in the game's history, winning two All-Ireland Senior Football C ...

and the former Tyrone manager,

Mickey Harte Mickey Harte (born 1954) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He has been joint-manager of Offaly since 2024. Harte managed the Tyrone county team from 2003 until his resignation in 2020, at which time he was the longest ...

, who started his managerial career guiding Errigal to Ulster Championship success. Errigal Ciarán are the only club team in Tyrone to win the

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament organised by Ulster GAA. It is played between the Senior championship winners from each of the nine counties of Ulster. The competition was first held in 1968 an ...

, with three championship successes to date, in 1993, 2002 and most recently in 2024. The club are also represented in the Tyrone ACL Div 3 by a Junior (Thirds) team and in the Tyrone Ladies' senior football league Division 1. The clubs men's Junior team entered the Tyrone ACL at the beginning of the 2007 season, having previously represented the club in memorial and friendly tournaments around Ulster. This team reached the Tyrone Junior championship semi-final on one occasion (2011) and followed this up with their most successful league campaign to date in 2012, reaching the promotion playoffs. The club's senior ladies' team play in Tyrone's top flight. They have won the Tyrone senior championship title on two occasions, in 2007 when they went on to win the Ulster Ladies' senior club football championship, and again in 2012 when they defeated a highly fancied Carrickmore side. In 2023, they defeated St.Macartans Augher in Extra time to become champions of Ladies football in Tyrone once again.

Achievements

: (11) ** 1926, 1931,(Ballygawley St.Ciarans) ** 1993, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2012, 2022, 2024 *

: (3) ** 1993, 2002, 2024

Notable players

Pascal Canavan Pascal Canavan is a former Gaelic footballer who played for the Tyrone County team. He played in Tyrone's second All-Ireland Final appearance in 1995 and captained Errigal Ciaran in 2002. He retired from inter-county football in 2002, followi ...

* John Devine * David Harte *

Peter Harte Peter Harte is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for the Errigal Ciarán club and the Tyrone county team. He has played for Ireland in the 2015 International Rules Series and won an All Star Awards in 2016 and 2021. He is the nephew of ...

Cormac McGinley Cormac McGinley is a former Gaelic footballer who played for the Errigal Ciarán club and the Tyrone county team. He was a member of Tyrone's 2003 All-Ireland and league winning panel, although he took no part in the final. McGinley played hi ...

Enda McGinley Enda McGinley (born 1981) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player for the Errigal Ciarán club and the Tyrone county team. He managed the Antrim county team between 2020 and 2022. McGinley was part of Tyrone's All-Ireland-winn ...

Darragh Canavan Darragh Canavan (born 2000) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for Errigal Ciarán and the Tyrone county team. His father, Peter Canavan, is a former All-Ireland winning captain with Tyrone, and his brother Ruairí is also an inter-county footbal ...

Ruairí Canavan Ruairí Canavan (born 2003) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for Errigal Ciarán and the Tyrone county team. His father, Peter Canavan, is a former All-Ireland winning captain with Tyrone, and his brother Darragh is also an inter-county footbal ...

Malachy O'Rourke Malachy O'Rourke is a Gaelic football Manager (Gaelic games), manager and former player for the Fermanagh county football team, Fermanagh county team. He has been manager of the senior Tyrone county football team, Tyrone county team since 2024. ...

, who transferred to Errigal Ciarán

References

External links

Official Errigal Ciarán GAA Club website
Gaelic football clubs in County Tyrone Gaelic games clubs in County Tyrone {{Ulster-GAA-club-stub