St Faithleach's GAA () 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 Ballyleague,

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

. The club plays in white and red and draws its membership from the parishes of Kilgefin and Cloontuskert.

History

The club, which was formed in 1962, serves the areas of Curraghroe, Ballyleague, Cloontuskert, and Kilrooskey. The club is named after Saint Faithleachs, who founded an abbey at Cloontuskert in 520AD. Saint Faithleachs was a son of Fionnlugh Mac Olchú, and a brother of

Brendan the Navigator Brendan of Clonfert (c. AD 484 – c. 577) is one of the early Celtic Christianity, Irish monastic saints and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. He is also referred to as Brendan the Navigator, Brendan the Voyager, Brendan the Anchorite, ...

also known as ‘The Voyager’. The club won a Junior title in their first year, 1963, and reached a

Roscommon Senior Football Championship The Roscommon Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in County Roscommon. The winners of the Roscommon Championship receive the Fahey Cup and qualify to represent ...

final in 1965. They faced reigning county champions Shannon Gaels and won by one point, 0-10 to 1-06. This is the clubs first and only to date senior county title. Since 1965, St Faithleach's have made it to the county final four times, being beaten by Clann na nGael in 1981 and St Brigid's three times, in 2006, 2007 and 2014. Despite winning the O'Rourke Cup (Division One League) in 2019, the club was relegated to the

Roscommon Intermediate Football Championship The Roscommon Intermediate Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between mid-tier football clubs in County Roscommon. The winning club qualifies to represent its county in the Connacht Intermediate Club Footb ...

in the same year, after losing a relegation final against St Croan's GAA. This ended a 17 year stint in Roscommon's top competition. However, in 2021, the club captured their third Intermediate county title and promoted back to the senior championship. The team went on to win their first

Connacht Intermediate Club Football Championship The Connacht Intermediate Club Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition played between the Intermediate Championship winner from each county in Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four province ...

defeating Naomh Anna of Galway by 2-14 to 2-12 in extra time, thanks to a last chance goal by Mikey Cox.

Notable players

Pat Lindsay Patrick J. Lindsay (born 1950) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for club sides St Faithleach's, Glencar and Shannon Gaels and at inter-county level with the Roscommon senior football team. Playing career Lindsay first played Gae ...

- captained

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

to a National League title in 1979, five time Connacht champion and 1977 All-Star. *

Ciarán Murtagh Ciarán Murtagh (born 1992) is a Gaelic footballer who plays for St Faithleach's and the Roscommon county team. A son of Andy and Breda Murtagh, he completed a degree in corporate law at NUI Galway before returning to his studies at Marino I ...

- captained

to the

2017 Connacht Senior Football Championship The 2017 Connacht Senior Football Championship was the 118th installment of the annual Connacht Senior Football Championship organised by Connacht GAA. It is one of the four provincial competitions of the 2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Champio ...

Honours

(1): 1965 *

(3): 1992, 2002, 2021 * Roscommon Junior A Football Championship (1): 1963 * O’Rourke Cup / Division One League (4): 1971, 1976, 2004, 2019 * Connacht Intermediate Football Championship (1): 2021

References

External links

Official St Faithleach's GAA Club website
{{DEFAULTSORT:St Faithleachs GAA Gaelic games clubs in County Roscommon Gaelic football clubs in County Roscommon