Thomas Davis Gaelic Football Club, Corrinshego (), also known as Corrinshego GFC is a

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

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 ...

. It is part of the

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 ...

and plays in its Division 3A Football League and 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 ...

. The club is named in honour of Thomas Davis, an Irish writer, poet and nationalist.

History

The Thomas Davis Club was established in

Corrinshego Corrinshego () is a townland in the Parish of Middle Killeavy, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies 1.6 km (1 mile) to the west of Newry in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area. Corrinshego stretches steeply up Camlough M ...

in 1905. The club’s foundation coincided with the Gaelic Revival and alongside the GAA club, a branch of the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...

, the Irish-Ireland movement and

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

was established. The club participated in a range of cultural activities including Gaelic games in their first decade of existence but there is no record of them having participated in structured league or championship competitions. During 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) ...

, four members of the club were murdered, suspected by members of the RIC or

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. The club’s first foray into organised competition came when they won the 1930 Camlough and District Football League and continued to participate in competitions throughout the 1930s. By the 1940s, the club was fielding multiple teams in both junior and senior grades, as well as hosting a camogie club, known as St Ethna’s. During this period, Thomas Davis defeated Crossmaglen Rangers in the Armagh Senior Football Championship and won the South Armagh Junior Football Championship. The club was also the host venue for the 1946 Ulster Senior Camogie Final between Armagh and Antrim. The club briefly went on hiatus and was reformed in 1954, competing until 1960, when it folded again. It was revived in 1982, winning that year’s Armagh Junior Football Championship. Camogie was also restarted, with Thomas Davis reaching the 1984 Armagh Intermediate Camogie Final. The revived club first played its games at Corrinshego crossroads, then at Carnagat Road until a school was built on the land. In the late 1990s, the club opened new clubrooms and a junior pitch at Corrinshego, but the senior team was required to use a council facility in the nearby village of Meigh. In 2013, Thomas Davis moved from its former home near Corrinshego crossroads to a purpose-built facility at Doran’s Hill in the neighbouring townland of Altnaveigh. which includes a full sized pitch and community hub with conference and changing facilities. It hosted the Armagh County Convention in 2024.

Facilities

The club opened a purpose-built hall in 1947 near Corrinshego cross roads. Built in the form of a

Nissen hut A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure originally for military use, especially as barracks, made from a 210° portion of a cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. It was designed during the First World War by the Canadian-American-British e ...

, this clubhouse was in use until the 1990s when a new clubroom and bar was built next to it. Since 1982, the club played at a variety of locations. From 1982 until the late 1990s, the majority of home games were played at Carnagat Road, until the land was handed back to the church and Rathore School was built. Throughout much of the next decade, home games were played on a council facility in

Meigh Meigh () is a small village and townland near Slieve Gullion in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 444 people in the 2001 Census. It lies within the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area. Geography Meigh lies withi ...

, a few miles away. At underage level, the club acquired some land in the Corrinshigo townland next to the clubhouse. This pitch was primarily used for Under 12 and below and for senior training. In 2013, the club moved to a purpose built facility on Doran's Hill with full sized pitch and clubrooms. The previous site in Corrinshego is now used for housing. Future plans include the discussed second pitch, the possibility of a spectator stand and associated works.

Notable players

* Eamonn Fearon, Armagh minor * Liam Fegan, Armagh minor * Niall Higgins, Armagh minor, U21 and senior * Ian Wright, Armagh minor, U21 and senior * George Belter, Armagh player (1930s) * Gary McCardle, Patrick Rankin Minor (2023) * Aaron Paul, Patrick Rankin Minor (2023)

Honours

(1) ** 1982 * Green Cross Cup ** 1995 * Armagh Junior 3B Football League ** 2013, 2024 * Camlough District Junior Football league ** 1930 * Malocca Camogie Cup ** 1946 Frontier Sentinel - Saturday 03 August 1946 (St Ethna's CC) * South Armagh Junior Football Championship ** 1944

References

Gaelic games clubs in County Armagh Gaelic football clubs in County Armagh 1982 establishments in Northern Ireland {{Ulster-GAA-club-stub