Clan na Gael GAA (Armagh)

Clan na Gael Gaelic Athletic Club (Irish: CLG Clan na Gael) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club situated in the town of Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The club's pitch, Davitt Park, is named in honour of Michael Davitt, also the original club name. Throughout its 98-year history it has provided some of the most successful Gaelic footballers in Ireland.

Clan na Gael Gaelic Athletic Club
CLG Clan na Gael
Founded:1922
County:Armagh
Nickname:The Clans, The Blues
Coordinates:54°27′44.01″N 6°20′55.13″W
Playing kits
Standard colours

The club pursues the founding ideals of the GAA, namely the promotion of all things Gaelic - the Irish language, the culture, the games, the pastimes and the country. The club also takes great pride in its tradition in camogie. The club now has a strong nursery programme, which in turn has meant the club now fields football teams at under-7.5, under-9.5, under-11.5, under-13, under-15, Minor (under-17), under-20, Senior B and Senior. This nursery programme has now also allowed the club to develop its girls and ladies teams, who are now performing extremely well within the LGFA structure, team sare fielded at under-8, under 10, under 12, under 14, under 16, under 18 and Senior.

A relatively young u16 team won the Armagh League and Championship in 2019, progressing through the Ulster Championship, where they were beaten by a very strong Burren team in the Final. The senior team is currently in Division 2 of the Armagh Senior Leagues.

History

The club, as Clan na Gael, was formed in 1922 in the Francis Street area following the demise of its long standing predecessor, The Michael Davitts. The club has been quite successful over the decades, bettered only in Armagh by Crossmaglen Rangers. Clan na Gael's height of dominance came in the 1970s, when the club won the Ulster Club Championship three times, and reached the final of the All-Ireland Club Championship, only to be beaten in a replay by University College, Dublin, who had a high amount of inter-county players in their squad.. However, recently championship success has been minimal at senior level, and the last Armagh Championship won by the club was in 1994.

The club came to its lowest point for a long time when it was relegated in 2004 from the Armagh All County League Division I to the All County League Division II, for only the second time in the history of the club (and the League). Things however improved with the club retaining ACL Division I status in 2005 and also having a run in the Armagh Championship, reaching the semi-final only to be beaten after a replay with Dromintee. In 2006 Clan na Gael was beaten by Crossmaglen in the final. They reached the 2008 quarter-finals but were beaten by Crossmaglen and again in 2009 by Armagh Harps after a replay. Since 2013 the club has been competing in the county's intermediate championship. [1]

Achievements

Notable players
  • Jimmy Smyth, ex-Armagh player and current BBC commentator
  • Diarmuid Marsden, Ulster Championship Winner, All-Ireland winner with Armagh in 2002, and an ex All-star
  • Barry John O'Hagan, Ulster Championship Winner, All-Ireland winner with Armagh in 2002
  • Eamon Mc Mahon, Ulster Championship Winner, All-Ireland runner up with Armagh in 1953, ex Glentoran and Glasgow Celtic goalkeeper [2]
  • Hugh Kelly, Northern Ireland soccer international goalkeeper[3]

References
  1. "Cross and Harps win in Armagh". BBC News. 2008-09-14. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  2. "Eamon Mc Mahon". Celticwiki. 2010-09-14. Retrieved February 11, 2009.
  3. "Hugh Kelly". Northern Ireland Football Greats. Retrieved 20 October 2010.


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