Bellaghy GAC
Bellaghy Wolfe Tones Gaelic Athletic Club (Irish: CLG Baile Eachaidh) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The club is a member of Derry GAA and currently competes in gaelic football and camogie.
Baile Eachaidh | |||||||||||||
Founded: | 1939 | ||||||||||||
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County: | Derry | ||||||||||||
Nickname: | The Tones | ||||||||||||
Colours: | Blue and White | ||||||||||||
Grounds: | Páirc Seán de Brún Wolfe Tone Park | ||||||||||||
Coordinates: | 54°48′25.71″N 6°30′53.22″W | ||||||||||||
Playing kits | |||||||||||||
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Senior Club Championships | |||||||||||||
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Bellaghy have won 21 Derry Senior Football Championships, four Ulster Senior Club Football Championships and the 1971-72 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship. Bellaghy camogie club have won two Derry Senior Camogie Championships.
On 12 May 1997, the Club Chairman, Sean Brown, was attacked and abducted by a Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) gang as he locked the main gate of the GAA grounds on the Ballyscullion Road. Less than an hour later the body of the father-of-six was found lying beside his burnt-out car just off the Moneynick Road near Randalstown, County Antrim. He had been shot six times.[1][2] On 19 January 2004 the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland published a report that was highly critical of the police investigation into Brown's killing, stating "the police investigation was incomplete and inadequate".[3]
Football Titles
Senior Football
- All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship (1)
- 1971-1972
- All-Ireland Kilmacud Crokes Sevens Championship (2)
- 1986, 2002
- Ulster Senior Club Football Championship (4)
- 1968, 1971, 1994, 2000
- Derry Senior Football Championship (21)
- 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1986, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005
- Derry Senior Football League (7)
- 1947, 1986, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004
- Derry Intermediate Football Championship (1)
- 1990
- Derry Junior Football Championship (1)
- 1962 (won by Bellaghy II)
- Graham Cup (2)
- 2000, 2004
- Sean Larkin Cup (4)
- 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2018
- Thirds Championship (1)
- 2007
Minor Football
- Ulster Minor Club Football Championship 3
- 1991, 1994, 2018[4]
- Derry Minor Football Championship 10
- 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1961, 1963, 1973, 1991, 1994, 2018
- Derry Minor Football League: 3
- 1993, 1994, 2015
- Derry Minor B Football League: 1
- 2008
Under 16 Football
- Derry Under-16 Football Championship: 4
- 1960, 1981, 1990, 2003
- South Derry Under-16 Football Championship: 4
- 1960, 1981, 1990, 2003
- South Derry Under-16 Football League: 1
- 1988
- Derry Under-16 Football Shield: 1
- 2008
Under 15 Football
- Ulster Óg Sport Under-15 Football: 2
- 19xx, 2018
Under 14 Football
- Derry Féile na nÓg: 4
- 1998, 2001, 2010, 2013
- Derry Under-14 Football Championship: 6
- 1998, 2001, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018
- South Derry Under-14 Football Championship: 3
- 1995,1998, 2001
- South Derry Under-14 Football Leagues: 5
- 1979, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2013
- South Derry 'B' Under-14 Football Championship: 2
- 2005, 2010
- South Derry 'B' Under-14 Football League: 2
- 2005, 2010
Note: The above lists may be incomplete. Please add any other honours you know of.
Pitches
Bellaghy's main pitch, Páirc Seán de Brún, is named after their former club chairman Seán Brown.
The club also have two full-sized pitches and dressing rooms at Wolfe Tone Park, Drumanee, just outside the village.
Notable Gaelic footballers
- Tommy Gribben - First Derry man to win an All Ireland medal with St Pat's Armagh in 1946. Derry County Footballer 1945-1955, 1957–1958, Tyrone County Footballer 1956, Ulster Provincial Footballer, Derry Junior Manager and Coach of 1971-72 Bellaghy All-Ireland winning team.
- Tom Scullion
- Tommy Diamond - Former Derry player. First player to captain a county to victory in both All-Ireland Minor (1965) and All-Ireland Under-21 (1968) Championships.[5]
- Laurence Diamond - Former Derry midfielder. Captain of 1971-72 Bellaghy All-Ireland winning team.
- Damian Cassidy - Represented Derry seniors from 1984 until 1996. Left half forward of Derry's 1993 All-Ireland winning team. Managed Bellaghy to senior finals in 2004, 05 & 07, winning in 2005.
- Danny Quinn - Member of Derry's 1993 All-Ireland winning panel.
- Fergal Doherty - Former Derry mid-fielder.
References
- "Loyalist linked to many sectarian killings was quizzed over death". Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
- "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1997". Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
- "The investigation by police of the murder of Mr Sean Brown on 12 May 1997" (PDF). The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
- "Brilliant Bellaghy are crowned Ulster minor club champions". The Irish News. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- "Tommy Diamond remembers the golden generation of Unders 21s". County Derry Post. 23 September 2008.