Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAC
Baile Eachaidh
Founded:1939
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 / 54.8071417°N 6.5147833°W / 54.8071417; -6.5147833
Playing kits
Home Kit
Change Kit
Senior Club Championships
All Ireland Ulster
champions		 Derry
champions
Football: 1 4 21
Camogie: - 1 2

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.

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]

In October 2021, "dissident republican" political party Saoradh, organised an event on the grounds to commemorate the 1981 Irish hunger strike. A month prior the club released a statement saying that "no event other than those relating to official GAA activity or training will be taking place at club premises on that date" however the event went ahead as planned in the club's car park before parading through the town.[4]

Football Titles

Senior Football

Minor Football

  • Ulster Minor Club Football Championship 3
    • 1991, 1994, 2018[5]
  • 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.[6]
  • 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.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Loyalist linked to many sectarian killings was quizzed over death". Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  2. ↑ "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1997". Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
  3. ↑ "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.
  4. ↑ Bradfield, Philip (17 October 2021). "GAA club pressed to give explanation about photos of dissident event". News Letter. Belfast: JPIMedia. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Brilliant Bellaghy are crowned Ulster minor club champions". The Irish News. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  6. ↑ "Tommy Diamond remembers the golden generation of Unders 21s". County Derry Post. 23 September 2008.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.