Ballaghaderreen 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 Ballaghaderreen,

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 main sport played is

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 ...

. When the club was founded in 1885, the town was located in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

and went under the name "Faugh A Ballagh". Ballaghaderreen GAA Club is almost as old as the

itself. A note in the ''

Western People The ''Western People'' is a weekly local newspaper published in Ballina, County Mayo in Ireland. It was first published in 1883. The newspaper was part of the Thomas Crosbie Holdings group. Thomas Crosbie Holdings went into receivership in Ma ...

'' newspaper states that the club met in 1886 for a practice match. This was the first meeting of the club since the previous year-1885. The game referred to was played in a field given by Mrs. Deane, a cousin of Mr. John Dillon. The Sports field was situated next door to the Convent and was vested in (and still is) in local trustees. The Congested Districts Board gave it to Bishop John Lyster, Fr. J O’Connor Administrator and Mr. James Gordon, a local business man. It also included a cinder running track for cycling and many athletic meetings were held there. In

1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...

Ballaghaderreen was transferred from

under the

Local Government Act Local Government Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom, relating to local government. The Bill for an Act with this short title may have been know ...

relating to

Poor Law Union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

s. The Gaelic Athletic Club retained its affiliation to the Mayo Board. The new GAA pitch and clubhouse were developed and opened in 1980. The new stand was constructed in 1995. The club's facilities went under major reconstruction in the 2000s with the pitches being redeveloped into a full sized pitch and a slightly smaller training pitch with proper drainage and the addition of a sanded area for winter training. The clubhouse was also redeveloped with the dressing rooms and shower getting a complete overhaul and the meeting rooms and gym being extended upstairs. The club has been well represented at county level through the years, with Andy Moran and

David Drake David A. Drake (September 24, 1945 – December 10, 2023) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran, he worked as a lawyer before becoming a writer in the military science fiction genre. Biography ...

recently on the senior panel. David McBrien currently represents the club on the Mayo senior panel.

Notable players

* Noel Durkin * Dermot Flanagan * Pearce Hanley * Andy Moran *

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923), was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...

Honours

* Mayo Senior Football Championships (3): 1972, 2008, 2012 *

Mayo Senior Hurling Championship The Mayo Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition contested since 1923 by the top Mayo GAA clubs. In its current format, the Mayo Senior Championship begins in mid-summer. The 4 participating teams are into one groups and p ...

s (4): 1923, 1924, 1950, 1953

References

Gaelic football clubs in County Mayo Gaelic football clubs in County Roscommon Gaelic games clubs in County Mayo Ballaghaderreen {{Connacht-GAA-club-stub