Allen Gaels Gaelic Athletic Association 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 ...

and

ladies' Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football () is an Irish team sport for women. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a round ball toward ...

club based in

Drumshanbo Drumshanbo (, ridge of the old huts) is a small town situated in the heart of County Leitrim, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Drumshanbo is surrounded by a scenic area of soft rolling hills, woodlands, lakes and the Sliabh an Iarainn and Arigna mo ...

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

History

The first GAA club was founded in Drumshanbo in 1889, St Patrick's. It died and was revived several times. As St. Francis', they won the 1963 Leitrim Junior Football Championship. In 1969 Drumshanbo merged with Ballinaglera to form ''Allen Gaels'', taking their name from nearby

Lough Allen Lough Allen () is a lake on the River Shannon in northeastern Connacht, Ireland. Most of the lake is in County Leitrim, with a smaller part in County Roscommon. The lake lies to the south of the River Shannon's source, near the Iron Mountains ...

. The club won two

Leitrim Senior Hurling Championship The Leitrim Senior Hurling Club Championship is an annual hurling competition contested by top-tier Leitrim GAA clubs. The winners of the championship qualify to the Connacht Junior Club Hurling Championship. St Mary's GAA (Leitrim), Carrick H ...

s in the 1970s. Ballinaglera left in 1981 to re-form their own club, but Drumshanbo continued with the "Allen Gaels" name. The club's peak came in 1991–2002, winning five senior football titles in twelve years. In 1997 Allen Gaels reached the final of the Connacht Senior Club Football Championship, losing to Corofin. Noel Moran, Padraig Kenny, and Colin McGlynn also played on the successful Leitrim team of that era. In 1999, Allen Gaels' grounds were renamed the Shane McGettigan Memorial Park.

Honours

Gaelic football

* Leitrim Senior Football Championship (5): 1991, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002 * Leitrim Intermediate Football Championship (1): 1989 * Leitrim Intermediate Football league (1) : 1996 * Leitrim Junior Football Championship (4): 1963 (as ''Drumshanbo St Francis''), 1987, 1994, 2008 * Leitrim Minor Football Championship (2): 1965, 1967 (both as ''Drumshanbo St Francis'')1994 as Allen Gaels *’’’ Leitrim under 21 champions]’’’ St Francis ( Ballinaglera and Drumshanbo amalgamation ) 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997

Hurling

(2): 1975, 1977

Notable players

* John Owens (Gaelic footballer), John Owens *Adrian Cullen *Noel Moran *Padraic Kenny

References

External links

Official website
Gaelic games clubs in County Leitrim Gaelic football clubs in County Leitrim Drumshanbo {{Connacht-GAA-club-stub