CLG Ard an Rátha is a

GAA Gaa may refer to: * Gaa language, a language of Nigeria * gaa, the ISO 639 code for the Ga language of Ghana GAA may stand for: Compounds * Glacial (water-free), acetic acid * Acid alpha-glucosidase, also known as glucosidase, alpha; acid, an e ...

club based in Ardara in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

. The ''Ard an Rátha'' in the club's title is the place name in Irish, while ''CLG'' refers to "GAA". They are one of the strongholds of

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 ...

in Donegal.

History

The club was founded on 21 October 1921. One of their county's more successful teams, they have won the

Donegal Senior Football Championship The Donegal Senior Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal SFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA and contested by the highest-level clubs, to determine the best team in County Donegal. Since 2016, it has been know ...

on 6 occasions. Their most recent success was in 2004. The team is perhaps most famous at national level for being the home club of Anthony Molloy, the first Donegal senior captain to lift the

Sam Maguire Cup The Sam Maguire Cup (), often referred to as Sam or The Sam, is a trophy awarded annually by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to the team that wins the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the main competition in the sport of Gaelic fo ...

Paddy McGrath Paddy McGrath (born 2 February 1989) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for CLG Ard an Rátha, Ard an Rátha and also, formerly, for the Donegal county football team, Donegal county team. Though not from a footballing family, McGrath woul ...

, a member of the 2012 All-Ireland SFC winning county team, currently plays for them. McGrath, along with Ardara teammates Conor Classon and Peter McNelis, was part of the Donegal under-21 squad which qualified for the

2010 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The All-Ireland Under 21 Football Championship is an under 21 Gaelic football inter county competition between the 32 counties of Ireland. Four competitions are contested in each province and the winners of each provincial championship enters th ...

final. In May 2013, the men's team were forbidden from entering the All-Ireland Gaeltacht. As of 2020, the manager was Damian Devaney.

Notable players

* Gareth Concarr *

Damian Diver Damian Diver (born 1973/4) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for Ard an Rátha and the Donegal county team. He played at half-back for his county. He made 120 appearances, 36 of which were championship, for the team between 199 ...

— played in four

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the Irish province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in April. The final is ...

finals and an

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

semi-final, losing them all * Martin Gavigan — 1992 All-Ireland winner *

— the club's record holder of county accolades, including All-Ireland Senior Football, All-Ireland Under-21 Football runner-up and Ulster Senior Football Championships (these last X 5). * Anthony Molloy — All-Ireland winning captain * C. J. Molloy — American nephew of Anthony, played for

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in the

before transferring to the club

Honours

: 1923, 1926, 1928, 1981, 2000, 2004 ** Runner-up: 1936, 1938, 1980, 1983, 1984 *

Donegal Junior Football Championship The Donegal Junior Football Championship (abbreviated as Donegal JFC) is an annual football competition organised by Donegal GAA. Naomh Pádraig Uisce Chaoin are the title holders (2024) defeating Carndonagh in the Final. History The competitio ...

: 1967, 1970

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ard an Ratha Gaelic games clubs in County Donegal Gaelic football clubs in County Donegal