CLG Naomh Columba 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 ...
-only
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
Gleann Cholm Cille in the south-west of
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 ...
in the west of
Ulster
Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
, the northern
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
in Ireland. The club fields both men's and
ladies' teams from underage as far as
senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
level. They enjoy an intense rivalry with their neighbours,
Cill Chartha (Kilcar), although the rivalry has subdued somewhat in the last number of years as the clubs have played in different divisions.
History
Naomh Columba, in their current existence were founded in 1964, although football was played in the parish for decades before this and a Junior club existed since 1944. 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 ...
twice, in 1978 and 1990.
Michael Oliver McIntyre captained the team to the 1978 title.
[
The club also won the ]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 ...
in 1974. The club has won 2 Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta
Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta is an annual All Ireland Gaelic football competition contested by clubs from the Irish language-speaking Gaeltacht areas of Ireland. Clubs compete on a county-basis at first, in order to qualify for the tournament t ...
titles and 7 Division 1 League titles. The club's most successful season came in 1978, when they claimed the championship, league and Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta treble, as well as the county under-21 title. They remain the only Donegal club to complete this treble, although Gaoth Dobhair
Gweedore ( , officially known by its Irish language name, ) is a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) district, and parish, located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. It stretches some from Glasserchoo ...
won a league, championship and Ulster championship treble in 2018.
Naomh Columba were once one of the most feared and respected teams in Donegal, reaching 6 senior county finals in 9 years between 1990 and 1998, but since their relegation to the Intermediate Championship and Division 3 of the league in 2007, the senior team have struggled to make any great impact on the Donegal club scene. 2024 saw the club's return to Division 1 of the Donegal league, and the return of the Naomh Columba-Cill Chartha derby.
They defeated Na Cealla Beaga in the 1990 Donegal SFC final.[ However, the club lost the 1992 final to the same team.][
The Donegal county team which won the ]1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The 1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was the 106th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county Gaelic football tournament. The championship began on 17 May 1992 and ...
had two Naomh Columba players on the panel — Noel Hegarty and John Joe Doherty. John Joe Doherty was selected as an All Star in 1993. As of 2022, Aaron Doherty was playing for the county team at senior level, having featured, and scored, in a number of matches during the 2022 National League campaign.
Notable players
* Aaron Doherty — 2019 Ulster SFC winning panelist; 2022 Ulster SFC playing finalist; 2024 Ulster SFC winner
* John Joe Doherty — 1992 All-Ireland SFC winner
* Noel Hegarty — 1992 All-Ireland SFC winner
* Finian Ward — 1974 Ulster SFC and two-time Railway Cup
The GAA Interprovincial Championship () or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster GAA teams are co ...
winner
* Pádraig Carr – 1983 Ulster title winner with Donegal
* Paddy Hegarty – brother of Noel; 1987 All Ireland U-21 Championship winner and county senior player in the 1990s
* Noel McGinley – 1998 Ulster SFC finalist
* Michael Oliver McIntyre
Managers
Honours
References
Gaelic games clubs in County Donegal
Gaelic football clubs in County Donegal
The Rosses
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