Crossmaglen Rangers Gaelic Athletic Club () 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 in

Crossmaglen Crossmaglen (, ) is a village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,610 in the 2011 Census and is the largest village in South Armagh. The village centre is the site of a large Police Service of Northern Ir ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. They cater for

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

camogie Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

. Their home football ground is St. Oliver Plunkett Park, which was opened in 1959. In 1971 the

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took possession of a portion of the ground despite opposition from the club and the

Irish Government The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

, and this led to a controversy regarding the British Army's conduct. BreakingNews.ie/ref> The club have won the

All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London. The current champions are Cuala of D ...

on six occasions. They have won the

Ulster Senior Club Football Championship The Ulster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament organised by Ulster GAA. It is played between the Senior championship winners from each of the nine counties of Ulster. The competition was first held in 1968 an ...

11 times and won the

Armagh Senior Football Championship The Armagh Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by top-tier Armagh GAA clubs. The Armagh GAA, Armagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1889. Clann Eireann GAC, Clan ...

47 times.

History

Founded in 1887 as Crossmaglen Red Hands, the club did not acquire its present name until 1909. The Red Hands claimed the

in 1887 through default by Keady Dwyers. After a period of inactivity due to political differences, the Red Hands reaffiliated in 1905, when Owney Martin became the first Crossmaglen player to join the county team.Newry Memoirs
feature on GAA In 1906 the Red Hands won their first contested Championship final, defeating Shane O'Neill's by 1-4 to 6 points.

Armagh GAA The Armagh County Board () or Armagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The county board is resp ...

, ''Clár Oifigiúil'' (programme), Senior Football Championship Final, 6 October 2012 They also won the All-County League. After further political controversy, the Red Hands split, and a new club called Creggan Rovers emerged to win the 1908 championship, defeating Armagh Harps GFC by a point. The modern Crossmaglen Rangers club started only in 1909. Rangers soon made their presence felt, however, winning the Championship in 1911, 1912 and 1913, overcoming, respectively, Shane O'Neill's, the Harps and Culloville Sons of O'Connell. In 1918, political divisions in the district disrupted both the Rangers and nearby

Culloville Blues GAC Culloville Blues Gaelic Athletic Club () is a Gaelic Athletic Association club within Armagh GAA. It is based in the village of Culloville (often spelled Cullaville, possibly anglicised) in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland.republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, and Clonalig Dillons, supported by Redmondites. The Armagh championship was not played from 1919 to 1922, at the time of the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

. When it resumed, however, Rangers won five successive Armagh senior championships, completing the first five-in-a-row in the competition. This feat went unequalled until Crossmaglen achieved it again in 2000. In 1929 the Rangers' Jamesy Kernan (uncle of Joe Kernan) died in hospital from injuries sustained in an on-field clash with Cavan Garda Jim Smith during an

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 ...

semi-final at

Belturbet Belturbet (; ) is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. It lies on the N3 road, around north of Cavan town and from Dublin. It is also located around south of the border with County Fermanagh, part of Northern Ireland, and is from Enniskillen. ...

. Smith was charged with murder, but the case was dismissed. Rangers won further titles in 1933, 1936 and 1937. The 1940s were to prove a more frustrating decade for Crossmaglen, their only county senior title being in 1947. The 1950s were still more difficult for Crossmaglen, being the only decade of the twentieth century in which they did not win an Armagh Championship. After this, however, the club's fortunes revived considerably. Rangers captured five Championships in the 1960s (1960, 1962, 1965, 1966 and 1967), in addition to several league titles. Further Armagh Championships were won in 1970, 1975, 1977, 1983 and 1986. Crossmaglen Rangers regained the County title in 1996 after a lapse of ten years, beating Clan na nGael 3-12 to 1-4. Since then, they have been completely dominant in the tournament, retaining the title every year since, with the only exception being 2009. In this period, they have won eleven

s (1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015). They have gone on to win the

six times, in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2011 and 2012. The club fields underage teams from U-10 to U-21 as well as Senior, Junior and 'B' teams. Ladies football and camogie are played in the club, with the camogie teams in particular achieving much success in recent years. The seniors play in the Armagh Senior Leagues and

. On 19 October 2008 the club won their 13th Armagh Senior Club Football Championship in a row by defeating Pearse Óg. This was a national record. This unbeaten run came to an end in 2009 when they were defeated by eventual champions Pearse Óg at the quarter-final stage. In 2010 a new look Crossmaglen team emerged and regained the Armagh Senior title, they then went on and regained the Ulster Championship before completing the season with yet another All Ireland Title in 2011 defeating St Brigid's from Roscommon in the final to claim their fifth All Ireland club title. In 2012 they retained the title by defeating Garrycastle from Westmeath after a replay to claim their sixth championship.

St Oliver Plunkett Park

Crossmaglen Rangers homeground is St. Oliver Plunkett Park (), which was officially opened on 19 April 1959. The Armagh GAA county team have played inter-county games there. In 1971, in the early years of

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

, part of Crossmaglen's property at St. Oliver Plunkett's Park was requisitioned by the British Army for a military base despite attempts by the club and the Irish

Department of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

to prevent it. The club grounds were subsequently damaged by the movement of vehicles. With the end of The Troubles in 1998, the club regained possession of the grounds and have embarked upon a series of development programs. In recent times, the club has purchased more land to develop additional senior standard playing facilities. Extensive renovations on the Rangers Hall were completed, and the then GAA President Jack Boothman opened the new Social Club Complex.

Notable players

* Francie Bellew, Armagh county team player, 2003

All Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

All Ireland Winner Armagh 2002, National League 2005 * Paul Hearty, Armagh county team player, 19 County Senior Club Championships, All Ireland County Championship Winner Armagh 2002, National League 2005 * Aaron Kernan, Armagh county team player, All Ireland U21 County Winner 2004, National League 2005 * Joe Kernan, winner of two GAA All Stars 1977 & 1980 - replacement 1982, Armagh manager, Ulster Manager, Ireland Manager *

Seamus Mallon Seamus Frederick Mallon ( ; 17 August 1936 – 24 January 2020) was an Irish politician who served as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2001 and Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 1979 to ...

* Oisín McConville, winner of two All Stars, the all-time top scorer in Ulster Senior Championship history; also holds a national record for playing 103

games in succession * John McEntee, All-Ireland winner Armagh 2002, National League 2005 * Tony McEntee, All-Ireland winner Armagh 2002, National League 2005 *

Gene Morgan Gene Morgan (March 12, 1893 – August 13, 1940) was an American actor. He appeared in 111 films between 1926 in film, 1926 and 1941 in film, 1941. Background Morgan was born in Racine, Wisconsin. In his early roles he was cast in westerns ...

All-Ireland team 1954, * Oisín O'Neill * Rian O'Neill

Football titles

Senior

(6 times): ** 1997, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2011, 2012 *

(11 times): ** 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 *

(47 times): ** 1906, 1908, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1947, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1975, 1977, 1983, 1986, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 2019 2022, 2023

Under-21

* Armagh Under-21 Football Championship (12 times): ** 1977, 1979, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017

Minor

* Ulster Minor Football Championship (1 time): ** 2015 * Armagh Minor Football Championship (11 times): * 1971, 1977, 1989, 1993, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018

Ladies football titles

Started in 1996

Armagh Ladies Senior Championship

Intermediate (6 times) * 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004

Junior

* 1997 (RU), 1998

Minor

* 2018 (Cross 7:15 Granemore 1:04)

Camogie titles

* All-Ireland Junior Club Camogie Championship (1 time): ** 2003 * Ulster Junior Club Camogie Championship (1 times): ** 2003 * Armagh Senior Camogie Championship (1 times): ** 2003 * Armagh Intermediate Camogie Championship (1 times): ** 2018

References

External links

Crossmaglen Rangers Homepage"A picture that shows the battles Crossmaglen GAA faced in the 70's"
3 June 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Crossmaglen Rangers Gac

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

Gaelic games clubs in County Armagh Gaelic football clubs in County Armagh