Faughanvale GAC
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Saint Mary's Faughanvale 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
Greysteel Greysteel or Gresteel is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies to the east of Derry and to the west of Limavady on the main A2 coast road between Limavady and Derry, overlooking Lough Foyle. It is designated as a Large V ...
, County Londonderry,
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 ...
. The club is a member of the
Derry GAA The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) () or Derry GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland (the GAA refers to the county as ...
and currently 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 ...
,
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 ...
. Faughanvale have won the
Derry Intermediate Football Championship The Derry Intermediate Football Championship (currently also known for sponsorship reasons as the ''M&L Contracts Derry Intermediate Football Championship'') is an annual competition between the mid-tier Gaelic football clubs affiliated to De ...
five times and the
Derry Junior Football Championship The Derry Junior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Premier Electrics Derry Junior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by lower-tier Derry clubs. The competition receives coverage in ...
once. The club's catchment area includes
Greysteel Greysteel or Gresteel is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies to the east of Derry and to the west of Limavady on the main A2 coast road between Limavady and Derry, overlooking Lough Foyle. It is designated as a Large V ...
, Eglinton, Ballykelly, Enagh, Highlands and parts of
Glack Glack (),Placenames NI
is a small village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. I ...
. Underage teams up to U-12's play in North Derry league and championships, from U-14 upwards teams compete in All-Derry competitions.


Gaelic football

Faughanvale fields Gaelic football teams at U8, U10, U12, U14, U16,
Minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...
, Reserve and
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 ...
levels. They currently compete in the Derry Intermediate Championship. Having won Division 4 of the Derry ACFL in 2007, in 2008 they maintained their position in Division 3 in 2009.


Ladies' Gaelic football

As well as Minor and Senior Ladies' football teams, St Mary's fields U12, U14 and U16 teams. Faughanvale ladies have won the intermediate championship on 6 occasions 2003, 2006, 2011, 2014, 2018 & 2020.


Hurling and Camogie

The camogie and hurling teams ceased playing in 1989.


History

St Mary's GAC Faughanvale was established in 1933. A camogie team was founded in 1946 and affiliated to the club, before folding in 1989. The club's first major success came in 1943 when they won the North Derry Senior Football Championship, before losing to Lavey in the All-Derry Senior Championship final. In 1975 Faughanvale won the Derry Junior Football Championship. Three years later St Mary's won the
Derry Intermediate Football Championship The Derry Intermediate Football Championship (currently also known for sponsorship reasons as the ''M&L Contracts Derry Intermediate Football Championship'') is an annual competition between the mid-tier Gaelic football clubs affiliated to De ...
and have won the competition a further four times since (1981, 1996, 1998, 1999). In 2014 Faughanvale were relegated from the Intermediate league. In 2015, for the first time in 40 years, they competed at Junior Level. In 2015 Faughanvale won a treble of Neil Carlin Cup, Division 3 League, and their second Derry Junior Championship. Faughanvale was awarded ''Irish News Rural Club of the Year 2005'' by
The Irish News ''The Irish News'' is a Compact (newspaper), compact daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest-selling morning newspaper and is available throughout Ireland. It is broadly Irish nationalist in its viewp ...
. The club purchased its current grounds in 1982, before this football was played at the O'Neill family's field on the Clooney Road. When the new pitch opened in 1983 it was named after one of the founding club members and former Chairman of the Derry County Board, John McLaughlin. In May 2007 the club began a £1.2million redevelopment of their playing facilities at John McLaughlin Park and opened the new grounds in May 2009. In 2008 the club took part in the
Celebrity Bainisteoir ''Celebrity Bainisteoir'' was a prime-time reality programme created by Fiona Looney and first broadcast in 2008 by RTÉ. It involved a number of celebrities competing against each other as a Gaelic football team coach. The title derived from ...
programme and were managed by journalist
Nell McCafferty Ellen Pamela McCafferty (28 March 1944 – 21 August 2024) was an Irish journalist, playwright, civil rights campaigner and feminist. She wrote for ''The Irish Press'', ''The Irish Times'', ''Sunday Tribune'', ''Hot Press'' and ''The Village Vo ...
. Notable club members include Paul Bradley who won an All-Ireland minor medal with Derry in 1983, captained Derry minors to Ulster success in 1984 and who won a Sigerson medal with St Mary's University College Belfast in 1989. Stephen Mulvenna won an All-Ireland senior medal with Derry in 1993. Club Members Kevin Bryson, Tony Grey, Simon Greene, Joe Grey, Jordan Curran, Paddy O’Kane and Mark Creane have all represented the Club at County level. In administration lifelong member Colum O'Hara a former Club Chairman, Secretary, Vice-chairman and current Trustee of the Club served as Chairman of the North Derry Board and a member of the County Committee. Former Treasurer and Secretary Philip Bryson served on the North Derry Board as Registrar. Long serving member and former Club Secretary Breige McGuinness served in various County Committee roles including Assistant Secretary. Long standing committee member, Club assistant Secretary and later Secretary Conor Nicholl was member of various County sub-committees and was elected County GAA Public Relations Officer serving from 2016 to 2020.


Football titles


Senior Football

*
Ulster Junior Club Football Championship The Ulster Junior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by Ulster Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is played between the Junior championship winners from each of the nine counties of Ulster. The compe ...
** Runners-up 2015 * North Derry Senior Football Championship: 1 **1943 *
Derry Intermediate Football Championship The Derry Intermediate Football Championship (currently also known for sponsorship reasons as the ''M&L Contracts Derry Intermediate Football Championship'') is an annual competition between the mid-tier Gaelic football clubs affiliated to De ...
: 5 ** 1978, 1981, 1996, 1998, 1999 *
Derry Junior Football Championship The Derry Junior Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Premier Electrics Derry Junior Football Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by lower-tier Derry clubs. The competition receives coverage in ...
: 2 **1975, 2015 * Dr Kerlin Cup: 3 **1943, 1947, 1950 (shared with
Dungiven Dungiven () is a small town, townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is near the main A6 road (Northern Ireland), A6 Belfast to Derry road, which bypasses the town. It lies where the river ...
)


Minor Football

* Derry City Minor Football Championship: 1 ** 1959 * Derry All County Minor 'B' Championship: ** 2013


Ladies' football titles


Ladies Senior Football

* Derry Ladies' Football Championship: 5 ** 2006, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020. Note: The above lists may be incomplete. Please add any other honours you know of.


See also

*
Derry Intermediate Football Championship The Derry Intermediate Football Championship (currently also known for sponsorship reasons as the ''M&L Contracts Derry Intermediate Football Championship'') is an annual competition between the mid-tier Gaelic football clubs affiliated to De ...
* List of Gaelic games clubs in Derry


External links


St. Mary's GAC websiteDerry GAA websiteThe Vale CentreFaughanvale GAC


References

{{Authority control Gaelic games clubs in County Londonderry Gaelic football clubs in County Londonderry Gaelic games clubs established in 1933