John Mitchel's GAC Claudy () 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

Claudy Claudy () is a village and townland (of 1,154 acres) in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies in the Faughan Valley, southeast of Derry, where the River Glenrandal joins the River Faughan. It is situated in the civil parish of Cumber ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

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

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 caters 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 ...

. The club is named after Irish patriot and revolutionary

John Mitchel John Mitchel (; 3 November 1815 – 20 March 1875) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist writer and journalist chiefly renowned for his indictment of British policy in Ireland during the years of the Great Famine (Ireland), Great Famin ...

, as is that in Glenullin in the same county. John Mitchel's Claudy GAC is the oldest club in County Londonderry and celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2013. Claudy fields boys' and girls' football teams at Under-6, U-8 and U-10; boys'/men's teams at U-12, U-14, U-16,

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; and

ladies ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

teams at Under-12, U-14, U-16 and Senior levels. Underage teams up to U-12s play in North Derry league and championships, from U-14 upwards teams compete in All-Derry competitions. The club currently competes in the

Derry Senior Football Championship The Derry Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by the top sixteen Derry GAA clubs. The winners receive the John McLaughlin Cup and qualify to represent Derry in the Ulster Senior Club Football Champio ...

and Division 1 of the Derry All-County Football League.

History

The North Derry County Board held a meeting in St Patrick's Hall, Claudy in 1921, but was forced to disperse after coming under gun attack from the A Specials. Many GAA members were

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

without trial. This had the effect of bringing

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

in the area to a standstill. In the early 1930s Alfie Devine from the village tried to encourage the establishment of the GAA in Claudy and also tried to organise a North Derry County Board. John Mitchel's GAC was founded and the opening game was played in July 1934 against Craigbane Lamh Dhearg. The North Derry Board was formed in 1936. After being a member of the North Derry Board for a short while, the club affiliated to the Derry City Board in 1935. In 1946 the club moved back to the North Derry Board. Mitchel's first major success came in 1957 when they won the Dr Kerlin Cup, defeating

Ballerin Ballerin is a small village between Garvagh and Ringsend, Coleraine, Ringsend in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is located within Causeway Coast and Glens district. It includes Saint Columba's Catholic primary school and Saint Mary's C ...

, who won the

that year. The club won the North Derry Minor Football Championship two years later, before being beaten by

Magherafelt Magherafelt ( ; , ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,071 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county an ...

in the All-Derry Minor Championship final. The 1960s proved to be one of Claudy's most successful decades ever. In that time they won the North Derry Senior Football League a few times, Neal Carlin Cup, Mahon Cup and reached a Derry Senior Championship semi-final, where they were beaten by Newbridge. The club's biggest success came in 2005 when they defeated Eoghan Rua in the final of 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 ...

Football titles

Adult

* Derry Intermediate Football League: 1 **2019 *

: 1 **2005 *

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 ...

: 1 **1983 *Dr Kerlin Cup 7 **1957, 1970, 1975, 1985, 1990, 2013, 2015

Under 21s

*Harry O'Kane Cup (North derry) 2 ** 2013, 2014

Reserve

*Derry Intermediate Reserve Football Championship: 3 **2000, 2007, 2019

Minor

*North Derry Minor 'A' Football Championship: 2 **1992, 1999 *North Derry Minor 'A' Football League: 4 **1990, 1991, 1999, 2000 *North Derry Minor 'B' Football Championship: 2 **2007 *North Derry Minor 'B' Football League: 1 **2001 *Carlin Duffy Cup: 1 **2012 *Derry Minor 'B' Football league:2 **2013,2014 *Derry Minor 'B' Football Championship:2 **2014, 2018

Notable footballers

* Patsy Gormley -

Goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

on Derry's 1958 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship runners-up side.

External links

John Mitchel's GAC website

References

{{Derry clubs Gaelic games clubs in County Londonderry Gaelic football clubs in County Londonderry