Pádraig Pearse's GAC Kilrea () 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

Kilrea Kilrea ( , ) is a village, townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It gets its name from the ancient church that was located near where the current Church of Ireland is located on Church Str ...

, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. 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 caters for both

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 ...

. The club is named after Irish patriot

Pádraig Pearse Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who was one of the leaders of the Ea ...

. Underage teams up to U-12s play in South Derry league and championships, from U-14 upwards teams compete in All-Derry competitions.

History

The first Kilrea Gaelic football club was established on 15 November 1943. The club was named O'Cahan's Kilrea and played in blue and gold jerseys. Many of the inaugural Minor team of 1946 went on to help Kilrea win the Junior Championship in 1951. In the early 1950s the club changed its name to the Kevin Barry's, named after the patriot

Kevin Barry Kevin Gerard Barry (20 January 1902 – 1 November 1920) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier and medical student who was executed by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence. He was sentenced to death for his part in a ...

and played in black and amber colours. Its nickname was "the B's". Soon after, in 1956, the current club, Pádraig Pearse's GAC Kilrea, was formed, and chose to play in red and white jerseys. The club won Junior League and South Derry Championships before moving to compete in Senior football in 1958. In 1966 the Pearses won the inaugural Under 16 Championship. Part of that team was

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...

, who would later go onto play professional soccer and manage

Glasgow Celtic The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a professional Association football, football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football league system, Scottish ...

and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. Members of this team went on to win the County Minor title in 1970. The club won the 1971 Derry Junior Football Championship and won the Derry Intermediate Championship four years later.

Pearse Park

Work was commenced on Pearse Park in late 1977 and opened two years later. A second training pitch which was completed in 2001. A new club pavilion opened, with a dedicated club gym and four changing rooms, along with an upstairs functional room, in 2004. Pearse Park has remained at the same site on the Drumagarner Road since the club was founded.

Honours

Senior

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 ...

: 1 **1975 *Division 1 Senior Football League:1 ** 1981, 2024 * Derry Junior Football Championship: 1 ** 1971 * Derry Senior Reserve Football Championship: 1 ** 2013

Under-21

*Derry Under-21 Football Championship:1 ** 2010

Minor

*Ulster Minor Club Football Championship: 1 **2008 *Derry Minor Football Championship: 4 **1970, 2004, 2007, 2016 *Derry Minor Football League: 2 **2006, 2007, 2016 *South Derry Minor Football Championship: 2 **1970, 1990 *South Derry Minor Football League: 2 **1970, 1990

Camogie

*Senior Derry Intermediate Camogie Championship: 2 **2008,2010

Notable players

* James Kielt

External links

Kilrea GAC WebsiteKilrea Camogie Club

References

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