Spa GAA is a

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

club based in Tullig,

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the cou ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Founded in 1948, the club gets its name from a spa well in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

of Tullig close to Killarney. The club won the

Munster Intermediate Club Football Championship The Munster Football Intermediate Club Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 2003 for the top intermediate clubs in the province of Munster in Ireland. It i ...

in 2009.

History

The club gets its name from the Spa Well, a source of water with reputed health giving properties, which is situated on the road side in the

of Tullig, approximately three miles from Killarney town centre. The well was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the people of Killarney often took the mineral-rich water as a cure for various ailments. Spa GAA Club was founded in 1948, and has since grown to have over 500 members. The club's colours are blue and gold. The catchment area of the club is Killarney Parish. The club's facilities are located in Tullig, 1.5 km east of Park Road Roundabout, Killarney. Indoor facilities consist of a 600 sq.m. sports hall which is used for indoor football, hurling, basketball, athletics and volleyball. An adjoining building of 800 sq.m. has four dressing rooms, plus a gym, first aid room, kitchen, dance studio and meeting rooms. Several players from Spa have worn county colours at senior level. Among them are Donie O'Sullivan, Michael Gleeson,

Paudie O'Mahony Paudie O'Mahony (born 1952) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer. His league and championship career at senior level for the Kerry county team spanned nine seasons from 1973 to 1982. Playing career O'Mahony made his debut on the inter-county ...

, Pat Casey, Tim Regan, Michael McAuliffe, James Cahill, Niall O'Mahony and

Michael O'Donoghue Michael O'Donoghue (January 5, 1940 – November 8, 1994) was an American writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to ''National Lampoon'' magazine, and was the ...

. The club caters for boys and girls from u8 to u18 and the adult section has teams at Senior, Junior and U21. The club won promotion to Division 1 of the Senior County League in November 2008, and are second only to Dr. Crokes in terms of

O'Donoghue Cup The East Kerry Senior Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition for teams affiliated to the East Kerry division. Most adult clubs in the division compete for this cup, even if they are playing at junior or intermediate grades. In r ...

wins. In 2009, Spa won their second County Intermediate championship and subsequently won the Munster Intermediate championship before losing the

All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship The All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship is an annual gaelic football competition which began in 2003. The winners of the Intermediate Club Championship from each county enter the competition. Finals by year Winners by County S ...

final to Cookstown following a "controversial" penalty. They were relegated back to the intermediate grade the following year. They followed that with county final losses at intermediate grade in 2012, 2014 and 2015 to Finuge GAA (replay), Ardfert GAA and St. Mary's respectively. After the three final losses, the club eventually won the 2020 Kerry Intermediate Football Championship to regain their senior status, beating Beaufort in the final 4-18 to 1-19. Following the promotion, Spa are one of only 8 senior football teams in Kerry.

Achievements

* Kerry Intermediate Football Championship (3): 1974, 2009, 2020 (runners-Up 2012, 2014,2015) *

(1): 2009 *

(0): (Runner-Up 2010) *

East Kerry Senior Football Championship The East Kerry Senior Football Championship is a Gaelic football competition for teams affiliated to the East Kerry division. Most adult clubs in the division compete for this cup, even if they are playing at junior or intermediate grades. In r ...

(10): 1966, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1985, 1987, 1989

Notable players

* Michael Gleeson *

Mike O'Donoghue Mike O'Donoghue (born 1987 in Killarney, County Kerry) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays Gaelic football with his local club Spa and the Kerry inter-county teams. He first came to attestation while playing with St. Brendan's College, Kil ...

* Donie O'Sullivan

References

External links

Official Spa GAA Club website
Gaelic games clubs in County Kerry Gaelic football clubs in County Kerry Sport in Killarney {{Kerry-GAA-club-stub