Ballydonoghue Gaa History & Current Officers

Club Officers

Club History

Ballydonoghue Gaa Club was formed in 1900. Over the past 100 years, we have endured many wonderful occasions, with some fantastic players gracing the many fields that the club has played on in the parish. When the name Ballydonoghue is discussed among Gaa Folk, several names immediately come to attention. Greats like Eddie Dowling, Denis "black" Dowling, Mike Finucane, Gus Cremins, Ger D O' Connor, Johnny Bunyan and Liam Flaherty have all graced the greens of Croke Park. Indeed, 2 players have captained Kerry on All - Ireland Final day. Ger D O' Connor in 1964, when the Seniors lost to Galway and Robert Bunyan, when the Minors won the title in 1975.

The Clubs home is the newly refurbished Denis Dowling Park, Coolard. There is a particular sense of achievement about this pitch as Club officers worked tirelessly throughout the 1980's to raise the money to buy the field, develop the pitch and build dressing rooms and stand. the ground was officially opened in 1987, when before a large crowd, Kerry played Offaly. This was one of the proudest days in the history of the parish and will live long in the memory for the many club patrons present. At the turn of the millennium, it was decided to start a Lotto in order to counter the growing costs of running the club but more importantly, redevelop the pitch, which had run into a bad state, just like most of the fields of North Kerry. It was decided to close the pitch for two years and update the playing surface to a high standard. Today, while Minor growth problems exist in certain sections, the pitch is a pleasure to look at and gone are the days of going to Coolard and coming home covered in mud from head to toe. The Club also invested in top class flood lighting and when you see the size of the dressing rooms, our facilities are now amongst the best in Kerry.

Right now, Ballydonoghue Senior team are team building, with the team having an average age of roughly 21. We play in the county league Division 4, being in Division 5 last year. We also play in the North Kerry Senior League Division 1 and the big competition for every team in the district, the North Kerry Senior Championship. 14 teams compete annually for the Eamon O' Donoghue Cup and most teams seasons are judged on their performance in it. Ballydonoghue lie 5th in the role of honour for most titles won. We have captured the Title on 7 occasions - 1945,1946,1949,1950,1952,1959 and 1992. 1992 was perhaps the sweetest of them all, beating reigning champions Listowel Emmets in a memorable final before a huge attendance in Ballybunion and thus ending a 33 year wait. The early 1990's were very successful for the club as we also won both the North Kerry Division 1 and 2 Leagues as well as reaching another final in 1994. The under-21s also captured the Championship in 1993, a win that should have lifted Ballydonoghue to great heights over the next few years. However, this was not the case, as many of these great young players emigrated or gave up football.

We also have another under 21 title, in 1981 and we won the B Championship, one of only 3 played, in 2002. This final, which went to 3 games, was won almost 10 years to the day that the 'A' final was won and captured the interest of everybody in North Kerry. Ballydonoghue and Brosna served up 3 cracking contests, the first played prior to the Senior Final in front of over 3000 people. Minor titles are also scarce, winning only 1 on our own, this in 1950. Together with Beale, we captured the title in 1974 and with Shannon Rangers winning the County Title that year also, it gave Robert Bunyan the opportunity to successfully captain the Kerry Minors in 1975. 2005 was a great year, winning the North Kerry Minor Division 1 Championship for the frst time in 30 years. We added the league also. The Under 21's threw away the championship with a poor display against Ballylongford, but this team are all under age again this year and will be among the favourites. We also won the under 16 double and under 12s also won their age group, so it was a brilliant year.

Role of honour to follow...............