Dungloe GAA celebrates 100 years with launch of club history book

 

Dungloe GAA are celebrating one hundred years this season and to mark the occasion are launching a centenary history booklet.

The publication is the highlight of a night of celebration to take place in the clubroom at Rosses Park, on Saturday night. 

The club already had a very successful fun day in Rosses Park back in July and Saturday night’s event brings down the curtain on the centenary celebration. 

The night kicks off at 8pm on Saturday with the annual mass in the clubhouse for deceased members of the club.

That will then be followed by the launch of the centenary booklet at 9pm. Fergus McGee, the Donegal GAA county chairman, as well as sporting historian Fr Sean Gallagher, from Gaoth Dobhair, are the special guests on the night. 

“The launch of the centenary booklet is the highlight of the night but the annual mass for deceased members is an annual event and an important date on the club calendar, “ said club chairman Paddy McGowan. 

“This year, we will especially remember the founding fathers and all those former players and officials that worked so hard, in difficult times, to get the club up and running and to keep it going in the early years. 

“We owe them a debt of gratitude and I hope they will be proud of the club's achievements and to see where the club stands today”. 

The centenary history booklet was the brainchild of the chairman and he is very happy with the way it has turned out.

“The 100th anniversary is such a milestone that I felt we had to mark it with something special and so we came up with the idea of a brief history of the club.

“We formed a committee to research and produce that. The original plan was for a 100-page book, 100 pages for 100 years. But such was the volume of stuff produced, we have ended up with a 140-page publication. 

“It covers from the 1920s and the foundation of the club, right through the ‘30s,‘40s,’50s,’60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, right up to the present day. 

“It is a brilliant read and a fascinating insight into the history of the club and Gaelic games in the Rosses over the last 100 years.  

“And as well the text, it is jampacked with photographs dating back to the 1920s. I think members and the public will be very pleased and surprised with the quality of the booklet.

“It is all down to the hard work of Marianne Comack, the club secretary, and the special committee members Marian Sweeney, who designed and produced the booklet, Sarah Ann Ward, Martina Reilly, Caitriona Boyle, Eugene McGarvey, Adrian Alcorn, Paul O’Donnell and Jimmy Greaves O’Donnell who did trojan work in bringing all together, in a very short space of time.

The booklet contains detailed information on the founding of the club and who was at the very first meeting to form the club. 

“All we discovered about the first meeting was that it was held in the old RIC barrack, which had been taken over by the Gardaí at the time.

“It was on the site of where the current Garda station is situated on the Barrack Brae. 

And the only two names we found associated with the meetings were a  Garda O’Riordan, who was from Kerry, and a Sergeant Mulhall, who was from Laois.

“The 1930s was a golden era for the club. In the ten years from 1930, when the club won its first championship, to 1940, Dungloe won five of the seven championships it has won altogether.

“The 1940s were lean and the club were champions again in 1957 and ‘58. And the 1960s was a golden era in underage football in the club.

“The emergence again of the club in the 1980s, after briefly being out of football, and the rise of the club ever since is laid out.  

“The phenomenal growth of ladies football in recent years and the success of hurling in the club in a few short years are all recorded.

“It has turned out brilliant and way beyond my expectations. The club greatly appreciates all who contributed to it”.

He added: “We are looking forward to a very good night and old and new members are all welcome on what should be another good night in the club's history. ” 

The launch will be followed by refreshments and a night of chat and conversation. 

Copies of the centenary history will be on sale on the night and also available in local shops from the weekend.