Cumann Lámh Dhearg - Stair Ghairid – A Brief History

In 1952 the club won its first silverware, the McKenna McGinley Cup. The 1960s was a glorious decade as the team progressed from Division 6 to Division 1. In 1967 the club won the Junior Football Championship. In 1971 we won our first ever Senior Football Championship and went on to win another two Senior Football Championships in 1992 and 2017.

We were runners-up in SFC in 1972, 1983, 2003, 2006 (aet), 2008, 2011, 2015, and 2019 after a replay and aet.

The club has participated in the Senior Division 1 Football League since the late 1960s apart from one season and has won 7 Division 1 league titles in 1971, 1972, 1993, 1995, 2004, 2012 and 2015. It was special to lift the inaugural Eddie Fitzsimons trophy in 2015. In 1994 the Reserve Footballers won the Beringer Cup after losing three finals on the trot.

Our Reserve Football team won the county Junior title in 1996 and our Reserve footballers won the All County Reserve Football Shield in 2011. Competing in South Antrim, the Reserve Footballers clinched the double in 2021 and it was fitting that we were winners of the inaugural Michael Herron Cup.

The club won the 1992 Under 21 Football Championship and were runners-up in the 1991, 2001, 2003 and 2017 deciders. The club annexed three Minor Football Championships in 1988, 1992 and 2010 and were runners-up in Minor Finals in 1987, 1991, 1994 and 2011. 2010 was a golden year for our Minor footballers who built upon their successful trebles at Under 16 by winning the Minor County League and the championship.

We won the prestigious Ulster Minor Football Championship with impressive displays and wins over holders and strong pre-tournament favourites Omagh, Aghadrumsee and Kilcar. We defeated Magherafelt in a very exciting, tense, and dramatic final. We were also crowned All County B Minor football and league champions in 2013.

In 2017 our Féile footballers were beaten narrowly in the Grade 5 final but had a memorable weekend enjoying the hospitality of host club Ballybay Pearses. In 2021, our Under 17 footballers tasted success by winning the All-County Division 3 League title.

Hurling began in the club in the late 1970s but after initial enthusiasm we withdrew from regular competition. In the mid-1980s hurling re-emerged and we enjoyed instant success winning the South Antrim McCoey Shield in 1985. In 1986 we won the Belfast Championship, South Antrim JHC and the All County Junior Hurling Championship. Further success came with winning the Division 3 league title in 1987.

In 1988 we enjoyed great success at juvenile level by winning the Nipper Quinn Shield, SA Féile and U14 Belfast Championship. In 1998 we were crowned Division Three League All-County champions.

We won the All County Division 2 Hurling League in 2003 while in 2006, in the group stages of the Senior Hurling Championship, we recorded a historic victory over hurling kingpins Cushendall.

In 2011 our Senior hurlers created history by winning the club’s first ever Intermediate Hurling Championship and reaching the Ulster Hurling Division 2 decider. We were also runners-up in Intermediate finals in 1995 and 2003. We were crowned All County Junior Champions in 2002. Another memorable year for our Senior hurlers was 2016 as we won the All-County and Ulster Junior titles.

Our Minor hurlers created history by winning our first ever Minor Championship in 1992 and we won the Irish News Ulster 7-a-side tournament in 1999. Our Minor hurlers in 2016 won the All County B Championship. In 2021 the Senior hurlers were crowned Division 4 Champions and earned promotion.

Our Under 15 hurlers amalgamated with Sarsfields and formed Na Gaeil Óga and enjoyed double success at All County B Level in 2021. In 2025 our Senior Reserve hurlers tasted success by winning the South Antrim McGuigan Shield.

In the 1990s Handball was introduced and we soon made a considerable impact by progressing rapidly from Division 8 to Division 3 and we were very successful in achieving honours at County, Provincial and National level. Further success was secured pre-Covid with promotion to Division 2.

In 2022 Handball was formally relaunched and the club began to compete at underage and senior, and in 2024 and 2025/26 Maddie became the County singles champion.

Ladies and girls football which started in 2005 brought enthusiasm and diversity to the club and began to attract many new female members to the club. Our Senior ladies footballers created history by winning their first All-County Junior B Championship title in 2014 while the club successfully hosted the Ladies County Football Finals.

Further success followed by winning the Division 3 league title in 2016 while being crowned All-County B champions again in 2019.

Our Under 14 LGFA represented the county in the Féile in 2019 after historically winning our first Féile. We were hosted by Glencar and Manorhamilton and lost narrowly in the grade 7 final. Our ladies Minor footballers created history in 2021 by winning our first All-County Minor B Championship.

In 2022 we fielded two senior teams which is further evidence of the rapid and positive growth and impact of the ladies section in the club which augurs well for the future. In 2023 we won the All County Division 2 title and gained promotion to Division 1. History was created when we won our first County Junior title in 2024. U16s won the All County B Championship in 2024.

Gaelic for Mothers and Others started in September 2016 and enjoy playing in fun, non-competitive blitzes, while experiencing weekly exercise in a fun way and meeting other mothers and building camaraderie and friendships. Great honour was brought to the club with our G4MOs playing at Croke Park in 2017 at half-time of the LGFA All-Ireland final. In 2024 the girls participated in a memorable tournament in Barcelona.

2025 marked the 20th anniversary of LGFA in the club with a special day of celebrations including underage blitz, group photo, bingo representing the generations of LGFA and a chat show incorporating key personalities from LGFA in the club.

Camogie was an integral part of club life from the 1930s but lapsed in the late 1980s. The club experienced an enthusiastic renaissance in camogie in 2012 and began focusing energetically on underage development. The U16 camogs entered the history books by winning our first All County Under 16 Division 2 A league title in 2021 and were runners-up in the All County B Championship Final.

Camogie is continuing to grow and become very popular, clearly illustrated by a camogie team fielding at Minor for the first time in 2022. The signs are very promising that the sterling work at juvenile level over the years will pay dividends and we shall soon be featuring at senior level. Our U15 camogs won the regional Féile hosted at the club in 2023.

Camogie at senior was formally relaunched in 2023 and success soon followed by winning the County Development Cup in 2024. U16s won the All County B Championship in 2024.

The club celebrated our Centenary in 2003 with a successful programme of events. The celebrations went very well and included a popular Family Fun Day, a Centenary Hurling Challenge game against fellow Centenary club Carey Faughs, using 1903 rules, playing 17-a-side with additional posts.

A Journey through the Archives was held with members bringing up an array of club archives and generated many happy memories and stories. The club also sold over 300 Centenary Commemorative Polo T-Shirts designed by O’Neill’s Sportswear.

The highlight was a successful Centenary Reunion on 29th November in the clubrooms. Over 300 attended with members coming from all parts of Ireland, many friendships were renewed and memories relived and it was a night of great nostalgia. The celebrations concluded with a glittering and stylish sell-out Centenary Gala Dinner in the Europa Hotel on Saturday 28th February 2004.

At Easter 1984 the club opened a new Prunty pitch at Hannahstown with floodlights and pavilion. The pitch was opened by Paddy Buggy, Uachtarán CLG and blessed by Rev Fr McGrattan PP Hannahstown and Rock. We hosted three excellent games, our Minor Footballers v Pearse ÓGS, Antrim v Offaly in Senior Hurling and Armagh v Offaly in Senior Football. A very proud and historic day for the club.

The new facilities were a different class compared to previous pitches such as Budore, The Rock Pitch, The Bullring, Magill’s and Hamill’s fields etc.

In 2012, 16 March became another milestone in the club’s history when our new floodlit 3G pitch was opened by Páraic Duffy, Director General of the Gaelic Athletic Association and Eamonn McCartan, Chair of Sport NI.

We have forged a very strong partnership with Hannahstown Community Association which has helped enhance facilities for the members and community with the creation of a popular Highway to Health Path, playpark, and a Village Heritage Square. Recently we opened a Take a Break Area adjoining the 3G Pitch with a coffee dock for members and parents of juveniles to relax and have a coffee.

Our first social club, a prefabricated wooden structure, was at the top of Hannahstown Hill and was burnt down in a fire in 1975. We moved to our current site in 1978 but in 1980 yet again the club was destroyed by a fire. We showed great resilience, “out of the ashes rose the phoenix again”, and we rebuilt a more spacious club which opened in 1981.

The club has provided our members and local community with many hours of entertainment. During the 1980s and 1990s particularly, our club was the weekend entertainment hotspot of West Belfast and we also had very successful Ladies Darts and Men's Pool teams.

The social club has been a success in helping to finance the promotion and development of Gaelic games and maintaining our facilities while the club continues to be a useful resource for our social, cultural, and recreational activities. On 7 August 2022 we opened our second pitch.

The pitch was officially opened by Ciaran McLaughlin, President of the Ulster Council, Belfast Lord Mayor Tina Black and Hannahstown PP Rev Fr Kevin McGuckien. The pitch was a credit to a hard-working and visionary pitch development committee. The pitch was funded by generous donations and standing orders from members and club events such as Golf Classics and Nights at the Races.

The highlight of the weekend celebrations was the huge parade from Hannahstown chapel to the pitch, which was a very colourful spectacle in an unreal atmosphere and encompassed all generations of the club. In 2023 our new electronic scoreboard, kindly sponsored by KPM Surfacing, was opened as well as new dug-outs for the new pitch and informative pitch patrons' boards.

The scoreboard, dug-outs and boards were officially opened by Co. Secretary Frankie Quinn.