Warrenpoint GAA

St. Peter's GAA
Naomh Pheadair, Rinn Mhic Giolla Rua
Founded: 1931
County: Down
Nickname: The Blues
Colours: Blue and White
Grounds: Páirc Liam Uí hÍr
Coordinates: 54°06′11.68″N 6°13′41.08″W / 54.1032444°N 6.2280778°W / 54.1032444; -6.2280778Coordinates: 54°06′11.68″N 6°13′41.08″W / 54.1032444°N 6.2280778°W / 54.1032444; -6.2280778
Playing kits
Standard colours
Senior Club Championships
All Ireland Ulster
champions		 Down
champions
Football: - - 3

St. Peter's GAA (Irish: Cumann Pheadair Naofa) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in County Down, Northern Ireland.

Foundation

The GAA in Warrenpoint pre-dates St. Peter's by a considerable span of years for it was in 1888 that the original seed was sown with the name of John Martin. The club colours were black and amber strips.

Being adopted on a proposal by John Carr and seconded by Thomas Caulifield the Club maintained the name until the mid-1920s until it fell on hard times. In 1931, it revived but because Glenn had registered a new club, John Martin some months before, the name of St. Peter's was chosen and blue and white were chosen as the club colours.

It is worth noting that the John Martin's of 1888 won the first competition held in Down by beating Mayobridge at Edenmore. The Warrenpoint flute band paraded the victors through Mayobridge village on the occasion.

There are no records of John Martin's winning many more competitions but once St. Peter's found their feet they went on to win the Junior Championship in 1932 when they beat Saul in the final.

For many years the club played at Connolly's field at Moygannon and then at a variety of venues before settling in its current habitat at Moygannon which was purchased in 1972 for £10,000. Dressing rooms and showers were added in the 1980s at a cost of £45,000.

The first phase of a major redevelopment of Moygannon Park has recently been completed incorporating the construction of a new playing pitch surface under the guidance of Club Trustee Gerry Gray. The cost of this development was £130,000. A new electronic scoreboard has also been erected.

In the 1960s some derelict houses at Mary Street, Warrenpoint were purchased for £50. These were converted into small clubrooms using the voluntary labour of members and friends. The clubrooms were used for meetings, functions and fundraising. There were two rooms (upstairs and downstairs) each approximately 18 ft x 25 ft. The cost of rebuilding was £2,000 approximately.

An extension was added to the clubrooms in the 1970s giving a ground floor hall of 54 ft x 26 ft with a balcony 18 ft x 25 ft. Later a small kitchen was added. The total cost of this contract was £5,000.

Two dwellings were purchased either side of the clubrooms in Mary Street in the 1980s to facilitate future development of the clubrooms including an upstairs social club and bar. The total cost of this development was £46,000. The second house is still occupied by a tenant and rent is paid to St. Peter's GAC.

In the 1970s an activity room 40 ft x 20 ft was also purchased for £10,000 and located at the back of the Clubrooms. This room provided for supervised youth activity seven nights a week for 15 years. This property is no longer utilised. There is also a fully licensed bar on the premises.

The Golden era for the Point was in the 1940s and 1950s when they won three senior titles and contributed to a few great finals in which they were the losers. In the light of recent performances one would have to comment that some of this years excellent performances gave grounds for optimism.

Although the senior team is currently playing the Down Division 2, hopes are high for the future position of the club.

The history of the GAA in Warrenpoint wouldn't be complete without reference to the 'three warriors' who have given a lifetime of service to the development of the GAA in Warrenpoint for over 50 years each, namely Liam O'Hare, Barney Carr and Ted Bradley. Liam O'Hare was chairman of the club in the 1970s and 1980s for 21 years.

Barney Carr has held the position of Chairman and treasurer and Ted Bradley was club secretary on a number of occasions and also held the position of club chairman. All three have been trustees of the club for many years. Contribution to Down

Over the years, the club has made a substantial contribution to Down football with many outstanding players in every decade since the 1930s. Tom O'Hare was a member of the Junior team beaten by Louth in the Junior semi-final of 1934.

Terry McCormack, Gerry and Johnny Carr and John McClorey featured in the first Ulster Senior final against Cavan in 1940. In 1944 when the Mc Kenna cup was won for the first time no fewer than seven Point men lined out for the final.

Gerry Carr captained the Down Junior team that brought the first All-Ireland to the County in 1946 and Emmett McGivern was the goalkeeper on that occasion. Barney Carr, Joe O'Boyle, Liam O'Hare, Tim Donoghue and John O'Hare were all stars of the County team in the 1940s.

The great break through on the National scene was in 1960 when Down brought the Sam Maguire Cup across the Border for the first time, Barney Carr was one of the central figures as Manager of the Down Senior football team in 1960 and 1961. In 1968 the youthful Peter Rooney made his mark in no uncertain manner in Downs All-Ireland Senior success.

Miceal Magill played and Eamon Connolly was on the panel of the victorious Down All-Ireland Senior football team in 1994. Emmett T. McGivern, Seamus Carr and Sean McNulty won All-Ireland Minor medals in 1977 and Breandán Kearney won a similar honour with Down in 1999. Gervaise O'Hare won an All-Ireland Under 21 medal with Down in 1979.

On the administrative side there has been a fair contribution also. As far back as the mid-1920s a Warrenpoint man Paddy McGivern had a spell as County chairman. Father Alex McMullan during his time in Warrenpoint held the position for six years and more recently Donal McCormack has made his mark first as County chairman and currently as County secretary.

The cultural side of the association has never been neglected. The language, dancing, Scor and music have all been central to the Club's activities and with no little success in the process.

Leaving all the foregoing aside, one of the biggest single contributions made to the association in Down has been the County history ('O'Shiol go Blath') by the late club member Sile Nic Ultaigh. Sile is a very distinguished club member, known the length and breath of Ireland.

In the wider community as a result of the high level of Warrenpoint involvement in Gaelic Sport, and of the achievements of its players, administrators and members over the years, the club is very well known in County Down, throughout Ulster and indeed at National GAA level. This profile has been further enhanced by the increased media coverage of Gaelic games in recent years.

It should be noted that club member Feargal McCormack along with Colm Fitzpatrick (Rostrevor) was responsible for the highly acclaimed Media Report in 1992 which carried out detailed empirical market research of GAA coverage in the media in Ulster in terms of newspapers, TV stations and radio.

The report published in October 1992 is recognised as the starting point for the commencement of major negotiations with UTV, BBC and the Belfast Telegraph to significantly improve media coverage of GAA activities.

St. Peter's GAC Club has historically played a pivotal role in local community life for successive generations within the Warrenpoint area since its foundation over 100 years ago in 1888. The Club has a proven record of voluntary endeavour and community commitment, in the provision of sporting and cultural activity.

Over this period the Club has developed club facilities including Clubrooms at Mary Street, Warrenpoint, and a playing field at Moygannon Park through the tireless voluntary efforts of members and the support of the local community.

The Clubrooms have been used in the past by a variety of local voluntary and community organisations from all traditions and the Club is proud of its commitment to cross community relations. Each year a Family Fun Day is organised in August as part of the Maiden of the Mourns International Festival.

Current membership incorporating senior and youth members exceeds 500 people. St. Peter's Social Club continues to prove popular with members and friends.

For over 100 years, St. Peter's Club has been in the forefront of promoting sport and cultural activities for the youth of the area. The Junior Committee is very active in organising coaching, games and social activities for youth members. The Club has also enjoyed very strong links with local primary and post primary schools.

Club teams fielded

The club currently organises the following sides:

Football (8 Teams) – U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, Minor, Premier Reserve and Senior (Div 2).

Hurling (7 Teams) – U10, U12, U14, U16, Minor, Reserve(Div 2) and Senior (Div 1).

Camogie (2 Teams) – U12, U14

Playing Achievements

Football

Notable players

Hurling

Hurling

This year the senior hurling panel has been training to a higher standard, building on previous years the panel has been entered into the Ulster league for a second year running after reaching the quarter finals stages of section 3 last season. As well as maintaining their usual fixtures this is hoped to improve the quality of hurling and enhance player’s skills and sharpness. The Ulster League campaign allowed the senior team finish in mid-table and now this season it is hoped more can be delivered.

In 2005 after an excellent show in the Junior Championship final the team is now being boosted by even more talent coming up through the ranks. Under new management the senior team boasts a large panel that will hopefully strive this year to better previous performances.

However, due to the amount of games and resources needed more and more support is always needed and is greatly welcomed by all who are interested in either participated as a player or contributing in other ways.

In recent years success at under age level has boosted the interest of the game in the club with an all-county skills title going to a Warrenpoint player for the first time in the club's history. He then went on to represent Down at the All-Ireland skills competition and finished a respectable 9th out of 32 enterants.

Culture

The club is proud to have been at the forefront of the revival of Irish Set Dancing and for over 20 years has organised annual set dancing competitions and workshops. An exciting European dimension was developed in 1993 when St. Peter's Set Dancers along with a company of musicians and singers travelled to Normandy to participate in the annual Normandy Cultural Festival.

Since Warrenpoint hosted its first Ceili in 1917, the club has been very active in the GAA Scor, cultural competitions and has been successful at All-Ireland level in both Scor and Scor na nÓg competitions. In 1978 the Junior team won the All-Ireland Scor na nÓg Ceili Dancing Title. Warrenpoint won the All-Ireland Scor Set Dancing Title in 1982 and after many years of winning County and Ulster titles the club won the Scor All-Ireland quiz title in 1996. The winning quiz team members were Sheila McAnulty, Matt Durkin and Hugh Carr.

Irish language classes are organised for adults and juniors on a regular basis and the Club has also encouraged drama over the years.

In addition, two members of the club, Sighle Nic An Ultaigh and Belle O'Loughlin, have held the position of President of the Camogie Association of Ireland. Sighle also held the post of General Secretary of the Camogie Association for 25 years, and is the author of the highly acclaimed Down GAA history, "O Shiol go Blath".

St. Peter's Band

The club is very proud of the past achievement of its brass band section which has won a number of All-Ireland Awards and has played at events throughout Ireland. The band has been at the forefront of cross community activities and has joined up with the Warrenpoint silver band on numerous occasions.

See also

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