Bellaghy Wolfe Tones Gaelic Athletic Club (Irish: CLG Baile Eachaidh) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The club is a member of Derry GAA and currently competes in gaelic football and camogie.

Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAC
Baile Eachaidh
Founded:1939
County:Derry
Nickname:The Tones
Colours:Blue and White
Grounds:Páirc Seán de Brún
Wolfe Tone Park
Coordinates:54°48′25.71″N 6°30′53.22″W / 54.8071417°N 6.5147833°W / 54.8071417; -6.5147833
Playing kits
Home Kit
Change Kit
Senior Club Championships
All Ireland Ulster
champions
Derry
champions
Football: 1 4 21
Camogie: - 1 2

Bellaghy have won 21 Derry Senior Football Championships, four Ulster Senior Club Football Championships and the 1971-72 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship. Bellaghy camogie club have won two Derry Senior Camogie Championships.

On 12 May 1997, the Club Chairman, Sean Brown, was attacked and abducted by a Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) gang as he locked the main gate of the GAA grounds on the Ballyscullion Road. Less than an hour later the body of the father-of-six was found lying beside his burnt-out car just off the Moneynick Road near Randalstown, County Antrim. He had been shot six times.[1][2] On 19 January 2004 the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland published a report that was highly critical of the police investigation into Brown's killing, stating "the police investigation was incomplete and inadequate".[3]

Football titles

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Senior Football

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Minor Football

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  • Ulster Minor Club Football Championship 3
    • 1991, 1994, 2018[4]
  • Derry Minor Football Championship 10
    • 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1961, 1963, 1973, 1991, 1994, 2018
  • Derry Minor Football League: 3
    • 1993, 1994, 2015
  • Derry Minor B Football League: 1
    • 2008

Pitches

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Bellaghy's main pitch, Páirc Seán de Brún, is named after their former club chairman Seán Brown.

The club also have two full-sized pitches, 4G area and dressing rooms at Wolfe Tone Park, Drumanee, just outside the village.

Notable Gaelic footballers

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  • Tommy Gribben - First Derry man to win an All Ireland medal with St Pat's Armagh in 1946. Derry County Footballer 1945-1955, 1957–1958, Tyrone County Footballer 1956, Ulster Provincial Footballer, Derry Junior Manager and Coach of 1971-72 Bellaghy All-Ireland winning team.
  • Tom Scullion
  • Tommy Diamond - Former Derry player. First player to captain a county to victory in both All-Ireland Minor (1965) and All-Ireland Under-21 (1968) Championships.[5]
  • Laurence Diamond - Former Derry midfielder. Captain of 1971-72 Bellaghy All-Ireland winning team.
  • Damian Cassidy - Represented Derry seniors from 1984 until 1996. Left half forward of Derry's 1993 All-Ireland winning team. Managed Bellaghy to senior finals in 2004, 05 & 07, winning in 2005.
  • Danny Quinn - Member of Derry's 1993 All-Ireland winning panel.
  • Karl Diamond - (son of Tommy) All Ireland minor winner 1989 and All Ireland senior winner 1993
  • Fergal Doherty - Former Derry mid-fielder.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Loyalist linked to many sectarian killings was quizzed over death". Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  2. ^ "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1997". Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
  3. ^ "The investigation by police of the murder of Mr Sean Brown on 12 May 1997" (PDF). The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
  4. ^ "Brilliant Bellaghy are crowned Ulster minor club champions". The Irish News. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Tommy Diamond remembers the golden generation of Unders 21s". County Derry Post. 23 September 2008.
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