Clan na Gael is a Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

 club situated in the town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 of Lurgan

Lurgan

Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...

, County Armagh

County Armagh

-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. The club was formed in 1922 in the Francis Street area following the demise of its predecessors, The Michael Davitts. The club's pitch, Davitt Park is still named in honour of Michael Davitt

Michael Davitt

Michael Davitt was an Irish republican and nationalist agrarian agitator, a social campaigner, labour leader, journalist, Home Rule constitutional politician and Member of Parliament , who founded the Irish National Land League.- Early years :Michael Davitt was born in Straide, County Mayo,...

. Throughout its eighty-year history it has provided some of the most successful Gaelic football

Gaelic football

Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...

ers in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. The club's administrators aim to remain committed to the founding ideals of the GAA, namely the promotion of all things Gael

Gaël

Gaël is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department of Brittany in north-western France.It lies southwest of Rennes between Saint-Méen-le-Grand and Mauron...

ic - the Irish language

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

, the culture

Culture of Ireland

This article is about the modern culture of Ireland and the Irish people. It includes customs and traditions, language, music, art, literature, folklore, cuisine and sport associated with Ireland and Irish people today. However, the culture of the people living in Ireland is not homogeneous...

, the games, the pastimes and the country. The club also takes great pride in its tradition in camogie

Camogie

Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women; it is almost identical to the game of hurling played by men. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and world wide, largely among Irish communities....

. The club fields football teams at under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16, Minor (under-18), under-21, Senior B and Senior. The senior team is in Division 1 of the Armagh Senior Leagues

Armagh Senior Leagues

The 2007 Armagh Senior League started on 15 April 2007. It is a Gaelic Athletic Association league. It is split into 4 Divisions .-Results:Weekending 20 May, 2007ACL Division One:Mullabawn 1-8 Pearse Og 2-8IFC:Lissummon 1-8 Madden 0-16,...

.

History

The club has been quite successful over the decades, bettered only in Armagh by Crossmaglen Rangers

Crossmaglen Rangers

Crossmaglen Rangers G.A.C is a Gaelic Athletic Association club from Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. They cater for Gaelic football and camogie. Their home football ground is St. Oliver Plunkett Park which was opened in 1959...

. Clan na Gael's height of dominance came in the 1970s, when the club won the Ulster

Ulster

Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...

 Club Championship three times, and reached the final of the All-Ireland Club Championship, only to be beaten in a replay by University College, Dublin. However, recently championship success has been minimal at senior level, and the last Armagh Championship won by the club was in 1994.

The club came to its lowest point for a long time when it was relegated in 2004 from the Armagh All County League Division I to the All County League Division II, for only the second time in the history of the club (and the League). Things however improved with the club retaining ACL Division I status in 2005 and also having a run in the Armagh Championship, reaching the semi-final only to be beaten after a replay with Dromintee. In 2006 to be beaten by Crossmaglen in the final. They reached the 2008 quarter-finals but were beaten by Crossmaglen and again in 2009 by Armagh Harps after a replay.

Notable members

Notable members of the club include:

• Hugh Kelly
  Hugh Kelly (goalkeeper)
  Hugh Redmond Kelly was an Irish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for various clubs in Northern Ireland and England, making four international appearances for Ireland.-Northern Ireland:...
  
  , Northern Ireland international international goalkeeper
• Jimmy Smyth, ex-Armagh
  Armagh GAA
  The Armagh County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Armagh GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Armagh...
  
   player and current BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
   commentator
• Diarmuid Marsden
  Diarmuid Marsden
  Diarmuid Marsden is an Irish Gaelic football player. He played football with his local club Clan na Gael in Armagh with whom he won Armagh Senior Football Championships in 1993 & 1994. Marsden was a member of the Armagh senior football team from 1993 until 2007. This was a very successful time for...
  
  , All-Ireland winner with Armagh and ex All-star
• Neil Lennon
  Neil Lennon
  Neil Francis Lennon is a former footballer from Northern Ireland. He is the current manager and former captain of Celtic....
  
  , current Celtic
  Celtic F.C.
  Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
  
   midfielder and captain.
• John Hoy, current Lurgan Legends Basketball midfielder and manager.
• Ruairi Thornbury, former Lurgan Model pupil.