Dr Dónal McAnallen gave a very successful talk in Carey Hall, Ballyvoy, on Saturday 23rd Feb 2019. Frank Mc Carry, North Antrim Secretary, welcomed the audience from all parts of Co. Antrim and beyond and introduced Dónal. Over 100 people listened to the stories of the foundation of the GAA and North Antrim clubs covering the period from the mid 1800’s to the 1940’s. Hurling, Football and Camogie clubs were established, disappeared, and reformed during this period due to, among other things, the influence of war, economics, geography and transport.
Like many of those who attended I was always of the opinion that the GAA was structured in the area soon after that famed meeting in Hayes Hotel in Thurles in 1884, but Donal pointed out that this was not the case and in fact it took almost twenty years before the first club’s started to appear. It was appropriate that the meeting was in Carey where the home club the Faughs won the first trophy that was played for when the beat Glenarm Seans in the final of the 1904 Feis na nGleann in Waterfoot. The magnificent Shield of the Heroes, which was awarded to the winner of that game, was on display on the night, a trophy rated by many as one of the greatest in the history of the GAA
On the football front Donal highlighted the exploits of Dunloy in their early years and their remarlable achievement of winning 3-in-a-row senior titles in the 1920s. Another incredible fact was that the club had three men on the Ulster Railway Cup winning side of 1927
