‘Today we take great pride in the tremendous development of our sports facilities and glory in the success of our club. That success has been achieved through the commitment, dedication and perseverance of so many great people as volunteers who, along with our talented young people, help make this club so special”
Fr. Paddy McKenna
13th June 2025
The words of Fr. Paddy McKenna taken from his homily at the All Saints GAC Anniversary Mass sum up perfectly the journey the Ballymena club has been on since formation in 1975. Last night at St. Patrick’s Church, Crebilly members and friends gathered to celebrate this milestone in the life of the “middle town” club.
The Mass was the official start to the club’s anniversary events and club Chairperson Jim Brady set the tone in his address when selecting “beginnings” as his theme. Here are some extracts from his contribution.
“While we have had several events to mark the 50th year of All Saints including a recent visit from Sam Maguire and a training session at Slemish Park involving Davy Fitz and the Antrim hurling team tonight marks the first of our “formal” celebration occasions. And it is very fitting that this occasion has been a Parish event. We are very proud of our roots in our parish here in Ballymena and in particular the church here at Crebilly which has stood here for some 60 plus years will no doubt have witnessed and heard the noise and activity emanating not just from down on the Woodside Road since the 1980s when we relocated to Slemish Park but from several other earlier manifestations of Gaelic games down the lanes and in the fields around the Caherty and Crebilly area before that.
So this, if you like, marks the beginning of our celebratory year. And it is with beginnings that I wish to concentrate on this evening.
Our beginnings in 1975 were humble to say the least. When Father Jordan made his call for people to come forward to help establish a Gaelic club in the town he maybe did it not knowing what the response would be. However, as the last five decades have shown he needn’t have worried. But back then in 1975 the landscape was very different to that of today. There were no facilities available and if we’re honest the GAA interest, knowledge and experience of the average Ballymena born and bred person was limited to a small number of people who would thankfully become involved in the establishment of the club.
It had been these people who had established Gaelic teams and clubs in the years beforehand. These clubs folded over time but interest in Gaelic games was clearly evident locally. What helped support this interest were people who had come to Ballymena from outlying areas for work and in some cases through marriage. The early history of our club is that along with our local people we now had the involvement of people from other strong GAA areas like Lavey, Rasharkin, Randalstown, Glenarm, Glenravel, Portglenone and Belfast to name several.
We owe a great debt of gratitude to the clubs that produced those people and to these people themselves who then became mainstays of All Saints. They brought with them to Ballymena a love of and an understanding of Gaelic Games and Gaelic culture.Staying with the theme of beginnings I return to Father Jordan, I, like many of you here this evening, wasn’t around when Father Jordan was in our parish but we’re very lucky that there are some people who were and they’re sitting here with us this evening and that’s been a great source of information, storytelling and knowledge for me as I set out to document the club history. I’ve been told that Fr. Jordan’s call to seek interested people came about because he noticed that a lot of our parish community we’re leaving each Sunday to go and watch Gaelic games in neighbouring parishes and villages and towns and his thoughts were on why can’t we do that for our own parishioners in our own area. So a very small band of people answered his call and came together to establish the All Saints club.
I had the opportunity to make contact with his sister Mary in recent years and I was delighted with the information she was able to share with me on Fr. Jordan and on his love for Gaelic games and culture. I was equally delighted that she was able to visit with us here in Ballymena at the club on several occasions and on one notable occasion when she managed to meet with some of our founder members who had worked with her brother to establish the club. It was a lovely moment and confirmed for her the legacy of her brother’s efforts all those years ago.
In finishing this evening I wish to pay tribute. Tribute Fr. Jordan, tribute to our founder members and tribute to everyone who has worked so hard, been so committed and showed such enthusiasm. These people have brought us from an initial meeting in a house on the Market Road in 1975 to the Hugomont Suite in 2025 and been responsible for everything that has happened and been achieved in between.
Our thanks to each and every one of them.
The club wish to thank our Parish Priest, Fr. Michael McGinnity, Fr. Paddy McKenna, our parish folk and children’s choir, all who participated in the celebration Mass and our 50th Anniversary committee.
We also thank all of our fellow Antrim clubs who facilitated fixture changes to accommodate the club Mass.
TO VIEW PHOTOS FROM THE ANNIVERSARY MASS AND THE CELEBRATIONS IN THE CLUB AFTER CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW