Fintona Pearses (Irish: Fionntamhnach Na Piarsaigh) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Fintona, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is a member of the Tyrone GAA county board[1] and is named after the Irish poet and revolutionary, Patrick Pearse.

Fintona Pearses GAC
Fionntamhnach Na Piarsaigh CLG
Founded:1917
County:Tyrone
Nickname:The Pearses
Colours:Green and White
Grounds:St Lawrence's Park
Coordinates:54°29′35″N 7°19′43″W / 54.49306°N 7.32861°W / 54.49306; -7.32861
Playing kits
Standard
Reserve
Senior Club Championships
All Ireland Ulster
champions
Tyrone
champions
Football: - - 2

The club primarily concentrates on Gaelic football for both men and women, with boys hurling teams fielded at youth level. Its home venue is called St Lawrence's Park, located just outside the village on the Tattymoyle Road.[2]

As of 2024, the senior Gaelic football team competes in Division 2 of the Tyrone All-County Football League as well as the Tyrone Intermediate Football Championship.

History

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Fintona Pearses was founded in 1917 and, despite some stop-starts in the 1920s, the club has been continuously active since 1932.[citation needed] At the time of founding, there was already a club in the village, Fintona Davitts, which had been in existence since 1907. The two sides met each other in competition twice in 1917. The Davitts club, however, went out of existence shortly afterwards. The club won the Tyrone Senior Football Championship in 1938, defeating Cookstown in the final. The last appearance in the senior club final was in 1979 when they lost out to Carrickmore.[citation needed]

A Tyrone Intermediate Football Championship title was claimed in 1978 defeating Killyclogher in the final. The club also won the Tyrone Junior Football Championship title in 1975 after beating Gortin in the decider.[citation needed]

In 2023, the senior men again won the Junior championship, defeating neighbouring parish Drumragh by a point after extra time and bridging a 45 year gap from their last championship win. This win meant promotion to the Intermediate league and championship for the first time since 2008. After the 2023 junior championship win, they represented Tyrone in the Ulster Junior Club Football Championship, a first foray into Ulster football for the club.[citation needed] After wins against Ballyhegan (Armagh) and Drumaness (Down), they were eliminated at the semi final stage by Blackhill (Monaghan). Also in 2023, the club's minor team won the grade 2 minor championship beating a Gortin/Glennelly amalgamation.[citation needed]

Fintona Pearses is the only club in Tyrone to have won the Senior, Intermediate, Junior, and all three Reserve Football Championships in its existence.[citation needed]

Ladies Football

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A separate Ladies Gaelic football club, of the same name, was founded in 1996 and competed in Tyrone competitions in 1997. In 2022, separate votes among the members of both the GAA & LGFA clubs approved a merger of the two clubs. As of 2024, the Ladies and Mens Gaelic football teams compete under a single Fintona Pearses GAA club banner.[citation needed]

Camogie

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Fintona was also home to the first camogie club in Tyrone, called Fintona Rose Kavanaghs which was founded around the same time as Fintona Davitts.[citation needed]

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ "Fintona Pearses - Tyrone GAA". tyronegaa.ie. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Fintona Pearses GAA Grounds - Google Maps". maps.google.co.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Roll of Honour - Club". tyronegaa.ie. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Reaction: Tyrone's Fintona Pearses win Junior Championship". highlandradio.com. 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
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