Fintona Pearses GAC
| Fionntamhnach Na Piarsaigh | |||||||||
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| Founded: | 1917 | ||||||||
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| County: | Tyrone | ||||||||
| Nickname: | The Pearses | ||||||||
| Colours: | Green & White | ||||||||
| Grounds: | St. Lawrence's Park | ||||||||
| Coordinates: | 54°29′34.86″N 7°19′43.09″W / 54.4930167°N 7.3286361°WCoordinates: 54°29′34.86″N 7°19′43.09″W / 54.4930167°N 7.3286361°W | ||||||||
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| Senior Club Championships | |||||||||
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Fintona Pearses (Irish: Fionntamhnach Na Piarsaigh) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club. The club is based in Fintona, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and is named after the Irish poet and revolutionary, Patrick Pearse.
The club primarily concentrates on Gaelic football and there is also a Ladies Gaelic football club of the same name. Both clubs play at the same grounds, Saint Lawrence's Park.
The senior team in 2011 will compete in Division 3 of the Tyrone All-County Football League and will play in the Tyrone Junior Football Championship.
History
Fintona Pearses was founded in September 1916 and despite some stop-starts in the 1920s, the club has been continuously active since 1932. At the time of founding there was already a club in the village, Fintona Davitts, which had been in existence since 1907 and the two sides met each other in competition twice in 1917. The Davitts club however went out of existence shortly afterwards.
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.
Since the formation of the club, other past clubs in the local area have included Fintona Pearse Og, Aughafad and Carnlea. The St Brigid's camogie club also existed in the 1940s and 1980s.
Honours
The club won the Tyrone Senior Football Championship in 1938, defeating Cookstown in the final. The Davitts club also won the 1913-14 championship. The last appearance in the final was in 1979 when they lost out to Carrickmore.
An Intermediate Football Championship title was claimed in 1978 defeating Killyclogher and the Junior Football Championship title in 1975 after beating Gortin.
The club has the distinction of being the only one in Tyrone to have won the Senior, Intermediate, Junior, and all three Reserve Football Championships in its existence.
The Ladies Gaelic football club won the Tyrone Junior Ladies B Football Championship and League double in 2010 after defeating Sigersons in the championship final and the same team again in the league final after a replay. They also won the Tyrone Junior Ladies Football Championship in 2005, defeating Cill Iseal in the final. In the Ulster Junior Ladies Club Football Championship a win against Derry champions Claudy was recorded in the quarter-final before losing out to the eventual Ulster Champions, Clones from Monaghan.
The Under 14 boys football team won the Teamtalk Under 14 Grade 2 Championship in 2009, after defeating Loughmacrory 3-09 to 2-10 in the final at Killyclogher.
Notable players
Aaron McCarney was a member of the 2009 Tyrone Minor Football team.
Paul Martin played for the Tyrone Minor Football team which won the 2007 Ulster Minor Football Championship and also for the Tyrone Vocational Schools Football Team that won the 2007 All-Ireland Inter-County Vocational Schools Championship.
Former club player Aidan McCarron played for Tyrone in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Dr McKenna Cup competitions. McCarron also played for New York in the Preliminary Round of the Connacht Senior Football Championship 2006 where they lost to Roscommon 1-14 to 0-9 with McCarron contributing 0-4.
Other Fintona players who have played Gaelic football for Tyrone in the recent past include Ted Garrity, Dermot King, Adrian McAshea, Gerard McCallen & Liam Grugan, as well as Tyrone Senior Ladies Manager of 2007 Jimmy McCloughan. Niall Donnelly, Mark Donnelly and Gerard McCarroll have also played at Minor level.