History

A brief history for starter's...

A group of young men in 1927, when unemployment was rife, and with little else to do but "lick sliders" and "klondykes" in Harry Greenwood's Ice-cream Emporium on the Falls Road (where regular meetings of the Club were later held), were prompted by Harry Diamond, who later became a Stormont MP, to form a G.A.A. Club. In a matter of hours they had formed the club in the parlour of Geordie Jenkins home.

Subsequently a rig was acquired (Cardinal red and purple sash) knitted from Irish wool by the nuns of Killeshandra and O'Donnell's were soon under way, with the following office bearers :

Chairman - Harry Diamond,
Secretary - "Ali" McDonald
Treasurer - John Quinn.

Recruitment was like an avalanche, with no "poaching" from other clubs (almost unheard of in those days).

Like any other club it had its successes and failures throughout the decades, with several "purple patch" eras in its history. Keen exponents of both hurling and football, O'Donnell's soon captured the headlines winning the S. Antrim J.F.C., only to fall to Carey Faughs in the CountyFinal in 1928-29 at Ballycastle. In 1931 they won the Junior Hurling League and Intermediate Football League as well.

Growing from strength to strength it wasn't long before they had their first senior successes in 1937, 1938-39, followed by an AllCounty Senior Championship in 1940.

The latter years of the forties saw the emergence of St. Kevin's as the O'Donnell's minor and under 16 teams, and under the influence of Fr. Peter McCann, Tom Grant and Jackie Rooney initially, and later the McKay’s and Peter Doyle, they did well, eventually capturing the All County M.H.C. in 1954.

Competition for entry to St. John's Youth Club was keen among the juveniles of the time, and this ensured a continued supply of talent for St. Kevin’s, who lifted the U-16 Football and Hurling Leagues and Championships being undefeated in 1955. In 1954 O'Donnell's won the J.F.C., J.H.L and Beringer Cup.The sixties and early seventies yielded little in the way of trophies but this did not deter the officials and playing members and success eventually arrived by way of Div. 3 Football in 1973 and Div. 2 in 1974 and ultimately Div. 1B in 1976, to gain re-entry to Senior Football after a lapse of over twenty years. O'Donnell's most recent success was in 1994, when they defeated Sarsfield's to capture the Intermediate Football Championship.

As a result of the hard-working Management Committee, the present Club Rooms have taken shape. It provides not only social amenities for the members, with snooker, bar and TV but also for the ladies of the area who indulge in bingo a few nights of the week and also entertainment in the form of local cabaret at weekends.

Not content with the provision of social facilities, the Management Committee next turned their attention to the fulfilment of a long cherished ambition, to have a playing pitch of their own. Mac Rory Park, which first opened as a G.A.A. Ground in 1903, and, under the name of Shaun's Park, hosted Ulster and All Ireland championship matches in the early years of last century but had subsequently been earmarked as playing fields for a nearby school before being occupied by the British Army, became available and since it was but a stones throw from the Club Rooms, towards the acquisition and development of this famous site the Management Committee turned its attention. Thanks to grants from various sources, not to mention a major fund raising venture within the club, the efforts of the committee and members were finally rewarded with the opening of Mac Rory park on 20th may 2001.

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History

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