'Marvellous' village celebrates first football title in almost 100 years

Six men stand outside a grey building. They are all smiling and one man is holding a silver trophy.

Dunloy has won the County Antrim senior football championship for the first time in 89 years

Maria McCann
BBC News NI north east reporter

It's celebration time in the County Antrim village of Dunloy after its senior football championship team won the county title for the first time in almost a century.

The team's manager, Anthony McQuillan, said the win "means everything" to the village, which is bedecked in the club's colours of yellow and green in the wake of Sunday's final.

Dunloy defeated favourites Cargin - who were bidding for a fourth-straight title - 3-12 to 2-6 on Sunday.

The village is renowned as a hurling stronghold, having won 16 county titles in that code, but it hadn't won a senior football title in 89 years.

A older man, with grey hair, smiling at the camera. He is wearing a dark grey top, a white clerical collar and a navy GAA jacket. He is smiling at the camera and is standing in front of a GAA pitch.

Fr McCamphill

"We went to win the game but when the final whistle went and we realised we'd won, it was sort of like: 'Did we actually just achieve that?'" said McQuillan.

"It's absolutely amazing what we've done," he added.

Fr PJ McCamphill, an 82-year-old Dunloy native, wasn't born the last time the village won the title.

"My father was on the team, I think, that won in '36. He was certainly on it in '35.

"It's a marvellous achievement."

He said the club is at the centre of the parish.

"You couldn't quantify the amount of good the GAA here does for the young people, for forming them, for discipline, for camaraderie and skills and all the rest. It's just marvellous.

"You don't want to be too greedy but we'd like to win it next year as well."

A large group of men celebrating in a pub. One man is holding up a silver trophy. There is yellow and green bunting hanging from the ceiling.

Celebrations were continuing in the village pub with the winning team on Monday afternoon

Dunloy's senior football captain Seaan Elliott said he hasn't yet come to terms with winning.

"89 years is a long time to wait. It might be today, might be tomorrow but hopefully it will sink in at some stage."

Elliott said he had relatives on the winning team in 1936 and that winning 89 years later is special for his family.

"My granda is a very big Dunloy football man so he's absolutely delighted."

Team manager McQuillan said "it's been surreal".

"We only came up from intermediate in 2022, so we've been playing senior football for three years.

"It means everything. Absolutely crazy scenes when we came back into the village and that just shows what everybody thought.

"Everyone is very excited this morning... you can't even go into the shop and get milk, everyone wants to talk about it."

An older man wearing a white shirt and navy GAA coat. He is smiling at the camera and is standing in front of a GAA pitch.

Paddy McQuillan's son managed the winning team

Paddy McQuillan is the club's bus driver and "a big football man in the club".

"I was delighted to be bringing home the football championship to the parish of Dunloy yesterday, and to be bringing the team home.

"1936 is the last time it was won and I don't think there is anybody that remembers back in 1936.

"The welcome the footballers got last night was out of this world. It was unreal the way the parish turned out.

"There are a lot of great men and great footballers in Dunloy that have dedicated their life to it and have never had the pleasure of getting the cup but these young chaps that came through the past five or six years have done that for the older generation like myself and the older men that went before me."

A man, wearing navy trousers, a light blue shirt, dark grey tie and a grey jumper, smiling at the camera. He is standing in front of a large glass window that has a sign reading 'good luck Dunloy' on it in green and yellow writing.

Principal Damian McGuckian said St Joseph's Primary School is "privileged" to have "such a strong club" beside it

Damian McGuckian, the principal of St Joseph's Primary School, said the school was "privileged" to have "such a strong club" beside it.

"We have full access to facilities and they're very generous with their time coaching and what not," Mr McGuckian said.

He said many of the men who played on the team yesterday went to the school.

"The boys that were playing yesterday, they were inspired here by the generation who had gone before them and, likewise, they've just done the same yesterday by winning," he said.

"The young ones in here for years to come will be picking up the balls and the sticks and taking up the sports that their families had been doing for years."

A man, with short brown hair, wearing a white shirt and navy jumper. He is standing in front of a yellow and orange painted building.

James McKeague, Dunloy GAC club chairman

Dunloy GAC club chairman, James McKeague, said the win is "absolutely amazing".

"People think of us as a hurling club over the years, but to finally get our hands on a football championship after 89 years is amazing," he said.

McKeague said young people are "the energy of our club".

"We have massive amounts of numbers come to play football, hurling, and camogie. It's really, really encouraging."

"Last night there was just fantastic scenes around the village and around the parish hall for the homecoming," he added.

Related topics