Bunninadden GAA - A story for the ages
Bunninadden GAA club is a rural club located in the heart of South Sligo. The club includes the parishes of Bunninadden, Doocastle and Killavil and our home is at Ballinalack Community Park. The club was founded in 1886 by Andrew Marren and John O’Dowd.
The club caters for football teams from under 6 through to senior. The ladies of the club play with the amalgamated St Nathys.
Major highlights in the clubs history include 2 senior championship wins in 1891 and 2000. A first ever intermediate championship in 2012 (followed by a Connacht final) and Junior championships in 1953, 1963, 1973, 1979, 2003 and 2008.
The Early Days
In 1891, Bunninadden win senior championship title. In 1911, Killavil got through to the County Finals. For reasons unclear the decider was not played. In 1913, PJ McDermott, Bunninadden, presided at the badly represented convention. In 1916, Joseph ODowd a former Killavil and County player was killed. In 1917, Doocastle got into Junior final against Enniscrone, but were beaten 1-3 to 1-2.
The Twenties and Thirties
In 1921, A convention took place in Killavil, attended by a mere handful of delegates. In 1927, Killavil won the Junior Crown. In 1932, Killavil(Spurtown Minors) took to field for the first time and reached the semi-finals. In 1933, Bunninadden entered a Junior team. In 1935, Sligo won the Junior All-Ireland. Peter Brennan -grandfather of John anf Fergal OFlaherty(Bunninadden present team members) was a team member, also Canon G Henry who was the recent Canon RIP. In 1937, Convention held in Ballymote, Killavil delegates - M Seully, H McDonagh. Also that year, P Dywer trained and managed a winning Deroon Team.
The fifties and Sixties
In 1949, John P Brennan, Bunninadden, elected secretary/treasurer of the convention. In 1953, Junior title for Bunninadden, trained by John P Brennan. For the first time since 1891, Bunninadden won a County Title, they defeated Curry.
In 1955, Nace ODowd RIP, one of the best footballers Sligo ever produced and figured on the Sligo Team that lost to Leinster in the Final of the Railway cup. In 1958, Pat Hunt and Gerry McManus past members of Bunninadden Club, won the Senior championship in Mullinabrenna. In 1960, Pat Hunt, Bunninadden, played Senior and Junior for Sligo. In 1963, Bunninadden won the Foley cup by beating Keash in 3-9 to 2-2. Bunninadden went on to win the County Final by defeating Cliffoney 1-8 to 1-4 in a rousing final. In 1964, Paddy Joe Doohan was a member of the County Team - he is father of Padraig, scorer of the historic goal in 2000 and himself a former county player. In 1966, Bunninadden were beaten in the Senior League Final by Colloney. In 1967, Bunninadden were beaten by Ballisadare in the Senior Championship semi-final also Easkey proved to be too strong for Bunninadden in the League Final in Markievicz. In 1968, Padraig McLoughlin, Bunninadden was a member of the Sligo team that reached the All-Ireland.
A simmering fire
The Bunninadden Club stepped up a notch in terms of competitiveness in the 70's and 80's with teams regularly getting to finals. The underage structure also took shape the rewards of which would be seen down the line. In 1973, Bunninadden wins Junior Championship by beating Grange in Ballymote. In 1979, Bunninadden wins Junior Championship. In 1983, Harps beat Bunninadden in the Intermediate Final.
A force to be reckoned with
History was made in 1992 when Bunninadden and Mullinabrenna joined to win the U-21 County Championship for the first time. They repeated this feat again in 1993. History was made again in 1994 - when Bunninadden and Mullinabrenna won their first ever U-12 County Title. They beat St Johns by 2-16 to 3-9. This successful young team would 6 years later provide a number of players for the clubs senior team on a bigger stage, From here on Bunninadden GAA became a force to be reckoned with. With regular appearances in underage and senior finals the hard work was starting to pay dividends. During the mid 90's Bunninadden began winning titles at both underage and senior levels signalling the beginning of a golden era for the club. In 1995 Bunninadden Community Park officially opened its gates, a modern facility and the only club pitch in Sligo to have floodlights at the time.
Team of the Millennium
In 2000, Bunninadden win the senior championship and Owen B Hunt cup for the second time in 109 years beating Coolera Strandhill with a last minute Padraig Doohan goal, themselves almost a century without a senior title. With James Kerins at the helm backed by Richard Brennan and John Spellman the clubs first senior title in living memory was a fantastic occasion and a testament to many years of hard work by countless club members over the years.
In the same year the club won Minor and U-16 titles and as the club announced itself as a new force in Sligo club football. In 2006 Bunninadden returned to the County Final stage are defeating rivals Eastern Harps in a thrilling one point game in the semi final. The final was an all south Sligo affair against neighbours Curry in what was one of the most memorable senior finals in memory. It certainly was a game of two halves with Bunninadden going in at half time with a 6 point lead, but ended up losing 1-15 to 2-9. 2008 was a mixed year, on the underage field Bunninadden claimed 4 titles and done the double in the Minor. Unfortunately the seniors did not preform as well and were relegated to Intermediate along with Geevagh and Drumcliffe/Rosses Point. The Juniors also managed to regain the Junior crown last won in 2003.
Intermediate Travails and Triumph
In 2009 Bunninadden reached its first ever Connacht final, although it was not on the football field but through the means of Scór. The music group came second in a tie beak losing out to the All-Ireland Champions Corofin. In late June work commenced on the new dressing rooms at Bunninadden Community Park. The club reached the intermediate final in 2009 against Geevagh. Leading as the clocked ticked down we were agonisingly beaten by a last minute Geevagh goal and missed out on an immediate return to senior football 1-08 to 1-07. The following 2 campaigns 2010 and 2011 both ended in disappointment at the semi-final stage against Drumcliffe.
In 2012 with Gerry Perry now at the helm St Pats would provide the opposition at the semi final stage and this time we would not be denied cruising home to book a final spot against our now familiar foe Drumcliffe Rosses Point. Under the lights in Tourlestrane for the first ever flood lit final we prevailed in a low scoring encounter 1-07 to 0-06 to claim a first ever intermediate title for the club.
The Comeback in Kiltoom
Looking to build on their Sligo success the club then faced St Aidans of Roscommon in the Connacht semi final in Kiltoom. A strong St Aidans team started quickly and raced into a lead that at half-time looked insurmountable, 2-10 to 0-04. The second half didn't start much better for Bunninadden falling even further behind and with 43 minutes on the clock and trailing by 12 it appeared a final place against Charlestown was beyond even the most optimistic supporters hopes. However in the most remarkable 17 minutes of football ever produced by the club we over-turned the deficit to win on a scoreline of 3-11 to 3-10 and spark a pitch invasion rarely seen from our loyal support.
A week later against a strong Charlestown team we were defeated narrowly in the clubs first ever Connacht football final 0-14 to 0-08 to bookend a successful return to the senior ranks for the club.
Most Recently
2013 saw the club struggle to maintain the highs of 2012 and after a long campaign we were relegated back to intermediate. 2014 saw the club beaten by Shamrock Gaels in the semi final.
2015 and 2016 saw the club remain intermediate.
For the 2017 season we struck a deal with neighbours Ballymote GAA to amalgamate our underage structures from U12 to U18 for at least 3 years and quite possibly longer. This step was taken due to the simple maths many rural clubs currently face of small playing numbers and the desire to provide good quality competition and structures for our players. We are now competing at 'A' level and in the long run both clubs can only benefit. Hopefully in the not too distant future we will begin to see the benefits in our Senior team as these young players emerge.
2017 saw the first fruits of this when our U14s won the A League beating St Marys in the final in Markievicz Park.
In 2019 under the stewardship of John O'Flaherty we reached another intermediate final against Geevagh after defeating Easkey in the semi final. Geevagh however proved too strong on the day and ran out deserving winners.
2020 and 2021 saw the world disrupted by Covid19 but 2021 did see saw us winning the division 3 league and Abbott Cup Finals. 2021 also was a big year for our underage amalgamation with the minors winning the B championship in some style. Luke Marren who played a key role on this team also made a vital contribution to Sligo minors Connnacht Championship Win in 2021. Luke scored 9 points in the semi final and 11 in the final Vs Roscommon and went on to be named in the Minor All Star team of the year. A great personal achievement and a proud one for our club.
In 2022, our seniors managed to regain Senior status in the league, narrowly missing out in the league final to Curry. Led by Willie Gormley and a team of club stalwarts, the club fought well to a intermediate championship semi-final, losing out to St. Molaise Gaels, who went on to win the final convincingly.
In 2022 our u21s, amalgamated with Ballymote GAA, won the "A" county final, beating St Molaise Gaels in the final.
In 2025 saw club member Luke Marren win the Sigerson Cup final with DCU.