Founding and Early Years

Curraha GFC was formed in 1903 and is one of the oldest clubs in County Meath. The club has produced players and officials who have served Meath with dedication over the past 100 years. Frank Brady and William McDermott were leading figures in this formation. A junior football championship was captured in 1914 - just over a decade after the club was formed. In 1915, 12 members of this winning side went on to represent Meath against Kildare in the Leinster Championship.
Matt O'Toole joined the club in 1919 and became Chairman - a post he held until 1934. Larry Whyte and Michael Sherry succeeded him in this role. During the early 1930s Joe McDermott became Club Secretary and was actively involved in the Curraha set-up up until his death in 1987.
From 1934 to 1946 the Curraha team went through a lean patch only partaking mainly in 7-a-side tournaments.

Revival

The club went out of existence in 1947 but was revived around 1950 with Christy Lynch as Chairman and Martin Colfer as Secretary. Three years later Curraha reached the semi-finals of the Championship but were beaten by eventual winners Summerhill.
Curraha spent a brief spell in the Intermediate grade but with very little success. By 1962 Curraha were playing Junior B football.
Success finally returned to Curraha in 1976 when the team captured the Junior Football Championship as well as the Junior League. The club was also successful in 12 local tournaments in this year.

Pitch Acquisition

However, by this time Curraha had still no pitch of their own and in 1977 with Tony Battersby as Chairman and Kevin Connell secretary plans were set out to purchase land for Curraha GFC. Land was bought form local farmer Percy McGuinness for a total of £12,000 - £5,500 of this amount was raised by locals. The grounds were officially opened in 1983.

Recent Years

It was not until 1997 that the Club returned to Championship winning ways with Curraha winning the Junior B Championship. Four years later the team went on to capture the Junior A Championship and become an Intermediate team.

In 2004, the club struggled to maintain their status as an Intermediate Club and returned to the Junior A grade. After flirting with relegation to Junior B in 2013, things started to look up for the club. An Under 21 title in the same year would prove to be the catalyst for the most successful period in the Club’s history. In 2015, with the bulk of that successful U21 side now first team regulars, the club went on to win the Junior A Championship, quickly followed by the Leinster title. Further success came with the Division 4 league title and the Tailteann cup. There was further championship success for the U21s this year, with several of the first team still eligible. The 2nd team added to the haul of trophies this year by winning the B League Division 5 while also proving unlucky to lose in the Junior D Championship final.  

Junior A Final match report

Leinster Final match report

A fantastic year for the club was acknowledged with the club receiving the Meath GAA Club of the Year award. James McEntee also received the award for Young Footballer of the Year.

Having consolidated our position in the Intermediate Championship in 2016, the team kicked on again in 2017.  Another county title was secured with a convincing win against St. Michaels in Pairc Taliteann in October. A final score of Curraha 1-17: St. Michaels 1-7 saw the club promoted to Senior ranks for the first time.

Intermediate Final match report

A great interview with Liam Hogan summing up these last few years can be viewed here.

The club’s first year at senior level was to prove a challenge, as injury and travel deprived the team of several 1st team regulars. However, the team rallied to win a relegation playoff against Blackhall Gaels and retain Senior status.

Having maintained out Senior status in 2019 and 2020, the challenge now is for the club is to push on and continue to compete at this level for years to come.

We have made a strong contribution to the Meath Senior County panel over the last few years, with James McEntee, David Toner and Jack O’Connor all representing the club at County level.

Podge O’Hanrahan has also shone for the County hurlers, and his performances were recognized in 2020 with the Hurler of the Year award.

As of 2023. the club continues to maintain its status as a Senior club. This year, we had 4 players feature for the Meath Senior Footballers: James McEntee, Jack O'Connor, Conor Moriarty and Diarmuid Moriarty. James, Jack and Diarmuid were all involved in the Meath team that won the Tailteann Cup.

Podge O'Hanrahan and Niall McLarnon were both part of the Meath Hurling panel who won the 2023 Christy Ring 

Juvenile Teams

All the success of the Adult teams over the last few years has its roots in the hard work and dedication that goes into our juvenile setup. Having had out first Juvenile team competing in the championship back in 1979, to today, the club has always worked to nurture the stars of tomorrow.

Success at underage level became a regular occurrence over the last number of years. Many of today’s Senior team claimed titles throughout all the age grades before transferring that success to the Adult team.

LGFA

We are now in the process of developing a Ladies football team and in 2021 will have teams competing up to Under-15s level. Great progress is being made here, with a view to having a Ladies team competing at adult level in the coming years.