The Ladies Gaelic Football Association was founded in Thurles in 1974. Four counties, Offaly, Kerry, Tipperary and Galway attended the meeting. However eight counties, namely Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Waterford, Galway, Roscommon, Laois and Offaly participated in the first official All Ireland Senior Championship of that year which was won by Tipperary.

The Association has built up steadily in the intervening years and today Ladies Gaelic football is played in all counties in Ireland. Ladies Gaelic football is also played on an organised basis in Britain, Mainland Europe, Australia, Canada and the USA. 

The Ladies Gaelic Football Association today is an organisation, which endeavours to reach into every parish in the country and to support the Irish language and other aspects of Irish culture. Throughout the country voluntary workers willingly make sacrifices to promote these ideals and assist with other organisations with ideals similar to its own.  

Badoney Ladies is no exception. It has past members continuing to promote and support the sport throughout the world, while at home its members persist in the consolidation of the future of its club.

The sight of girls playing Gaelic football in the back of a field was and remains a common sight in any rural parish. Indeed, the ladies of the parish of Gortin were and remain pioneers in the promotion of the sport in Tyrone. Although as children, girls were often relegated to merely supplementing the boy’s underage team, they have successfully established Ladies Gaelic as a sport in its own right, in what remains a male dominated sport.

 

Indeed the parish of Gortin can boast one of the earliest formal committees in Tyrone, when under the guidance of Patsy Mc Crory, twelve enthusiasts came together to form a committee on 4^th November 1979. It was during this time that Gortin played a significant part in the development of the sport within Tyrone when eight clubs, namely Gortin, Carrickmore, Greencastle, Beragh, Ballygawley, Drumragh, Aughabrack and Drumquin gathered to organise a Tyrone Ladies league. Unfortunately, due to a lack of support, the Tyrone Ladies League was postponed until another time. They did however succeed in laying the foundation for the current League.

 

However the lack of a formal league did not hinder the young enthusiasts who continued in their efforts for recognition. According to many sources, many memorable matches were organised with the Donegal team Downings, Aughabrack, Greencastle, Kildress and Loughmacrory.  

 

Unfortunately as time passed, the parish of Gortin was to experience a time of unorganised Ladies football. That was until 1994 when the sport was to gain momentum yet again within the parish.

The summer of 1994 was a memorable time within the parish. A Ladies Gaelic Football team was formed and the fund raising began under the newly elected committee.

 

Thus the campaign began to gain recognition within the parish and the County. In its primary year, the Club adopted the name Badoney Ladies GFC and until the official colours of blue and yellow were established, Badoney Ladies trained using the purple and yellow jerseys left behind from their predecessors.

Only in competitive football two years, Badoney Ladies did themselves proud when they ‘did the double’ in 1996, beating Aghyaran in the Championship. Until 1995, Division One and Division Two teams competed in the one Championship. ’95 was the first year that the Tyrone Championship was split into Senior and Junior levels. Badoney were the first team to achieve the double in Division Two and enabled their promotion to Division One. Such an achievement not only gave credibility to the Club, but also resulted in an increase for demand, with Badoney being represented at all levels within the League and Championship.

Throughout its short existence, Badoney Ladies have continued in their passion for the sport. Now in its sixth year of existence, the club has successfully established a weekly lotto to help raise funds for the Club. Furthermore Badoney Ladies can boast another achievement in that it is the first Ladies Gaelic Football Club within Ireland to have their own playing facilities. Currently undergoing development, Badoney Ladies trust that this shall give the sport the base that will ensure its continued existence within the parish and Tyrone.

 

Badoney Ladies have continued in its contribution to the progression of Ladies Gaelic in Tyrone with many of our players representing their club at County level. We have been fortunate in that we have produced talent that enabled the club to be represented at all age groups at County level.

 

Furthermore we are more than proud of the fact that one of the brightest talent within the Tyrone club is from Gortin in the form of Briege Daly. Briege, daughter of Charlie and Mary, represented Badoney and her County at under 16, Minor and Senior levels and recently reached the height of success when she won an All Ireland medal with the Tyrone team when they beat New York in the Junior Championship.

Updated history to follow

2007 has seen silverware return to the Badoney Club, in the form of the Junior Championship Cup.