The second series of RTE series Celebrity Bainisteoir was just as successful as the first with Down side Glasdrumman coming out on top to claim the biggest honour in the club's history. The popular television programme has certainly grasped the interest of the nation. Participating teams have to meet a certain criteria to become one of the eight teams that compete in the competition. Community spirit, pride and an attractive location all play a part in the decision making of who enters and Glasdrumman ticked all the right boxes this year. To win an All-Ireland at any level is a major achievement and one that cannot be surpassed. All clubs strive for some sort of success and not many can now rival Glasdrumman's accomplishment. Defeating a Leitrim side Dromahair managed by comedienne Katherine Lynch in the final will live long in the memories of the club as the glorious adventure headed by television presenter Derek Davis and former Down coach Pete McGrath ended in Parnell Park. The main sponsor of the side is Quinn's Spirit Grocer, Newcastle, which is owned by Paddy McGinn, but one of the founder sponsors of the club is Glasgiven Contracts which is jointly owned by William Smith and Liam Murphy. The former is a life long clubman, who has played and represented Glasdrumman in every position on the committee over the years. William spoke proudly of the club's success this year and he revealed just how important this win was for the small rural parish that has been yearning for major honours over the years. The history of Glasdrumman club is goes back as far as 1934 when Fr. Madden came to the parish and a football team was organised. The first league match was played in John Pat Greer's field, but the club faded away after Fr Madden was transferred to another parish. It was not until 1952 that another team was founded and the principal of the local primary school played a significant part in the establishment of the team. Arthur Doran was principal of the primary school and he along with a few local men registered a Gaelic football team on 26th February. 1952. Fr. Pettit, C.C., Saval who was Chairman of the South Down Board welcomed the new team. In 1954 James McSparron local M. P. presented the McSparron Cup to the club and many historic tournaments involving senior clubs were played for the cup. This club collapsed because the two fields they used, Killens and Higgins at Springwell became unavailable. On Sunday, September 7th, 1969 the present club on the back of the success that Down had lifting Sam Maguire the previous year. The team was accepted into the South Down Junior League in 1970. A lot of work went into the team and the first official competition they won was the Feis Junior Sevens in Centenary Year. The club has a successful cultural side with an Irish language class affiliated to Combaltas Ulaidh, Irish dancing classes and tin whistle classes. The club erected clubrooms which were opened in 1995 after they bought seven and a half acres of grounds on Quarter Road Mullaclown which was to be developed into a football field and dressing room facilities, seven years earlier. However, their biggest success on the field came in 1997, when they were crowned county junior football champions and Liam Murphy was manager at the time. 2002 saw the club being promoted to Division 2 for the first time in its history. "The club has a proud tradition and although we haven't had that much success down through the years, the lads certainly made up for that this year. To win an All-Ireland title is just the ultimate honour. The final itself was very nerve wrecking, but fair play to the lads, they dug deep to grind out the result," said William. Wins over Rathangan of Kildare and St Patrick's (Limerick) earned the Ulster side a place in the final, which gave the whole community a massive boost. "Glasdrumman has a very small catchment area as it's situated between Longstone and Ballymartin. However, there are a number of people who have worked hard down through the years and played a massive part in the club's history. "The current committee deserves great credit for the work that they have done. People like John Brennan, Art McCartan, Dan McCartan, Collette Burden, and Liam Cunningham ensure that the club is run smoothly, added William, who is a trustee and committee member. "Others like Jimmy Higgins and Jim Cunningham were there at the start and without them none of this would have been possible." The current management team of Hugh Trainor, Vincie Smyth and Paddy Cunningham has played a huge part in the history of the club and William was keen to highlight the impact that this trio have made. "These three have done great work with the club and to help guide the side to an All-Ireland title is something that cannot be outdone," he stressed. William and Liam have been in partnership since the business was first established in 1985. Headquartered in Annalong, Co Down, the company specialises in building and civil engineering projects across the 32 counties. Glasgiven Contracts also has an office in Ashbourne, Co Meath, where they carry out a number of projects. As with all of its services the quality of the works are of paramount importance. The company has well established management procedures, which are accredited to ISO9001: 2000 standards and the workforce take pride in the quality of their workmanship. "We are currently working on projects in Lucan, Swords, Balbriggan and Ardee. Fortunately, we are quite busy. We employ 70 people direct and have a number of sub contractors as well. "We also have a number of sites ongoing in the North too. A visitor centre has just been completed at the Castle Espie Wetland Centre on the shores of Strangford Lough, while we are carrying out a revamp of the existing building there. We have also just completed the construction of a theatre in Craigavon hospital. "Presently, we are involved in the design and build of a visitor centre at the Tollymore Forest Park in Bryansford, Co Down as well as developing a parish centre in Portadown. "Another project that we are working on at the moment is the design and build of Stranmillis College in Belfast. This is a teacher training college for third level education." Tweet

Most Read Stories