In the winter of 1906 a group of Gaels gathered at the local meeting place “The Stick” and talked about setting up a Gaelic athletic club for the local parish. Following discussions Loughinisland GAC was registered at a county board meeting in December 1906 and participated in the Upper Iveagh League along with Newcastle, Annesborough, Kilcoo and Leitrim. The first match for the fledgling club was an away defeat to Annesborough – 25 points to one. The rest of the season followed the same vein and Louighinisland finished the season pointless.
Whilst the next decades saw the club participate in county and regional hurling and football leagues. Political events within the Ireland were taking a higher profile and marching and drilling sessions took precedence over the playing of games. Events such as ‘Gaelic Sunday’ reinforced the strength of the GAA and indeed by 1918 Magheraleggan had also emerged as another club in the area.
The Gaelic League and AOH were also strong in the area with annual sports days and Irish festivals being regular occurrences. Athletics was strong in the area and local athlete Hughie MacNamara (Senior) was the Ulster half mile champion. A gentleman by the name of Trainor was also the club’s first county player, playing in the Ulster Championship defeat to Antrim in June 1917.
