Club History

Ballela C.L.G can be found nestling in the drumlins of County Down within a triangle of the adjoining towns of Banbridge, Dromore and Dromara.

Gaelic games were first played in Ballela as far back as 1901. The old pitches such as " Paddy’s field" in Corbally, McCavitt's field in Shanrod, McCusker's fields in Ballela and Hillen's Meadow are still talked about in the parish.

Football was the first game played in the parish but it is primarily as a hurling force that the club was to make it’s name. The game was first introduced to Ballela by a local man Hugh Graham who was to leave the country in 1916 to become a famous lecturer in the United States. It is generally accepted that an Armagh born school master, Brian McGilly, did most to establish the tradition of hurling during the 1920’s. master McGilly laid most emphasis on ground hurling as he maintained that if you could hurl well on the ground then the other skills would follow. There was little need for fitness training for men who worked long hours in the fields and then cycled a seventy mile round trip to away fixtures in places like Kilclief.

The first Senior Championship win came in the 1936 final played in Castlewellan against Kilclief. The men who brought that coveted trophy to the parish were:
 

Dan McCusker (Shanrod)
Barney Burns,
Dan McCusker (Corbally),
Hugh McCusker,
Hugh Pat Rooney,
Colm McCavitt,
Willie Curran,
Danny Doran,
John Doran,
Frank McEvoy,
Barney McCusker,
James Doyle,
Sean Magee,
Joseph Magee and
Jimmy Curran.

The most memorable game played in Ballela happened in 1950 when Down hurlers met Antrim in Hillen’s Meadow. The club contributed thirteen players to the County team which lost narrowly to an Antrim team which only a few years earlier had reached an All Ireland final against Cork.

The success around this period indicates this team were arguably the best bunch of players to represent Ballela. The team lined out as follows:

Dan McCusker (Corbally),
Barney McAnarney,
John Henry Burns,
Hugh Joe McCusker,
Arthur Burns,
John McCusker,
Johnny McAnarney,
Joe McCusker,
Willie Curran,
Barney McCusker,
Eugene Curran,
Donal McCusker,
Jimmy Burns,
Danny Doran and
John McCusker ( Shanrod).

The rise of football in Down during the 1960’s caused hurling to wane and the Ballela team along with others from South Down moved gradually to Junior level. The love of hurling however never left the parish and success has continued albeit at a lower level.

A strategic plan in the mid 1990’s saw the building of a new clubroom and a significant development programme for the juvenile teams. This approach is beginning to pay dividends with significant representation on County juvenile teams and our first player on the Senor team in recent years.

 The club acted as a host for Feile na nGael.in our Centenary year and were privileged to receive Uachtaran Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, Sean McCague during the tournament.

Ballela has a proud history over the first one hundred years and the future now looks bright for our club.