St Joseph's GFC is a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club that fields gaelic football teams in competitions organised by Louth GAA. It is based in the Louth village of Dromiskin, near the county town of Dundalk.
The club competes in the Louth Senior Championship and Division 1 of the county football Leagues.
History The club was founded in 1961 when members of the two GAA clubs in the parish of Darver and Dromiskin - Darver Volunteers and Dromiskin Unknowns - decided to amalgamate. The new club's first major success came in 1971, when St Joseph's defeated St Patrick's of Lordship in the final of the Louth Junior Championship. In 1983 they overcame Oliver Plunketts in the Louth Intermediate football final. The team progressed to the Louth Senior Football Championship final in 1984, but fell to St Fechin's by five points at the Grove in Castlebellingham.
A further Senior final appearance came in 1994, ending in a two-point defeat to Stabannon Parnells at Haggardstown after a replay. The Joe Ward Cup finally arrived in Dromiskin at the third time of asking in 1996, when St Joseph's triumphed over Stabannon Parnells at Ardee's Páirc Mhuire, by 2–11 to 1–08.
Ten more years would pass until St Joseph's won the Louth Senior Championship for a second time. On a wet day in Dundalk's Clan na Gael Park, St Joseph's defeated favourites St Patrick's, who were chasing a third title in four years and whose side contained several inter-county players. St Joseph's emerged as 2006 Louth Senior Football Champions by four points, on a scoreline of 2–07 to 0–09.
In 2025, St Joseph's won only their third ever senior-grade competition, by defeating Kilkerley Emmets in the final of the Paddy Sheelan Cup. Club trio Ben McKeown, Cormac McKeown and Pearse Grimes-Murphy were prominent in the Louth under-20 team's run to the final of the 2025 All-Ireland Under-20 Football Championship. Grimes-Murphy received the TG4 Man of the March award for his performance in Louth's semi-final defeat of Mayo.
Honours Louth Senior Football Championship (2): 1996, 2006 Louth Intermediate Football Championship (3): 1983, 1990, 2016 Louth Junior Football Championship (1): 1971 Paddy Sheelan Cup (1): 2025 Louth Intermediate Football League (2): 1982, 1988 Louth Minor Football Championship (3): 1994, 2009, 2010 Louth Under-21 Football Championship (1): 1995 Louth Junior 2A Football League (2): 1983, 2012 Louth Junior 2 Football League Division 4B (1): 2008 Louth Junior 2 Football League Division 5 (2): 2017, 2025 Louth Minor Football League (2): 1993, 1994 Louth Minor B Football Championship (1): 2004, 2018
Italics denotes combination team with St Vincent's
Inter-county players St Joseph's players who have represented Louth at senior inter-county level include:
Jimmy McDonnell Ollie McDonnell Jimmy McDonnell Jnr Pat Mulligan Alan O'Connor Stephen Melia Danny Culligan David Mulligan Declan O'Sullivan David Reilly J.P. O'Kane Martin Farrelly Conall McCaul Oisín McGuinness
References