A Brief History

Formed in 1953 the club is now celebrating it´s 70th Year! There was no shortage of football and hurling talent back then (probably due to the Christian Brothers schools in the area) and the club quickly thrived on the abundance of ability available. Before long the club became well recognised, and respected, and this didn´t go unnoticed by the inter county selectors at the time! With the recent improvements inthe club structure and form it is hoped that one day a Ballyfermot DLS man will line out in the Dublin Senior panel.

The Early Years.

The Young Gaels of Ballyfermot

1962 Under 13's Football TeamGaelic football in Ballyfermot is on the up and up – and with more than 9,000 schoolchildren in the district it is not surprising that most of the encouragement has come from the schools.
1960s Juvenile Hurling TeamBut the teachers do more than stand on the side-lines and run practice sessions. They turn out for the local club as well! Playing regularly on the Ballyfermot De La Salle intermediate football team are teachers Mr. Roddy Day and Mr. Sean O’Dwyer, who is also the N.A.C.A. hop-step – and – jump champion. Two other teachers play on the junior team, Mr. Sean Garvey and Mr. Sean Vaughan.
Brother James.

Two teachers are well in the game too. The new national school of Our Lady Queen of Angels is turning out some fine new players for the juvenile teams, trained by Mr. M Keegan, who is vice chairman of the club, and Mr. D Dunne.
But much of the credit for the fine football spirit is due to the efforts of Rev. Brother James of the De La Salle schools. Brother James, assisted by 19-year-old Jimmy Maher, trained the victorious under-13 team which won the South City League.
Club Chairman, Rev. J. H. Daly, C.C., said the club had tried to win this competition for the past seven years and had reached the final several times.
Now the victorious under-13 team has gone on to play in the under-14 league, and is at present unbeaten.

A Tribute.

1964 annual dinnerThe club was founded over sixty years ago by Very Rev. Michael Troy, P.P., himself a former Kerry senior footballer, and Father Daly, who was quite a star in school football in Cork.
As a tribute to the work of the De La Salle Brothers for the club, the name was changed to Ballyfermot De La Salle a few years ago. The club has come from small beginnings to be one of the largest in the city, with almost 400 playing members.
Ballyfermot De La Salle are fielding 12 teams this season, three hurling and nine football.
For a young club, as Dublin clubs go, Ballyfermot De La Salle has an impressive record. They have won one under-15 football championship, two under-15 hurling championships, and the under-16 1/2 hurling championship.
In addition they have won numerous juvenile leagues, at least a dozen and two under-16 1/2 hurling leagues and 2 minor hurling leagues. They have also won 1962 press cuttingthe Harry Conlon Cup for junior football.

Pavilion.

The club now has its own pavilion, built by voluntary labour at a cost of more than £1,000. It includes a committee room, four dressing rooms, lockers, showers and wash-up facilities.
Ballyfermot has come a long way in sport since the club was founded in 1953 under the name of Ballyfermot Gaels. The boys and the men who lead them have laid the foundations of a tradition which, unquestionably, will be a major element in the future of Gaelic games in Dublin.

Ballyfermot Take Spoils

The bad weather conditions did not dampen the enthusiasm of 60 youngsters who lined out in the 1974 Dublin Community Games Football and Hurling finals at Croke Park last evening.
Donnycarney's hurlers accounted for Marino by 6-05 to 2-01, while Ballyfermot scored two points more than Clondalkin (3-04 to 3-02) in the football final.

Ballyfermot ..... 3-04
Clondalkin ..... 3-02
Ballyfermot snatched victory over Clondalkin in the closing minutes of the football final.
The sides were level at half-time with 0-02 each.

Clondalkin scored two quick goals on the re-start through John Kelly and John Sexton, and seemed to have victory in their grasp but Derek Baker scored two late goals and turned the tide.

Ballyfermot Players.
D. Baker, T. Carey, V. Daly, D. Farrell, G. Blount, P. Gahan, M. Homan, A. Heffernuan,
P. Murray, K. Molloy, G. McGrath, V. Prone, L. Stone, N. Whelan (Capt.), S. Wisley.
Subs: J. Downey, P. Hannigan, M. O'Reilly. Manager: Danny Gorman
Scorers: 3-04 (D. Baker 2-0, T. Carey 1-0, V. Prone 0-03, M. Homan 0-01).

Clondalkin Players.
D. Byrne, R. Cotter, J. Courteney, G. Keane, M. Egan, P. Ennis, D. Farrell, J. Kelly,
G. Heffernan (Capt.), J. Mangan, C. McGrillen, B. Stynes, J. Sexton, J. Whelan, P. O'Connor.
Subs: M. Buckley, L. Fagan, L. Murphy, P. Tully, B. O'Callaghan.
Scorers: 3-02 (P. Ennis 1-02, J. Kelly & J. Sexton 1-0 each).

New Dressing Rooms / Club House

2016 Official Opening.

in 2016 we had the offical opening of our new Club Dressing rooms by the Dublin County Board (DCB) chairman Seán Shanley, this was an exciting time for the Club as it had taken well over 10 years to get them refurbished. With the new dressing rooms we started a new era in the Club.

2017 Onwards.

In 2017 the adult team went ahead and won the Division 10 League, Duffey Cup and Junior 2 Football Championship. This was a fantastic opportunity for the team to go up the divisions to where they are at the moment in Division 6.

2018 was the year that our under 14's won the Féile bringing more silverware to the Club, from that they went on in 2019 to win the under 15's Championship bringing more success to the Club.

2019 was the year that the Bear Cubs started, this is for younger members of the club to start learning how to play Gaelic Games.

in 2020 we were hoping for more success as a club but most sports activity was put on hold because of the worldwide outbreak of Covid-19 causing the country to go into lockdown and the suspension of all league fixtures.

Ballyfermot

Ballyfermot (Baile Formáid in Irish) is a working and middle class suburb in south west Dublin, Ireland. The area is home to approximately 40,000 citizens, and growing exponentially. It is located 7 kilometers due west from the city centre, and lies to the south of the Phoenix Park. It is bordered to the north by Chapelizod, to the south by Walkinstown, to the east by Inchicore, and to the west by Palmerstown and Clondalkin.

Ballyfermot is a close knit community, proud of it´s traditions and it´s people. Many who were born and raised in “Ballyfermot” can now be found settled all over Dublin, but always stay true to their heritage and upbrnging. The suburb itself offers many amenities with many recreational areas, plenty of shops, numerous pubs, a fantastic new Civic Centre and a massive new community leisure centre. The club has attracted players from Clondalkin, Bluebell, Palmerstown, Lucan and Mayo!