Clann na nGael Club was founded in 1888. The Drimoleague & Drinagh club is known throughout West Cork as ‘The Scorchers’.
Its one of the oldest clubs in the Carbery Division. Since the origin of the club, Football has always played an important role in every household in the parish. In the early days, the players used to play in ‘Walties Field’. Today, Pairc Tagh na Samhna is the home ground of the club. The club has been known in the past, by a few other titles: The O’Connells, Rock Rovers, Sean Hurleys and St. Finbarrs(Hurling)
The club first came to prominence in the 1940s, when the Scorchers won three West Cork titles in a row – 1941, 1942 and 1943. They were regarded by many as being one of the finest footballing sides in the division throughout the 1940s. In 1942 they reached the county final, but lost to a very strong combined services team. Drinagh had their own team at the time as well. Its interesting to note the numbers and the quality of the players in the parish at the time, where they could field two very competitive teams around the same time. Drinagh won the West Cork junior B title in 1950.
The 1950s and 1960s were lean years for the club, except for 1958 when they reached the west cork final again. Unfortunately, they came up against an exceptionally strong Doheny’s side at the time. A major effort was made to revive the fortunes of the club in the 1970s. Most of the emphasis was placed on under age teams. This resulted in the club winning numerous under age titles, and a West Cork Junior B title in 1977.
Following that success, the club again regained its Junior A status. The club proved to be one of the strongest teams in west cork throughout the 1980s. They won the ‘Little Norah’ in 1981 and reached the finals in 1984 and 1988. A first county title was brought to the club by the U16 team in 1985. Since then, two more county titles have come to the club since then. The next was in 2005, when the U14’s won the County title. The Juniors managed to bring a 1st adult county & Munster title to the club the year after, in 2006, defeating Churchtown & Knockaderry respectively.
The Club achieved a rare feat when it qualified for both the Junior A & B West Cork championship finals in 2010. The Junior A’s also competed in the Seandun league(as well as the Carbery league) during the year. In 2011 the Junior A’s are competing in the Carrigdhoun league as well as the Carbery League.
In 2011 it was decied to field a 3rd Junior team. Clann na nGael are the only Junior club to have three Adult teams participating in the respective Carbery Leagues & Championship. This is a first for the club and a big step forward in its development. In 2012 the Junior A’s reached the semi-finals of the league while the Junior B & D’s competed in their respective league finals.