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League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Rising Tyrone and Loughmacrory stars Eoin McEholm and Ruairi McCullagh.Lorcan Doherty/INPHO Loughmacrory 'It’s a dream come true' - The stunning rise of Tyrone's new senior football finalists Tomorrow’s decider in Omagh, will see a small club break new ground. 7.01am, 25 Oct 2025 Share options Declan Bogue LAST SUNDAY MORNING, the army of Loughmacrory St Teresa’s volunteers gathered up at the clubrooms in their base in Tyrone. Thousands of yards of bunting and hundreds of flags were procured. The rain was coming down in sheets of big thick drops and visibility was rotten. Still and all, with just seven days before their first Tyrone county senior final, the colours had to go up and so they did. This feeling was all new to everyone, after they had overcome parish neighbours Carrickmore in a replay last Friday night. The Tyrone championship has become synonymous with drama but it outdid itself with this semi-final in Omagh. With Ruairí McCullagh standing over a late penalty and Loughmacrory ahead by two points having held the lead throughout the game, the romantic story looked on. But McCullagh hit the post. Carrickmore went up the field and got their own penalty, dispatched to the net by Tiernan Loughran to take the lead by one in the 61st minute. There was one last twist when McCullagh landed a two-pointer. Loughmacrory were into the Tyrone final, set to face Trillick. Full highlights of an incredible game (mostly the second half) in Omagh tonight as Loughmacrory edge Carrickmore by a point in their semi-final replay. Great footage from @MacAV_NI on Tyrone GAA TV, sharing this to showcase the sheer excitement and undiluted chaos of the game pic.twitter.com/gOwcVsyI0X— Cahair O'Kane (@CahairOKane1) October 17, 2025 Ruairi McCullagh.Lorcan Doherty / INPHO Lorcan Doherty / INPHO / INPHO When the final whistle went, what struck the casual viewer was the grace with which Carrickmore accepted defeat. This was the first time Loughmacrory had beaten Carrickmore in championship football, but even that statement didn’t quite sum it up. It was the first time Loughmacrory had even been in a senior semi-final. Formed in 1972, they have a grand total of two championships, both won at junior level in 1980 and 1993. Up against Carrickmore, the club who boast the most Tyrone senior championships of all, there was a sense that they had arrived. The two shared the parish of Termonmacguirk right up to the time when a handful of Loughmacrory people felt they wanted nothing more than to stand on their own feet. Naturally, the split caused some alarm and an emissary in Carrickmore chairman Joe Martin was dispatched to see if there was wriggle room. He left with enhanced respect from the Loughmacrory people, but they also had more resolve than ever to strike out on their own. Carrickmore accepted it. They even donated their pitch to them for a season and even without that portion of the parish, still went and achieved a three-in-a-row of Tyrone championships in the late ‘70s. Advertisement That’s the potted history. Further delving would reveal that there were other factors at play. Some would suggest that political persuasions were a major factor. In 2025, it doesn’t matter now. What matters is that there is a county final to be played and the possibility of a brand-new name on the O’Neill Cup. For many, it is the culmination of a lifetimes’ work. There is just one school in the catchment area, bearing the same name as the club; St Theresa’s. Mark McCullagh is the vice-principal there, a senior team selector and a brother of club chairman, Shane. He has established a culture there whereby there is no distinction between the institutions of school and club; they simply are as one. St Teresa’s sits tight in beside the Church of St Mary, with its’ level tarred car park. At the start of each term, teams are picked. Students are sent away from class five minutes early on a rota basis to set up goals and Gaelic football is played on the tar for half an hour every day, for the last 15 years, in an age where balls are routinely banned from school play grounds. Still, numbers are tight. When Loughmacrory play U16 football, they see huge clubs arriving and teams of 16 and 15 year olds. Loughmacrory are like a lot of small clubs; they’ll have a few minnows of 13 years of age making up the numbers. That’s the way of it. No excuses. Over a decade ago, they decided that training children for a few months of the year wasn’t yielding results, so they moved to training them for around 45 weeks of the year. It wasn’t always football. They would introduce a block of basketball or other activities with transferable skills. And of course, there was a handball tradition that stretched back details. “Those who were gifted at football tended to be gifted at handball. It enhanced their skills really,” says McCullagh. “What we love about handball is that it is a mentally tough sport. All of a sudden you are going from a team sport to a single or a doubles sport. “From a competitiveness and resilience sort of thing, as well as the physical skills, it’s really helpful. Many of the senior panel have been All-Ireland winners at respective ages down through the years.” He’s not kidding. They are arguably one of the best juvenile clubs in the country at the moment. Dominant in boys and girls at underage. Readers of a certain age might recall Hughie Duff, while Ciaran Curran became the first Tyrone handballer to win an All-Ireland when he won at U12 level in 1984. He won four USA Juniors in a row at a time when there were tens of thousands of players in America. Eoin McElholm and Ruairí McCullagh were sterling handball talents while Anton Fox was one of the best at his age in the country. His sister Mairead and Derval too, same story. As a Director of Tyrone construction firm McAleer and Rushe, Shane McCullagh sits on the same board as Emmet McGinley, previously featured on this site as the chairman of Errigal Ciaran. Last Friday night, he gave McCullagh a crash-course and to-do list when preparing for a county final. Loughmacrory only had a week to pull it all off, but that wouldn’t be accepted as an excuse. There is a mini-industry now that goes with being in a county final. The Loughmacrory management, headed up by Marty Boyle and assisted by (among others) Ciaran Meenagh, their own clubman and the new Derry manager, will trot out the soundbites and stay grounded. But for the rest of the parish, they have full licence to, well, lose their shit. There will be an ‘Up For The Match’ event whereby they will be keeping things local; former players, committee members and supporters. On Saturday morning, the frying pans will be fizzing for a Big Breakfast event. Additional sponsorship will be sought of course in the spirit that you have to strike while the iron is hot. And the traditional Sunday Mass, will instead become a Saturday night Vigil Club Mass. Due to Loughmacrory's involvement in the Tyrone Senior Football Championship Final this Sunday, Mass will be in St Mary's Church, Loughmacrory on Sat 25th @ 7.30pm. There will be no Mass in Loughmacrory on Sun 26th. pic.twitter.com/5Zpu26Gklp— Fr Peter McAnenly (@PeterMcAnenly) October 22, 2025 All of this works, because essentially there is nothing else but the club in Loughmacrory. It is a splendid, modern building with a huge hall and a bar that was built a decade ago, and hosted the 2017 launch of the All-Ireland inter-county football series. The club have been synonymous with handball down through the years and they boast brilliant alleys, as well as the beautiful freshwater lake that gives the area its’ name of Loch Mhic Ruairí; a favourite with local triathlon clubs. “We have invested a lot over the years in terms of our facilities,” explains McCullagh. “We are fortunate in that we have the lough itself and that is a natural draw. As they say, ‘Build it and they will come,’ well we built them and people have embraced them and brought them to different levels. “We would have umpteen numerous events there right through the year. But the unique thing is that from 6am there are 40 cars there, right through to 10pm with whatever activities are on, whether that is triathlon, gyms, the different classes and so on. It’s a hive of activity and social occasions.” They aren’t done either. At the site of the old handball facilities, they are redeveloping their training pitch at a cost of around £1million, with the pitch itself at the maximum dimensions allowed for Gaelic football; 145 x 90 metres. Related Reads 'The intention is for me to play next year' - Shane O'Donnell set for Clare return in 2026 Dublin, Kerry, and Tipperary finals televised live as part of this weekend's GAA club action 'Phenomenal' - The veterans still central to Cork and Limerick club hurling success At the heart of it all are some tight-knit families who believe in giving back. McCullagh and Ciaran Meenagh are cousins. They had each other as best men on their wedding days. Despite Meenagh having had roles at senior inter-county level with Derry and Down, he’s never been far from Loughmacrory teams. “I think that many who are on the management circuit are journeymen. But Ciaran typifies what we are blessed with more than most clubs as far as I am concerned,” says McCullagh. “People who are selfless and ultimately doing it for the love of the club. What I would say about him is that he demands high standards and when you start putting a group of people together, to back that up with a common goal… Ciaran Meenagh, Derry manager, Loughmacrory selector.Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO “There’s loads of people that gather together on a Friday evening in January and say, ‘We are going to do this right and we are going to do that right.’ “And by March time, they are tired of it and sick of the hard work. It tails off.” He continues, “Ciaran Meenagh epitomises a lot of people there who are selfless and genuinely in it for the greater good. And we are blessed with a good chunk of people who will do that week in, week out, year in, year out. “It isn’t a short-term project. They are not in it for results next month. They are in it to set standards high, understand that it takes time to instigate change and understand that culturally, and that’s been the biggest thing for us the last ten years, is to raise the standards.” Standards don’t come higher than meeting Trillick in a Tyrone county senior final. As another rural club, there is much in the Trillick DNA that Loughmacrory identified and used as their North Star. While McCullagh says that they ‘could not speak highly enough of Trillick’, this is their chance. “From our point of view, while it is a fantastic honour of reaching a county final and the freshness of doing something that hasn’t been done before, we are not there to make up the numbers. “The elation of winning a county semi-final and beating our neighbours last Friday night, they are very much focused on going into a county final and giving the best possible account of themselves. “It’s a dream come true, to reach a county final. But there is still a job to do.” Declan Bogue Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “'It’s a dream come true' - The stunning rise of Tyrone's new senior football finalists”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “'It’s a dream come true' - The stunning rise of Tyrone's new senior football finalists”. 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