Devenish GAA will embark on a year of celebration this Saturday night (28 January) when its players, members and supporters come together to launch the club’s centenary year.

Founded in 1917, the club was affiliated to the Fermanagh GAA County Board in 1926 with the club’s first official match away to Derrygonnelly in August that year.

Throughout its 100 year history, the club has enjoyed many milestones including lifting 10 senior championships and 13 senior league titles. It was the Devenish club that took the initiative to introduce ladies football to Fermanagh and the Garrison ladies played their first match against Maguiresbridge in June 1993.

From what were humble beginnings, the club completed the development of its first playing pitch in 1948 before the first club dressing rooms were erected in 1962. Devenish embarked on a large scale development programme in 1990 with the first phase on completion, providing the club with a building equipped with four dressing rooms, a meeting room, referees room, kitchen and toilets. A new state of the art complex was officially opened in 2000.

Former GAA President Peter Quinn will be the guest of honour at this weekend’s centenary celebrations and he officially launch what will be a year long programme of events.

The evening will begin with a special centenary Mass in Mary Queen of Peace Church, Garrison at 7pm. This will be followed directly after in the Gillaroo Court with the presentation of the club player of the year awards. Medals will be awarded to the U12 boys and U13 girls who enjoyed success in 2016.

A surprise guest chosen by the pupils of St Martin’s Primary School will present the awards.

Speaking ahead of the launch Devenish GAA club chairman Peter Carty said: “100 years is an amazing achievement and is testament to the work of our founders whose vision in difficult times brought the club to its fruition. The Club has grown and flourished in the past century and that’s due to a combination of factors, not least the pride that comes with wearing the Devenish jersey. Off the field of play, the Club has always been fortunate to have had a dedicated team of administrators whose work has enabled us to develop and nurture our players, our structures, and our facilities.”

Gerard O’Brien, Centenary Committee Chairman outlined what people can look forward to in 2017: “This is an important year for Devenish. Among the highlights will be the Club hosting Feile na nOg in June, a homecoming weekend in July and a centenary dinner in December. We will also be hosting many smaller events throughout the year, focusing on health and well-being initiatives and our Scor na nOg culture.

“We will be engaging with our supporters across the globe and constructing a granite work feature to commemorate this latest milestone in the club’s history.”