A milestone for youth football in Dundee

MARCH 2026 at Soccerworld, Old Glamis Road, Dundee will live long in the memory of those who are associated with the GAA on the East Coast of Scotland with a celebration of the most significant milestones since the founding of the Dalriada GFC on January 28 1990—a milestone on a par with the enthusiasm of the 58 children who participated and registered with the newest youth GAA Club in Scotland.

The history of the Irish in Dundee dates back to the 19th century when the Irish, with expertise in the jute industry, mainly from Donegal, Sligo and Monaghan, immigrated for work in the jute mills with the main employer being Cox in Lochee.

At its peak in the mid 19th century there were around 15,000 Irish in Dundee, around 20 per cent of the city’s population. The Irish integrated well with the local population, started football teams such as Lochee Harp in 1904 and Dundee Hibernian in 1909—which changed its name to Dundee United in 1923—and the Lochee area became known as Little Tipperary.

While these Irish family names still persist in Dundee they are now an integral part of the Dundee community and there are relatively few first and second generation Irish in the city.

Even a brief summary of Dalriada GFC throughout its history will reveal some incredible successes, amazing stories, fantastic matches but most importantly a great deal of community development and lasting friendships. The origins of the club shadow the efforts of our predecessors in the early 19th century in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow in that the friendships were borne out of a desire to provide a home from home for Irish citizens who for educational or work reasons came to live for some time in Dundee or Aberdeen.

The emergence of the youth branch of the Dalriada Club is a direct result of the realisation that there are quite a few first generation Irish people working in Dundee and the desire and drive from the parents of children who have an interest in the opportunity to be involved in Irish culture, play Irish sports—particularly those traditional Irish sports which in recent years have seen an unprecedented upsurge of popularity, Gaelic Football and Hurling.

The original taster event—which stimulated this interest—was held at the same venue as the launch in August 2024 when a group of Irish parents were invited to participate in a GAA session hosted by Sean Dillon, a Dublin man and professional footballer who famously played for Dundee United for a decade.

Since then the appointment of a new CDA to the Scotland GAA County Board, Oisín Curran was instrumental. Oisín identified, picked up and ran with the idea that Dalriada GFC needed a concerted effort and his enthusiastic leadership and dynamic personality was a major driver and motivation.

Oisín partnered with local enthusiasts Eddie Egan, Barry Feeney, Gavin Byrne, Sean McBride, Joseph Geoghegan, Mark McCormack along with the Club Secretary and Chairperson, Finbarr McCarthy and Peter Mossey respectively to form a Dalriada Óg Youth Committee who successfully won a significant grant fund to help purchase equipment and training materials and to organise the launch day at Soccerworld in Dundee.

On the day of the launch, there was a carnival atmosphere with musical entertainment by locally born Dundee University dental student Molly Dixon and Spencer alongside the sporting action.

Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of the event was the sheer joy and excitement of the many children who participated, the enthusiasm of the parents to bring their children and the coaches who made it happen and made it fun.

On the day Sean Campbell joined the parents to assist with the coaching and other parents signed up for coaching training, and after the event the activities for the forthcoming season were announced—weekly training at an outdoor grass pitch provided by Dundee City Council at Dawson Park.

The first competitive opportunity for the newly formed Dalriada Og Club will be the Alba games later this month in Edinburgh. There will be great anticipation for this event. Dalriada Óg Abú!