The Ulster Club was founded in San Francisco in 1987 with players wearing the black and amber colors ever since. These are exciting times for the Ulster Club, not least because of our unrivalled success on the field but due to the club’s fast approaching Silver Jubilee. This makes Ulster Club one of the longest surviving GAA clubs in the US. Such a success is testament to the strong community the club has nurtured. Ulster Club’s longevity is also a reflection on the diverse pool of talent that has represented us at all levels. Contrary to what our name may suggest the club has indeed been represented by players from every county in Ireland as well as US born players and players from the UK.

Our founding members included Andy McHugh, Marius Mc Hugh, Mary McHugh, Donal Duffy, Con McCarthy, Peter O’Neill, Joe O’Neill, Alexis Rooney, Paul Mc Cann and Kenny Davis. In the club’s first year we won the St. Patrick’s Day Cup and the ’87 home base included Hugh Duggan Snr (Manager) & Jr, Jim Stewart, Donal Duffy, Donal O’Connor, Mike Woods, Danny Gallagher, Bob O’Brien and Philip McCarthy. The club continued to prosper and win trophies throughout the 90’s including the ‘94 St. Patrick’s Day Cup and ’95 Intermediate WDB Championship tites.  The ’95 home base included Kevin Barry, Mal Rogers, Eugene Daly, Paul McDonell, Eugene Cudden, Anthony McDermott, Kevin Murray, Bingo McHugh and Dermot McWilliams. The club has always prided itself on the foundation of strong club committees as recommended under the rules of the GAA.  The successes of the ‘90’s were due in no small part to the contribution of committee members including Emmet Minagh, Fergal Clancy, Kevin M^cGuinness, Kieran Keenan, Barry Maguire and the Collins’ brothers.

The club continued to grow and prosper through the naughties with Joe Duffy and Seamus Canning playing a vital role. The ’01 season saw the club realizing unprecedented success at local and national level by winning the Junior A and Intermediate WDB Championships followed by victory in the NACB Intermediate Final at the Polo Fields in San Francisco. The ’01 teams were locally represented by Mike Collins, Terry Keenan, Aidan Leister, Jody Ogle, Tommy Neeson, Sean O’Neill, Paul Bayly, Mark Donnelly, Fergal McMahon, Conor Hamill, Fergal Clancy and James Downes. The successful ’03 Junior A also team featured Daithi Donnelly, Niall Madden, Colm Dougherty, Declan King, Barry McShane, Bosco Hughes, Kevin Grimley and Michael Donnelly. Through the 2000’s the club continued to win at local level culminating in the 2005 NACB Senior Championship success in Philadelphia. The 2005 team was managed by Cyril Hackett, Kieran Keenan and Gerry Dougherty and captained by Ross McKenna. The home-base was represented by Darren McCauley, Michael Toner, Ted Campbell, Austin McKenna and Declan McAuley (MVP). In 2008 the club’s NACB success continued with the Junior-A team captained by Gary Clarke and managed by Simon Maxwell winning in Boston.  The 2008 home base included Hugh Breen (MVP), John Healy, Kieran O’Hare, Terry Tracey, Denver Armstrong, Sean McCann, Andrew Brennan, Meagher O’Kane, Peter Mohan and Michael McCann. In 2009 the senior team retained the WDB senior title making it three senior titles in four years. Club Captain Austin “Austy” McKenna aptly dedicated the win to his close friend and club member Daithi Donnelly who tragically passed away less than a week before the final. The 2009 home base included Benny Higgins, Mike English, James Marron, Colm Tully and Neil Donnelly.

A new decade has brought further success to the club. The clubs home base continued to grow into the 2010 season with Marc Cunningham, Kevin Rafferty, Sean McMullen, Kevin Wade, Matt McEntee, Gareth Reilly and Paul McConville all joining the ranks. The 2010 season brought further success with the club winning the Junior A Championship in style. The club also realized a new success in leading the efforts to rejuvenate the local Junior B competition. By the season’s end the competition promoted by the Club grew into a 4 team event with one team joining mid-season. The junior B team offered a great opportunity for past members to play for fun all the while getting the opportunity to play on Treasure Island.

The Club’s Hall of Fame is extremely well decorated with All-Ireland Winning Players Kevin Hughes, Stephen O’Neill, Shaun O’Neill, Simon Maxwell and Pauric Duffy as well as household county stars including Dan Gordon, John Clarke, Brendan McVeigh, Niall Brown, Tim Dowling, Padraig McShane and Gergory Loughran donning the Black and Amber over the years.

The club has had to overcome many personal tragedies over the years.  The club will remember; Barry Neeson, Charlie Connolly, Peter Brady, Marius Mc Hugh and Daithi Donnelly. RIP.

The Ulster Club is and always has been conscious of the welfare of all of its players. The club has, and continues to grow into a tight-knit community on both sides of the Atlantic. We pride ourselves on our regular social activities and annual Easter Sunday Commemorations. Supporters such as (but not exclusive to) Una McNaught, Noreen McNaught, Carmel Brolly, Geraldine Ogle, Shirley Lyons, Leanne Loughran and Paula Brennan.

Since the foundation in ’87 the Ulster Club has had strong support from our dedicated members drawn from every county in Ireland. The club has always been very well supported by its main sponsors Canning Electric Inc, Kevin Barry Ironworks, Derry Casey Construction, Powerscreen (Paul Campbell), Martin Macks Bar & Restaurant, Mark Coyle Welding, Damian Madden Plumbing, Tommy Neeson Construction, Jody Ogle and Ireland’s 32.  We would like to welcome our newest sponsor; Mayes Oyster House, where we had a very successful dinner dance in April 2011. We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of our supporters over the years. Without your support none of the success on the field would be possible.

The club is actively seeking playing and non-playing members. For further information on club events and training please contact Joe Duffy on 415-260-8093.