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The minutes of the Central Council of the GAA record that on April 30th, 1888 an application for affiliation was received from St Patrick’s, Mayobridge, Co. Down. The acceptance of the application makes the club the oldest registered GAA Club in the County.

The club and its members played a leading role in the formative years of the association in Down; the County SFC trophy was presented by a Mayobridge man; the club was prominent at County Board level with Paddy Downey Secretary in 1912, PJ Murphy Secretary in 1917 and Ted Butterfield Chairman in 1924. Paddy Downey, representing Antrim, won an Ulster SFC medal in 1910.

The period 1910 to 1940 marked the zenith of Mayobridge achievements. The Senior Football Championship victories of 1916 and 1919 were followed by defeats in 6 County finals; club members were prominent on the County team; the Feis Sevens were won in 1940 and Ted Butterfield was founder Chairman of the South Down Board.

The club re-emerged as a major force in the 1950’s. The All-County League was won in 1953 and the Championship Semi-Final was reached in 1954.   However, emigration took its toll and in 1959 Mayobridge were losing finalists in the Junior Championship.

The Sixties saw two major developments in the Mayobridge club; the formation of a youth club to better channel the young people into club activities and the nationwide acknowledgement of Tom O’Hare as one of “the defenders of the decade”.  The inspiration his play provided for younger members made him extremely influential.

The club’s youth programme bore fruit in the 1980 Minor and 1981 Junior Championship wins; Mickey Linden won a NFL medal with Down in 1983 and was a member of the Down All-Ireland winning teams in 1991 and 1994, when he was voted Footballer of the Year, Mickey continued to play for down until 2002. The club marked its centenary with an outstanding historical exhibition, neatly summarising a century of Gaelic tradition and achievement. In 1999 the club won the Senior Football Championship for the first time since 1919.  In 2001 they were defeated in the Ulster Final by Ballinderry who went on to claim the All Ireland.  They retained the Down Senior Football Championship in 2002 as well as claiming the league.

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