Drom & Inch Gaa club finds its origins back as far as 1887, when hurling was played by the separate teams of Drom, and Inch. The club is located in the heartland of hurling in Co. Tipperary. Recent history shows an emerging club that has established itself as one of the top clubs in Tipperary, both in terms of facilities and competitive teams. Drom & Inch have enjoyed success over the past 5 years at every level on the pitch and a landmark achievement in 2008 when 4 of Tipperary's 15 players, that won the National Hurling League and Munster Championship, came from the parish they were Séamus Butler, Séamus Callinan, Éamonn Buckley and James Woodlock. Drom & Inch has often had players on All Ireland winning Tipperary teams down throughout the years. Drom & Inch have won county titles in hurling at every age from U-12 to Senior level. The facilities in Bouladuff grounds are one of the best in the county. It has 4 large dressing rooms, a kitchen, male & female toilets, meeting room, hydrotherapy tank, scoreboard, dugouts, sandbank, ball-wall and roofed stand.

125 years ago this year the ball was set rolling for the GAA following a meeting in Hayes's Hotel Thurles on 1 November 1884. Through the following years clubs around the country began to affiliate to the organisation. By 1887 Drom & Inch were affiliated. Two men who were credited with a great amount of work done in the club at that time were John Laffan of Drom and John Brolan of Inch.

Success in the early years was limited to a few Mid Junior titles. In 1937 however the club claimed its first ever county title by winning the Co. Junior Hurling Final. In a game that was not played until 30 October 1938, they defeated Killenaule on a scoreline of 6–2 to 5–0. At this time there was no intermediate grade so Junior Hurling was second to senior at this time.

Through the early years of GAA in Drom and Inch, at times each side of the parish fielded separate teams. However, since the early 1960s Drom & Inch have compteted as one and it was from that time that success started to come on a more regular basis.

Mid U13, Minor, U-21, Junior and Intermediate hurling championships were brought to the parish in the 1960s and in 1970 a county Intermediate title was the club's greatest success to that time. Eamonn Butler captined that team and in 1971 Eamonn captioned Tipperary to an All Ireland Intermediate title. This set the team up well for senior status. Following some good showings in senior hurling, including reaching the County Semi-final in 1973, things came together in 1974 and Drom & Inch, captained by John Dwyer, won their first Mid Senior Hurling Championship beating Thurles Sarsfields in the Mid Final. 1975 saw the first success in football with a Mid & County Junior Championship. Ten years after the first senior Mid title Drom-Inch, captained by Martin Fahy, repeated the success in 1984, by defeating Moycarkey in a replay on a score line of 1–9 to 1–8. This win along with Mid Junior football and County Minor B hurling titles earned the club the Mid Club of the Year award.

Success eluded the club in 1985 but a Mid U14 Hurling title in 1986 started an unprecedented run of 23 consecutive years up to the present time of winning a title at some grade from U12 up to Senior for Drom-Inch. In the late 1980s plans were put in place for a new hurling field to be developed in Inch and on 13 May 1990 the new grounds were officially opened.

Success continued into the 1990s with a number of Mid Junior and Intermediate titles won. However it was at underage level that the club was really shining and much juvenile success through the 90's worked its way through to 2 County U21 titles in 2000 and 2001. While success at senior level was not instant it did come. In 2005 Drom & Inch reached the county senior hurling final for the first time. Although unsuccessful against Thurles Sarsfields in Semple Stadium that day, the following year Paul Ryan lifted the cup for a Mid Senior title and Éamonn Buckley did likewise in 2008. In Junior hurling, a County Junior A title in 2005 and 3 Mid Junior B titles from 2003 to 2005 promoted the teams to Intermediate and Junior A level. For a club that draws on a relatively small population to be competing at the three top levels of Tipperary hurling is a remarkable achievement but is a great reflection of the work and dedication of the people of the Drom, Inch and Barnane to bring the club, its facilities and standards to where they are today. The dedication of Drom and Inch people has not been confined to work in their own club. The aforementioned John Laffan was said to have been in Hayes's Hotel at its foundation and later sent hurleys to New York to encourage the creation of hurling teams there among the emigrants from the area. Pat Ryan from Maherareagh was chairman of the London Co. Board for many years. In the current time Mattie Ryan of Drom is in his first year of Mid Board chairman and Paudie Butler of Inch is the first ever National Director of Hurling in the Gaelic Athletic Association.

2011 saw the club achieve its best ever year on the hurling field, one which no-one will forget, Drom & Inch crowned Tipperary Senior Hurling Champions for the first time in their history. After so many defeats the euphoria of winning the senior title for the first time was celebrated for months!. Adding to the senior win in 2011 was the all conquering U14 team which won county A titles in hurling and football, minor B hurlers winning county final and Junior B hurlers winning county final.

Pitch and Facilities Developments within Drom & Inch GAA Club

In the early days of the Association, Drom and Inch fielded separate teams. Inch hurlers would train and play in Ryan's field adjacent to the present-day community centre. In 1934 a field at Maheragh was acquired from the Land Commission. This was part of a nationwide drive by the GAA at that time to provide 'a field in every parish'. The Gaels of Drom and Barnane trained at two locations; one near Sheppard's Cross in Barnane and the other a short distance east of Drom village. By the time the current pitch in Drom was obtained in the mid-1960s, the two sides of the parish were united on the playing fields.

As efforts continued to grow and develop the club in the 1980s, the need for new facilities was recognised. Following much debate, a club meeting in November 1986 voted to purchase seven acres from John Egan of Inch House. Extensive work was required to develop the site, and a massive fundraising drive by an army of club members raised the necessary finance. Dressing rooms, sideline seating and a stand were constructed. By the time of the official opening in May 1990, the club had a modern ground of which it could be proud. The old pitch was purchased by the County Camogie Board and it too has been extensively redeveloped in recent years.

In the mid-1990s improvements were made to Drom field, including levelling of the pitch and erection of nets behind the goals. It is now used mainly for juvenile training and games. Developments at Bouladuff continued apace into the new millennium. The dressing rooms were extended to provide space for meetings, a kitchen and toilets. The newest facility is the floodlit hurling wall which has already proved popular with many visiting club and inter-county teams

Juvenille History

When the Drom-Inch club was founded, the juveniles in the parish were under the control of the senior club, but as the underage population started to grow, and with increasing demands placed on the senior club, it was decided to establish a separate juvenile club. Previous to this the juveniles did participate in competitions, but some amalgamations were common and the three in a row minor teams of ‘61, ’62, ’63 are testament to this when Drom/Inch combined with Templemore and Clonakenny under the name of Na Fianna.

The first ever AGM of Drom & Inch Juvenile GAA club was held in Drom Community Centre on 25 February 1982 under the chairmanship of Larry Looby, a position he was to hold for an incredible 12 years. Along with Larry, the first committee consisted of the following: Secretary: Joan Hassett; Joint Treasurers: Fr Tom Breen and Joan Hassett; Delegates to Mid Board: Martin Dwan, Michael Carey and Martin Kennedy.

The Juvenile club developed a plan in the early stages to establish quality training for children in the parish at all age groups and the enthusiastic new club began their work. The first success of the juvenile club would be an U12 mid title coming to the club in 1987, quickly followed by another in 1990. By 1992, Drom-Inch had captured its first ever U12A county championship, which was a remarkable achievement and a just reward for the many years of endeavour, which was highlighted by the club winning the Mid Bord na nÓg club of the year award. This was followed by an U14 county title in 1995.

In that year Drom-Inch also qualified for the Division 1 final at Feile na nGael. After an epic match against Sixmilebridge, with extra time having failed to separate the teams, it was decided that both clubs should share the Christy Ring Cup. The first county championship at U16 level in 1997 showed that there was a solid base of young hurlers in the club. Again the achievements on the field of play resulted in Drom-Inch winning the Mid club of the year award back to back in ’96 and ’97.

Three mid minor A championships in a row ’96, ’97, ’98 (adding the county title in ’98) remains one of the greatest triumphs in the juvenile club's history. The juveniles were now competing with and winning against the larger and more traditional clubs in Tipperary. Another U12A championship success was achieved in 1999/2000 whilst the players who achieved success in the early ‘90s were now delivering county titles at U21 level. The mixture of these two teams provides many of the players on the present successful senior team.

The first county football title was won in 2002 when the U-16's managed to bring back the title and then two years later, this talented group pulled off a unique distinction of winning the Mid A Minor Hurling/Football double.

Standards in the juvenile club have never slipped, nor has the passion of its committee or members waned throughout the years. During the period of the Celtic Tiger, when other organisations were finding it hard to get volunteers, the juvenile club went from strength to strength. The summer camp in 2008 saw its largest ever turnout when 96 boys and girls form the ages of 8 to 14 turned up. The juvenile club certainly has captured the hearts and minds of the younger children in the community. The past year has seen the 12s, 16s and 18s all win mid titles, and the future of the senior club looks good thanks to the hard work of the juvenile club.