Healy Park

History

In early 1962, Omagh St. Enda's club purchased 13 acre of land for £1,300 at Lisanelly located near the Gortin Road. By 1968, the club had raised enough money to start construction of the new stadium. Work began in the middle of 1968 with the clearance of 10 feet of soil and bog and its replacement with tens of thousands of tons of gravel, stones, and topsoil, coupled with an elaborate drainage system. The field was sown early in 1969 and fenced a few months later.

The ground known then as New Park was opened on 17 September 1972 by then GAA President Alf Murray. On 19 October 1980, the new park was renamed to Healy Park in memory of Michael Healy. The two years between 1980 and 1982 saw the fruition of the new clubrooms and social centre at Healy Park, which added further to the infrastructure of Healy Park. 1994 saw the terracing added to three sides of the pitch.

Work began in September 2001 to build a new all-seated covered stand with a capacity of 5,000. The stand was opened in 2004.

In April 2006, Healy Park became the first Gaelic football stadium in Ulster to have floodlighting installed.

In December 2006, Tyrone GAA unveiled plans for a £5 million redevelopment scheme. Included in the plans were a second covered stand, a new control tower, a press box, the installation of a lift in the stand, and a new changing and referee's room. They also planned to expand the ends behind both goals.

Construction of the Press Box and Control Tower was completed in October 2007 with new changing rooms and disabled facilities also having been installed. However, the plan to construct the second covered stand at Healy Park has yet to materialise.

In January 2020, Tyrone GAA announced a pitch refurbishment project costing upwards of £1 million for Healy Park. This project was to begin in May 2020 and would have resulted in the closure of the stadium for a year. However, this project failed to materlise due to the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In September 2023, Tyrone GAA unveiled a new £280,000 floodlighting system for Healy Park in a Tyrone Senior Football Championship meeting between Errigal Ciaran and Killyclogher. This major upgrade involved an energy-efficient LED system replacing the existing halogen lamps.

References

References

1. (17 May 2021). "No changing of the guard as football returns". RTÉ.
2. (17 April 2021). "Rated and slated: All 32 GAA county grounds assessed – but how does yours measure up?".
3. Devlin, Michael. (2021-05-18). "O'Neill's in major renaming deal for Tyrone GAA stadium".
4. "Omagh St. Enda's {{!".
5. "Healy Park". Stadium Database.
6. "Locational Map -".
7. Kelleher, Humphrey. (2023). "A Place to Play". Merrion Press.
8. Omagh St. Endas Club History (published 1982)
9. (20 December 2006). "Healy Park to get a second stand". [[BBC Sport]].
10. (21 December 2006). "Tyrone unveil stand plans". [[Hogan Stand]].
11. "Healy Park Tour –".
12. Tyrone, WeAre. (2020-01-12). "Million pound pitch refurb for Healy Park".
13. (2023-09-12). "Tyrone SFC showpiece opener to benefit from new energy-efficient floodlighting".