The parish of Riverstown-Glanmire has a long GAA history. It was to Gaelic football that the athletes from the parish first gave their allegiance. The first 'inter-county' football game, under GAA Rules, was played in Cork Park - later the Athletic Grounds and now SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on August 29th 1886, when Glanmire played Fethard of Tipperary.  Different farmers' fields were used as pitches for the closing years of the 1800s. In the 1890’s Cumann Peile Gleann Maghair had a ground in Rathcooney, a townland North East of Cork city, where they trained and played Gaelic football. Land that was used also included the 'Pike Inch' at Sallybrook, used for both football and hurling. This continued until 1903 when the Riverstown Sportsfield was opened and became 'home' to both Glanmire Football Club and Sarsfields Hurling Club. The 'Pike Inch', owned by the Dooley family, was used as grazing land then for several decades.  Glanmire participated in many tournaments throughout the county of Cork.  However, in the early 1920’s the Club went out of existence and Sarsfields Hurling Club, a sister Club of Glanmire entered football teams into tournaments.  Sarsfields won six Imokilly (East Cork) Junior ‘A’ Championships from 1929 to 1937 and went on to win the County title in 1937. Sarsfields also captured four ‘A’ Grade Minor Football Championship titles from 1930 to 1938 including two County titles in 1936 and1937.

Cumann Peile Gleann Maghair was re-formed in 1945 and since then many Imokilly and County Championships at both adult and underage grades have been won.  In 1991 there was a huge housing boom in the Riverstown-Glanmire area bringing increasing numbers of players and it was then that Glanmire Football Club purchased the 'Pike Inch' from the Dooley family. Work began on laying two pitches and the building of a spacious clubhouse with modern facilities. The Club pavilion complete with four dressing rooms and a large upstairs hall with an adjoining office was completed in 2000. In January 2008, along with Sarsfields Hurling Club, Glanmire Football Club took out a thirty-year lease on land in Upper Glanmire where there are currently two pitches, these grounds are known as Kiely Park.

On the 7th October 2017, the Club ground at Sallybrook was officially named Paddy Duggan Memorial Park in honour of Paddy Duggan RIP who along with Mick Barry RIP combined their individual talents and efforts to enthusiastically encourage and coach the youth of the Glanmire area to achieve their full potential in GAA as players and members of Glanmire Football Club. One juvenile player who passed through the supervision of these two former Glanmire stalwarts was the late Teddy McCarthy RIP. Teddy was Glanmire’s local hero and his sudden and untimely passing on Tuesday 6th June 2023 simply rocked the Glanmire community. Teddy McCarthy was a powerful athlete, an outstanding champion of the skills of hurling and football. He was an expert fielder of the high ball with a wonderful sense of timing of his jump. The huge attendance that travelled and paid respect to Teddy at his funeral from throughout the country reflected the esteem upon which he was held throughout the length and breadth of Ireland. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Notable players to have played football for Glanmire over the years and contested All-Ireland Finals include Derry Beckett,Tadgh Murphy, Bertie Óg Murphy, Brian Lotty,Teddy McCarthy and Michael Cussen.
 
Glanmire currently have over seventy adult players and field three adult teams with the Intermediates playing in the Cork County Division 4 League. From 2025, Glanmire will play Premier Intermediate at County level and will also field at least two adult Junior teams in addition to two U21 and two Minors teams. The Club policy is to give players games with priority given to those players who attend training regularly. This was especially evident in 2021 and 2022 when in addition to entering the Imokilly Leagues, the Club entered a Junior ‘C ‘and a Junior ‘B’ team in to the Seandún (City) Division Leagues, contesting the Seandún Junior ‘C’ Final in 2021 and winning the Junior ‘B’ League in 2022.

The underage section of Glanmire Football Club is thriving with over four hundred juvenile members. The highlights in recent years being the Glanmire Minor team winning the County Rebel Óg Premier 2 title in 2019 and following on by winning the County Rebel Óg Premier 1 title in 2020.

At a Club Special General Meeting held on the 14th November 2023, Club members voted for the Club to apply to leave Imokilly and join the Seandún Division. An application was forwarded to the Cork County Committee and on the 1st October 2024, it was announced at the County Committee Meeting that Glanmire teams would play in the Seandún Division from the start of the 2025 season.
 
Glanmire abú.