The club was founded in 1930.[1] It was popularly believed that the club acquired its name from the neighbouring townland of Ballyrussell, while other research suggests that it was possibly named after a Fr. John Russell who was Catholic parish priest of Cloyne in the 1840s.[4] Fr. Russell was a prominent and sometimes controversial figure, and a prolific letter-writer - as can be seen from correspondence with the Cork Examiner and Cork Constitution newspapers in October 1848 when he took issue with the local Protestant curate of Ballycotton, whom he accused of proselytism; i.e., of bribing hungry children with food to attend Protestant schools. Fr. Russell is also credited with assisting in setting up National Schools in the area.[4]