On behalf of Coiste na nÓg I would like to congratulate the Leitrim senior panel on their fantastic victory in the FBD Connacht League Final 2013 against Sligo.
I would also like to wish Barney, George and the team the best of luck next Sunday in the lst round of the Allianz League against Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds Limerick.
28-Jan-13 by Gerri Mulhern – PRO – Coiste na nÓg
Follow this link to the RTE GAA page containing interviews with Barney Breen, Emlyn Mulligan and James Glancy following Sundays victory in the FBD Final.
28-Jan-13 by Colette Fox – PRO
Glad to report that James has overcome the “technical difficulties” he was unfortunately encountering last night and the remaining photographs from yesterdays FBD Home League Final are now available on the Connacht GAA gallery.
28-Jan-13 by Colette Fox – PRO
New York New York
Yes, it’s New York on the double for Leitrim this year. The wave of emotion that greeted the FBD Connacht League Final victory on Sunday reverberated across the Atlantic right to the Big Apple and phone lines and skype were busy — in one direction with congrats to all concerned, and in the other with queries about spare beds in some long lost cousin’s house for a weekend in May and another in October. Manhattan, the Bronx, Yonkers, Queens, Staten Island, anywhere within reasonable striking distance of GaelicPark. The Gathering may be enticing our loved ones to travel back to Ireland in 2013, but loads of us will be spilling West also.
What a change to have the boys in green and gold as the headliners in all local and national news and sports bulletins on Sunday evening and all day Monday. Our players deserve it, as do Brian Breen and George Dugdale, who incidentally were part of the last Leitrim senior side to get their hands on silverware back in 1994; as does strength and conditioning coach Ollie Cummings; as do the members of the backroom team, all of whom play vital roles; as do County Chairman Joe Flynn, Secretary Diarmuid Sweeney and all of our top-class county officers; as do probably the most loyal GAA followers of any county in the country. Supporters did not make a sudden appearance in Markievicz Park because the smell of a final was in the air, for they were in Elphin on a shivering cold day for the first round against the Rossies; were in Ballinamore for a long awaited other shot at Mayo and were back again on the following Sunday for the clincher against GMIT. One thing Leitrim can always be assured of, is support.
Most of the happy faces in Markievicz were also in the Hyde for the Connacht Championship victory nineteen years ago and were also there in the Hyde for the All Ireland B Championship victory (also over Sligo) four years earlier and while none of them could have been in Tuam for the 1927 Connacht title, no doubt plenty of their parents, uncles, aunts and cousins were.
Funnily enough, the seeds for Sunday’s victory were probably sown last June as the players trooped off the field in Castlebar, after one of the real drubbings of the Championship against Mayo. Every man in a Leitrim jersey that day must have sworn to himself that this would never happen again, he would do whatever it took to bring about a turnaround. And turn around it did, as we all remember in an all hands on deck rousing victory over a fancied Wicklow side in the Qualifiers and in an agonisingly close call against Laois, who subsequently scored the life out of the All Ireland champions the Dubs in Croke Park. The year had finished for the players on an upbeat note and they were determined to carry that into 2013.
This they have done in real style, so hats off to every single member of the panel and particular praise to our Joint Team Managers. A happy supporter was heard singing
“Barney’s winning matches
George is winning games “
as he happily made his way back to his car for a delighted journey home from Sligo. Probably today he is singing the Frank Sinatra hit New York New York!
28-Jan-13 by Tommy Moran
Limerick v Leitrim
Sunday 3/2/13 at 2.00pm in the Gaelic Grounds
Train departs – Hueston Station 8.30 am or 10.00am
You change trains at Limerick Junction
Train arrives Limerick – 10.40 am or 12.05 pm
Return from Limerick
Departs – Limerick – 16.20 or 17.45
The 16.20 direct to dublin.
The 17.45 YOU CHANGE AT LIMERICK JUNCTION
Arrives Dublin – 18.40pm or 19.50pm respectively
Supporters should book on line on the train that suit them best
Adult fare – return €30
Lets cheer them on to a winning start.
28-Jan-13 by Eamonn Duignan
Allianz Football League 2013
Division 4
Round 1
Limerick v Leitrim Sunday
03 February 2013
Leitrim Supporters Bus to Limerick v Leitrim match on 3/2/13
(Subject to sufficient uptake)
Bookings to
Shay Reynolds Bornacoola 0879030882
Attracta O Reilly St. Marys 0861708499
€15 per person
Departure Sunday 03/02/2013
9.15 am Drumshanbo swimming pool
9.30 am Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada
9.50 am Bornacoola GAA, Dromod
Be there to cheer them on to a winning start
28-Jan-13 by Colette Fox – PRO
One Connacht title for Leitrim in this years Connacht Scór na nÓg Finals last Sunday in Castlebar. It broke the last 2 years sorrows of no win whenÓgrace OReilly of Ballinamore won the recitation title to rapturous cheer from the Leitrim supporters.
Our Mohill girls gave a great performance of the High Caul Cap but the 8 ladies from St Dominics in Roscommon danced through to the All-Irelands.
In Solo Singing Roisin Mannin of Mountbellew Moughlough won the Connacht title seeing off Leitrims Paula Kiernan of Carrigallen.
In Instrumental Music Castlebar Mitchells won the first Mayo title of the evening winning over our St Marys team who performed a very quirky but traditional reel and jig.
Recitation was a very entertaining competition won by the fabulous Grace OReilly from the Ballinamore Sean OHeslins club with a rendition by the very talented Angela Fitzpatrick, a very well deserved win for the young lady.
St Marys Ballad Group sang their songs beautifully to an enraptured audience but Mayo Aughamore club were announced as the winners, a very tough competition.
Very disappointing defeat for the Bornacoola Question time as least years history repeated itself, they finished just behind the eventual winners St Farnans of Sligo for a second year despite having led their way through the first few rounds.
Novelty Act winners were Padraig Pearse of Roscommon, hard luck to the Aughnasheelin team who gave a fantastic performance
Set Dance results was the shocker of the night when Aughamore of Mayo won leaving the stallworths Fenagh and Abbeyknockmoy out, credit must go to the young Fenagh team who thoroughly held their own on that stage every bit as good as the teenÓge teams that danced against them, with youth on their side they will go far.
Leitrim standard of participation was as high as ever this year and no doubt Leitrim Juniors will be back with a bang again in 2014.
Credit must go to Kathy Butler as Leitrim Bean an Ti for the evening, her command of the stage and the audience was truly professional and she still managed to have time for an encouraging words to the participants as they entered the stage, go raibh maith agat Cait.
The All-Ireland Finals will be held in “The Venue”, in Derry on Saturday February 23rd. Please note it is a ticket only event, tickets are priced at €20 and are non-refundable. they can be ordered through your club officer or Maura Mulvey at 087-6486967, all orders must be placed by Monday February 4th.
Wishing Grace and all of the Connacht winners the best of luck.
Connacht Scór na nÓg Winners:
Rince Foirne: St Dominics, Roscommon
Amhranaíocht Aonair: Roisin Mannin, Mountbellew/Moughlough, Galway
Ceol Uirlise: Castlebar Mitchells, Mayo
Aithriseoireacht: Grace OReilly, Sean OHeslins, Leitrim
Bailéad Ghrúpa: Aughamore, Mayo
Trath na gCeist: St Farnans, Sligo
Nuachleas: Padraig Pearse, Roscommon
Rince Seit: Aughamore, Mayo
27-Jan-13 by Claire Crossan – PRO – Scor
Congratulations to Barney, George and our senior panel on their magnificent victory in todays FBD Home League Final in Markievicz Park this afternoon. A fuller report will follow later. James Molloy has uploaded some photographs from the first half of the game – second half to follow tomorrow. (James tells me that there are “technical reasons” why he is unable to upload the second half at the moment but assures me that tomorrow is another day!!!!). Link to the photographs can be found here. Once again, congratulations to everyone on a terrific performance and well done to all our magnificent supporters for their support.
Attracta Reilly and Shay Reynolds have reminded me that anyone wishing to travel to our first round game in the Allianz National League against Limerick next Sunday should contact them on or before this Thursday 31st January to guarantee their seats.
Contact Numbers: Attracta 086 1708499
Shay 087 9030882
27-Jan-13 by Colette Fox – PRO
Connacht GAA FBD Football League 2013
Sunday 27th January 2013
Markievicz Park
Sligo 0-5 Leitrim 0-8
Referee: J. Henry(M)
Leitrim made a bit of history for themselves today as they defeated Sligo in Markievicz Park to win the Connacht GAA FBD Football League title for the first time in their history.
Leitrim took an early lead against the Yeats County, and never relinquished it, leading from the very start and looking fairly comfortable in the closing stages. The weather was not ideal for football, and the quality of the game reflected this as both sides struggled to retain possession. However, Leitrim always looked the more likely winners, and the win brings a rare piece of silverware to the county.
Ray Cox got Leitrim off the mark with the first score of the game, and Barney Breen and George Dugdales side led 0-3 to 0-0 before Brian Egan and Mark Breheny found the range for Sligo.
However, Leitrim responded with scores from captain Emlyn Mulligan (45) and Danny Beck to go in 0-5 to 0-2 ahead at the break.
Conditions did not improve much for the second half, and both sides only managed three more points each. Leitrim extended their lead to four at one stage, but Sligo got back within two with scores from Egan and Adrian Marren. However Leitrim stayed composed, and Brian McDonalds score right at the end put them three clear and wrapped up a famous win for them.
They will play New York in the overall FBD League final in October.
27-Jan-13 by Collette Fox – PRO
Supporters are advised that the U21 Hastings Shield Final between Roscommon and Leitrim is OFF.
26-Jan-13 by Colette Fox – PRO
24-Jan-13 by Tommy Moran
Leitrim kicks off its Gathering with a night in Croke Park that brought it all back home
There were a lot of reasons to love Leitrim in the Celtic Suite of the Cusack Stand in Croke Park on Wednesday evening last.
The night was officially about the launch of the 27th annual fundraising drive of the Leitrim Supporter’s Club (Dublin branch). As a player I always appreciated the lengths these loyal supporters from ‘The Special Branch’ went to in order to attend every Leitrim match they could. At away games in Limerick in the cavernous Gaelic Park their shouts of support often shocked and shamed the few locals who came out to support the home team. In Waterford their green and gold flags stood out like tricolours in the middle of Carnivale in Rio. On our run to the final of the Tommy Murphy in 2006 they were there for the away wins over Tipperary and Carlow when the competition hadn’t even registered in the lives of many others from the county. Down through the years I became good friends with Eamon Duignan, who was at its helm for countless years, and Mike Feeney, who took over as chairman last year and when Mike asked myself and Fergal McGill to try and rustle up some more Dublin-based Leitrimites (particularly of a younger generation) to attend the event I was delighted to get involved.
Having Seamus O’Rourke as our special guest was always going to draw a crowd and make the night an easy sell so we set about getting a bit of a buzz going on Facebook and we asked those we knew from Leitrim to ask those they knew from Leitrim to come along to Croke Park and be part of what we were sure would be a great night. It’s always hard to know how many people to expect for such a night and as Mike said in his address when he first came into the Celtic Suite he was worried there were too many seats laid out (about 200) and the place would look empty if they weren’t all occupied. But by the time Seamus took the mic and had the room erupting in outrageous laughter at his equally outrageous renditions and recitations there were an additional 20 or 30 people taking up the standing room only at the back. (When you factor in the fanatics from home who boarded a bus to make the trip to Dublin, or the three men from my own club – Gareth and Simon Foley and Micheal McGowan – who drove the round six hour round trip from Kinlough, you get a fuller feel for the sort of fantastic supporters Leitrim has to boast about.)
While the night was primarily about kick starting one of the most vital annual elements of fundraising that ensures the Leitrim County Board can cater for the needs of its various teams, as with most gatherings of Leitrim people it was about much more than just that. It was a great inter-generational gathering of locals and natives and emigrants and migrants who have an unbreakable common bond that binds them all together – a fervent love for the place they call home no matter where they now might live: Leitrim. (In fact you say it was, in our own special way, Leitrim’s first unofficial event as part of The Gathering.) On the social media page I created to publicise the event and recruit some new souls I wrote a short piece about what it means to follow Leitrim and to come from our fine wee county. Some people in attendance last Wednesday who had seen it suggested I should reproduce it in my Observer column for the benefit of those who do not engage in such silly pursuits as social media. So here it is:
‘This isnt just about the GAA, its about identity. Its about why you always cheer for the underdog; its about haydogs and tipping trailers; its about believing in something thats worth believing in; its about coming from the best little county in the whole feckin country; its about community; its about standing on the hairy shoulders of our forefathers; its about knowing your neighbours instead of fearing them; its about the craic down the back of the bus; its about Lough Melvin and Lough Allen; its about 27 and 94; its about cultured culchies; its about Sheemore; its about always being the first person from Leitrim one of your new friends has ever met; its about all the backs we broke in the bog; its about 2,000 people singing inappropriate songs in Cartown after the semi-final in 2000; its about being sentimental for square bales; its about Ruined Liver; its about training in the Pheonix Park with Frank Darcy; its about Love Leitrim; its about being part of the biggest clan in the Big Smoke; its about New York in May; it’s about the Mart in Dowra; its about the shortest coastline on the island; its about John McGahern and knowing what it means to be blessed amongst women; its about trying to see the driver of every car you see around the country with an LM number plate in case you know them; its about the mighty Shannon; its about An Dobharchú; it’s about the first salmon of the year; its about invisible St. Patricks Day Parades in Keshcarrigan; its about the Hideout Bar on the 3rd Sunday of September; it’s about Fenagh Abbey; its about knowing the worth of a good pair of wellies; its about the Lurganboys on Tour; its about Charlie and his Rock n Roll kids; its about doing it for all the people that wish they were still back home in Lovely Leitrim; and most importantly it’s about the Boys in green and Gold.’
24-Jan-13 by Colin Regan
