Longford Senior Football Championship

Note: Fr. Mannning Gaels includes titles of Young Irelands (Éire Óg)

* The Parish of Drumlish was home to two separate and competing GAA Clubs during the first four decades of the 20th Century, namely Drumlish and Ballinamuck 98s. The first Senior Championship title won by a team from the Parish of Drumlish was won by the Ballinamuck 98s club in 1920. The two clubs played against each other in the Championship Final of 1927, and Drumlish went on to win 8 Championship Titles in 1927, 28, 32, 37, 39, 40, 43 & 45. Throughout that period both clubs existed and competed separately, with Ballinamuck winning the Junior Championship in 1938. In 1951 Young Ireland’s (later renamed Éire Óg) emerged as the single GAA club in the Parish and went on to won Senior Championships in 1951, 1953 & 1955 and was runner-up in County Finals of 1958, 1961 & 1966. Young Ireland’s failed to form in 1967, and Ballinamuck re-appeared briefly as a Junior Club. In 1969 the Fr. Manning Gaels club was established as the sole GAA Club within the Parish of Drumlish and would go on to win Senior Championships in 1996, 1997, 1998 & 2001. For roll of honour accuracy, senior titles won by Fr Manning Gaels and Young Irelands are combined because both were similar Drumlish-Ballinamuck clubs. However they are not merged with titles won by Drumlish (1927, 28, 32, 37, 39, 40, 43, 45) or Ballinamuck 98s (1920) as those were won by separate competing clubs within the Parish of Drumlish who in fact played each other in the County Final of 1927. For historical accuracy & consistency, titles in the roll of honour are allocated to GAA Clubs, not to Catholic Parishes.

** The Longford Leo Caseys club no longer exists. Longford Wanderers merged with Whiterock Slashers in 1954 to form a new club called Longford Slashers. Ballinamuck 98s merged with Éire Óg to form Fr. Manning Gaels. Ardagh St. Patricks merged with Moydow Harpers to form Ardagh Moydow.

*** The 1919 Championship was won by Clonbroney Camlin Rovers who beat Killoe Young Emmets in a replay. The club was later renamed Seán Connollys. To preserve this historical footnote, the team name in the list of finals is shown as Clonbroney Camlin Rovers but we show Seán Connollys in the Roll of Honour. Previously the Clonbroney win of 1919 was cited as the 1917 final which is incorrect as no Championship was played in 1917. The previous records also allocated the 1919 Senior Championship title to Clonguish, which is also incorrect as Clonguish won the League title of 1919 (referred to back then as League-Championship title) beating Mullinalaghta in that final.

Longford Town Titles - The town of Longford has seen a number of different clubs over the years, including Longford Leo Caseys, Longford Shamrocks, Longford Wanderers, Whiterock Slashers and Longford Slashers. Of those, 3 won Senior Championship titles… Longford Leo Caseys, Longford Wanderers and Longford Slashers. The establishment of Longford Slashers in 1954 came about as a result of the amalgamation of Longford Wanderers and Whiterock Slashers (who played each other in the 1938 final). However previous records did not combine the titles of Longford Slashers & Longford Wanderers as both were separate clubs when those titles were won. Therefore, for accuracy and consistency the Longford Slashers and Longford Wanderers titles are kept separate in the roll of honour. The Longford Leo Casey titles are also kept separate as this was a completely different club to Longford Wanderers or Longford Slashers.

1912 Title - The 1912 title had previously been attributed to Killoe Young Emmets, but research in 2014 strongly suggests that no 1912 Championship took place, and the recorded championship activity played in that year was the delayed 1911 Championship final between Killoe Young Emmets and Edgeworthstown. The 1912 record and championship title count for Killoe has been amended accordingly.

Club Names - The club names shown in the list of finals is the club names at the time of winning or participating in that County Championship. Some clubs have merged or been renamed in the years since, but the yearly record shown above reflect the name/club from the year the title was won for historical accuracy.

Note: Full research notes and year-by-year county final results and details can be found on the Longford GAA Website at www.longfordgaa.ie.

Titles are assigned to clubs, not parishes or villages. Many areas/parishes had more than one club - for example Drumlish and Ballinamuck were separate competing clubs for the first 4 decades of the 20th century, and played against each other in the County final of 1927, while Longford town had 5 different clubs and Killoe had 3 different clubs at various points in history. To be historically accurate and consistent in an approach, the titles of clubs which won titles as separate and different entities are not combined, for example Longford Slashers, Longford Wanderers and Longford Leo Caseys titles are all shown separately – this makes sense as they were separate clubs at the time and the establishment of Longford Slashers in 1954 came about as a result of combining two separate clubs - Longford Wanderers and Whiterock Slashers, into a new club. To combine those titles would be re-writing history and would be factually incorrect. The titles won by Fr. Manning Gaels and Drumlish Young Irelands (later called Éire Óg) are recorded as one combined tally because both were parish-wide clubs, but they are not combined with the titles won solely by Drumlish (1927, 28, 32, 37, 39, 40, 43, 45) or Ballinamuck 98s (1920) – those are recorded separately because those were separate and competing clubs. For much of the period between 1890 and the late 1940s, Drumlish and Ballinamuck were separate and individual clubs within the one parish, and won championships as such. Young Irelands (Éire Óg) was then established as a parish-wide club, and when it went out of existence in 1967, Ballinamuck re-emerged as a junior club. The establishment of Fr. Manning Gaels club in 1969 marked an end to more than one club in the parish of Drumlish and this single club has existed (very successfully) since.

• Longford GAA Website
• Longford Club Titles
• Longford Slashers GAA Website
• Killoe GAA Website