Cavan GAA - Gaelic Football

Gaelic Football

Cavan's five All Ireland titles were won in a 19-year period: they foiled Kerry's five-in-a-row bid with a last minute goal from Vincent McGovern at Breffni Park in 1933, beat Galway and Kildare in the 1933 and 1935 finals, won the famous 1947 final in the Polo Grounds in New York City, followed it up with an extraordinary win over Mayo in 1948 on the day of the "big wind" (Cavan led 3-2 to nil at half-time and won by 4-5 to 4-4) and beat Meath in a replay in 1952 through a free-taking display by Mick Higgins.

They became famous for their handpass, perfected by players such as Simon Deignan, and were involved in several handpass controversies. In 1928 Kildare's Paddy O'Loughlin may have threw the winning goal into the Cavan net in the All-Ireland final. Cavan got revenge in 1935, but when Packie Boylan handpassed what would have been the winning point against Kerry in the All-Ireland final it was disallowed, and Cavan lost the replay, if not before the celebration bonfires were lit because the Radio Éireann commentator had not noticed the referee's decision.

Controversy was never far from Cavan in the early days of the Association. In 1917 they proposed a new province of Tara, comprising Meath, Louth, Westmeath, themselves and Longford, because of a series of disputes with the Ulster Council, and also tried to play in Connacht instead. They staged a famous rebellion before the 1930 Ulster final over the venue. Cavan official Barney Fay gathered up a rebel team, they lost the final, and Fay was suspended by his own County Board.