Leitrim GAA - Gaelic Football

Gaelic Football

Leitrim's football history has brought sparse reward. In the 1924 Connacht semi-final, Leitrim forced Galway to two draws, then refused to play extra time. In 1927, they won their first Connacht title with the help of Sean O'Hehir's training (father of the veteran radio commentator, Micheal) and with a little good luck when Connacht semi-finalists Roscommon had to line out without five players whose motor car had broken down. Leitrim won the Connacht title and held Kerry to two points in the All-Ireland semi-final.

In the days of Cathal Flynn and Packie McGarty, both Connacht Railway Cup players, Leitrim lost four successive Connacht finals to Galway between 1957 and 1960, coming closest in 1958 when they equalised mid-way through the second half but lost by two points (Cathal Flynn scored 1-6).CATHAL RETIRED IN 1966 FROM COUNTY FOOTBALL McGarty was at the end of his career when Leitrim were heavily beaten 4-15 to 0-7 against Mayo in their last Connacht final in 1967, scoring only one point from play. Leitrim won the [[National Football League[[ Division 2 Title and contested the 1959 League semi-final, but lost by seven points to Derry. A new generation of Leitrim Under-21s hosted and nearly beat the great Kerry team at Carrick-on-Shannon in 1977 before losing by five points, 3-13 to 3-8. The expected breakthrough from Michael Martin and his men never happened.

Building on the 1991 Under-21 team which won the Connacht championship, Mayo-born John O'Mahony managed Leitrim to Connacht final victory over his own county in 1994. It was heart-stopping stuff, beating Roscommon by a point, Galway by a point in a replay and Mayo by two points before succumbing in an emotional semi-final to Dublin at Croke Park. Since losing to Sligo in 1989, Leitrim had suffered a series of near-misses, and might have followed up 1994 against Galway, losing by a single point in 1995 and two points in 1996. The first county to benefit under the parentage rule was also the first to lose their big catch, when the loss of Declan Darcy to Dublin depleted the panel in 1998, bringing its most successful era to an end.

The county's Vocational Schools team have made it to two All-Ireland Vocational Schools Championship Finals losing to Carlow in 1972 and Donegal in 1995.