Introduction ....................................................................................	3
Early Days (Local History) ............................................................	5
1884-1892 ......................................................................................	17
Irish National Federation .............................................................	29
1904-1908 ......................................................................................	33
1908-1912 ......................................................................................	43
Sports .............................................................................................	49
Castlefore Hall ..............................................................................	50
Fife and Drum Band ......................................................................	52
AOH Band .....................................................................................	54
1913-1922 ......................................................................................	57
Political Unrest .............................................................................	67
1923-1932 ......................................................................................	70
1933-1939 ......................................................................................	83
Castlefore Experiment ..................................................................	88
Modern Band ................................................................................	91
1940-1949 ......................................................................................	95
1950-1959 ......................................................................................	105
1960-1969 ......................................................................................	116
1970-1979 ......................................................................................	126
Ladies Football ..............................................................................	141
Sheemore Gaels ............................................................................	147
1980-1984 ......................................................................................	149
Park Development ........................................................................	157
Handball .......................................................................................	159
Statistics .......................................................................................	163
Population Statistics .....................................................................	169

INTRODUCTION

This book has been produced to celebrate the opening of a new Football Park and complementary facilities. But more than that, it has been produced to celebrate ninety-seven years of the Club's existence and commitment to an ideal - an ideal of comradeship and sportsmanship.

Fenagh may not have been the most successful club in Leitrim in terms of titles won but this should not be the criterion of success - success to me is looking back on nearly a century of endeavour and saying "we played the game", like the Olympic ideal - participation not victory.

This book does not set out to list every player that donned a Fenagh jersey - such would be impossible. Undoubtedly, there were players superior to many mentioned in the following pages - to these, my apologies.

Credit for any Club success inevitably goes to the players, it is they who are seen to bring honour to the club. This, of course, has its drawbacks as it brings criticism during the many hours of defeat. However, no club could exist without the faceless people who guide it through good and bad times. These, the officers and the many helpers, who down through the years have collected at gates, washed jerseys, lined fields and attended meetings will never see their names in print. This history is a tribute to them, it is they who have made and continue to make this club the unit it is today.

The first chapter of this book contains a number of items of local interest, far removed from the G.A.A. This is just the tip of the iceberg of history, in which Fenagh abounds. Hopefully, one day, somebody will record in greater detail what I have merely suggested.

The years ahead for many organizations, including the G.A.A., will be difficult. Employment patterns indicate that leisure time is on the increase. Never was there greater need of improved sporting facilities. Today, Fenagh makes its contribution to the future.

Ninety-seven years have passed, much of it bringing progress but never such a stride of progress as this day represents. This is only a beginning - let us all remember that.

Fenagh Gaelic Football Club, Co. Leitrim, Ireland

CHAPTER 1
Early Days

From earliest times Fenagh featured in history. It is said that the Fomorians, one of the earliest colonising tribes of Ireland, on their retreat from the battle of Magh Tuireadh, were caught in the vicinity of Fenagh. Nine of their chieftains were slain and buried in what is now the townland of the Commons.

The first written historic record of Fenagh appears in the Annals of the Four Masters under the year 464. Here it is recorded that Fenagh was the scene of the death of one Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. He was buried at Fenagh and it is thought that the Cromlech in the townland of Fenagh Beg on the property of John Pat McGovern, marks his resting place.

"Corrigina of Magh Rein"
Alleged burial place of Fomorian chieftains
in the Commons

Saint Caillin

The next item of importance was the arrival of St. Caillin. To write authoritatively on Caillin would be a dangerous task. It would appear that Caillin was a member of the Conmaicne tribe who lived principally around Dunmore in County Galway and was born in the first half of the sixth century. The Conmaicne tribe extended their influence considerably, conquering most of South Leitrim and County Longford, with Caillin settling around Fenagh. His arrival, according to legend, caused quite a stir among the local pagan priests or druids but if we ignore such folklore, it would appear he made peace with the local chieftain Fergna. He established a religious community, building a monastery, again according to legend, with some difficulty.

Cromlech (Dolmen) in Fenagh Beg - resting place of
Conal Gulban

Cromlech in Fenagh Beg - resting place of
Conal Gulban

Fenagh - Under Various Names

Through its history Fenagh was known by many names - Dun Conaing, Dun Gaire, Dun Baile, Bearna in Braith and Fenagh. Each of these names has its own story and derivation. The word Fenagh or Fiodhnach comes from "fidh" which means woody and was so called because Fenagh was surrounded by woods. There is evidence that even in the 17th century there were considerable woods around Fenagh as is illustrated by the poet Padraig Og Mac an Bhaird in 1688.

Faraois togtha an fiodh fós
D'on tseigh is uasal ard nós

Its woods moreover is a choosen haunt
Of the noble minded hawk

By 1836 these woods had disappeared as the historian O'Donovan comments that "it is treeless, desolately naked and abandoned".

St. Caillins Bell

In 1224 we again find reference to Fenagh in the Annals when it mentions an accident at Fenagh. This also mentions for the first time Clogh na Righ or St. Caillin's Bell. The Book of Fenagh explains both these names - St. Caillin's Bell, because it belonged to the said gentleman and Clogh na Righ (Bell of the Kings) because it was used in the baptism of many kings. In keeping with the general tone of the Book of Fenagh, which has as its primary aim the collection of dues for the Fenagh monastery, it explains, that when chieftains were approached by bearers of the Bell, they were obliged to pay tributes with resulting blessings - failure to pay of course brought great misfortune!

Cloch na Righ - St. Caillin's Bell

The body of the bell is made of bronze, its mouth perfectly circular with a diameter of 4.37" which is also the height of the bell. The tongue of the bell is

Ancient spear-head found in St. John's
Lough - now in Irish National Museum

Ancient spear-head found in St. John's
Lough - now in National Museum

made of iron and it seems likely that originally it was a hand bell, although it now has attachments to enable it to sit on a frame. Experts date the bell around 1100, so it could not possibly have belonged to St. Caillin - it is unlikely to have baptised many monarchs either!

Coarabs

Many of the other references in the Annals are to the Coarabs of Fenagh. The position of coarab was a hereditary one, maintained in the same family for countless generations. The coarab was the lay abbot or warden of the lands belonging to the church or monastery. In early years they levied extensive dues from princes and gentry who recognised saints or founders of ecclesiastical places as patrons and who enjoyed the privilege of burial in places such as Fenagh.
The coarabs of Fenagh were the O'Rodachain or O'Rodaighe family, the first of them, Sean, dying in 1377. It was one of this family who caused the parish's most famous manuscript - The Book of Fenagh, to be written.

Coolcille in Churchfield - the smallest townland in the parish

The Book of Fenagh

The "Old Book of Caillin" was probably written between 1350 and 1400. It is known to have consisted of only a few poems, author unknown, although no copies of this manuscript now exist. Until it was lost it was in the possession of the coarab of Fenagh.

In 1516 the coarab of the time, Tadgh O'Rodaighe commissioned a writer Muirghis MacPhaidin O'Maolchonaire to transcribe and recast the Old Book of Caillin. This work of O'Maolchonaire is the Book of Fenagh. Its poems were copied from the Old Book while prose pieces were added, which were the works of O'Maolchonaire and Brian and William O'Rodaighe, brothers of Tadgh O'Rodaighe for whom the manuscript was written.

Since O'Maolchonaire wrote entirely in the interest of the monastery which claimed the saint as its founder, he did not have to confine his scribing to fact - this could be stretched where it seemed in the best interest of the monastery. O'Maolchonaire did this liberally with his prose pieces and probably some if not most of the poetry attributed to St. Caillin himself. Very briefly - the book states the

various promises the local chieftains - local here would extend through most of Donegal - made to Caillin and the blessings he bestowed on them. These promises must continue to be honoured, and tributes paid, or Caillin would withdraw his divine intercession and ill luck would befall those tribes.

The book was written completely in Irish and was in the possession of the O'Rodaighe family at Fenagh until the early nineteenth century when it passed to the last direct representative of the family, Brian (Bernard) O'Rodaighe who was Parish Priest of Kilronan until his death about 1840.

Eventually it was sold for ten guineas to the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. Three other copies of the original manuscript also exist but none are complete. It was translated into English and published in 1875 and again in 1939.

CHAPTER 2
1884-1892

Formation of the G.A.A.

The credit for the formation of the G.A.A. goes to Michael Cusack. Born in humble surroundings in the Burren in County Clare in 1847, he was a national teacher who had the enterprise to set up his own school called Cusack's Academy.

Quite a good athlete himself, he had tried his hand at nearly all the athletic events of his time including rowing, cricket, hurling, handball, rugby and football.

Following a period during which he organised athletic meetings, he called a meeting for Thurles on November 1st, 1884, with the intention of organising native games. From this meeting emerged the G.A.A. Maurice Davin was elected President, Michael Cusack, John Wyse Power and John McKay joint secretaries. Later Archbishop Croke, Charles Stewart Parnell and Michael Davitt became patrons.

The G.A.A. in Leitrim

"The Association swept the country like wildfire", wrote Cusack. This, for the bulk of the country, was indeed true. However, the wind did not apparently, blow NorthWest, for nearly five years, with Leitrim being one of the last areas to organise. The credit for the organisation of the G.A.A. in leitrim, rests primarily with the Mohill Faugh-a-Ballaghs club.

Following a challenge match between the Mohill F.A.B. club and Eslin Sarsfields, it was agreed that the secretaries of both clubs would notify the other clubs in the county, of a meeting to be held in Mohill on Sunday, 14th April, 1889 "to put Leitrim in line with the rest of the country by forming a County Committee" and to organise a tournament for Mohill on Easter Sunday - the winners to be declared "Champions of South Leitrim" with a purse of Ł3.

Representatives from eleven clubs attended this meeting, including Fenagh who were represented by Thomas Sheridan (Costra). Indeed it was Sheridan who helped solve sticky problem at this inaugural meeting. The Leitrim Advertiser reports:

Mr. Wallace (Carrick) objected to the meeting electing County Council as there were not fifteen clubs represented and although the majority of the meeting was against him, persevered in his objection in a manner which irritated nearly all the delegates present, till matters assumed a brighter colour by the production of a letter from the Secretary of the Central Council to Mr. Sheridan, Fenagh, in which among other instructions, he pointed on that it was not necessary in forming a County Council to have all clubs represented on account of the long journey some of them would be obliged to travel. Objections at once ceased and the election of officers and committee was proceeded with.

Plaque on interior wall of Fenagh
Abbey in memory of the lawder family

Officers were then elected with Sheridan being defeated by John Mulligan, Mohill, in a contest for the post of secretary. He was later included in a committee of eight and was elected Leitrim's first delegate to Central Council.

The G.A.A. in Fenagh

"Since eleven clubs sent delegates to the meeting in Mohill, it is obvious that clubs existed before the formation of a County Committee. Fenagh was one such club and was known as "The Sons of St. Caillins" or just "St. Caillins", after the patron saint of the parish and reputed builder of the abbeys.

"A report in the Roscommon Herald indicates that the club affiliated on 1st October 1888 – presumably to Central Council, since no County Committee existed until seven months after this date. This affiliation would probably account for Thomas Sheridan having in his possession a letter from the Secretary of Central Council at the inaugural meeting of the County Committee. It also tells us the club colours – green and yellow and the first known officer of the club – Secretary Thomas Sheridan.

"From another source we learn more of club colours – Green jerseys and yellow trousers. These colours reflect the spirit of nationalism at the time and were more in the nature of a national costume, with many clubs sporting the same colours.

"From these references we can also gather that although a formal club might not have been in existence before October 1888, at least their affiliation on that date indicates that football was being played in the locality – probably in the form of games between two groups from the locality, join in as you arrive like club practices nowadays. Indeed Tom Harkin (Costra) recalled hearing of cross-country football in Costra and Drumharkin in the years before the formation of the G.A.A.

by Padraig Leyden

C O N T E N T S

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1

Early Days