Major fundraiser drive for Longford GAA Centre of Excellence

‘Ten years ago, in what was a break from tradition, Convention moved away from Áras Uí Bhriain and travelled to whichever club requested to host it. That first move was to Abbeylara and we have been many places since including online for the Covid years. We are now back here again in the Fr. Michael Campbell Parish Centre for a second time. I thank Abbeylara GAA Club for requesting to host Convention 2025 in this fine facility’ - Peter O’Reilly

Hurling - National

‘The future of Longford Intercounty Hurling looks bright when compared to the space we were in just twelve months ago when you may recall that our Hurling Team Management had stepped away owing to a difficulty in getting sufficient numbers together for the season ahead. Following Convention 2024, the search commenced for a replacement, an interview process took place and Diarmuid Cahill was appointed and got the sliotar rolling for 2025. 

Considering the lateness of the start, all involved must be complimented on their efforts in the Allianz League, winning 3 out of 6 games and being unlucky in drawing the final round against Monaghan in the Lory Meagher Cup - a result which stopped them progressing to the semi-final of this competition which was  eventually won by newcomers, New York.

Proof if ever proof was needed, that if you persist, success will come and so it did in the form of a  marvellous six-point win in the Celtic Challenge U-17 competition against Fermanagh. This is a tribute to all who involved themselves in the Development Squad programme over the years.

Our Underage Development Squads continue to perform admirably with our Under 15’s winning the Hibernia Cup and together with our new and not so new underage sections, are laying the foundations for a continuing increase in numbers playing our national game.

Hurling - Club Scene 

Putting the above to one side for the moment, we were treated to two great County Finals this year with Longford Slashers hanging on for a great win which no doubt has put to bed the nightmare losses of previous years in the replay. 

Longford Slashers indeed proved themselves in the Leinster Special Club Junior competition only to lose the final to Amsterdam in the most harrowing of fashions – a converted free in what was the last play of the game. Getting to a final in your Province has to be a plus for a club and indeed the County.

The last game of both the 2025 Club Football and Hurling season was the U21 Hurling Final which was played on the 29th November. Congratulations to Longford Slashers on their fine over Wolfe Tones. Even though this fixture was known for over two weeks, the promotional aspect of the game i.e. playing it in daylight in our County grounds was lost on some.

Football - National 

With a new Senior Football Team Management on board, hopes were high going into the New Year.

However, the value of the O’Byrne Cup, having won it two years in succession, could only be seen when it was dispensed with for January 2025.

Being in Division 4 leaves it very hard at the best of times for a new Management Team to get challenge games to try out new panel members, positionings, tactics etc. Win it or lose it, this is the beauty of the early season Provincial competition.  

To compound matters, 2025 also saw the introduction of a sway of new playing rules on foot of the excellent work carried out by the FRC. This left for a very difficult league campaign where after three rounds and having lost two games and drawn one, any hope of promotion had faded. Indeed, our only success was against London in an away game (where the return flight and consequential unnecessary wastage was lost on some) and Waterford at home.

It was now onto the Leinster Championship where a home game versus Wicklow, who had given us a a lot to reflect on following our meeting away in the League. A small bit of naivety of the new rules by Longford in the six minutes of injury time, saw Wicklow get a draw and from there they went on to dominate extra-time and progress to the next round.

Jekyll and Hyde comes to mind in reviewing this year’s Tailteann Cup – a first round away game saw Wexford win by nine points which all present would agree was not a true reflection of Longford’s spirited display on the day.

This led us to believe that the tide was slowly turning and that better days were not far away, however these thoughts were well floored in the next round at home to Fermanagh. But for some excellent saves by Paddy Collum, the eighteen-point defeat could have been a lot worse.

We finished the campaign playing Carlow in Tullamore in a meaningless game but boy did we restore some pride in the jersey with a heroic display led by man of the match, Matthew Carey whose tally on the day was fifteen points including five two pointers.

Longford Under 20’s, despite some good displays, failed to leave their mark on either of the Leinster competitions and exited the Andrew Corden Cup. Brían Noonan stepped down thereafter to take up a role with Mayo LGFA Senior Team.

Donal Ledwith now heads up a formidable minor management team for 2026 and onwards. With a number of the successful 2024 U-17 Leinster winners making the step up, we will be looking for more success shortly so no pressure Donal and the best of luck.

The Under 17’s did not reach the highs of the previous year but in producing some excellent football had some great results along the way to winning the Seamus Heaney Cup. 

Thanks to Joe Breslin, Ger Carberry, Conor Grant, Ronan Gallagher and Dermot Reilly for their great work.

Welcome on board to Gary Toher and his backroom team who take over the Under 17’s having had a great few years with the Under 16 Development Squads.

New York Success

Our diaspora in New York have kept the Longford GAA flag flying this past year having been crowned New York Junior 'A' Football Champions following their seven-point victory over Rangers GFC. Fr. Manning Gaels, Conor Keenan was their top scorer with 6 points. Congrats to all involved from all on this side of the pond. 

 Football - Club Scene

Pride of place in the Club scene rightly goes to Killoe Young Emmets who in a weekend never to be forgotten won the Junior ‘A’ , Junior ‘C’ and Senior Football Championships. This is a remarkable achievement in that around 100 players won adult championship medals in less than 24 hours. 

The above successes are in addition to the Division 3 and John Gilmore Cup wins earlier in the season. The Junior ‘A’ Final saw the first presentation of the new Seamus Flynn Memorial Cup.

Colmcille, given the tragedy that befell their Club and Parish in the course of the championship with the tragic passing of Martin Reilly, are to be complimented in picking themselves up when it might have seemed easier to pack it in.

In reaching this year’s Senior Final they knocked out their opponents from last year’s final, Abbeylara, along the way. The Final saw them fall short by the minimum following a late point from the boot of Ronan McGoldrick who, along with his family, also had a tough Spring.

At Intermediate level Ardagh Moydow claimed their first Gerry Hennessy Cup since their amalgamation in a final in which their opponents, St. Brigid’s Killashee never got going. St. Brigid’s  did regroup after this and did themselves and Longford proud in making headway in the Leinster Club Junior competition only to be beaten in the semi-final in a game that could have gone their way. Unfortunately, neither our senior or intermediate football reps made inroads on the Provincial Club front. 

With just 21 active teams in Longford, the question must be posed: is it realistic that we have 3 football championships with 12 playing in the Senior Championship, 8 in Intermediate and 1 in Junior? It has been obvious over the last number of years that the standard of adult club football is declining, and this is having a knock-on effect on our inter county teams.

The proof of this is, in my opinion, our lack of success in recent times in the subsequent provincial club competitions at both Senior and Intermediate grade. Remember that in most counties a team graded 9th /10th is representing them in Leinster whereas in Longford, it is our 13th team.

 Our representatives in the Leinster Junior competition are usually our Intermediate runners-up i.e. our fourteenth graded team who tend to be very competitive. To me this is indicating the Intermediate level in Longford is on a par with Junior in many Leinster counties.

New Rules/Match Officials

There is no doubt that the rule changes have changed the game for the good of both players, team and match officials and spectators, the latter of whom are coming back to the game in droves.

 The members of the FRC led by Jim Gavin, deserve huge credit for the serious work that they put into this review and the outcomes achieved and all in a small space of time.

The foresight of the GAA President in getting the right people to oversee this body of work and setting down strategic Terms of  Reference for them must also be acknowledged.

I believe that our referees adapted well to the new rules introduced last Spring on foot of the Football Committees forensic review of all that was wrong with the game. 

Some rules in particular cut down the level of abuse that was directed at our match officials in the past. This is evident from the decline in such matters as noticed by the County Competitions Control Committee while dealing with match reports. 

I  do hope that referees continue to enforce these rules as they should, and I would suspect that such enforcement will leave it easier to recruit new blood to the whistle in the future.

To our ever-decreasing cohort of dedicated Referees and their Score Umpires who week in, week  out ensured our almost 900 fixtures were covered – míle buíochas. Continued success to Fergal at national level and to those who have been recognised provincially.

Here’s hoping you will continue to keep Longford’s name flying in Referee circles at both provincial and national level as has been the case for many years past.

A Training Workshop for those interested in taking up refereeing will commence early in the New Year. 

I believe there are at least 6 candidates willing to take on the role. Perhaps over the next few  weeks of GAA down time, Clubs would do a trawl of their membership and come up with a few more to add to the list of trainees.

 Training Centre

As you are aware Longford GAA purchased some 32 acres at the back of the seated stand in Glennon Brothers Pearse Park in 2023 with access to same via the N4 Axis Centre. Over the past 11 months,

The amount of behind the scenes work which has taken place in relation to this project has been phenomenal, be it site reports, meetings with planners, pitch designers, engineers, architects, ministers, fund raising – the list goes on. 

 The big item of the past few months has been the purchase of an additional circa 4.25 acres which now gives us additional access /egress point off the Lisbrack Road. The total area now is over 36 acres which is debt free thanks to the generous grants from Croke Park and the balance being put up by Club Longford.

A few weeks ago, two meetings were held on consecutive nights in Dublin and Longford that outlined the plans to date and gave us a concept of what can be achieved if we all get our shoulders to the wheel. With work continuing at pace, it is hoped to be in a position to lodge a planning application in late Spring 2026.

There are many people involved in getting all of this together, but I would have to single out two in particular whose drive and ambition for Longford GAA knows no bounds – our Cathaoirleach, Derek Fahy and Paul Rowley of Killoe and Rockland GAA, New York. The volunteer time invested by both in moving on this project is infectious and many others have seen this and offered to get involved.

Hopefully in another 12 months we will have a near shovel ready project going to tender.

Fundraising

Good management of our financial affairs by our new Treasurer since he took up his role has seen a turnaround in our financial health. However, this alone will not suffice, and we require many and varied fundraisers to, in part, run our day-to-day affairs but more particularly to get the necessary finance for the future development of our Training Centre.

Government funding and Association grants will of themselves not develop our ambitious plan as we will be required to have some percentage of our own  funds available, hence the need for a massive push on this front.

The success of our Raceday continues to capture the imagination – thanks in no small way to Martin Skelly, John Bannon and members of their Committee on the Longford side and Padraig Brady and all in Dublin. Their efforts have raised over €85,000.

The efforts of those involved in Club Longford continue to add substantial funds to both the running of the County Board and fundraising for future development. Their fundraising efforts over the past year has raised €320,000, up a whopping €100,000 on the previous year. The following two events occurred after the close of our financial year and their profits are not contained in the Financial Statements. In early October our generous sponsors, Glennon Brothers ran a very successful Longford Lunch in

Croke Park. Projected profits from this event are in the order of €85,000. Many thanks to Mike, Pat, Billy, Martina, Andréa and staff for a fabulous day out.

Thanks also to Paul Rowley and friends in New York and beyond who ran a Golf Classic in the States recently which netted approximately €150,000 for the Longford GAA Development Fund.

 Thanks also to a number of people for their kind donations and who wish to remain anonymous.’