About Delvin G.A.A.

While Delvin enjoyed Under 14, Under 16 and Minor success in the early 1970s, hopes for the emergence of a new generation of Seniors faded as Delvin, at adult level, fell back into Junior hurling. Return to senior became an even more difficult prospect when in 1985, Intermediate grade came into existence. Delvin reached the Junior final that year, and though defeated by local rivals Turin, they would get another chance to reach Intermediate grade in the Junior final of 1988 against Raharney. Captained by John Nugent, success brought Delvin their first adult silverware since 1953, and a climb to Intermediate level - all in the club's centenary year.

Since then, Delvin's hurling story has been one of highs and lows - dominating Intermediate level one year, struggling the next. In the space of four years - 1996 to 1999 - Delvin reached three Intermediate finals, within an hour of Senior hurling, but were defeated (Cullion in 1996, 1999; St. Oliver Plunkett's in 1998) on every heartbreaking occasion. Players to the fore in this period were the likes of Anthony Kelly, Bernard Byrne, Kevin Williams, Lorcan and John Coll, John Nugent and Pat Doherty. While the heartbreak played out, however, success in Delvin's underage ranks gained momentum, and continues to this day. Capturing the Minor Hurling League in 2000, the Championship in 2001, and the Under 21 'B' decider the same year, youth has become Delvin's main weapon. Under the tutelage of former hurlers like Anthony Kelly and Willie McGrath, teams at Under 12 and 14 level enjoyed great success. Hurling has never lost its appeal in Delvin, and was boosted in 1999 when William O'Driscoll lifted the Junior 'B' Hurling Championship trophy after a win over Athlone's Southern Gaels.

2003 has easily been the club's most successful season in 50 years. After years of waiting and preparation, Delvin once again regained their Senior status, beating Cullion in a thrilling Intermediate final. As well as qualifying for the Leinster Junior Club Hurling Championship, Delvin fought their way to All-County Hurling League Division 2 success, and just missed out on the Junior 'B' Championship, losing to old rivals St. Oliver Plunkett's. In the meantime, Delvin Camogie Club captured the 2003 Under 18 Championship, and contested both Senior championships ('A' and 'B').

The starting fifteen for the 2003 Intermediate final
is displayed on the right.

The rest of squad was: Colin Gaffney, J.P. Farrelly,
Brian Farrelly, Barry Williams, Tomas McEnerney,
Darren McHugh, Martin Forde, Ronan Mulligan, Mark
Clune, Dinny Vaughan, Francis McGrath, Patrick Clune,
Michael Malone and Anthony Carolan.

The story continues, and the future looks bright...

FOOTBALL
When a football club called Clonyn Gaels was formed in 1971, it was the first football outfit to exist in the parish since the Ballyhealy club which ceased to exist in the 1940s. From 1975 on, Clonyn Gaels was renamed Delvin, and the unity of both Gaelic sports in the parish began. With several dual players, Delvin won the Junior Football League in 1986, laying the foundations for the 1989 championship final win over Milltown. It was a football double for Delvin - they also beat Milltown in the Junior Cup that year, capping the greatest footballing success in the parish's history. In 1988/89, Delvin also managed to capture Under 14 'B' and Under 16 'B' Championships - one of the members of these teams, Dermot Brady, would later be a member of Westmeath's historic side that reached the All-Ireland quarter finals in 2001.

Delvin stayed at Intermediate level for one season before dropping back to Junior grade, where they have remained ever since. In recent years, somewhat of a crisis developed at underage level as interest in Gaelic football receded. This problem was soon addressed at the start of this century with the reorganisation of Under 12 and Under 14 teams, and successful Minor/Under 16 amalgamations with St. Paul's (Clonmellon) and Killucan. For more on Delvin Football club, visit the club's website, edited by Louis Sherwin.

DELVIN has long been recognised in GAA circles as, first and foremost, a hurling parish, but few know that it was actually football which was more dominant in the land of St. Ernan during the infant years of the Gaelic Athletic Association. In fact, Delvin were heavily involved in the first ever Gaelic football match to take place in Westmeath, all the way back in 1888, when they played the forefathers of the modern Coralstown/Kinnegad.

But for one reason or another, football declined in the Valley at the turn of the twentieth century, and hurling began to hold sway. Many different hurling clubs emerged from different sectors of the locality. The first of these, Rickardstown Parnells, a club from the borders of Delvin and Collinstown, captured their first Hurling Championship while Ireland sought its freedom in 1916. Rickardstown would, in the future, lean more towards Collinstown, and would produce the legendary John 'Jobber' McGrath. Delvin's first major hurling club was Killadoran, which disbanded in 1929, but other teams like Ballyhealy, Brownstown, Ballinaskeagh, Graftonstown, Cloneygapple, Glackstown and Crowenstown sprung. All of these sides soon went of out of existence, except Brownstown - the Archerstown/Killallon/Clonmellon side developing their own hurling tradition which would forever remain separate to that of Delvin. Only at the start of the 1930s were townland divisions disbanded and the unified name of Delvin come into its own. 1930 saw Delvin's first Junior title in the bag, after a win over Castletown-Geoghegan in the final. Members of Delvin's first championship winning side included Christy Darby, Kit Reilly, Tom Lenihan and Matt White. In the big time, Delvin made an immediate impact and reached their first Senior final in 1932, only to be beaten by Clonkill. With the arrival of a new C.C. in Delvin Parish, Rev. Fr. P. Rooney (from Moynalty, Co. Meath), a new North Westmeath Schools Championship was formed, Fr. Rooney's objective to encourage young hurling talent in Delvin, Collinstown and Castlepollard.

THE GLORY DAYS
Seven years after Fr. Rooney's arrival, Delvin won another Junior Championship, beating Walderstown in the final, and names like Paddy O'Shaughnessy, Ernie Lenihan, Pat Gaffney and Harry Barry came to the fore. In 1947, a similar side defeated Brownstown to win the Feis Cup. Over the years following, Delvin would embark on three-in-a-row Senior Hurling Championship success - 1949, 1950, 1951; they would also reach the final in 1952, only to be defeated by Collinstown, before recapturing the title in 1953 - beating holders Collinstown after a replay.

1. Delvin, Westmeath S.H.C. Winners 1953. Back row, left to right: Ernie Lenihan, Paddy Kelleghan, Paddy Larkin, Mattie Glynn, Tom White, Billy O'Neill, Dermot Butler, Paddy O'Neill. Middle row, left to right: Harry Barry, Mick Doyle, Phil Smyth, Johnny Devereaux, Brendan Mullen, Frank Walsh, Tommy Cooney. Front row, left to right: Pat Fox, Pat Gaffney (captain), Bertie Kelleghan, Paddy O'Shaughnessy.

However, success was a short-lived commodity, and after losing a 1956 Senior semi-final against Castletown-Geoghegan at the third attempt, emigration and retirement sounded the death-knell for the dream team. In 1958, Delvin were demoted to Junior, and would not return to Senior grade for another ten years. Beating Raharney in the final of the 1968 Junior Hurling Championship, Delvin stormed back into prominence, and reached the Senior final in 1969. Playing for them were names like Bernie and Ned Drumm, P.J. O'Shaughnessy, Eugene Doherty, former Raharney player Seamus Holdwright and Mullingar men Joe Bardon and Aidan Tomkins. Unfortunately, Delvin lost out to Clonkill in what would be their last Senior final to date.

2. Delvin, Westmeath S.H.C. runners up, 1969. Back row, left to right: Ned Drumm, Kieran Carroll, Seamus Holdwright, Vincent Cully, Willie Bray, Ray Mulligan, Pat Jennings, Bernie Drumm, Aidan Tomkins, John Kiernan. Front row, left to right: Micheal Leavy, Matt Mulligan, P.J. O'Shaughnessy, Des Kiernan, Sean Fay, Brendan Sherwin, Noel Fitzsimons, Eugene Doherty, Feichin O'Neill.

3. Delvin, Westmeath Junior Football Champions 1989. Back row, left to right: Mel Newman, Seamus Gaffney, Stephen Fox, Martin Joyce, David Leavy, Pat Doherty, Kevin Murphy, Paul Coll, Martin Halpin, Padraig Plunkett, Pat Fox. Middle row, left to right: Thomas Farrelly, John Paul Duffy, Gerard Farrelly, William O'Driscoll, Gerry McDonnell, Michael Reilly (Captain), Lorcan Coll, Oliver Newman, Pat Farrelly, Paul Newman. Front row, left to right: Martin Fox, Declan McCormack, David Cogan, James Brady, Stephen Newman (mascot), Larry Farrelly, Peter Kelleghan.

BACK TO MAIN

WESTMEATH G.A.A. HOME

SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL, SEPTEMBER 17, 1950 - CUSACK PARK, MULLINGAR
DELVIN. . . . . . . . . 3-3          COLLINSTOWN. . . . . . . . . 2-3
DELVIN: S. Flynn, B. O'Neill, P. Gaffney, P. Larkin, J. Devereaux, T. Lenihan (0-1), M. Glynn, H. Barry, J. Drumm, M. Lenihan (0-1), E. Lenihan, F. Walsh (2-0), B. Kelleghan, P. O'Shaughnessy (0-1), J. Bray.
Match referee: C. Gibson (Crookedwood).

SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL, SEPTEMBER 16, 1951 - CUSACK PARK
DELVIN. . . . . . . . . 4-6         COLLINSTOWN. . . . . . . . . 2-8
DELVIN: J. Devereaux, P. O'Neill, P. Gaffney, P. Larkin, M. Glynn (0-1), T. Lenihan, H. Barry, W. O'Neill, M. Lenihan (0-2), M. Doyle, B. Kelleghan, F. Walsh (0-2), P. Kelleghan (2-1), P. O'Shaughnessy, E. Lenihan (2-1).
Match referee: C. Gibson (Crookedwood).

SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL, SEPTEMBER 13, 1953 - CUSACK PARK
DELVIN. . . . . . . . . 4-6        COLLINSTOWN. . . . . . . . . 5-3 (draw game)
DELVIN: Tom White, Paddy O'Neill, Pat Gaffney (captain), Paddy Larkin, Pat Fox, Harry Barry, Willie O'Neill, Paddy Kelleghan, Phil Smyth, Dermot Butler (2-2), Mick Doyle, Frank Walsh (1-2), Johnny Devereaux, Bertie Kelleghan (1-2), Paddy O'Shaughnessy.
Referee: P. Connell (Offaly).

SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL REPLAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1953 - CUSACK PARK
DELVIN. . . . . . . . . 2-6       COLLINSTOWN. . . . . . . . . 1-8
DELVIN: Brendan Mullen, Paddy O'Neill, Pat Gaffney (captain), Paddy Larkin, Phil Smyth, Harry Barry, Mick Doyle, Willie O'Neill, Pat Fox (0-1), Dermot Butler (1-3), Paddy Kelleghan (0-1), Paddy O'Shaughnessy (0-1), Frank Walsh (0-1), Bertie Kelleghan, Johnny Devereaux.

SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL, OCTOBER 5, 1969
CLONKILL. . . . . . . . . 2-11     DELVIN. . . . . . . . . 1-8
DELVIN: Brendan Sherwin, Aidan Tomkins, Seamus Holdwright, Eugene Doherty, Joe Bardon, Matt Mulligan, John Kiernan, Ray Mulligan, Bernie Drumm, Willie Bray (1-4), Noel Fitzsimons (0-2), Des Kiernan (0-1), Feichin O'Neill, Vincent Cully, Micheal Leavy (0-1). Subs used: Ned Drumm for E. Doherty, P.J. O'Shaughnessy for V. Cully, D. Mulligan for P.J. O'Shaughnessy.

Annual Draw & Fundraising Events

History

Underage

Hurling/Camogie

Football

HURLING CLUB Chairman: Martin Newman. Secretary: Andrew Gaffney. Treasurer: William O'Driscoll. Registrar: Sean O'Brien. P.R.O.: Paul Hughes.

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