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Killeshandra Leaguers 1933Front: M. Hoey, P. McCaffrey, P. Devlin, J. Prunty |
As a result, throughout these years Killeshandra Leaguers would live very much in the
shadow of Cornafean. Indeed, during the 1910's and 1920's the Leaguers had great
difficulty in surviving as a club. Never-the-less, they produced some very fine players
such as John Crotty, Tom and Paddy Gilronan, Packie and Mick Dinneny, Paddy McCaffery, Pat
and Joe Sexton. In those days they played in Cassidy's field, later the site of the
McCormac Products factory.
The 1930's was to mark the beginning of a great era for Cavan football. The parish of
Killeshandra could boast of some of the best of the Cavan team; players like Packie
Devlin, Packie Phair, Mick Dinneny, Willie Young, Big Tom O'Reilly. It didn't matter
whether they played for Cornafean or for the Leaguers, they were all sons of the parish
and they brought a sense of pride to the people of the parish.
At an A.G.M held in the Market House in 1932 the Leaguers we re-formed
and a new committee was elected. A new set of black and amber jerseys was bought and
Packie Devlin was chosen as captain. Devlin also trained the team, meeting every evening
in the Market House. Starting at 7.30pm, the training session sometimes went on until
11.30pm. As part of the training session, they had to jog the three miles to Portlongfield
Cross, to the accompaniment of Jimmy Kearn's music on the mouth organ. This hard work
would soon bring some signs of success when in 1935 they reached their first junior
championship final. In the final they played Crubany and won easily by 11 points to 1.
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Killeshandra Leaguers 1933Front: M. Hoey, P. McCaffrey, P. Devlin, J. Prunty |
This would be the last major championship win for 31 years. During the 1940's players
that served the club included Packie McGibney, Willie McClean, Sean Magee, J.P. Maguire,
and Des Benson who won an All-Ireland with Cavan in 1948 playing in goals. During these
years the home pitch was the Castle Field and the dressing rooms were Tom Farrelly's
house. Refreshments consisted of spring water from the Castle well. Transport to away
games was by bicycle, but for longer distances they hired cars from Joe Sexton, George
Blair and Harry Finlay. Fund-raising was a major problem and the chief sources of finance
were dances and, in Lent, concerts.
By the late fifties the club had lapsed but it was revived again at an A.G.M in 1960.
Funds were raised from card drives and open air ceilis at 'Nancy's Cross'. During the
1960's they use a variety of fields for pitches including McCann's Hill and The Factory
Field. In 1968 they purchased Dysert Field. By 1970 the team was back in winning form.
After a gap of 31 years they again won the Junior Championship beating Butlersbridge in
the final. But the most successful years were to come at the end of the 70's. In 1978 they
won the first of three Junior League titles in a row when they defeated Belturbet.
By the early 1980's the club had purchased a piece of land near the old Manse, on the
outskirts of the town. Work began on the development of the new pitch and dressing rooms.
Named after one of Killeshandra's most famous footballers, Packie Devlin Park was
officially opened on 11 July 1982.
The Dressing Rooms and Entrance to the new Devlin Park
Over the next few years Cavan suffered many
narrow defeats in various finals and semi-finals and it was beginning to look as though
they would never make the big breakthrough. In 1933 they won their first senior
All-Ireland title, defeating Galway by 2-5 to 1-4. Over 800 people travelled from
Killeshandra to cheer for Packie and for the Killeshandra/Cornafean players on the Cavan
Team. Cavan would win a second title in 1935 and by now the names of Packie Devlin, Pat
Phair, Mick Dinneny and Big Tom O'Reilly were known throughout the land. Cavan were
defeated in the 1937 final against Kerry but many reckoned that this was Devlin's finest
game. To the left we see a photograph of Willie Young (left) and Packi Devlin (right) in
Croke Park after the 1937 All-Ireland Final. In the background is Packie's brother,
Johnny.
Pictured here with Pat Sexton (left),
Packie, a postman by occupation, stood over 6 ft tall. He was a stylish footballer and his
slight of hand with the ball left many a famous footballer looking into space. His high
side-kick from 50 yds was always sent straight between the posts. Around Killeshandra he
was hero, especially among the young. At a time when football in Killeshandra was at a low
ebb Devlin delighted in spending the long summer evenings training the youngsters on the
local football pitch on. Indeed, when he retired from inter-county football he dedicated
much of his time to organising and training the Killeshandra Leaguers team. Under his
tough training regime the team met every evening in the old courthouse which was located
upstairs in the Market House and, as part of the regime, they went on a three mile jog out
to Portlongfield Cross.
Packie Devlin's service to the Killeshandra Leaguers spanned 25 years. He, and his
brother Johnny, were the pillars of the junior championship winning teams of the late
30's. During these years the Killeshandra Leaguers team became known as Croghan because
Packie and Johnny lived at Croghan, about a mile outside the town. Packie was a tireless
worker for the club. At club meetings he could inspire enthusiasm for any cause as he
paced up and down the floor. On one occasion the team had been invited to take part in a
tournament at Wattlebridge, Co. Fermanagh, as part of an event in aid of the local parish.
Club members were reluctant to accept the invitation because it would cost too much. But
Devlin would have none of that. Still pacing the floor, he announced "We can't let
down Fr. Tom. If we have enough volunteers we'll cycle there (16 miles)." They all
agreed and the team cycled to Wattlebridge.
Sadly Packie Devlin died on 8 November 1951 at the age of 42.
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