CLUB OFFICERS
Chairman, B.White; Vice-Chairman, Patrick ("N") McGloin; Joint Secs., Paddy McGloin and Aidan Gallagher; Treasurer, Paddy ("Ed") McGowan; Committee, J.P. Gallagher, Seamus McGowan, Aidan McGowan, M. McGloin, Eamon Gallagher, Willie Gilmartin, Peter McGowan, Joe Keon, Patrick McGowan, Sonny Scollan. Barney Clancy, Thomas Kelly, Patrick Rooney, John McGourty, S.F. Capt., Jackie Gallagher, Vice-Capt., Jim Kelly.
Colours: Blue, white collar and cuffs.
No. of teams fielded: 4 (Senior, Junior, Minor and Juvenile).
Inter-county players on team: Almost all team members have represented Leitrim in some grade.
First Officers Of Club: President, Rev. Canon Dolan, P.P., Chairman, Martin B. McGowan, N.T., (R.I.P.); Secretary, B. White; Treasurer, Owen Greenen (R.I.P.).
Club Sec's Address: Cloone, Kinlough, Co. Leitrim.
THE PATH TO GLORY
For the past three years Kinlugh Melvin Gaels have been senior football champions of Leitrim. The club, founded on November 19, 1953, took its name from Lough Melvin, the world-famous trout fishing centre. The river Drowes, which drains the lake, has its own place in Irish history, for it is said that on its banks, close by the Lough, the Four Masters wrote part of their History of Ireland.
Kinlough, a quiet, peaceful village, two miles from Bundoran, is very proud of its football team, especially as the players are drawn from a very small, thinly-populated area with a high emigration rate. At times it is almost impossible to keep a team going and it is a tribute to officials and players that so much success has been achieved despite the continual drain on man-power.
Since the foundation of the club death took from it in 1954 its first treasurer, Owen Greenen, even before the Gaels had played a game. Then in June, 1958 Melvin Gaels received their hardest blow through the death of Martin Bernard McGowan, N.T., one of the pillars of the club. He was a great man in every respect and a lover of everything Irish, and his seven sons have played for the Gaels.
In Melvin Gaels' first game they defeated a North Leitrim selection in Kinlough on January 3, 1954 and Michael McGloin, the captain, secured their first score. 1954 also saw Gaels win the Feis Medals Competition. This they have won every year since then, with the exception of 1959 when Glenfarne defeated them by one point.
In 1955 Melvin Gaels won the county junior football title, defeating Aughawillan by 3-7 to 2-2. They also won the North Leitrim Shield.
Came 1956 and Gaels contested their first Leitrim senior final against Ballinamore in Manorhamilton. The game ended in a draw and Ballinamore were successful in the replay in Carrick-on-Shannon. In 1957 they again contested the county senior final but lost to Bornacoola by 3-7 to 0-6.
Came 1958 and Melvin Gaels were unluckily beaten by one point by Carrick-on-Shannon in the senior championship semi-final. They had their revenge, however, in the senior league semi-final three weeks later, defeating Carrick-on-Shannon by 5-8 to 1-5, and went on to a 2-5 to 1-4 victory over Bornacoola in the final.
1959 was Gaels' greatest year to date. They beat Carrick-on-Shannon by 0-8 to 0-4 in the county senior semi-final and defeated Ballinamore by 1-6 to nil in the final. They also captured the senior league with a 3-7 to 0-3 victory over Aughavas.
In 1960 they met Carrick-on-Shannon in the county final and drew, 2-7 all after goalkeeper Paudge McGowan had brilliantly saved a last-minute penalty from Josie Murray. Gaels won the replay but lost the senior league title to Carrick, ironically enough when Josie Murray scored from a penalty.
In 1961 Gaels retained the county senior title with a 1-6 to 0-5 victory over Carrick-on-Shannon in the final. They also won the county senior league, which was run on the points system for the first-time ever, and were victorious in the first-ever Four County League for the Gold Flake Cup, defeating Ballyshannon (Donegal) by 1-7 to 1-1 in the final.
Just now Carrick-on-Shannon Gaels are busy exploring every avenue to raise funds for the town's new G.A.A. Stadium, named in honour of Sean Mac Diarmada, Leitrim's noblest son and a signatory of the 1916 Proclamation.
Situated on the Dublin Road, adjacent to the town, the site is regarded as an ideal location for the stadium, having unlimited parking accomodation and being approachable from four roads. The main entrance will be off the Dublin-Sligo road and the fact that the park is situated off the roadway means that patrons will gain admission with the utmost comfort and without crushing.
Man behind the project is Rev. P. Claffey, C.C., whose dynamic energy and guidance as chairman of the Park Committee is much in evidence since the project got under way. With Jim Scott looking after correspondence, George O'Toole in charge of finances, and a livewire executive committee it is hoped that when opening day comes in May, 1963, a fitting monument will stand outside Carrick-on-Shannon to the memory of Leitrim's Sean Mac Diarmada.
The Committee in charge felt that the entrance to the Park was too narrow and, after some negotiation, Mr. K. Doherty, a prominent business-man in the town gave a further plot of ground free of charge, a gesture which was deeply appreciated by all concerned.
Leitrim folk at home and abroad who wish to support the provision of a first class ground should send subscriptions to the treasurer, George O' Toole, Main Street, Carrick-on-Shannon.