Cill Chua Club History
On the 2nd of December 1906 a small group of people got together and formed a GAA club in the small rural village of Kilcoo. Now, 113 years later, we top the roll of honour inCounty Down, the which is nothing short of astonishing. 2019 will be a year that will live long in the memory of the gaels of the club, the year we added our 18th Down senior title and our first Ulster club, annexing the Seamus MacFerran cup on the first of December in Omagh, defeating Glenties of Donegal.
Success was plentiful for the Magpies in the 1920s and 1930s, winning 8 titles in two decades, but it was 72 years before a senior title came our way again. From the 1937 championship success, there were many barren years. A senior league success in the year of 1957 had the Owen Roes back at the top but championship glory wasn’t to be for the men of this era. The club won the B league in 1975 at senior level and hopes were raised but again it was as good as it got. It took another two decades competing in the second and third tiers of Down football but things took a turn for the better throughout the 1990’s and fortunately things have gone from strength to strength since to the present day where we are at the pinnacle. Here I will look at the rise of the club back to the top after many years in the wilderness and how it has all happened.
By the late 1980’s standards had risen to new levels in all areas within the club. The year of 1986 began on a high note, and for the first time in history, Kilcoo were named as East Down Club of the Year. In nominating Kilcoo as winners, the East Down Board were acknowledging the tremendous strides taken by the Club in the promotion of Gaelic Culture in the area over many years. The people of Kilcoo were justifiably proud to receive this award, but those who gained most satisfaction from it were undoubtedly the hard working, energetic committee members. It was men such as those committee members who were the backbone of the club and worked tirelessly and unnoticed behind the scenes; they were the people, more than any, who gained this reward for Kilcoo, in their work of fielding teams at all levels, imposing discipline, organising Scor Competitions, raising finances and planning for the future. The 28th of April of that year was a special day for all associated with the area as the first game took place on the new club grounds, now famously known as Pairc Eoghan Rua. The new ground gave players a better arena to display their skills and it has become a fortress since at all levels.
In the early 1990s some great clubmen got together and implemented better structures in terms of coaching at underage level with a long term view of finally getting back competing at the top firstly at juvenile level. Attitudes changed, commitment became greater and it wasn’t long to the breakthrough was finally made with an under 16 county title won in 1996. Prior to this though, underage silverware became plentiful and in 1995 both the under 12 & under 14 sides were victorious in winning East Down championships. Both sides repeated these successes in August 1996, with the under 14 side giving an exhibition in the final against Ardglass on a wet miserable day in Ballykinlar . This side was superbly well coached, drilled and disciplined and the style of their play won many admirers.
1996 was a massive year for the club and it was the year the breakthrough was made, winning our first county title in fifty nine long years with the under 16’s defeating Ballyholland in the final played in Burren. Superbly coached by Jerome Johnston, they worked with a squad of twenty players all season, with no under 14 players involved after a decision was made to let the younger lads develop at their own age group hence giving the lads at 15 and 16 years old more game time. Anthony Devlin played a captains part to lead his teammates to victory and when the final whistle was blown there were scenes of jubilation among the Kilcoo faithful. This success also drove our senior side on at this time and promotion back to division 2 left the club with great hope leading into the millennium.
Fast forward two years and big things where expected from the Under 16s of ’96 at minor level. This team showed wonderful character, resilience and skill to negotiate their way to a county title, beating a fancied Mayobridge in the county final in Drumgath. In a wonderful team display, the individual performances of Mark Brannigan, Noel Devlin and Anthony Devlin in attack drove the lads over the line and Kilcoo had won the minor title for the very first time in history. This team was something special and had great mentors in Barney McEvoy, John Morgan and Jerome Johnston to guide them to silverware. One week after the minor victory, many of the lads were involved again with the seniors who had made their way to the intermediate final. Unfortunately the team had an off day and lost to neighbours Liatroim but by the time the year had come to its conclusion the team bounced back and with the injection of more youth for the league playoffs, Kilcoowhere promoted and back to the top flight of Down football where we have remained to this very day.
Throughout the noughties the club kept improving in all areas and the success of the late 1990’s was superbly built on. Two county under twenty one titles were won back to back in 2000 and 2001 and the senior team competed brilliantly in the top flight in these early years back at the highest level. Another milestone was reached in 2003, Sunday 23rd November to be precise. It was a momentous day and the breakthrough we dreamed of at senior level became reality when we won the senior division one league title in Newcastle against local rivals Castlewellan, with 17 year old Conor Laverty top scoring on the day with 1-1. Anthony Devlin captained the side at the tender age of 23 and received the cup from then county chairman Eamon O’Toole amid wild celebrations. This was a very youthful side built around the victorious minors of ’98 and a few stalwarts who battled through divisions 2 & 3 to finally get success their efforts deserved. It was great to see many of the men who won the league in 1957 present to share in the glory and while history was repeated expectation levels became higher in the search for the Frank O’Hare cup.
In the early 2000’s coaching standards were taken to new levels at underage. Many of the men who started the coaching back in 1992 where still very much at the helm but as interest levels improved, commitment was like never before and young lads pulling on that Kilcoo jersey went out each day and played as if their lives depended on it. The attitude and discipline amongst the youth of the parish enhanced year on year and all that mattered was winning with your friends with that black and white shirt on your back. Success continued on an annual basis but more importantly the magpies were competing with the best from under 12 to senior level which surely was a true reflection on the coaching policies implemented.
A special group of players brought unprecedented success to the parish in 2006, our centenary year, when they travelled to Wicklow as Down under 14 Feile champions to compete for national honours. The team played some superb football over the weekend to reach the All Ireland final against Celbridge of Kildare where they won out on a final score line of 3-6 to 1-3. GAA president Nicky Brennan presented the winning cup to captain Nial Kane and had nothing but praise for the lads. A former GAA president, Sean Kelly, said that he had been to most Feile finals over the past twenty five years but he was in no doubt that this Kilcoo team were the most skilled he had seen over these years which speaks volumes to the way they were coached and managed by Jerome Johnston, Mickey McClean and senior players Donal Kane, Aidan Branagan and Conor Laverty. This was a success that may never be equalled and looking back now years later, the affect it has had in terms of being a production line to the senior side has been devastating, with so many of them current senior stars.
Over the first decade of the new century, the magpies became the dominant force at underage level and county titles were plentiful and also had great success winning three premier reserve titles. The seniors repeated the league success of 2003 in 2008 but with all this success there was still no senior title in the cabinet and each season we couldn’t overcome the big guns in the games that really mattered. All this changed though in the year 2009 when under Jim McCorry’s tutelage the breakthrough finally came. In a hard fought campaign the lads negotiated their way past the 3 big guns Bryansford, Mayobridge and Burren to reach the final where Loughinisland were the opposition. On the day the players played with a nervousness that was only to be expected but they dug deep to win on a final score line of 2-9 to 1-4 on that fourth of October day that will live long in the memory, with who else but that man Anthony Devlin being named man of the match. This became the clubs most significant day in 72 long years and probably in the 109 years of the clubs existence. The outpouring of emotion when the final whistle sounded and later at the homecoming was a testament to the importance of the national game in our parish and also the relief that after all these years, our ambitions had finally been realised. What made this day more special is that we also won the minor championship in the curtain raiser in convincing fashion against Warrenpoint.
Two days prior to the county final of 2009 another landmark for the club took place. This was the day our second pitch was sown out by the contractors who carried out the large civils project. Our hard working committee strived for years to keep improving facilities for our players and in constructing this wonderful new arena they did just that. On the night of its official opening where Kilcoo played an Ulster select, there was a wonderful sense of pride among Gaels of the parish, something the top brass in the club made happen via real hard work.
Now that we had reached the Promised Land it was a weight of the shoulders of the players, management and supporters. 2010 and 2011 where two difficult years that followed but we were never that far away and there was a fresh influx of youth about to take to the stage. The minors backed up the 2009 success going on to win 3 in a row just like they had done at under 16 level between 2007 and 2009. Paddy Murray coached these lads at under 16s and built on the work done by the under 14 management. Barney McEvoy and now club chairman Terry O’Hanlon were largely responsible for putting the successful minors in a winning position, but success never got to these lads heads and they fought like demons to make it onto the senior team.
2012 was a massive year for the club as the Frank O’Hare cup was regained. Many of the minor winning sides had now graduated to the senior team and we now had massive numbers battling for places. Gary McEvoy followed in his brother Gerard’s footsteps to lift the Frank O’Hare cup after an exciting final against Mayobridge in what started a spell of success and supremacy we could never have imagined. We went on to win 6 in a row in Down and have produced many sterling performances over these seasons in Down and in Ulster that make us all very proud.
After a final defeat in 2018 the club brought in Mickey Moran, Conleith Gilligan and Paul Devlin from Derry to take over and they truly delivered. In their first season they took the team to Down and Ulster league and championships, truly marvellous and unprecedented success. The performance in the Ulster club final and subsequent All Ireland semi and finals gained the club many new admirers and we came agonisingly close to bringing the Andy Merrigan cup home in early 2020, only to be defeated in extra time by a brilliant Corofin side.
Now that we top the leader board with 18 titles in Down, the challenge is to widen that gap and hopefully win more at provincial and All Ireland level. When we review the journey that’s been made from 1992, there is no reason to suggest why this cannot be achieved. At present underage coaching has been taken to yet another level, former county player Conor Laverty doing a fantastic job as coaching officer.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing. There were difficulties along the way on our rise back to the top. Many great club stalwarts have passed on but they will be looking down from heaven with a smile on the enormous success that’s come our way. A wonderful effort has been made by so many people in so many ways to make this success happen and just too many to mention. A wonderful dream has become reality, a long journey started from scratch has ended up with the magpies at the summit and we are here to stay.
The club have also made wonderful strides in recent times in Ladies football and Camogie. Great work has been put in by our coaches which has resulted in two intermediate football and two junior Camogie titles since the turn of the century, as well as numerous underage successes. There is ambitious girls coming through and there is great hope for the future in both ladies games.
Club Honours
All Ireland Senior club football championship:1
2021
