The 2019 County Final will be the 201st championship game played by a team from Killoe since the start of the Longford Senior Football Championship in 1890. This will be the 29th meeting of Killoe and Slashers in senior championship football. Thus far Killoe won 10, drawn 6 and lost 12.
Killoe Erin’s Pride played in the 1905 final but lost to Longford Leo Casey’s.
Killoe Young Emmets won the football and hurling double in 1907.
Near neighbours Clonbroney Camlin Rovers (now Sean Connollys) won their first and only county title in 1919 with a final replay win over Killoe Young Emmets. This event was commemorated by a mock final between both sides in September 2019 as part of the 1919-2019 centenary remembrance & commemoration events.
Killoe’s Davy Sheeran featured against Longford Slashers in the county finals of 1959 and 1960, a few years after helping Slashers to their first title in 1954.
The Killoe team of 1960 trained at Devine’s field in Esker, and would retire to team talk and tactics from Seamus McGuire and Davy Sheeran on a blackboard in Esker Hall.
The Sean Connolly Cup was first presented in 1960. Billy Morgan accepted from a gracious Slashers clubman and county board chairman Liam Ó hÓisín (a Mayo man).
The 9 finals reached by Killoe between 1983 and 2019 included 8 different goalkeepers – Mick McKeon, Kevin Bracken, Seamus Finnan, Pat Masterson, Sean Clarke, Cillian Burns, Stephen Coy & Shane Fitzpatrick.
Brendan Lennon was captain in 1987 and received the Fr Phil McGee Award for man of the match. It was not until 2015 that another player from the losing side won the man of the match award (Conor Berry – Abbeylara), ironically against Killoe.
Declan Rowley kicked the all important 50 to overcome Longford Slashers in the 1988 semi final. The Esker man then captained his side to a final victory over Mostrim, bringing an end to a 28 year wait.
Jimmy, Terry and Tommy McCormack were central to that 1988 breakthrough success. All three had joined their native Killoe from Clonguish that year, having won a number of titles with the Newtownforbes side in the seventies and early eighties (Jimmy was man-of-the-match in 1981).
Killoe won the semi finals of 1987, 88, 93 and 95 by a single point.
Killoe and Granard played in the county final of 1993. Only one player from either side (Brendan Lennon) featured on the entire Longford senior football squad that year.
Killoe men have won the Man of the Match Award on 6 final occasions – Brendan Lennon (1987), Frank Kennedy (1988), John McCormack (1993), John Toher (1995), Sean McCormack (2012) & Daniel Mimnagh (2014) . While there was no official award in 1960, Mickey Bracken was adjudged by most to be the man of the match on that occasion.
Tommy McCormack returned as winning manager in 2012-2014 having led Killoe to previous county titles in 1993 and 1995. He was followed by Declan Rowley who successfully led Killoe to the clubs first back-to-back county title. Athlone native Dessie Dolan was the clubs first outside manger in 1988, while John Doherty and John Reilly managed the team of 1983 who were beaten by Cashel in that county final.
