History – Minor Club
Minor Club
Name: Killoe Óg
As Gaeilge: Cill Eo Óg
Club Colours: White & Green
Killoe Óg is the Underage section (or Minor Club) of Killoe Young Emmets G.F.C. It was formed in 1975 as the Killoe Minor Club and caters for young footballers from U-6 to U-18. Underage football in Killoe can be dated back to the creation of the Schools League in Longford in the early 1930’s. Cullyfad N.S. had success in those early years reaching three finals and claiming the Schools League in 1934 with James Doogue as captain. Two years later Killoe became the first winners of the Minor Championship overcoming their Longford town counterparts by 6-4 to 0-6 in the 1936 final. The squad included T. Farrell, P. Lennon, T. Masterson, D. Hughes, B. McLoughlin, J. Mitchell, M. Kilmeade, J. Brady, M. Bratten, E. Doherty, J J. Doherty, J J Morgan, H. Hughes, J. Brady, J J. Hagan. There was little underage activity of note during the 1940’s but in 1948 an underage team organised by Tom McManus reached the Minor League final. The game against Longford Wanderers was declared void due to uncertainty over the eligibility of certain players, and no winner was declared.
Killoe schoolboys went through a series of near misses in the late 1950’s losing finals in 1958, 1959 and again in 1963. A rare appearance in the Juvenile 9-a-side final in 1965 resulted in defeat to Granard. The late 1960's eventually brought success with schoolboy titles in 1966 and 1969. More significantly, this group of talented young footballers would go on to provide the backbone of the 1970’s Intermediate teams and the club’s eventual return to senior status.
On the County scene, James Quinn was the earliest Killoe footballer to grab headlines in underage competition, as a player on the Longford Minor team that won the inaugural Leinster MFC title in 1929 and went on to compete in the inaugural All-Ireland MFC final in Birr in March 1930. That Killoe link would be maintained for the next Leinster MFC title win in 1937, with Joe McGuire featuring on the starting team that day. In 1965 John Doherty came on a sub in that years Fr. Manning Cup (U-16) final win, while Willie Browne was on the panel that day. Most of Killoe's underage football success and achievement came following the formation of the Killoe Minor Club in 1975. This page summarises those various successes, but does not include Cumann na mBunscol as it is separate from the GAA club.
We do not capture Scór na nÓg successes on this page. Those details can be found here.
1975-1979
Two key events in the early 1970’s had a profound effect on the development of underage football. 1971 saw the opening of St Therese’s N.S., the first centralised school in the parish. For the first time young footballers in the parish now played as a unified entity at primary school level, and thus fostered closer ties from an early age, the benefits of which would be seen as the decade progressed. The same year saw the formation of the first Minor Committee of the Killoe Young Emmets club, chaired by PJ Bennett. The concept was to provide dedicated structure to underage football in the parish. This would lead to the formation of the Killoe Minor Club in 1975 with Packie Joe Lynch as Chairman alongside Tom Mahon (Vice-Chair), Frank Toher (Secretary) and John Reilly (Treasurer). Though called a 'club', the Killoe Minor Club (as with all underage clubs in the county) was and is a sub-committee or section of the parent GAA club.
The focus on dedicated underage structures had an almost instantaneous impact on the pitch, with the Juvenile team reaching the 9-a-side League final in 1975, losing out to St. Vincents. This same group gained revenge over the same opposition the following year in 1976, winning the Minor 9-a-side League by 5-7 to 2-7 to capture the first title of the Killoe Minor Club and Killoe's first underage success since 1936! That team included: Mark Mimnagh, John Toher, Francis Rowley, Eugene Murphy (c), Eugene McNerney, John McCormack, Frank Kennedy, James Devaney & Barney Mahon. Subs: Brendan Lennon, James McGoldrick. The team was trained by John Reilly, Packie Joe Lynch and Charlie Hilliard. Killoe also reached the Minor 9-a-side League final in 1977 but lost out to St. Michaels (now Longford Slashers). 1977 saw the introduction of a Minor Clubperson of the Year award at the annual Club Dinner Dance, with Eugene McNerney the first winner. See full list of winners down the years here.
1978 proved to be a pivotal year for the Minor Club with an amalgamation of Killoe/Clonbroney/St. Mels Shroid (called Killoe Region) proved too strong for Granard Region (Granard/Ballymore) in capturing the Minor Championship title by 2-7 to 0-3. The Minor 9-a-side League title was regained in 1978 after beating St. Vincents by 4-7 to 2-8 in an exciting final in Kenagh, with Eugene McNerney lifting the Tom Hayden Cup. The team was managed by John Reilly with Packie Joe Lynch and Kevin Lennon as selectors.
The success of the Killoe U-21 team in winning the U-21 Championship in 1979 was the culmination of the previous years underage successes, and with the club’s long awaited return to senior status complete by the close of the decade, hopes were high of greater days to follow. The Killoe lineout in the 1979 final included six Minors and two Juveniles.
1979 saw the brief return of competitive hurling to Killoe for the first time since the successful Senior team of the 1910's, when Killoe entered a team in the U-14 Hurling Championship alongside teams from Slashers Gaels, Wolfe Tones, Cashel, St. Mels Shroid and Rathcline Gaels.
On the County scene, John Toher and John McCormack featured on the Longford U-16 Team in the Fr. Manning Cup final of 1976, with Speedy scoring 1-3 on the day. John Toher and Brendan Lennon featured on the Longford Minor Team in the Connacht Minor League Final of 1979, with John Toher captaining the team to victory that day.
1980-1989
The success of the late 1970's continued into the 1980's with an incredible treble of victories for the Juveniles – A first Juvenile Championship title along with Juvenile 9-a-side and 13-a-side League titles. The Juvenile Championship victory over Mostrim in 1980 was achieved in an amalgamation with Clonbroney and Colmcille (called Killoe Region). A first U-14 rural Championship followed in 1981 with this group going on to win a Juvenile 9-a-side League & Juvenile Championship double in 1983 (Championship as part of an amalgamation with Clonbroney and Colmcille). Titles in Minor 9-a-side League (1981, 1982, 1984), Minor 13-a-side League (1985) followed in the first half of the decade, and major success came in 1985 when an amalgamation of Killoe and St. Mels Shroid captured the Minor Championship title. The Juvenile team won the 9-a-side League in 1985 to cap off a very successful year for the club.
By the Minor Clubs official 10th anniversary, 16 underage titles had been amassed – a golden period for underage football in the club. Killoe continued to remain prominent in underage during the second half of the 1980's, making Minor Championship Final appearances in 1986 and 1988 and winning Minor 9-a-side League in 1987.
Killoe's hurling revival of 1979 continued into 1980 and Killoe competed in the Hurling mini Féile competition in Longford in May 1980, with teams from Westmeath, Galway, Tipperary, Kilkenny and Longford. In Round 1 Killoe beat Lough Forbes Gaels by 2-0 to 1-0, but lost to Éire Óg Clonmore (Tipperary) in the Winners group. Killoe also took part in U-14 Féile na nGael in Longford in 1980, and was drawn against Wolfe Tones at home on 18th May in Round 1. The hurling activity did not sustain in Killoe and fizzled out as the 1980's progressed. Killoe would not compete in underage hurling again until 1997.
On the County scene, Matt Duggan, Declan Rowley and Damien Bennett all featured for the Longford Minor Team in the Connacht Minor League final victory of 1981.
1990-1999
The 1990's started well with an amalgamation of Killoe and Clonbroney winning the Minor Championship title by staging a terrific second half comeback to beat rivals St. Vincents by 2-9 to 2-6. The Juvenile 9-a-side team claimed League honours in 1990 beating Carrickedmond in the final. This proved to be a high point of the 1990’s as success at underage level diminished with exception of a handful of Juvenile League Division 2 titles (1990 & 1998) and Minor League Division 2 titles (1995 & 1999), the latter of those Minor League titles in an amalgamation with Ballymore called Camlin Rovers. 1995 also saw the Juvenile team win the 'B' Championship title. The Minor Division 2 (13-a-side) League title win in 1995 was perhaps the highlight of these successes with a strong team beating a fancied Dromard side in the final, with Ian Browne providing an exhibition of point scoring in windy conditions at Pearse Park. The team was: Joe Quinn, Seán Columb, Paul Devaney, Peter Lee, Val Delaney, Damien Fitzpatrick, Ian Browne, Declan McCormack, Ollie Killian, Aidan Doherty, Darrell Fitzpatrick, Thomas Brady, John Conlon. Subs: Brendan Quinn, Aidan Brady & John Mallon.
Killoe won the U-12 League-Championship in 1993 and 1999, while the latter part of the decade saw a renaissance at primary school level under the guidance of Colm Harte, which sowed the seeds for the underage and adult success to come in the new millennium.
There was also a brief revival of hurling in Killoe in 1997 following an increased focus on hurling coaching in the schools across the county. In August 1997 Killoe hosted an inter-county hurling blitz at Emmet Park involving 16 different hurling teams. Killoe competed in U-10 competition and won the final of the U-10 hurling blitz after beating Longford Slashers, drawing with St. Dominics Roscommon, beating Wolfe Tones and finally defeating Ballymahon in the decider by 3-0 to 0-0. However the revival did not sustain and underage hurling fell away quickly thereafter in the parish.
As the millennium drew to a close, Killoe underage teams had won 23 titles from U-12 to Minor grade, and 22 of them had been won since the formation of the Killoe Minor Club in 1975.
2000-2009
In 2000 the Minor team (amalgamated with Clonbroney as Camlin Rovers) reached the Minor Championship final and won the Minor Division 2 League (also won as Camlin Rovers). The main success that year was the all-conquering U-14 team who completed the historic treble of League (Division 1), Championship and Feile titles with some emphatic victories along the way. The U-14 League (Division 1) and championship titles were retained the following year in 2001.
Killoe were now regularly involved in the shakeup for underage honours, winning Juvenile League titles (Division 1) in 2002 and 2005, Minor League (Division 1) in 2004, and Minor Championship in 2005 with victory over neighbours Clonguish by 2-11 to 2-7. This was the first Minor Championship title won by a solely Killoe team since 1936 (1978, 1985 & 1990 titles were won in amalgamations). It is worth noting that seven members of that 2005 Minor Championship winning squad would go onto win the 2012 Senior Football Championship. Killoe also won the Minor 'B' Championship in 2006.
The latter half of the 2000's saw an explosion of titles as Killoe emerged alongside Northern Gaels and St. Vincents as the foremost underage teams in the county. The Juvenile team League (Division) titles in 2007 and 2007 and Juvenile Championship title in 2007. The U-14’s also achieved similar League (Division 1) and Championship double success in both 2008 and 2009. The Minor team reached both League and Championship finals in 2008 losing both to Northern Gaels. The following year in 2009 they made amends with a comprehensive 2-14 to 0-11 win over St. Vincent’s in the Minor Championship final. Man of the match Mark Hughes scored 10 points while Patrick Thompson bagged both goals. Killoe also won Minor League (Division 1) in 2009 to complete a Minor League & Championship double, and also rounded off the year with the Special Minor League title.
At U-12 grade, Killoe enjoyed success in the 2000's with U-12 League-Championship title wins in 2002, 2004 and 2009.
At inter-county level, Longford Minors won a fourth Leinster MFC title, upsetting the odds against Offaly with five Killoe players involved: Ronan Keogh, Darragh Bennett, Padraig McCormack, Mark Hughes and Paddy Thompson.
It is worth noting that Killoe Minor Club teams changed it's name from Killoe to Killoe Óg during the early 2000's.
2010-2019
The Juvenile team won back to back Juvenile Championship titles in 2010 and 2011 and went on to participate in and win the inaugural Leinster U-16 League in 2011, beating Navan O’Mahony’s 2-15 to 4-4 in the decider. The Juvenile and Minor teams both won Division 1 League titles in 2010. The U-13 team won the League (Division 1) title in 2011 and went on to win three-in-row of League titles in 2011, 2012 & 2013. The U-12 team won the League-Championship title in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2016, and won the Division 4 League title in 2011.
2012 turned out to be the landmark year for underage football in Killoe, with teams winning nine different underage titles across every grade from U-12 to Minor, the most achieved by any Longford club in one year. The U-14 team won the treble (Championship, League & Féíle) for the second time and went a step further by winning the All-Ireland Feile Division 4 title, beating Newtown Blues of Louth 2-3 to 0-6 in the final. Coming just 12 months after the club won the Leinster Juvenile title, this represented a massive leap forward for underage football in the club. In total, 2012 saw title wins in Minor Championship, Special Minor League, Special Juvenile League, U-14 Championship, U-14 Division 1 League, U-14 County Féile, U-14 National Féile Division 6, U-13 Division 1 League and U-12 League-Championship.
Longford’s Leinster U-21 Championship final appearance in 2013 featured no less than eight Killoe players, with Padraig McCormack captaining the side. 2013 also saw title win for the U-14 team in League (Division 1) and League title wins for U-13 team. The retaining of the U-21 County Championship in 2014 showed the depth of talent flowing into the senior ranks from the underage structure. 2014 saw title wins in Special Minor League, Juvenile League (Division 1), U-14 League (Division 1) and U-14 Féile.
The Killoe Minor club entered its 40th Anniversary year in 2015 with a proud legacy and great optimism for the future. That year proved very successful with 8 underage title wins: Minor League (Division 1), Special Minor League, Juvenile Championship, Juvenile League (Division 1), U-14 Championship, U-14 League (Division 1), U-14 Féile and U-12 Longford/Leitrim Cup.
2016 saw title wins in Special Minor League, U-17 Regional Cup, Juvenile Championship, Juvenile League (Division 1) and U-15 Regional Cup (in amalgamation with Clonguish Óg). In 2017 the club added another Minor Championship title to the Minor League (Division 1), Juvenile Championship (3-in-a-row), U-14 Championship and U-13 Regional Cup titles won that year, making it a a clean sweep of underage Championship titles that year.
2018 bought more success with back-to-back Minor Championship and Minor League (Division 1) titles, coupled with back-to-back U-14 Championship titles as well as U-14 League (Division 1) and County Féile title wins as well as back-to-back U-13 Regional Cup wins. As the decade came to a close in 2019, the Minors would complete a unique 3-in-row of Minor League (Division 1) titles, along with the Special Minor League title, while the Juveniles captured the League (Division 1) title and U-13 team won the Leinster Cross-County League title.
On the County scene, Darragh Bennett, Ronan Keogh and Padraig McCormack all featured in the starting line-0ut for the Longford Minor Team in their Leinster MFC victory in 2010, while all three along with Mark Hughes lined out for Longford in that years Leinster Minor League final win. In 2012 Darragh Gilna captained Longford U-16 team to Fr. Manning Cup victory, with James King also featuring on the team that day. In 2014 Ciaran Donohoe played on the Longford Minor team to win the Leinster Minor League title. In 2018 Darren Moffett, Jonathan Borland, Euan Finneran, Cian Dooner, James Moran and Reece Leonard all lined out for Longford Minor Team in the Leinster Minor Shield Final victory.
The 2010's was most successful periods in the history of the Killoe Minor club, with unprecedented success from U-12 to Minor.
2020-2025
The incredible success of the 2010's inevitably led to a quieter period as the 2020's began. The U-19 team won the 'A' Championship title in 2021, while 2022 saw title wins in Minor Development League 1, Juvenile 'B' Championship (called Intermediate) and Juvenile Development League 1 competitions. The Minor team won the Minor 'A' Glenn Brady Cup in 2023 (played for by losing semi-finalists in the Minor A Championship), while 2024 saw title wins in the Minor Development League 1 and Juvenile B Championship.
The Scór na nÓg Question Time team of David Quinn, Cian Gilna, Adam McCarthy and Conor Doherty along with team mentor Aron Fitzpatrick made history by winning the All-Ireland title in May 2023, a first All-Ireland title in Scór na nÓg for the club.
On the County scene, Conor Doherty and Adam McCarthy lined out for Longford U-16 Team in the 2023 Fr. Manning Cup final victory, while Conor Doherty lined out for Longford Minor Team in their famous victory over Dublin in the 2024 Leinster MFC Final. The 2024 Longford Minor panel also included David Quinn, Joe Rowley, Cian Gilna and James Dooner. In 2025 Gavin Donohoe lined out for the Longford Minor Team in the All-Ireland Minor 'C' Championship final win over Wicklow.
In 2025 the Killoe Minor Club celebrated 50 years since it's formation in 1975. The club can look back at a proud history including 28 title wins which sowed the seeds for the Senior Club success that followed and which has helped build the club into one of the largest and most successful in the county. The underage success of the 2000's gave rise to the largest period of Senior Football success in club's history in the 2010's, and as the process of rebuilding and development continues, the club looks forward confidently to more success in the future, building upon a proud tradition and history.