Scór na nÓg

What is Scór

Scór is a GAA competition that combines all the colour and rivalry of Gaelic Games with the social element of Ireland’s traditional past-times. The competition was established by the GAA in 1969 with the aim of promoting Ireland’s traditional pastimes and culture while offering club members the chance to represent their club during the winter months while Football and Hurling had ceased.

Today there are eight events in Scór that cover all aspects of Irish culture: Figure/Céilí Dancing, Solo Singing, Instrumental Music, Recitation, Ballad Group, Novelty Act, Question Time and Set Dancing. The competition is divided into two age levels: Scór Na nÓg (for young people under 17) and Scór Sinsear (for those over 17). Just like the All-Ireland Football and Hurling Championships clubs taking part in Scór must first take part in a county championship. The winners go on to the provincial championship and then the All-Ireland Final.

Scór na nÓg

Killoe’s participation in Scór na nÓg dates back to the early 1970’s to the foundation of the competition where the record shows the parishes’ first involvement in Scór. In 1971 Marie Reilly from Glannagh became the trail blazer collecting the parish’s first county title in Music. It was not until 1983 that the club eventually won another title by virtue of a talented Set Dancing group consisting of Mairead Donohoe, Karen Browne, Fidelma Rowley, Martina Brady, Elizabeth Duggan, Eleanor, Mary and Teresa Hagan with Killoe also winning the overall “Club of the Year”. The following year the same Set Dancing group retained their county title with the Hagan siblings Gerard, Teresa and Eleanor also successful in the Instrumental Music category and breaking the mould by reaching the provincial decider – a feat they would repeat again in 1985.

In 1990 the club achieved a double success with Deidre Kenny winning the Solo Singing event alongside the Question Time team of John Devaney, Brid Doherty and Aiden Doherty. The following year a team of John Devaney, Aiden Doherty and Michael Browne retained the Question Time title. 1992/93 was to prove a landmark period for Killoe with the tremendous success of their Novelty Act ‘Heaven’s Just A Sin Away’ a political satire written by Mickey Kenny and Mick Fleming. The cast of John Devaney, Aiden Doherty, Lisa Kelly, Liam Brady, Paul Devaney, Mark McGoldrick, Kieran Browne and Laura Doherty swept county honours along the way to an historic Leinster title in the Olympia Theatre in January ’93 – a first for Longford in this category. Later that year Aiden Doherty, Ian Browne and Shane Hughes won a third Question-Time title in four years.

The following years would see Mickey Kenny’s Novelty Acts become the flag-bearer from Scór success in Killoe. In 1995 another political satire ‘Aeroflop’ won the county honours and was narrowly defeated in the provincial final. The cast consisted of Ian Browne, Lisa Kelly, Kevin Molloghan, Aoife Doherty, Shane Hughes, Laura Doherty, Liam Brady and Claire Hughes. Three years later ‘The Last Judgement’ with a cast of Shane Doherty, Damien Walsh, Fiona Kenny, Natasha Bankowski, Patrick Doherty, James Hughes, Sean & Joe McCormack claimed county honours and narrowly lost out on a Leinster title after impressing judges with their energetic performances along the way. Further success in this category followed with county titles in 2000 and 2001 with ‘Reeling in The Years – Scenes from A Second Millennium’ which lost out in the provincial final the second time round on a count back.

The focus of Killoe’s success in Scór then shifted to the music categories with the Ballad Group winning the county title in 2002 under the tutelage of Grainne Fox, the first of a remarkable four-in-a-row that would take them all the way to the All-Ireland Finals. The 2002 group consisted of Doireann Fox, Aoife Fox, Niamh Devaney, Nora McGoey and Aisling Bennett while Emily Hughes and Alison Kenny joined the group the following year. In 2004 (with Sinead McCormack as its newest member) they reached the Leinster final again in Ballinakill, Co Laois and this time they were successful claiming the parish’s second provincial title. They were unlucky not to claim All-Ireland honours in Athlone losing out to Caltra from Galway despite receiving the highest score. They did retain the county title in 2005 and reached the provincial final once again bringing to a close a remarkable period for this talented group of singers. The Question Time team of Kevin McDermott, Denis & Ronan McGoldrick were also successful in 2004 winning the county title. In 2008, Fergal O’Donnell won the county title in the Recitation and reached the Leinster Final while our Instrumental Group reached the Leinster Final in 2015/16.

The 2017/18 season would see county final success for Balled Group, Solo Singing and Question Time, with the Balled Group capturing the Leinster title and advancing, with the Question Time team, to the All Ireland Final in Sligo. Congratulations to the Balled Group team of Olivia Whelan, Michelle Mollaghan, Niamh O’Brien, Anna Moorhead, Alanna McKeon, Solo Singer Olivia Whelan and Question Time team of Darina McGoldrick, Ciaran Bracken, Euan Finneran & James Moran, all of whom done their parish and county proud.

Scór na nÓg Titles