On an otherwise typical Sunday around Leitrim village in November, 1996, a small band of locals shuffled towards the local school gym hall. There was talk of setting up a new GAA club in the parish. Some 43 people reasoned it an interesting enough proposition for them to attend.
And so began Leitrim Gaels.
A few months later, after affiliation had been granted, a list of 25 eligible players was cobbled together and presented to the county board for the 1997 season. There was support for the fledgling outfit but there was also scepticism.
After rather dubiously scanning down through the register of players provided by Leitrim Gaels, one county board official wondered wryly if some of the names presented to swell the list had been taken from headstones in the local graveyard.
READ MORE
“I believe our chairman at the time, John Flynn, responded with something along the lines of, ‘No, they’re all alive and kicking.’ But it was touch and go if that was even accurate,” smiles Bryan Whitney, the current vice-chairman and a stalwart who has been involved from the outset.
A former Leitrim Gaels chairman, Whitney played in the club’s first ever game in March 1997 and he kicked two points on the day they won their first piece of silverware, a Junior B title in 2001.
But Junior B was to prove merely a jumping-off point, not a landing zone. From there, the club has truly taken flight to map out one of the great GAA club stories of recent times. On Sunday, Leitrim Gaels will play in their first ever Leitrim senior football championship final.
“All the houses are adorned with green and purple flags. There is a great sense of excitement around the area, the kids are absolutely buzzing, it’s brilliant,” says Whitney.
The early years were about survival. Leitrim Gaels didn’t win any of their first 11 league matches but every weekend they turned up. Fielded a team. Kept going.
They didn’t have their own pitch in those years either, with neighbouring club Kiltubrid allowing them the use of their facilities for matches.
In those years they trained on a hilly patch known locally as Vera’s field. It wasn’t big enough to fit a full pitch but it did have two very distinct directions to play – up the hill or down the hill.
So, getting their own land was a game-changer, and in 2007 they officially opened their pitch with adjoining community centre and facilities.
The area also benefited from population growth. The 2006 census indicated 258 people lived in Leitrim village at that time. By 2022, it had increased to 701.
And then this year the club enjoyed a population growth of three intercounty players with the Jones brothers – Ryan, Conall and Garvan – transferring from Derrygonnelly Harps.
Ryan played with Fermanagh for 14 seasons and stepped away at the end of the 2023 campaign. Conall and Garvan have also been key members of the Fermanagh squad in recent years, with the latter lining out for the Ernesiders during the 2025 campaign.
[ Fermanagh appoint Declan Bonner as sun sets on another managerial silly seasonOpens in new window ]
The Jones brothers were central pillars in lifting Derrygonnelly Harps to what is the most successful period in the club’s history – winning seven of their total of 10 Fermanagh senior football titles since 2015.
Ryan captained the club to six of those triumphs. And all three brothers played in Derrygonnelly’s last Fermanagh SFC final win in 2023.
However, a falling out with management broke some bridges and they have yet to be mended. The brothers did not play with Derrygonnelly in 2024 and instead opted to take the year out.
Ryan runs RJS Pharmacy in Drumshanbo and last season he got involved coaching with Leitrim Gaels. Having previously worked with the Leitrim under-20s, he was subsequently added to Steven Poacher’s Leitrim senior management team for 2025.
Then in January of this year the brothers took the plunge and got the green light to transfer to Leitrim Gaels.
“It’s obviously been huge for the team to have them,” says Whitney. “They were never going to transfer to a club in Fermanagh because they wouldn’t go against their own club.
“So, Leitrim was the next option and we were the lucky ones to get them. Ryan Jones is just a brilliant man to have around the community and I can’t sing his praises enough. He goes to the kids’ games, knows them, takes sessions. He sells 50/50 raffle tickets for the club; you couldn’t get a more willing fellah. They have been great additions.”
Still, there is an element of melancholy around the story, too, because as the Jones brothers prepare for Sunday’s Leitrim SFC final in Carrick-on-Shannon, the players they grew up playing alongside are preparing for Saturday’s Fermanagh SFC final, when Derrygonnelly Harps will play Erne Gaels in Enniskillen.
The reality is that in another version of this story where resolutions had been found, the Jones brothers would be playing with their home club in Brewster Park on Saturday.
Leitrim Gaels have gained from that falling out by acquiring three very talented footballers. In the semi-final win over Mohill, Garvan scored 1-4, while Conall registered 0-7.
But Leitrim Gaels have not come from nowhere to unexpectedly find themselves contesting the county final. They played in semi-finals in 2021 and 2022 and quarter-finals in 2023 and 2024.
Like many clubs, particularly rural outfits, they have suffered from emigration.
“We’ve lost some good lads at key moments over the years, that’s just the way it has been. But we have been closer to getting to a final than maybe people are giving us credit for, because we have been knocking on the door for a few years now.”
The manager of the team is Mal Guckian, a former club player and ex-chairman. When the club’s second team won a Junior C title in 2009, Guckian was the manager then too.
“If you want something done in the club, you ring Mal; he’s just one of those people, a very hard-working club activist. If slates fell down off the roof of the club house, Mal would sort it – he’s just one of the great club men,” says Whitney.
The club won the Junior A title in 2012 and followed that up with Intermediate glory in 2019.
The tide was rising. The return from New York of Tommy Flynn to the village in the early 2000s was another catalyst. Flynn had four sons and set about putting a real structure to the club’s juvenile section. They now had a production line of talent to future-proof the road ahead.
One of Flynn’s sons, Aidan, will captain Leitrim Gaels in Páirc Seán MacDiarmada on Sunday when they face Seán O’Heslin’s Ballinamore, the most decorated club in Leitrim.
They have won a record 21 Leitrim senior football titles. Sunday will be their 37th final appearance.
“They’re a great team, to be honest with you,” adds Whitney. “This is going to be a 50-50 game, I’d say there won’t be much more than a kick of a ball between the teams at the end.”
For Leitrim Gaels, the day will represent so much more than just a game, though. One of the founding fathers of the club was Whitney’s dad, Bernie. He’s 89 years young now.
“He’s still with us and he’s looking forward to Sunday.”
As well he might.
Having helped the club plant roots just under 30 years ago, on Sunday he gets to see Leitrim Gaels plant a flag in a senior county final. A landmark day. There can only ever be one first time.
