Mohill GAA
The parish of Mohill currently has two GAA Football Clubs, Mohill who play in Division 1 and the Senior Championship and Eslin who play in Division 3 and the Intermediate Championship. The Mohill Club also fields teams in Divisions 3 and Division 5. Both Clubs have won Senior Titles in the past and in fact Mohill Faugh-an-Bealaghs won the first ever Leitrim Senior Championship in 1890, defeating Ballinamore in the final. Ironically Eslin won their first title the following year by defeating Mohill in the Final. Eslin won the last of their 3 Titles in 1917 but have won several Junior Championships in the meantime. Mohill won their last Senior Title in 2006 defeating St. Marys Kiltoghert by one point in a game which saw them complete a dramatic comeback winning on a scoreline of 0-13 to 1-9.
Mohill have won the Senior Championship five times. The years being 1890, 1914, 1929, 1971 and 2006. 2006 was our first Senior title in 35 years but amazingly was also our first time to contest a final since 1974. Many years of getting knocked out at the later stages including two Semi Finals in 1988 and 1989 was all forgotten about in October 2006 when we completed a five point comeback with six minutes remaining to win by a point. In December of 2006 we completed a historic year for the Club winning the Division 1 League for the first time in the Clubs history defeating Aughawillan on a cold Decembers afternoon in Ballinamore. Both Mohill and Aughawillan had contested the Division 2 League Final of 2005 with us taking the spoils. Like every team, the heartbreak of Senior relegation occured on a few occasions. In 1978 our first team won the Junior A League and Championship only seven years after claiming the Senior Championship. Our second and third teams have also tasted success winning the Junior B Championship in 1997 and the Junior C Championship in 2003. In recent years our second team have been unlucky not to be promoted to Division 2 and Intermediate Championship after losing the Junior A Championship in 2011 and finishing just outside the top two in Division 3 on numerous occasions. In 2013, we contested our first Senior Championship Final since 2006 but lost to St Marys Kiltoghert 2-14 to 2-8. A week later and we are now contesting the Junior A Championship Final for the second time in three years against the same oppposition St Marys.
Mohill and Eslin amalgamate for Minor and U21 under the name St Manchans, named after the patron saint of the parish. St Manchans first amalgamated in 1975 and first tasted success in 1976, winning the Minor League. Manchans went on to win the Minor Championship in 1983 and 1986 before the amalgamation resolved until 2008 when it was revived once again. Since 2008, St Manchans have contested five Minor League Finals in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 winning three in a row since 2011. They have also contested in two Minor Championship Finals in 2012 and 2013, losing in 2012 in a replay to Gortletteragh/Fenagh, but defeating Ballinamore/Sean O'Heslins in the 2013 final. St Manchans U21's have also been successful in recent years winning the Championship in 2010 and contesting the Final in 2012 losing after extra time to Glencar/Manorhamilton. On the topic of amalgamtions Mohill and Gortletteragh have also amalgamated in the past to form Lough Rynn Gaels. They also tasted success in the late 70's winning the U21 Championship in 1977 and 1978 and the Minor Championship in 1979.
Mohill have been very successful in recent years dominating at underage level. Since 2000 Mohill have won numerous underage Leagues and Championships including a historic three-in-a-row in the Minor Championship in 2003, 2004 and 2005, also winning the League in 2003 and 2004. At U16 level we have had major success in Division 1 in recent years but until 2011, Mohill hadn't won an U16 A Championship since 1997, although winning at lower grades before that. A Division 3 League in 2007 and Division 2 Leagues in 2003 and 2008. In 2011 our U16s won the A Championship and again in 2012 when they also won the League earlier in the year. In 2013 our U16s retained the League title to make it two League titles and two Championship titles since 2011. The U16 Championship is ongoing as of October 2013 where our lads are hoping to win the cup for the third year in a row, which would be a first for the club at this level. At U14 level we have also been successful winning the U14 Division 1 League and Championship in 2011 and winning the Division 1 League in 2013 but unfortunately narrowly losing the Championship Final by a point to Fenagh/St Caillins. Before 2010 we competed at a lower grade in U14 winning a Division 4 Championship in 2006 and losing the Division 2 Championship Final in 2007, Division 2 League Finals in 2008 and 2009 and the Division 1 League Final in 2010. At U12 there is no longer competitive League or Championship played after a motion was passed in 2010 but before that we won many U12 titles. In 2004 we won the Division 3 U12 League and retained it in 2005. In 2006 we lost the Division 3 Championship Final but this team, who were playing Division 3 at U12 level went on to contest the Minor A Championship Final in 2012 which shows the huge improvement levels at underage in our club. In 2008 we won the U12 Division 2 League and this turned out to be the last year the U12 League was played. In 2009, our U12s won the A Championship, winning our clubs first U12 Championship since 1993. With the U12 Leagues and Championships done away with after this, there was a blitz basis brought in with Finals to be played at the end of all the rounds. In 2011 our U12s won the Division 1 Shield on this basis. It can be seen from this section that we have been very successful at underage and hopefully this can be carried through to adult football in the future.
Arguably Leitrim and one of Irelands greatest footballers, Packy McGarty was born in Mohill. McGarty had the distinction of playing for his county over 4 decades 1949-73 but his finest hour was in the 1958 Connacht Final despite the heart breaking defeat to Galway. There was in fact at one time 3 Senior teams in the parish as Gorvagh also had a Club. In fact Gorvagh were the kingpins of Leitrim football in the 1920's and were the only team in the County to win 4 titles in a row 1924-28, when they were led by their inspirational captain Jack Bohan, until Glencar/Manor repeated that in 2011 and also Melvin Gaels who were awarded the 1962 Final at a County Board Meeting in recent years. Mohill GAA Club is 124 years old in 2013.
