Cornafean: Cavan's trailblazers

Cornafean have won more county titles than any other in Cavan. We tell their story. By Niall Gartland It says something about Cornafean's dominance of the Cavan club scene in days of yore that they still sit comfortably atop the roll of honour list even though they haven't won a senior championship title since 1956. A full seven decades ago, in other words. From the perspective of someone like myself – a Tyrone man covering the Cavan beat for Gaelic Life – it's difficult not to be curious about these titans of the past who gobbled up 20 county titles. What made them so great? What's the story of their apparent decline? And even the more prosaic questions – where exactly is their catchment area? The obvious man to ask is the person who has literally written the book on the club – George Cartwright, a familiar name in Cavan circles. A former county chairman, Cartwright also penned a meticulously researched biography of the Cavan footballing legend, 'The Gallant John Joe O'Reilly.' A Cornafean man, like so many others who adorned Cavan's All-Ireland SFC successes of 1933, 1935, 1947, 1948 and 1952. First, a brief overview. Cartwright said: 'They had two golden eras in their illustrious history, you could say. Those golden eras were when they dominated Cavan football – in the 1910s and in the 1930s – winning the bulk of their 20 senior championships in those two decades. They also contested every Cavan Senior Championship final between 1927 and 1943. 'In the 1950s and '60s, though seldom as successful, they were still a force and were always respected and feared. Even up to the present, a lot of teams – just the name of Cornafean strikes a chord. Teams know they'll get a competitive game.' They weren't the only show in town, but they weren't far off it. Leading rivals included Cavan Slashers – who later amalgamated with Cavan Harps to form Cavan Gaels. Cartwright said: 'There was a great rivalry over the years between Cornafean and Cavan Slashers. Then later on, Mullahoran, Virginia, Bailieborough, Cootehill and Killinkere emerged as leading rivals. 'The great games with Cavan Slashers in the '30s and Mullahoran in the '40s were the showpieces of Cavan football. 'The real beneficiaries of that, obviously, were Cavan football, because Cavan were such a force in the '30s and Cornafean supplied quite a few of those players to those successful teams. 'Their main opponents at the time supplied a lot of players as well. 'Cavan's five All-Ireland successes came within a 20-year period, and there were so many great players. The team of 1933 had four Cornafean players on it. Likewise in 1935, and right on up, every team that won an All-Ireland had Cornafean clubmen on it. 'Obviously, John Joe O'Reilly stands out. He was from Cornafean and captained the Cavan team to two All-Irelands – '47 in the Polo Grounds and in '48 in Croke Park against Mayo. 'His older brother, Big Tom, captained Cavan for a number of years in the 1930s. John Joe took over after Tom. Tom was on the Cavan team in 1933 and 1935. Both of them were on it in 1937, the brilliant All-Ireland final and replay against Kerry. 'And there were other great players from Cornafean as well. Men like Willie Young, Mick Dennehy, Packie Pair, the Maguire brothers, Liam and Des, Seamus Morris in later years, Peadar Doyle. The list is endless – and they were all good players who wore the blue jersey of Cavan at the highest level. 'When I look around here where I live – I live in the heart of Cornafean – I can identify so many houses around where outstanding footballers emerged.' So the next question is a simple one: why? From the outside looking in, it seems like a typically quiet rural area, but that was actually part of the reason for their success. Many of their players were from an agricultural background. They were strong, fit, had at least a bit of time on their hands, and away they went. And to expand on the geographical location, the majority of the great Cornafean teams came from one of two geographical pockets, which comprised a handful of townlands each. The first pocket lay roughly halfway between Cornafean and Killeshandra. The second and larger pocket was situated about three miles away in an area southeast of Cornafean cross. A third and much smaller pocket lay in the heart of Kilmore parish near Drumcor chapel. There were also a few players from outlying areas, who gravitated to the club for obvious reasons. 'Cornafean is very much a rural area, and the vast majority of the players were all farmers or farmers' sons. They were mad fit for work. They worked hard on hilly, boggy, poor enough land some of the time. But they worked hard, and they were fit for it. You could say there was nothing else to do, only to work and play football. Money was scarce, but young lads mad to play football had time in the evenings – or made time when the farming duties were over – and made friendships and all that type of thing.' Cartwright also cites the leadership of Pól McSeain. He became secretary of the Cornafean club as we know it today (previously different teams made their appearance in and around Cornafean) and its chief organiser. Under Pól's leadership the new club was able to transcend the local rivalries that had hitherto existed and the rest is a matter of record. 'To go back to the early days, they were lucky to have a man of the vision of Pól McSeain, who founded the club. He brought together the disparate teams in the area. 'He brought the Killeshandra Leaguers and the Cornafean-Tubberonies and formed Cornafean Naomh Fionnan in 1908. 'That was the club that went from strength to strength. He provided the leadership in the initial years and I suppose success bred success. When you're winning championships, what else do you do only continue winning them if you're good enough?' It didn't last forever, however. Depopulation left a scar and the club hasn't appeared in a Senior Championship final since landing their 20th title in 1956. 'After the Second World War, or more so in the late '40s and '50s, emigration took its toll and the club lost players, like every other club, especially from rural Cavan. 'Fellas went to England first for a while, and then some of them moved on and went to America – San Francisco in particular. 'Their decline would be part of the overall depopulation of the rural areas of the country. That had its effect too on the successes of Cavan, because a lot of the heartlands of Cavan football, you could say, became denuded of population, and that trend continued for years.' Asked if the younger members of the club are aware of its illustrious history, Cartwright said it isn't exactly at the front of their minds. 'Obviously, young lads that are interested in history would be aware. But, you know, young lads, almost as a rule, don't have much interest in the past when they're young. They only get interested when they get older, but they'd still be aware of it. There was often a theory, which I never subscribed to, that perhaps the young lads were burdened by the history. I never subscribed to that because, look, young lads are so far removed from successes of times gone by, it wouldn't affect them.' But this isn't just a story of the distant past. Cornafean certainly aren't the force of old, but they seem to have reversed the slide. Numbers are up, and their flagship teams have improved as a consequence. 'The reason Cornafean wouldn't be as successful as they were in the past is just that their population dwindled. But that has changed in recent years, and luckily Cornafean have lots of numbers now — decent numbers. They're able to field two teams comfortably. They're also able to field two ladies' teams as well. There has been an upsurge in the population over the last 20 years, which is good to see. They're a competitive intermediate team at the moment. 'I've seen at times in the '70s in particular, and indeed the '80s, where numbers were very, very scarce, but that's been reversed somewhat, and it's good to see.'