St Louis Kilkeel’s memorable 2005 MacRory run

James Colgan, Cathal Murray and Steven McVeigh reflect on the year that St Louis Kilkeel stunned the schools GAA world.

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The St Louis Kilkeel team in the huddle ahead of the 2005 MacRory Cup final at Casement Park.

By Peter McGrath Junior

NOT all stories have the fairytale ending. 20 years ago, in 2005, there was heartbreak for St Louis, Kilkeel, in the MacRory Cup final as they were beaten by Omagh CBS after a replay but, in their first season playing football at ‘A’ grade at that age group, the Kilkeel story had captivated Gaels province-wide. 

Originally an all-girls school, ‘The Convent’ had opened its doors to boys in the 1970s. Traditionally camogie had been the preeminent game played at the school and then hurling, introduced by Jerry Sheehan, had been popular with the boys in the years after they arrived, but it remains their ‘golden generation’ of footballers who took the school to successive MacRory Cup finals for which the school is still widely recognised in Gaelic circles. 

With an enrolment at the time of just over 500 students (approximately 250 boys), the Kilkeel school competed with, and surpassed, their famed rivals at the time, some of whom had over four times as many boys to choose from.

It was an exciting time for the school and its footballers. While St Louis emergence at MacRory level may have been seen as a bolt from the blue beyond the reaches of the school itself, there was a sense in Mourne that something special was building. 

There had been successes at ‘B’ level in the years before, most notably a MacLarnon Cup leading to a ‘B’ All Ireland victory in 2004. 

As fourth years, this group had also dipped their toe into the waters of ‘A’ football, reaching the latter stages of a Brock Cup before losing to St Colman’s College, Newry and looking back, their manager Cathal Murray reflects on the thinking behind entering MacRory Cup football for the first time.

Murray recalled, “The decision to go up stemmed from how we competed at fourth year and the fact that the lads had already Ulster and All-Ireland medals at ‘B’ grade. 

“We wanted to challenge ourselves and really push the boat out to see what we could achieve.” 

Those thoughts were echoed by Steven McVeigh, who assisted Cathal with the team in 2005. He said, “We were delighted to win the MacLarnon and All-Ireland but that was a young group and the bones of that team was still there for MacRory the following year.”

“Winning the Loch An Iuir Cup was a big breakthrough. We beat really good teams en route to that success, including Keady in the semi-final and [St] Eunan’s Letterkenny in the final who had a young Michael Murphy and Anton McFadden (brother of Colm) playing. 

“We had also lost to them in the second year final so the belief was there with this group to go one step further.”

In the full story James Colgan recalls his memories of training and playing with the 2005 team, and how the management guided them through that memorable season. Read it now in the current issue.

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