Kilglass Gaels going to party like it’s 1999

Kilglass Gaels will celebrate the club’s greatest achievement this Saturday when it relives the club’s famous 1999 county intermediate football title triumph.

On a wet Sunday afternoon, the Roosky-based club enjoyed its greatest day when two late Jim Tighe goals helped them overcome St. Michael’s by 3-9 to 1-9.

Two clubs that were desperate for success came together in front of a packed house in Davonna Park, Ballinameen, on September 19th, 1999.

After an attritional affair, Adrian Lannon, who had returned home from America just prior to the semi-final display, propelled his side to the cusp of victory before Tighe’s late strikes secured a famous win.

On Saturday evening, the club is hosting a night of celebration in Cox’s Steakhouse, Dromod, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the county intermediate title success.

Tickets, which cost €35, are limited and include a four-course meal alongside music by Fanfare.

There will also be a special guest appearance on the night. Former Meath footballer Trevor Giles, who was named Footballer of the Year in 1999, will also be in attendance.

The beauty of the club championships lies in their familial ties. Charlie Reynolds was Kilglass Gaels Chairperson in 1999, while his late father Patrick Reynolds, known as Parkes, was a selector with the team.

Peter Bolger also served as a selector while Jimmy Gacquin was the man brought in to manage a team bristling with potential to take that extra step of securing silverware.

Charlie recalled that the club had been building for a number of years ahead of the 1999 decider.

“The team itself had shown progress. We won the junior in ’85 and three of that team were still available — Tommy Deehan, Vinny Murphy and Jim Tighe.

“In 1992, we won the U-21 Division Two title and five of that team started in the final. We won the Intermediate B in ’95 while we had a very good minor team in ’97 who were very unlucky not to win a county title of some sort. Five more players made the starting 15 from that group.

“From those three teams we had 13 on the starting team and a number more on the panel. Then we had great people working behind the scenes. The likes of Tommy and Teresa Cox were providing sponsorship at the time and they are still great supporters. We were very lucky to have Seamus Nugent who was prepared to drive anywhere in the country to collect players for these training sessions.

“Seamus would have driven to Dublin and Galway regularly. It was late in the year one evening and we needed to get our goalkeeper, Seán Davis, up from Limerick, which was quite a journey.

“Seamus’ son Gerard was in Galway, so Seamus drove to Galway, down to Limerick, back to Kilglass, and then back to Galway, on to Limerick and back to Kilglass late that night. As Seamus would say himself, a €500 round trip. That’s how committed he was,” Charlie explained.

Charlie, who is a huge Roscommon and Kilglass supporter, hopes that the community will come out and support the celebratory evening.

“That success brought great enjoyment to the area. Photos of the team are still up on the walls in different areas of the parish. Twenty-five years have flown by but it’s important to mark these milestones. We have great interest in the night and there’s very few tickets left, so hopefully we can have a full house,” he concluded.

For ticket information, contact Dermot (087 6523951), Tommy (087 2892878), Charlie (087 1252985) or Fintan (087 9164659).