Fr. Manning Cup

The Fr. Manning Cup is the longest running inter-county Juvenile tournament in the country, organised annually by the Longford County Board. It was initiated in 1965 by Tommy O’Brien (Longford), Fr. Phil McGee (Longford), Dr. Donal Keenan (Roscommon – former GAA President) and George O’Toole (Leitrim). It’s objective was to provide inter-county football competition for Under 16 players. Five counties (Longford, Roscommon, Leitrim, Cavan and Westmeath) took part initially. Sligo joined a few years later, while Cavan was replaced by Offaly in 2006. The competition has also included Meath, Laois, Kildare, Louth, Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow and Clare over the years.

Longford won the first competition in 1965 beating Westmeath by 0-4 to 0-3. The team was: Gene Dowling (Colmcille), Pat Lennon (Éire Óg Drumlish), Liam Murphy (Rathcline), Oliver Kenny (Legan), Mickey Garrahan (Kenagh), John Smith (Mostrim), John Regan (St. Marys Granard), John Greene (Mostrim), Mike Kenny (Cashel), Seamus Lee (St. Marys Granard), Fintan Farrell (Rathcline), Martin Sheridan (St. Marys Granard), John Devine (St. Marys Granard), Kevin Hannify (Éire Óg Drumlish). Subs: Ciaran Tuite (Mostrim) for S. Lee and John Doherty (Killoe Young Emmets) for K. Hannify. Other squad members who featured during the campaign include… Mattie Monaghan (Rathcline), Paddy Noonan (Mostrim), TJ Flood (Legan), Paddy Reynolds (Clonguish), Des Crotty (Longford Slashers), Liam Flynn (Ballymahon), Willie Browne (Killoe Young Emmets) and Brendan Byrne (Clonguish).

The competition was named after Fr. Seán Manning. Fr. Seán was born in Ranelagh, Dublin in 1907 and raised by his uncles, firstly in Drumshambo and then in Glen (Edgeworthstown). He was ordained a priest in 1931 and became a teacher in St. Mel’s College from 1933 to 1948. He served as Chairman of Leinster Colleges from 1941 to 1948, Chairman of All-Ireland Colleges from 1943-1948, Chairman of Longford County Board from 1945 to 1951, Chairman of Longford Minor Board from 1953 to 1954 and Chairman of the Leitrim County Board from 1955 to 1964. He coached St. Mel’s from 1935 to 1948 including their first All-Ireland title win in 1940. Upon becoming curate in Drumlish in 1948, he was instrumental in the creation of of the ‘Young Irelands’ Minor Club for Drumlish and Ballinamuck in 1949 and in the re-organisation of the Drumlish club into Young Irelands (aka Éire Óg) in 1951 and training the Young Irelands to Longford SFC title wins in 1951 & 1953. He was transferred to Annaduff in Leitrim in 1954 and the following year was elected Chairman of the Leitrim County Board, a position he held until his death in September 1964. The Under 16 inter-county tournament bearing his name began the year after his death, while a brand new cup was introduced for the winner by Fr. McGee during the 1967 season. The Fr. Manning Gaels club in Drumlish parish is named in his honour.

In the mid 2000’s the Fr. Manning Cup fell foul of a new GAA rule 139 (b), which stated that inter-county competitions needed to be confined to four teams. Roscommon then tabled a proposal to split the tournament into two round-robin sections (one Leinster, one Connaught), thus ensuring that the competition (which looked like being scrapped) could continue be played. It survived and the format was tweaked and expanded in the years that followed. When Longford won the competition in 2021, two stalwarts of the competition over the years – Tom Hayden and Seán McMullen – presented captain Matthew Carey with the cup.

Longford won the Fr. Manning Cup ten times: 1965, 1967, 1968, 1976, 1986, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2012 and 2021.

Photograph of Fr. Seán Manning from cover of ‘Life and Times of Father Sean Manning’ book by Des Guckian (1979).