The Jim Devlin Cup returns to the fixture list on April 14th for the first time since 2008 as Tyrone GAA marks the 50th anniversary of the murder of the Coalisland Fianna and Tyrone defender Jim and his Wife Gertrude on May 7th 1974, their teenage daughter seriously injured in the gunmen’s ambush.
Members of the Tyrone squad from 1956 and ’57 presented the cup to the Tyrone board in memory of their teammate and it was played for every season from 1980 until 2000, and brought back for the 2008 season. Jim who rose to prominence as a colleges star with St Patrick’s College Armagh during the 1940s and went on to become one of Tyrone’s most important footballers, earning his reputation as one of the country’s finest full-backs.
At college he won four MacRory Cup medals (1944-47) and in 1946 was on the St Patrick’s College team that won the inaugural Hogan Cup competition.
Jim also captained Tyrone minors to win the 1946 Ulster championship, with his bother Eddie and the Fianna’s Tom Sullivan also on the team. He was forced to retire from playing, through injury in 1960. That year he was elected chairman of Tyrone GAA County Board, aged just 32.
The callous murder of the couple in 1974 shocked the Country and they were laid to rest in Edendork.
The football competition, for what has been described as the “finest trophy” in Tyrone gaelic games, started in 1980 as a fund raising tournament for the new Ceannaras building at Croke Park which was set to cost £800,000. Clubs who entered the inaugural competition paid a £150 entry fee. That initial competition structure remained for two years followed by a straight open draw knockout. The 2008 version was called a league cup and featured senior and reserves.
Omagh won the first cup competition in 1980, going on to win three in a row, missing out to Eglish in their bid for four in a row in 1983, while Carrickmore have held the trophy four times, their first in 1985. Eglish, Trillick and Ardboe have each won the Jim Devlin cup twice.
Jim Devlin Memorial Cup – List of Finals
*1980 Omagh 0-8 Coalisland 1-4
*1981 Omagh 0-6 Eglish 0-3
1982 Omagh 0-10 Beragh 0-5
1983 Eglish 3-10 Omagh 1-10
1984 Eglish 1-6 Dromore 0-5
1985 Carrickmore 0-10 Gortin 0-7
1986 Ardboe 2-6 Ballygawley 1-7
1987 Carrickmore 2-6 Killeeshil 0-8
1988 Trillick 0-8 Moortown 0-6
1989 Trillick 3-7 Ardboe 1-3
1990 Gortin 3-5 Omagh 1-8
1991 Carrickmore 2-6 Omagh 1-4
1992 Carrickmore 4-8 Errigal Ciaran 0-7
1993 Edendork 0-15 Gortin 0-12 ET
1994 Glenelly 0-9 Owen Roes 0-5
1995 Ardboe 2-10 Drumquin 0-15
1996 Errigal Ciaran 3-8 Cookstown 1-5
1997 Newtownstewart 2-9 Cookstown 0-8
1998 Killeeshil 2-13 Kildress 2-12
1999 Kildress 4-9 Clonoe 2-12 at Coalisland
2000 Galbally 0-10 Aghyaran 0-9
2001-2007 No Competition
**2008 Clonoe 2-10 Carrickmore 0-6 • Reserves Clonoe 0-12 Carrickmore 0-5
2009-2023 No Competition
Carrickmore 4 titles, Omagh 3 titles, Eglish 2 titles, Trillick 2 titles and Ardboe 2 titles.
*Ceannaras Tournament raising funds for Croke Parks new Ceannaras building at a cost of £800,000, Clubs donating £150 each.
**League cup senior and reserve
By Rory Cox Fri 12th Apr
