Kilcoo Hurling

An important event, which took place in the club in 1978, was the formation of a Hurling team. The County Board were anxious to promote hurling in clubs who were not already involved in the game and Vincent Morgan, a committee member at the time, undertook to find out if there was anyone interested in forming a hurling team. The response was positive and on Thursday 8 June 1978 the first get together of would-be players was held in Stephens Green. Those players were; James McEvoy, Paddy McEvoy, John Brogan, Eamon McCarthy, John Doherty, Gerry Morgan, P.J. Morgan, Leonard O’Hare, Colm Morgan, Seamus McMullan, Vincent Devlin, Liam McCaffrey, Gerry Kane, and Noel Doherty. This group trained regularly over several weeks and on Sunday 30 July 1978 Kilcoo hurlers played their first competitive game of the new hurling knock-out competition which was organised by the Down Hurling Board.

This first game was against Saval and Kilcoo got off to a winning start with a final score of 6-5 to 3-3.

Team and scorers were:

James McEvoy, Eamon McCarthy, John Kelly, John Brogan, Barney McEvoy, Mickey Brogan,

P.J. Morgan 1-0, Sean Ward 0-1, Colm Morgan 1-0, Vincent Morgan 4-2, Seamus McMullan,

Gerry Morgan 0-1, John Doherty 0-1, Vincent Devlin, Gerry Kane, Leonard O’Hare

On Monday 14 August 1978, they played a challenge match against Annsborough, which gave Kilcoo a good work out for their semi-final tie against Glenn. After conceding two early goals Kilcoo settled down and played some good hurling to eventually win by 5-5 to 2-1. In the semi-final against Glenn, which was played in Mayobridge on Wednesday 23 August 1978, Kilcoo took complete control right from the start and built up an impenetrable half time lead of 4-7 to 0-0. The second half was all one-way traffic with Kilcoo coming through with a score of 6-13 to 1-0.

On to the final against Ardglass, which was played in Newry on Sunday 8 October 1978. From the throw in, Kilcoo took control in the middle of the field with John Brogan in fine form, ably assisted by Barney McEvoy. Scores were slow to come but eventually a long ball from John Doherty was helped on its way by Sean Ward for P.J. Morgan to put it in the net. Ardglass fought back and managed a point to leave the half time score 2-0 to 0-1 to Kilcoo.

At the start of the second half, the Owen Roes brought on Owen McEvoy and Leonard O’Hare for Sean Ward and John Doherty. Ardglass made a determined effort to get back in the game but time and time again John Brogan was there to break up dangerous raids and Ardglass were restricted to one point and a Paddy McEvoy point was balanced by another one from Ardglass. This proved to be their last score and Kilcoo finished strongly with a goal from Vincent Morgan and an Owen McEvoy point, eventually winning 3-3 to 0-3. After the game, winners medals were presented to the team by Mr. Sean Fearon, chairman of the County Board. He congratulated the players on their performance and commended the club on their efforts to promote the game.

The team and scorers were as follows;

James McEvoy, Eamon McCarthy, John Kelly, Colm Morgan, John Doherty, Barney McEvoy,

John Brogan, Paddy McEvoy 0-1, Vincent Morgan 2-1, P.J. Morgan 1-0, Sean Ward,

Owen McEvoy 0-1, Leonard O’Hare, Paddy Devlin, Vincent Devlin.

In 1984 the hurlers, like the footballers, played their way into the final of the Feis Sevens which took place on Feis Sunday. Unfortunately, neither team was successful, the hurlers losing out to their opponents, Ballela.

The hurling program continued on over the next few years and some players moved on and new players came on the scene. With some players involved in football at the time, it did not always run as smoothly as it might have but 1986 was a great year for the hurlers. They completed a fourteen match Hurling League programme in a blazing trail of success which culminated in winning Division 4 with little difficulty on twenty five points.

This was followed by a great championship run where Kilcoo beat Glenn in the quarter final with a score of 3-5 to 1-3. In the semi final it was Kilcoo 4-7 to Tir Phadraig 1-6, thus booking their place in the final against Bredagh on Sunday 31 August 1986 in Kilclief.

It was on this date that Kilcoo’s long and illustrious history was considerably enhanced when the hurlers lifted the Special Hurling Championship Award of County Down for the first time. So Kilcoo achieved the “double” on the hurling front to go down in history along with the great double-double winning football team of 1927.

Unfortunately, within the next few years, the interest in hurling faded somewhat, probably due to the continued drive in promoting football at every level. It is to be hoped that, in the not too distant future, this great game will be revived in the club, as it produced some very skilful and enthusiastic players, who made the first bit of hurling history for the club in the short time that it existed in Kilcoo.