The growth of the St. Loman’s GAA Club, Mullingar is a gripping story of how the organisation has developed from humble beginnings to being the top club in Westmeath.
Liam Davitt, Liam Martin, Dave Doolin and Joe Maleady, four men who have played key roles in the club over the years, are responsible for bringing the story of the St. Loman’s GAA Club to life and the book, ‘From Stars to Saints,’ will be launched on Thursday week, 1 December in the Annebrook House Hotel, Mullingar. Darren Frehill of RTÉ will be M.C. for what promises to be a great evening.
Over 350 pages will reflect on how the club was originally formed back in 1910, before being hit by the great war and ceasing for a time in 1915. It returned in 1919 and battled for its very survival during the ‘80s when it was feared the club would fold. Indeed, in a remarkable story, it survived by just one vote at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) where members feared they could no longer keep the club going due to a fall off in playing numbers.
Since then, the Delvin Road club has gone from strength to strength and the incredible dedication of people like the late Harry Devine, an outstanding worker on the club’s underage scene, helped it grow and flourish. The club has gone from operating in the depths of junior during the ‘80s to being senior champions in three of the last four years.
There are many great names associated with the St. Loman’s club over the years, including Jack Creamer, Paddy Creamer and Tom Fry. It was a case of hard work reaping the rewards many moons ago and it will be great to have the captain of the 1948 team, Ned Mann, present at the book launch. St. Loman’s also won senior titles in ’61 and ’63, but then found it difficult to cope as declining playing numbers took hold.
“During the ‘80s and ‘90s, we were battling in junior football. Recent success has been marvellous, but it hasn’t always been a bed of roses and the club just about managed to survive at one stage in the ‘80s,” recalled Joe Maleady.
St. Loman’s now have a tremendous underage structure in place, one that is the envy of a lot of clubs and it all goes back to the landmark year of 1984, when the club was allowed to affiliate as an underage club for the first time.
The club is full of great GAA people, including former county secretaries Paddy Flanagan, Paddy Collins and Tony Gilligan. Men like Tom McCoy, Bob Miller, Jack Doherty and Jack Keegan were instrumental going back in time. The book will give a fascinating insight into what St. Loman’s are about since 1910.
