Cavan GAA

County board of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland

The Cavan County Board (Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae an Chabháin) or Cavan GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Cavan. The County Board is responsible for preparing the Cavan county teams in the various Gaelic sporting codes; football, hurling, camogie and handball. The county football team won 5 All Ireland Senior Football Championships before going into decline after 1970. The team won its 39th and 40th Ulster Senior Football Championships after gaps of 28 and 23 years, in 1997 and 2020 respectively.

Cavan GAA has jurisdiction over the area that is associated with the traditional county of County Cavan. There are 8 officers on the Board. For details on the Board's clubs, see Gaelic Athletic Association clubs in County Cavan and List of Gaelic games clubs in Ireland#Cavan. The Board is subject to the Ulster GAA Provincial Council.

The first crest that adorned the Cavan jerseys was the coat of arms for County Cavan. The crest was split into four quadrants and included:
the red hand of Ulster encased in an outline of the Franciscan Abbey which is situated in Cavan town and where the O'Reilly chieftains are buried. Here also lies the remains of an Ulster leader, Eoghan Rua O'Neill. The Rampant Lion from the coat of arms of the O’Reilly clans, who were the local lords. In 2004 Cavan released a new crest for the Breifne County. The crest was designed by the 38th President of the Gaelic Athletic Association Aogán Farrell and Cavan Central Council rep. George Cartwright. The crest draws on cultural, physical and historical influences. The primary colours are blue and white with Ulster's red hand and G. A. A. yellow also prominent. The designers wanted to reflect the following elements
Breifne: The ancient Gaelic territory. Modern Cavan was once "O Reilly country" and the ancient Gaelic kingdom of Breifne is preserved in the name of the home pitch in Cavan and now on its crest
Franciscan Abbey: The mediaeval tower from the Abbey in Cavan Town fills the lower quadrant. Here the O' Reilly’s invited the Franciscans to establish a monastery. The O'Reilly chieftains are buried here. Here also lie the remains of Ulster's great leader, Eoghan Rua O'Neill
GAA Logo: The GAA modern logo fills the right quadrant. The logo is representative of the Gaelic Athletic Association. Red Hand 1886: The first GAA club founded in the province of Ulster was formed in Cavan. Ballyconnell First Ulsters formed in 1885 and affiliated in 1886. The date is preserved in the crest. A red hand has always appeared on Cavan crests. Lakes and Hills: Our landscape is dominated by "wee lakes and hills". The environment shapes us and this is reflected on the new crest.

The first GAA club in Cavan and in Ulster was founded in Ballyconnell in late 1885 called Ballyconnell Joe Biggars in honour of west Cavan Nationalist MP Joe Biggar. The name of the club was later changed to Ballyconnell First Ulsters. The very first Cavan County Final, under GAA rules was played in a field outside Cavan Town on 30 April 1887. The final was contested by Ballyconnell First Ulster’s and Maghera MacFinns. MacFinns recorded a famous victory on a score line of 1 4 to First Ulster's 0 1, thus entering the history books as Cavan’s first Champions. The Cavan Senior Football Championship is an annual club competition between the top Cavan clubs. The winners of the Cavan Championship qualify to represent their county in the Ulster Senior Championship and in turn, go on to the All Ireland Senior Club Football Championship. The current champions are Castlerahan who defeated Ramor United in the 2019 final. The first winners of the Cavan football championship were Maghera MacFinns in 1887, who beat Ballyconnell First Ulsters 1 04 to 0 01. Cornafean are the most successful senior team winning on twenty occasions. The Cavan Intermediate Football Championship is the second tier football championship. The Intermediate champions go on to play in the Ulster Intermediate Championship, and are promoted to Senior for the next year. The 2019 champions are Laragh United who became champions with a win over Belturbet. Lacken are the most successful intermediate club, having won on four occasions. The Cavan Junior Football Championship is the third tier football championship. The Junior champions go on to play in the Ulster Junior Championship, and are promoted to Intermediate for the next year. The 2019 champions are Killinkere who beat Shannon Gaels in the decider. Templeport are the most successful junior team, having won six times. Clubs (40 as of 2020) range from Shannon Gaels in the far north west to Kingscourt in the south east.

Cavan is the most successful football county in the province of Ulster, having won the All Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) five times, the Ulster Senior Football Championship (SFC) 40 times, and the National Football League once. In the 1933 All Ireland SFC semi final in Breffni Park, Cavan beat Kerry with a last minute goal from Vincent McGovern, ending their five in a row bid. Cavan later defeated Galway by one point in the final to become the first Ulster county to win the Sam Maguire Cup. Two years later, Cavan defeated Kildare in the 1935 All Ireland SFC final to win a second title in three years. Cavan reached 1947 All Ireland Senior Football Championship Final after defeating Roscommon in the semi final. The concluding game was played at the Polo Grounds in New York City, the only time the final was held outside of Ireland. Kerry scored two early goals, but Cavan settled and goals from Joe Stafford and Mick Higgins meant they led by a point at half time. Peter Donohoe kicked eight points over the hour to seal a famous victory for Cavan on a scoreline of 2–11 to 2–7, to bring Sam Maguire to Cavan for a third time. Cavan followed this up with a one point win over Mayo in 1948, to win back to back titles. The county reached its third successive final in 1949, but was denied a three in a row by Meath, losing by four points. Cavan responded to that defeat by overcoming Meath after a replay in 1952 to win the county's fifth, and most recent, All Ireland SFC title. It remains Cavan's latest appearance in an All Ireland SFC final. Historically, Cavan have dominated the Ulster Senior Football Championship, winning a record forty titles, most recently in 2020. The county teams play home games at Breffni Park, Cavan. Mickey Graham took over as senior football team manager following the resignation of Mattie McGleenan in 2018.

The Cavan Senior Hurling Championship is an annual club competition between the top Cavan clubs. The winners of the Cavan Championship qualify to represent their county in the Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship and in turn, go on to the All Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship. The current Cavan County Champions are Cootehill Celtic. The first winners of the Cavan hurling championship were Belturbet in 1908. Mullahoran have won the most titles with a total of 26.

Cavan won the All Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship in 1977 beating Roscommon on a scoreline of 4 03 to 2 03. They lost consecutive finals in 1980 and 1981 losing to Tipperary and Kerry. It wasn't until 2011 that Cavan next reached a Ladies' All Ireland final. They faced Westmeath in the All Ireland Intermediate Ladies' Football Championship and lost after a replay. 2 years later they were back. In 2013 they beat Tipperary on a scoreline of 1 14 to 1 12. The Cavan ladies have won the All Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship once in 1977. In 2013 they won the All Ireland Intermediate Ladies' Football Championship for the first time. Their kit and crest differs from that of the men.

The high point in Cavan's camogie history was their Ulster senior titles of 1940 and 1941, when they beat Antrim 2 3 to 1 2 after a wrangle over getting permits to travel to war time Belfast. They lost to Galway by 4 4 to 0 3 in the 1940 All Ireland semi final, but drew with Dublin in the 1941 semi final 4 0 to 3 3, thanks to a last minute goal from Rita Sullivan, losing the replay 3 4 to 1 1. The team was captained by Mollie O’Brien from Killygarry (née Donohoe) who helped revive the game in Cavan in 1968. All Cavan’s scores in both matches were scored by Rita Sullivan. Cavan won the second division of the National Camogie League in 1981 and reached the 1994 junior final only to lose to Cork. They won the Máire Ní Chinnéide Cup in 2009. Agnes O'Farrelly and Agnes Hennessy served as presidents of the Camogie Association). Under Camogie's National Development Plan 2010 2015, "Our Game, Our Passion", Carlow, Cavan, Laois, Louth and Roscommon were to get a total of 17 new clubs by 2015. Cavan's first camogie success came in the National Camogie Leagues where they won the division 2 title in 1981. Cavan have won the All Ireland Junior B Camogie Championship once in 2009.