There are no records as to when a GAA club was formed in the parish, except that the club affiliated a football team to the Cork County Board in 1906. Only four football teams were affiliated from the whole of North and East Cork that year, the draw being Millstreet v Kanturk and Meelin v Fermoy. We have no record of where the Meelin v Fermoy game was played, but we do know that Fermoy won and later went on to win the county championship, beating Rosscarbery in the final.
With travel being limited to horseback at the time, or horse-drawn carts, many teams throughout the county confined themselves to unofficial games against neighbouring parishes, and it is safe to assume that the Meelin team was active long before 1906. They must have had a good team to enter into competition with the best in the county.
Although the club did not affiliate to the County Board again until 1918, the team was active through the intervening years, playing against local teams as well as teams from the West Limerick region. They entered Division Three of the county championship in 1918, in which there were twenty-four teams from all over the county, and qualified for the final against Youghal, but that game was not played.
Football continued to be played in the parish in the early 1920s, but when that team disbanded a momentous decision was taken in 1927 to change to hurling. Ever since then hurling has been the main game in the parish, although Banshee Rovers and Knockscovane teams have provided the opportunity for players to play football and they have also achieved some creditable successes. Banshee Rovers won a Junior B championship and three league titles between 1969 and 1972 and Knockscovane won five championships and four league titles between 1974 and 1996.
The hurling team played in the North Cork championship until 1932, when the Duhallow Division was established, with the first competitions being run in 1933. Meelin lost to Dromahane in their first championship game in Duhallow and Dromahane were subsequently beaten by Millstreet in the final.
The breakthrough to a first championship title was made in 1939 and the team won again in 1940, 1941 and 1943. There are no exact records of the teams that played in those finals, but the side that played Mayfield in the first round of the county championship at Macroom in 1939, as published in the Cork Examiner, was as follows: Paddy O’Connor, Thady Buckley, Jerry O’Connor, John O’Connor, Jimmy Quinlan, Ben O’Connor, Jerh Quinlan, Denny Weathers, Jackie O’Connor, Willie Quinlan, Ben Buckley, Ben Quinlan, Paddy Quinlan, Jack McCarthy and Paddy Duane. Those players would have provided the nucleus of the teams that played the early forties, with some younger players replacing those who retired. After the 1943 victory, there was a gap of twenty seven years until the next title was won in 1970. The big problem for most of those years was that the players either emigrated or went to colleges, schools or jobs in different parts of the country, leaving only a handful of home based players. In those circumstances any meaningful training was impossible, with some of the players away from home having little opportunity to play hurling, and fitness was always a problem against teams who had most of their players available for training.
Nevertheless the quality of the players was as good as any in the division and the team usually competed well in the championship, reaching the divisional final on a few occasions and possibly being unlucky not to take a title.
The scarcity of players reached crisis point in the early 1950s, as it did in Tullylease at the same time, and both clubs amalgamated in 1953 and 1954, playing as Meelin- Tullylease but championship success was not achieved , and the arrival of some new blood saw them reverting to individual status in 1955.
The club dropped down to the novice grade in the early 1960s and there were great celebrations when they won the novice title in 1963. After that they upgraded to junior status and, with many promising young players coming on stream, began to make a big impact. They reached the championship final against Kanturk in 1966, losing by two points, and were runners-up to Kanturk again in the finals of 1968 and 1969. The standard attained in 1969 may be gauged from the fact that Meelin lost to Kanturk only by a single point, and Kanturk subsequently went on to win the county title after completing their record-breaking five successive wins in Duhallow.
The big breakthrough came in 1970, when Meelin beat Tullylease by 3–9 to 1–7 in the Duhallow final, to the unbounded joy of the people of the parish. The players and subs on the team that played in the 1970 final, their names taken as they stood for a team photograph rather than as they lined out, were as follows: Kevin O’ Sullivan, Patsy McLoughlin, Brendan Buckley (Captain), John O’ Sullivan, Johnny Cronin, Mike Roche, John Dillon, Sean O’ Leary, Bernie O’ Connor, Jessie O’ Callaghan, Ted Linehan, Noel Walsh, Peter O’ Leary, Pat Buckley, Paddy O’ Callaghan, Timmy Joe O’ Sullivan, Donal O’ Connor and Pat O’Connor.
The team went on to win four championships in a row (1970 to 1973 inclusive) The panel of players for the 1973 Duhallow final was as follows :Ted Linehan, Johnny Cronin, Donal O’ Connor, Jessie O’ Callaghan, Eamonn O’ Connor, Patsy McLoughlin, Johnny O’ Sullivan, John Twomey, Donie Buckley, Jim Stack, Bobby Quinn, Pat O’ Connor, Brendan Buckley, Kevin O’ Sullivan (Captain), Bernie O’ Connor, Dan O’ Connor, Dan Joe Curtin, Miah Twomey, Mossy Fitzpatrick, Pat Buckley, Brendan O’ Sullivan and Mike Roche
The team went on afterwards to contest the county final against Ballinhassig at Coachford, losing by 1-6 to 0-5 after a great game during which the Ballinhassig and Cork goalkeeper, Martin Coleman, foiled Meelin’s goaling efforts with a series of spectacular saves.
With a talented number of young players coming on the scene in the early 1980s, to replace those who had retired, the team was again to the fore winning three successive titles between 1980 and 1983 (inclusive) and contested the county final of 1986 against Ballymartle at Coachford, losing by 3-8 to 2- 4. The teams were closely matched in the first half and Meelin had a good chance of winning until an injury to Ned Brosnan just before half time proved a major blow to their prospects.
The panel of players involved in the 1986 County final was as follows: Pat Kelly, Ben O’ Sullivan, Liam Brosnan, Donie Buckley, Pat O’ Callaghan, Neily Forrest, Sean Linehan, Ned Brosnan, John Browne (Captain), Timmy Brosnan, John Brosnan, John O’ Sullivan, Denis Fitzpatrick, Bernie O’ Connor, Pat O’ Connor, Connie Guiney, Willie Fitzgerald, Ted Burke, Willie O’ Sullivan, Tom Collins, Pat McCarthy and Pats O’ Donnell. Since the breakthrough to a championship win in 1970, Meelin have been the dominant force in Duhallow hurling, winning fourteen divisional championships to boost their total to eighteen, the last one in 1996. Their nearest rivals on the honours list are Newmarket, with fourteen titles. Kanturk come next with seven and no other club has more than five.
The panel of players that won the 1996 championship was as follows: Vincent Angland, Willie Fitzgerald, Neily Forest, Dan O’ Connor, Liam Brosnan, Connie Twomey, Connie Curtin, Thomas Mahoney, Danny Murphy, Ned Brosnan, Timmy Brosnan, Kevin Brosnan, Denis Fitzpatrick (Captain), Philip Curtin, Gerard Angland, Ben O’ Sullivan, Pat O’ Callaghan, John O’ Connor, Terry Aherne, Eamonn O’ Connor, Billy Sheahan, PJ Curtin, Connie Curtin, Joe Collins and Jeremiah Roche.
Meelin subsequently beat Glen Rovers in the Quarter Final of the County championship but lost to Argideen Rangers, the eventual winners in the County Semi-Final. Several key players in the 1996 team have retired since then all having helped to win a number of titles and the team is in a transitional stage at the moment. It is hoped that it will not be long until they return to the top in Duhallow hurling.
The purchase and development of a playing field in 1984 was a major step forward for the club. Until then training had to be done on rented fields or those loaned to the club free of charge by farmers in the Parish. The grounds were extensively renovated in 2001, with a new surface being laid (at a cost of £67,000) and this should ensure that it will be in excellent condition all the year round for training and matches.
The club has been well served by dedicated officers, selection committees and players over the years and we pay tribute to all of them for the wonderful entertainment and excitement not to mention the sense of pride, that successive Meelin teams have given to the Parish.
The Final

A football match between Meelin and Newmarket played in 1926.
It was on the 21st June
And on the Sabbath Day,
The Meelin boys assembled
A football match to play,
They are such true and gallant lads
They’ll never be put down.
They went to play the football
match In sweet Newmarket town.
At ten to two that evening
They left the village green,
Marched down by Annacorta
And along by sweet Scarteen.
They went along without delay
Down by the Sickhouse Cross.
Old women, some with crutches,
Ran to see the players pass.
They went up to the other cross
And that without delay.
‘Twas there they met their rivals
And asked them where they’d play.
At first they thought of Auchrum
Until they saw Jerh Lane,
So then they settled for Verling’s field
Or up in the Demense.
They marched along the Island Road
Down by the major screen.
The birds were singing gaily and
The trees were fresh and green.
And when they reached the playing field
And togged out beneath a tree,
Duane, he being the captain,
Was introduced to the referee.
They marched two deep around the field
At twenty five past three.
The whistle blew -the ball went up
And there was a wild melee.
They played the ball with all their might
And there never was such fun.
Meelin gained the victory
And beat them just by one.
I now will try to give them praise
And mention them by name.
Jack Winters was a dandy player
A credit to the game.
Willie Joe O’Callaghan,
Jack McCarthy and Duggan Dan
Played side by side with Mick Tadgh Og
A very solid man.
We had Dan Callaghan from Rowels
He played with all his will.
And another very stylish player
Was Paddy Murphy’s Bill.
We had Quinlan from the village
Benny was his name.
A fair-haired lad of speed and dash
Who was always on his game.
We had Morrissey from Rochchapel,
I think they call him Jack.
Peter was the goalman
With Denny Sullivan at full-back.
And we’ll never be defeated
While we have that powerful man
He’s the parish clerk of Meelin
And his name is Dan Kit Dan.
We walked it home that evening
A tired but happy group.
And celebrated long and well
After eating bread and soup.
So now we’ll toast our football team
Who as champions proudly reign
And may they long continue
To grace our Gaelic game.
(We are indebted to Mrs Joan Cremin for this poem. Her father, the late Mick O’Sullivan, a native of Meenkeragh who lived in Freemount for most of his life , was ten years old when the match in question was played, and remembered it well.
It was he who passed on the words of the poem. It is noted that there are only thirteen players mentioned, so there may be a verse missing. The author is unknown. )