Leitrim won the Connacht title and held Kerry to two points in the semi-final of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

In the days of Cathal Flynn, Colin McNulty and Packie McGarty, both Connacht Railway Cup players, Leitrim lost four successive Connacht finals to Galway between 1957 and 1960, coming closest in 1958 when they equalised midway through the second half but were defeated by two points (Cathal Flynn scored 1-6).

Leitrim won the National Football League Division 2 title and contested the 1959 NFL semi-final with a changed fullback line but were beaten by Derry by seven points.

A new generation of Leitrim under-21 players hosted and nearly beat the great Kerry team at Carrick-on-Shannon in 1977 before losing by five points, 3-13 to 3-8.

John O'Mahony was appointed Leitrim manager to build on the success of the Under-21 team that won the 1991 Connacht Championship.

O'Mahony's feat in leading the team that is traditionally the weakest in the province to that title is still heralded nationally to this day.

The first county to benefit under the parentage rule was also the first to lose their big catch, with the loss of Declan Darcy to Dublin depleting the panel in 1998, bringing Leitrim's most successful era to an end.

Leitrim sprung a massive shock when they won the FBD Insurance League in 2013, defeating their southern neighbours Sligo in the final.

[3] As the Irish Independent reported, "There may have been no danger of any cows going unmilked in Leitrim after this game, but winning their first FBD League title – and their first trophy in 19 years – sparked off some understandable early season celebrations for Connacht's traditional minnows".