The GAA was founded in Ballinamore on 31 January 1889 at a meeting in McGauran’s Railway Hotel, now the Allied Irish Bank. A plaque was erected on the wall of the bank as part of the club’s centenary celebrations in 1989.
Sean O’Heslin
Sean O’Heslin, a teacher in Ballinamore who was a native of Drumcoman, Corraleehan, Ballinamore, Sean mother was also a teacher in Clogher. Sean was the driving force behind the club in its most successful period, the 1930s. Fuair sé bás i 1942, nuair nach raibh ach 55 bliain slánaithe aige. The club was named after him in 1953.
Successful Teams
Sean O’Heslins has been highly successful in every grade of football. The club contested the first ever Leitrim Senior Championship in 1890 and reached the final but lost to Mohill. Twenty-three years later they won their first senior championship, in 1913. The greatest periods in the clubs history were the 1930s when five senior titles were won and then a prolonged period of success from 1964 to 1990 when twelve senior titles were won. Probably the club’s greatest achievement was a three-in-a-row between 1967-1969. During the 1990s the club had a very strong team which coincided with Leitrim’s period of greatness. However they failed to win a senior championship after 1990, despite having no less than five players on the Leitrim panel which won the 1994 Connacht championship. In 2003 the club won the Senior B Championship, the club’s first senior success since 1990. 2021 seen Sean O'Heslins win their first Senior Championship in 31 years.
Pitch
In 1952, Sean O’Heslin Park was opened, the first GAA grounds in Leitrim. It was the centre for county games of all sorts until Páirc Seán MacDiarmada opened in Carrick-on-Shannon in 1964. It continued to host smaller county fixtures until it fell into disrepair in the 1990s. The club has now completed a major development at the site and two excellent pitches have been developed and a new stand/dressingrooms have been erected and were officially opened by Uachtaran Christy Cooney on 24 Bealtaine 2009.
Lotto
The club runs a very successful lotto which takes place every monday night in the pubs of the town. Lotto night is a great social occasion and it also serves as a club meeting where all the business of the week is transacted.
Club of the Century
In 1984, Sean O’Heslins was selected as “Club of the Century” for Leitrim
Millennium Team
In 2000, Leitrim’s team of the millennium was selected. Sean O’Heslins had three players selected: Noel Crossan, Ollie Honeyman and Paddy Dolan. No other Leitrim club had three players selected.
Leitrim Observer Team of the Year
The Leitrim Observer Team of the Year for 2021 included 6 of the Victouris Sean O'Heslins team