Ollie and Michael Fahey, on behalf of the Fahey family, present the new Fahey Cup to Brian Carroll, Roscommon GAA Chairperson, and Tom Murray, Fixtures Committee Chairperson. Picture: Bernie O’Farrell

A brand new JJ Fahey Cup will be up for grabs when the Roscommon senior football championship gets underway this weekend, after the family of the former Roscommon County Board chairperson and secretary presented a new cup to the county board to replace the previous silverware, which had been in use since 1983.

“I have the original cup here at home, while the current one is with Pádraig Pearses club at the moment,” said Michael Fahey, son of John Joe Fahey and himself a former county board chairperson in Roscommon.

“It has been knocked around the place for the best part of 40 years. It’s gone a little bit on the left hand side, so I got the clan together and there was no hesitation — everybody was happy to make their contribution to keep this legacy going,” he added.

The new trophy will be the third Fahey Cup to come into existence. The original trophy, which was first presented in 1947, was misplaced over the winter of 1983 and into 1984, following Kilmore’s first and only county senior championship win.

“It was coming into 1984, which was the centenary year in the GAA, and Micheál O’Callaghan (county board chairman at the time and former Roscommon Herald editor) approached me to see if I would do something about a replacement trophy. The family put the money together and that’s the trophy that was in use up until this year,” continued Mr Fahey.

Following the purchase of a new trophy in time for the 1984 championship, the originally Fahey Cup was subsequently found, minus the base, and Michael Fahey hopes that, in time, the two Fahey Cups can be put on display in the new county board offices.