A central location within the Club’s catchment area was crucial in the thirty-year search for a suitable venue as well as the desire to remain close to the heart of the Club’s birth town of Lisbellaw. After successful negotiations with three landowners especially our good fried the late Colum Maguire from Belcoo and Scaffog, James McShea and Cavanacarragh Community Association, the Club with financial assistance of from the sports lottery fund in May 1998, concluded the purchase of a twelve acre site at Cavanacarragh, Lisbellaw. John Courtney’s expert advice, along with Jimmy Slevin who dug the test holes, was essential in picking this particular field after a number of possible sites were deemed unsuitable.

We got tremendous encouragement from the lottery grant and good advice from Danny O’Connor when, along with the initial lottery roadshow, he visited Enniskillen. Kieran Kelly who was our first Lottery Project Officer and ‘approved’ the site.

Although the initial ‘deal’ was done about January 1997 the Club only had about £5,000 in their account. It took two draws, spring 1997 and spring 1998 along with a greatly appreciated £1000 gift from Cavanacarragh Pipe Band before we had enough money to complete the purchase in June 1998. The guidance of Jim Ledwith and Frank McManus in completing the application forms for grant aid was the key to their success. Glowing endorsements from Keith Collen of Fermanagh District Council, Ita Vesey of Western Education and Library Board and the late Paddy Donnelly GAA County Secretary, were also essential to its success.

We were now the proud owners of a field. Our engineers KP Kelly & Co got to work on maps and design of the proposed playing field. Frank McManus our Club Solicitor assisted by Sinead McPhillips, started work on the deeds and trustees. This was Phase I – the purchase essentially complete.

Although we owned a field we still could not play on it. It required fifteen thousand cubic metres of clay to be moved and a surface to be laid. Phase II – Development got underway. The proposed costs were daunting. Under the guidance of Jim Ledwith and with help from Peter Quinn we started filling forms again. However what we essentially produced was an application ‘book’ with positive contributions from all the surrounding GAA Clubs, schools and community associations and especially our neighbours – Cavanacarragh Community Association.

Our application to the Sports Council Lottery fund was successful in September 1999. Our Project Officer was again Kieran Kelly. Although we had applications to other funding bodies in the pipeline we knew we had to raise a lot of money ourselves. Our draw in Spring 2000 attracted new sellers and was very successful. An application to the ‘Foundation for Sport and the Arts’ administered by Grattan Endicott was also successful in March 2000. The foundation used ‘Billington Consulting’ to oversee it under their Project Officer of Wyn Allison. We were now ready to go and obtained permission to proceed on June 1st. Prunty Contracts, with Ian Boyd the bulldozer specialists, got into action. They levelled it, drained it and spread 100 lorry load of Lough Neagh sand from Emersons on the surface. The grass-seed was sown on 13 September 2000. We then had the long wait for the surface to be ready for playing. The goalposts were erected by Eamon Scullion in March 2002 – funded by Cadburys Trust and administered by Eric Adams. We were now able to play on the field and used a container and the ‘band hall’ as changing facilities. The ball-stop nets were erected in 2001 again by Eamon Scullion.

However we were not letting the grass grow under our feet with the development. We submitted another application to the Sports Council Lottery Fund. This time Phase III was to build changing facilities. KP Kelly was again commissioned to do the drawings assisted by Tom McGrade, Quantity Surveyor. Johnny McManus helped considerably with the technically aspect of the application form. The form was submitted in February 2001 – by June 2001 we were celebrating again with an offer from the Sports Council. Rick Kaig was the Sport Council Administrator.

Other potential co-funders turned us down but we needed more help as our Club funds were almost negligible. In December 2001 again with the aid of Jim Ledwith and later Peter McEvoy we sent an application to the Department of Education. In November 2002 we were celebrating again – this time with an offer of from the Department of Education administered by Fiona McDonald. With the end in sight Kevin Corrigan, our treasurer, again motivated his sellers for another successful draw in the spring of 2002. The financial package was now in place for the work to begin but because of different problems we were not given permission to start until May 2003. Our builder was Noel McQuaid and he started on June 10. Our lottery Project Officer was initially Helen Donnelly and then Mark McCarey assisted by Steven Trainor. Finance was organised by Diane Gaston and monitoring by Maura McGreevy.

The Department of Education administrators were Ivan Houston and Stephen Carlin, later replaced by Alex Fergie with James Molloy looking after the technical side. James approved extras of for the carpark completed by Fintan Donnelly and gates completed by Sean Hannigan. The gates were made by Hugh Monaghan. We have also completed dugouts with steel work by Gerard McGrade and the rest by voluntary labour.

As we look forward to our opening day on Sunday 29 May 2005 and reflect on a project which has cost almost £350,000 the club are proud of what they have achieved. It is a tremendous achievement for a specialised hurling club in a football dominated county.

Liam Cox, Cavanacarragh Community Association writes:

Benny McManus first approached me in 1997 about purchasing a piece of land belonging to Cavanacarragh Community Association which would assist in developing permanent grounds for Lisbellaw Hurling Club. I had no hesitation in approaching the Trustees of Cavanacarragh Hall whom I knew would give their wholehearted support to the idea. Now, when we view the magnificent developments taking place around the ground, we, in the Association, are proud to have the Hurling Club as our closest neighbours.

At present we are busy extending Cavanacarragh Hall in order to provide a dedicated Youth Room that will enhance the existing facilities. We, in the Association, hope that both ourselves and Lisbellaw Hurling Club can grow together to provide the amenities for sporting, educational and recreational needs for a wider range of user groups.

We wish Lisbellaw Hurling Club continued success with their unique development in County Fermanagh.

Jim Ledwith writes:

After years of being without a home of their own it was music to my ears on hearing Lisbellaw had the idea of buying land next to Cavanacarragh Hall. Good for the Club and good for Cavanacarragh as a whole!

Action not words was needed to help “McManus and Co” fundraise to get any grants going. As Mr Grant for community buildings, I became part of a “well hatched plot” to seek monies far and wide for a good cause that had the interests of young fellas at heart.

Many’s the night was spent on the floor of McManus’s front living room completing application forms with fine sounding words with manys a big adjective thrown in. Throughout these nights one thing stood out – no walking away from funders, not taking no for an answer and staying the full course. The buying was the start, developing the pitch and building the rooms were to be phased in. Brilliant ideas about practical partnerships between the hall committee, its youth club and the hurlers would be the stand-out message of convincing funders that what was happening was much bigger, broader than the hurlers alone. All stood to benefit. Anyhow, grants, loans and one off donations came in. A phone call from Benny to say thanks – a bottle of brandy at Christmas – I like this, makes Ledwith feel good “doing his bit locally in his own backyard”. Benny and Co, a determined lot, a well run ship, will get there, having tramped the county and beyond flooding the country with tickets. What was different was that this was a hurley club, the first dedicated project of its type in the county. They would carry the banner for the county.

Patsy Dolan writes:

I was privileged as a Lisbellaw man to be elected Chairman of the Fermanagh Hurling Board on 9 December 1984 to follow in the footsteps of people like Jimmy McPhillips, a founding member of the club. The following 16 years as Chairman were an enjoyable experience, as Fermanagh teams, which were led by inspirational Lisbellaw players, brought great honour to our county. Lisbellaw often loaned or released players to other club areas to promote hurling in the county, yet still managed in a sparsely populated area to remain one of Fermanagh’s most successful clubs in either code.

The officers of the Club have always been active in the work of the Fermanagh Hurling Board. That they have supplied an endless list of managers to all county teams is testament to the coaching and development program in the Lisbellaw Club.

Thanks to the Lisbellaw Club, who groomed and encouraged me in my administrative days with the Club. I am now the Fermanagh Development Officer.