Keelan Cawley in action for Sligo.
Sligo veteran Keelan Cawley has called time on his inter-county career after a marathon 15-year stint.
The Coolera-Strandhill clubman was first promoted to the senior squad in 2009, made his playing baptism the following season, and went on to make 139 appearances for the Yeats County.
Sligo’s longest-serving player, 35, bows out without the tangible dividend of a Connacht senior medal – but he was part of successful league outfits that claimed a Division 3 title in 2010 and a Division 4 crown last year.
County board chairperson Seán Carroll let the plaudits for the departing ‘Kiwi’, who will continue to play club football.
“He gave tremendous service to Sligo,” Carroll told Ocean FM Sport. “It’s an incredible amount of time to be playing at that level and offering leadership. He’s had a great career, and everyone in Sligo GAA would just like to thank him for that service. Somebody who’s done it for 15 seasons – you run out of superlatives for that kind of dedication.”
Ahead of this year’s Connacht campaign, Cawley reflected on his closest brush with an elusive Connacht title – his debut campaign as a wing-back in 2010 when Sligo ambushed Mayo and the Galway in a replay, only to suffer a one-point defeat to Roscommon in the final.
“I was like, ‘Jesus. This is going to happen every year!’ It didn’t work out like that, unfortunately,” he told the Irish Independent. “I don’t think we approached that week (of the final) any different. It was probably one of those days, we had two or three chances to go ahead in the last few minutes. Just the width of the post or a fine margin didn’t go our way.”
