ONE of Tyrone GAA’s finest, the great Eddie Devlin from Coalisland, has passed away at the age of 93.

Mr Devlin has gone down in folklore for his accomplishments with club and county and a true trailblazer, captaining the famous Tyrone minor teams that won the first ever All-Ireland titles in the county’s history in 1947 and 1948.

From the famous Devlin footballing family, remarkably Eddie lined out in the O’Neill Cup final in Pomeroy in 1946, at just 16 years of age, alongside his brothers Jim, Paddy and Barry, when Coalisland beat Dromore to win the senior county final.

He also won three MacRory Cup medals with St Patrick’s College, Armagh in 1945, 1946, and 1947. He was part of the celebrated St Patrick’s team (again with his brother Jim) that won the Hogan Cup in 1946 in the famous final against St Jarlath’s of Tuam.

He also had a long career on the Tyrone senior team, making 68 appearances between 1946 and 1958. He was a celebrated member of the 1956 side that fell to a narrow defeat to Galway in Tyrone’s first ever All-Ireland semi-final appearance and captained the team to the Ulster title in 1957.