For, the dynamic club chairman and retired Primary School teacher, has coached up to 25 of the current highly successful side who take on Derrygonnelly Harps in the senior county championship final on Sunday.

And he is also the father of three of their key players.

Oisin (31), Ultan (26) and Aogan (23) have been shooting the lights out this season and all three are on Declan Bonner’s senior county squad.

Ultan has made a great recovery from a niggling injury that hampered his contribution over the past few years.

But he has been a revelation this year and is currently one of the best players in the Province, and is a key member of the Fermanagh senior squad.

Oisin is also on the squad and is a clever link between defence and attack while Aogan’s natural skill and savage pace have tortured defences all over the county.

As a teacher, Seamus coached all three and is rightly proud of their attitude and contribution.

But they did not take it from the air as Seamus, and his brothers Liam and Sean Kelm were noted footballers and all wore the green jersey of Fermanagh.

“I gave up playing with Erne Gaels in 1987 at the age of 24 and it is something I regret.

“But I really loved coaching in St Davog’s, the whole gamut of communication, organising and travelling to matches and I feel a close bond with all of them as well as my three boys Oisin, Ultan and Aogan.

“It was a real joy.” Seamus has a different role in more recent years as he has been secretary and now chairman of the club as well as helping out with Barry O’Hagan’s senior squad.

And he is spearheading a massive £400,000 club development draw which has up to ninety members selling tickets all over the land.

And, these are truly golden years for the Belleek club as they will be appearing in their fifth county final on the trot.

They are going for their third title in a row after losing in 2022 and 2023 to Enniskillen Gaels and Derrygonnelly Harps and beating the Gaels and the Harps in 2024 and 2025.

But the famine that endured from 1981 ended gloriously in 2024 when the Gaels prevailed after a replay against Enniskillen Gaels.

And they retained the title under Declan Bonner and Paul Brennan last year.

It has been a memorable decade for the Gaels since Maurice McLaughlin managed a very young team to a county final in 2016, where they led Derrygonnelly by a point near the end, but were pipped by a Ryan Jones inspired Harps.

It was the same result in the quarter finals the following year.

There followed some barren years culminating in relegation to Intermediate status in 2020, before the renaissance in 2021 led to an Intermediate Championship victory over Devenish (who incidentally are playing Kinawley in the Intermediate Championship final on Saturday.)

This was followed by a League title in 2022 and their first county championship final defeat since 2016.

And they also lost to their old nemesis Derrygonnelly in 2023.

So why did the 2016 team not really progress until five years later?

For Kelm it was mainly about self-confidence.

“They were well prepared with a right attitude but just did not believe and they tended to fade if a team came back at them.

“The lowest point that I experienced was when Belnaleck relegated us to the Intermediate Championship in a play-off.

“There were tears on that day as they realised there were the bones of a good team and it was gone.”

But he insists that credit should be given to player Seamus Ryder who took over the team in 2021, and also led them to two county championship finals and a SFL final.

“There is not enough praise heaped on Seamus Ryder who took the bull by the horns in 2020.”

“He had the lads well organised and Brian Mullin came back from London, and we were like the phoenix rising from the ashes after that.

“Brian Mullin said Erne Gaels were back at the top table of Fermanagh football and boy did it come through.”

But it all changed for the better as the 2024 season beckoned.

And it was a dam burst of dreams when the Gaels took that title in 2024—their first since 1981.

Their theme was a line from a famous Saw Doctors song, which says:

“To win just once against the odds—and once be smiled on by the gods.”

Kelm added: “That win was just magic— we were no longer the Mayo of Fermanagh”

So, what was the difference?

Ironically, it was partly the departure of Ryan, Conall and Garvan Jones from Derrygonnelly to Leitrim in 2024 that helped the Gaels.

“They were our nemesis.

“Their physical presence alone was worth a few extra points for Derrygonnelly—three big men and then you have the two McGullions, Shane and Stephen who are still key figures.

But there was an even more significant difference which propelled the Gaels to two county final wins on the trot.

“We decided we needed to look for something extra to get over the line, so Declan Bonner was approached, and the one thing he brought was self-belief.”

“This was a watershed moment, and we installed Declan Bonner at an emergency Executive meeting on December 2023.

“That was a major step, and they gave the team self-confidence and belief.

“Declan Bonner said this lack of belief was not just an Erne Gaels thing, but it was also a Fermanagh thing—this inferiority complex which was banished from Belleek.

“He worked on that and built on it and we won the final after a draw and after a draw in 2025 where we showed real resilience and character.”

“Nobody panics and that has been a crucial difference.

But another difference has been the stellar contribution of Oisin, Ultan and Aogan Kelm who have become not unlike the former ‘Jones Boys’ for Derrygonnelly.

“I was so proud when we did it in 2024 and it was so important for us and so proud of the three boys.

“We got the rub of the green against Derrygonnelly in 2024 in the semi-final and in the final of 2025.

“But I think that came from our ability to stay in the game.”

And new manager Barry O’Hagan and Aidan Lloyd have led the Gaels to their fifth county final appearance on the trot.

“They have gelled very well and the team very well structure and organised.

“It is all about the team and there are definitely no individuals on that team.

“There is a great sense of togetherness, partly due to the fact that this team are together for such a long time.

“What else would bring a group of up to 30 young men together three and four evenings a week and weekends if they had not got this in a rural village in west Fermanagh.

“They have been friends since Primary school and there are no egos.

Asked about how the journey has been for Seamus and his boys, he said:

“Oisin was the first and then came Ultan and Aogan and the three of them have boosted each other on.

“They are three brothers, but they are also three very good friends.

“They help each other out and there is no sibling rivalry.

“They take confidence from each other and are very different types of footballers.

“Oisin is a very thoughtful footballer with a great brain and deceptive speed and he is a perfectionist.

“Ultan has always had great raw power, he is injury free and he has improved his shooting from play and from frees.

“Aogan has savage pace and great ball control, can score and links up very well with Dan McCann.”

Full marks to Master Kelm…and the boys.