Devlin, Patrick James (‘Celt’) (1877–1941), GAA journalist, was born 21 January 1877 in McCrumms Court, Co. Armagh, the son of Patrick Devlin, an RIC constable, and his wife, Eliza Jane, née McGoldrick. When he was aged nine his parents moved to Dublin where he attended the Christian Brothers' school in Marino for a number of years before moving to the renowned O'Connell boys' school, off the North Circular Road.
His love of Gaelic games flourished when he completed his education at the Civil Service Academy run by Michael Cusack (qv), at Gardiner's Place. He attended many of the all-Ireland finals played at Clonturk in the 1890s and 1900s, before the move to Jones's Road. He was an active member of the Celtic Hurling Club, of which he was secretary for many years. He was also secretary to the Dublin Hurling League. He later campaigned with Br Canice Craven (d. 1929), the editor of Our Boys magazine, to have Thursdays reserved for schoolchildren to play Gaelic games.
Devlin scorned a career in the civil service and pursued a career in journalism, first as a writer for an agricultural journal. In 1901 he came to prominence through his match reports and his advancement of the GAA's ideals for the Freeman's Journal, under the penname Celt. He quickly became the most renowned GAA correspondent in the country, whose opinions were respected by both the public and the association's administrators. He remained a close friend of Cusack, the founder of the GAA, and was later to write many articles detailing Cusack's opinions and actions in his later years; he was also a friend of Arthur Griffith (qv). A founding member and editor of the first Gaelic Athletic Annual in 1907, which did much to popularise the association, he also worked for many other newspapers, including the Evening Herald, the Evening Telegraph and the Irish World in New York. He was a member of the Old Celtic Literary Society and GAA contributor to the Irish Year Book. During the 1920s he served on the publicity committee for the Tailteann games and in the 1930s was the first sports editor of the Irish Press. There is also the suggestion that in his youth he may have been a member of the IRB, though this remains unclear. Although Devlin wrote much verse and prose, it was never published. He was married with ten children, and died 21 July 1941 at his residence, 73 Bulfin Road, Inchicore, Dublin.