As a player with Fermanagh he won a McKenna Cup medal in 1977 and a National Football League Division 3 medal in 1981. He managed Fermanagh from 1992 – 94 and took them from Division 4 to Division 2 in the National League. McCabe is probably best remembered as the manager of the Fermanagh team defeated in a spectacular Ulster Championship encounter with Armagh in 1993. He is immediately survived by his wife, Cathy, their children, Sinead, Kelly, Shane, Karine, Stacey and Natasha, and by his grandchildren.

A native of Cortagher, Roslea, Hugh was a son of the late Hugh and Theresa and was one of 12 children, one of whom, Caroline died last September. His other siblings are Kathleen, Frank, Sean, Theresa, Bridie, Tom, Eileen, Nora, Yvonne and Luke. Eileen, now a solicitor practising in Dublin, is a former member of the editorial staff of the Fermanagh Herald.

Having bravely fought off cancer several years ago, Hugh finally succumbed just before 11 o’clock on Sunday night last in the South West Acute Hospital, having been admitted there on 14th May. His funeral Mass will take place this morning (Wednesday) at 11am at St. Joseph’s Church, Mullaghdun with interment immediately afterwards in adjoining cemetery. 

His wife, Cathy – a native of Birmingham and a former nurse who trained there and in the old Erne Hospital – paid tribute to the hospital staff.

“We got the most magnificent care in Ward 3. They were absolutely brilliant.”

The couple would have been married 40 years next January, having resided in Templenefferin parish for the past 39 years.

Cathy recalled how they met, in Birmingham.

“Hugh was then attending St Joseph’s Teacher Training College in Belfast and he would come over to Birmingham to work for the summer holidays. That’s how we met. He would have played  gaelic football with one of the teams in Birmingham and they would bring him over to play for them in the summer time,” she added.