<span class="postTitle">Money for Votes</span> Times to Cherish: Cashel and Rosegreen Parish History 1795-1995, ed. by Bernie Moloney, pp 154-163

Money for Votes

Times to Cherish: Cashel and Rosegreen Parish History 1795-1995, ed. by Bernie Moloney, pp 154-163

'The last act of the last Cashel election drama has been played out to an ignominious finish ... If there be degrees in electioneering corruption, the constituency is, in our opinion, the most culpable when more than half the electors are swayed by the highest bribe ... Suffice it to say, that several boroughs where bribery was less extensive have been disfranchised, and it is hardly possible that an insignificant place like Cashel can escape political extinction for the incorrigible corruption which has been conclusively brought home to it.' This blast from the editor of the Nenagh Guardian was occasioned by the judgment handed down by Judge Baron Fitzgerald in Cashel on 20th February 1869 at the conclusion of the hearing of the Election Petitions by Mr. Henry Munster against the election of Mr. James Lyster O'Beirne to the Cashel Westminster constituency in the election of 20th November 1868.

General Election 1868

When the general election of 1868 was called the sitting M.P. was James Lyster O'Beirne. He was first elected in 1865 general election when he unseated the incumbent, 'Honest John Lanigan'. Each had claimed 'Liberal' as his political affiliation. O'Beirne was opposed by Henry Munster, a lawyer from Sheffield, very wealthy, and also a Liberal. O'Beirne arrived in Cashel on 10th September, accompanied by Captain Graham, J.P. Six days later Munster arrived and met a 'warm reception'. Next day he addressed the electors, explaining his political views. 'The conduct of the mob, many of whom were under the influence of drink, was boisterous.' The same evening O'Beirne, accompanied by some friends, after canvassing several of the electors, proceeded to his hotel from the window of which he addressed the crowd assembled and was received with cheers and counter-cheers. The mob seemed to be nearly equally divided and several encounters between them took place and, but for the interference of the police, serious consequences might have resulted.

On Monday, 19th October, O'Beirne waited upon some fifty electors at the Commons and received from nearly all the most unequivocal promises of support.

The election addresses of the two candidates appeared in the local newspapers on 28th October. O'Beirne promised to look for a thorough and complete change in the existing law relating to landlord and tenant. He would use his earnest efforts to remove the Church Establishment. He favoured denominational education. He would encourage the creation of independent ownership of small freehold estates and he would continue to support Gladstone, whose policies were favourable to Ireland.

Munster looked for the support of the electors because he was an 'Independent' member. He was above the temptations of office and would better represent their interests as his views were those of the electors. He wanted to do away with the Established Church, improve the situation between landlord and tenant, promote religion and denominational education. He would encourage industry and the development of natural resources and would support Gladstones's Irish Policy. Even though he was English he claimed that every pulse of his heart beat true for the interest of dear Ireland.

On the same day it was reported that Munster was making ground. He had £5,000 to his credit in the local branch of the National Bank and had his agent go around the town showing off the deposit slip. He had given £500 to the clergy, the amout required to get the Christian Brothers to start a school in the town. He gave £150 to the Presentation Sisters for a bazaar and he paid Corcorans £200 for the use of their hotel.

Behind the Scenes

There was much going on behind the scenes that the newspapers never reported. This was only revealed after the election when the investigation was carried out into certain practices pursued by the candidates and their agents and retainers. These practices were forbidden under the so-called ' Bribery Act', which had become law during the previous session of Parliament. There had been a law against bribery but the new act altered the machinery for discovering bribery. Under the new act the trial was to take place before judges of the superior courts, instead of being handled by House of Commons committees.

Once an Election Petition was presented it could not be withdrawn without the leave of the judge and before he gave his consent he had to be satisfied that the withdrawal was not induced by a corrupt bargain or consideration. If the Judge found that the offence had been committed 'with the knowledge and consent of a candidate at an election' the candidate would be subjected to the following disqualification for seven years: (a) he could not sit in the House of Commons; (b) he would be incapable of being an elector anywhere; (c) he could not hold any municipal office in a borough; (d) he could not hold any judicial office or be a Justice of the Peace.

It was under this legislation that Munster's Petitions were heard by Judge Baron Fitzgerald at the Courthouse, The Green, Cashel, from 15-19th February 1869. The evidence given before the judge showed that both candidates and their agents set out to influence the electors by wining and dining them, renting their houses and rooms at extravagant rates, paying them sums of money and even intimidating them.

Some of the evidence at the hearing gives some idea of the nature of the operation. There was a get-together of about fifty of O'Beirne's supporters at Miss O'Dwyer's house the night before polling day for eating, drinking and dancing and they stayed at it until eight o'clock in the morning. Michael Ryan was paid £60 for his committee rooms by O'Beirne. John Dunn informed the trial that O'Beirne had taken rooms in his father's house for the election and had people in drinking every evening. His father was paid £20. Timothy Hogan was paid £20 he was owed by O'Beirne for the 1865 election. Michael Coffey of Lowergate was paid £20 for his sittingroom by O'Beirne but it was never used, Patrick Maher was offered £20 to vote for Munster. A Mr. Close gave evidence that Munster helped his son with his French and gave him employment after the election. Munster's agent Michael J. Laffan, paid fourteen electors five guinea cheques as retainers to prevent them voting for O'Beirne since people employed thus in an election forfeited their votes. Laffan also spent £155-15s. on 'messages and porters' who were, in short, the mob. It was a mob of men and women under a captain, named Hourigan. They were paid at the rate of half-a crown each, not including drink, and they acted as a kind of guard or escort during Munster's canvass, to protect him from the crowd of beggars and women. They also gave their services in shouting. On arriving in Cashel Munster had paid £300 to get the telegraph from Gooldscross to Cashel and another £50 or £60 to set up an office in the town. He charged one shilling for every word sent out of Cashel during the election.

O'Beirne's Evidence

In the course of his evidence O'Beirne, a solicitor by profession, informed the hearing that he had contested Cashel unsuccessfully in 1857 and was elected for the first time in 1865. Patrick Connors was his election agent but he had other agents as well. He stayed at Dunn's Hotel and he told Mrs'. Dunn to give no entertainment and no drink to any elector. He did not know that his valet was ordering drink. He paid £50 for his room but did not seek to influence the vote of Mr. Dunne, who voted against him in 1865. He paid John Hogan £60 to canvass the electors on his behalf. He paid Simon Tracy the same amount for similar work. He made many other payments but denied they were intended to influence the way the electors voted.

O'Beirne was cross-examined by Mr. Isaac Butt. He admitted that he had not paid one shilling expenses through his Expense Agent, even though the law required that all election expenses be paid through his agent. He said he did not know the law made it a misdemeanour to pay any expenses except through an agent. Though he was a solicitor and a M.P. he had never read all the sections of the relevant Act of Parliament and depended on his agent, Mr. Pierce Grace, for legal advice on what to do. O'Beirne thought the election had cost him £500. He had also spent about £300 since he came to Cashel. Most of his election expenses were paid through the bank. Upwards of £400 was spent paying the mob in the street. The mob were to come into the town on the day of the nomination to prove the popularity of the candidate, O'Beirne. Many came from Cionmel. Each man was to be paid 2/6 to 3/6 per head and he left strict instructions that they were to be served no drink. In conclusion O'Beirne said Johnston, his agent, had spent over £2,500 in the 1865 election. Virtually all the bills paid out were for £30 and O'Beirne came to the conclusion that that was the price of a vote.

Munster's Testimony

On being examined by Butt, Munster recalled coming to Cashel on 16th or 17th October. He came from Sheffield with his daughter Miss Ede and was met at Thurles Station by Edward Leahy, the brother of the Archbishop, an old friend. He had taken the house, Abbeyview, and drove to it from the station. He had two sons and a daughter. He had spent £50 on toys in Mr Ferris's toy shop to treat the children in the National and Convent schools and to give beggars around the town. As well as appointing an Expense Agent, his private solicitor, George Richardson, he also appointed Miss Sterne to attend to his household expenses and gave her an account in the bank for that purpose. He also got Miss Ede, who was about to enter a convent novitiate in France, to look after all begging applications. He admitted that he knew so many agents were being retained on his behalf in order to prevent the 'most corrupt people in the constituency, whom others bribe, from voting at all'.

Cross-examined by Mr Hemphill he admitted that Mr Edward Leahy first suggested that he might be a candidate for Cashel. He had hardly heard of the place or had any interest until about a month before he came to the town. Soon after arriving in Cashel some of the Town Commissioners visited him and before they left he wrote a cheque for £500 to Archdeacon Quirke to pay for the Christian Brothers coming to the town, provided a new premises were found. There was an implication that the £500 was payment for the support of certain people. The cheque was conditional on the school being built or started within nine months. The local clergy did not support Munster but the Archbishop was his friend. Munster denied that the telegraph, which he had installed from Gooldscross to Cashel, was his gift to the people of Cashel if they voted for him.

The papers said that he had come to Cashel 'like Jupiter in showers of gold'. There were also allegations that he bought carriages, horses, a jennet for £10, furniture, cattle, and had in fact spent £6,000 during the election.
 

The Verdict

Judge Baron Fitzgeald came to the conclusion at the end of the Petition Hearing that the corrupt practice of bribery did extensively prevail in the 1868 election. The conclusion he felt obliged to arrive at upon a consideration of the whole case, regarding each part of the light of the other, was that the election of Mr O'Beirne must be declared void; and, in regard to the position of Mr O'Beirne himself, he would be obliged to report to the House of Commons that the bribery was with his knowledge and consent.

In the case of Mr Munster, he did not appear to have been personally involved but, he held that he had committed bribery through his agents, and particularly Patrick Laffan. In the same issue of the Nenagh Guardian, 24th February 1869, quoted earlier it was reported from the House of Commons that immediately after the receipt of Judge Baron Fitzgerald's report on the Cashel Election Petition, means would be taken, with the concurrence of leading men on both sides of the House, to disfranchise the borough of Cashel.

What the Petition Hearing had established was that corrupt practices had prevailed in the 1868 Cashel election but this had now to be proved before the constituency could be disfranchised. To do this a Commission of Inquiry was set up to investigate the Cashel election and to examine the existence of corrupt practices. George Waters, a.c., was appointed Chief Commissioner and Constantine Molloy and William Griffin as Commissioners.
 

Commission of Inquiry

The Commission of Inquiry began in Cashel on 4th October 1869. Chief Commissioner Waters stated that they had the power to serve upon any person whom they thought it right to examine, a summons to appear as a witness and further they had power to inflict punishment on any person who disobeyed their summons. He threatened prison to persons who refused to answer questions, or who answered them unsatisfactorily or refused to produce documents when required. But, he also offered the carrot of persuasion. He promised that 'if any man, no matter how deeply he may be involved in any corrupt practices, comes before us on our summons and frankly and fairly and fully tells the truth of all that he knows, it is in our power to give him a certificate which will free him from all pains and penalties of any kind whatsoever'.
The minutes of evidence of the inquiry is a most impressive document. In the course of it about 250 witnesses were called and 18,872 questions asked by the Commissioners. The huge number of questions was required by the evasiveness of many of the witnesses, who were extremely economical with the truth. Having started on 4th October, the hearing lasted for twenty-two days and concluded on 20th November. It provides a vivid, interesting and comprehensive picture of electoral practices in nineteenth century Ireland.

In their report the Commissioners stated that having found corrupt practices committed in the 1868 election they carried out a like inquiry into the previous election of 1865 and having found corrupt practices obtaining then, they" investigated the previous election to that, 1859, but did not find that corrupt practices were committed then. Therefore they did not inquire into any antecedent election.

It appeared that the election of 1865, which was won by Mr O'Beirne, had cost him between £2,500 and £3,000, a sum very greatly in excess of any possible legitimate expenditure. The Commissioners found that the election was conducted in a corrupt manner on the part of Mr O'Beirne and that corrupt practices were committed at that election. The total number of electors found to have been guilty of corrupt practices was thirty-two. The Commissioners believed that the number was probably greater but owing to the death of Mr Frazer Johnson, Solicitor, O'Beirne's conducting agent at the election, who seemed to have been the principal manager of the corrupt practices on his behalf, and the non-attendance of Mr O'Beirne, they were unable to ascertain the full extent of corupt practices. It appeared however, from the evidcence of Mr J. D. White, the local partner of Frazer Johnson, that he gave ten men £30 each in bills at that election, but he was unable to identify the men to whom he gave the money, being only able to state that he believed them to be voters from the Commons.

In connection with the 1868 election the Commissioners found 77 electors guilty of corrupt practices. They estimated that the total amount expended by or on behalf of Munster was about £3,800 and this figure included about £1,000 which was spent on charitable and other public purposes. Half of the latter amount was a donation to the Christian Brothers and even though the donation was made unconditionally the Commissioners believed that the gift was calculated to induce voters to support him and to obtain influence in favour of his return. They found that this transaction constituted corrupt pratices on Mr Munster's part. Direct bribery on Mr Munster's side did not appear to have commenced until the Monday before the election. Mr Patrick Laffan, the brother of Mr Munster's conducting agent, was the person who principally managed the direct bribery on behalf of Mr Munster. In all he expended about £1,100 in the direct bribery of voters, principally at the rate of £30 to £40 per head, by the hands of a man named Larkin. He was a stranger to Cashel and had been brought there from another part of the county.

Besides this direct bribery, there were some cases in which parties were led to expect that they would receive money after the election. There was an idea among many voters, who did not get anything before the election, that, to use their own expression, 'if there was anything going after the election, they would get their shares'. Accordingly, a great many claims, to the number of about thirty, were sent in to Mr Munster's agent, or entered in his agents' books after the election, generally in the names of sons or relations of voters for 'services at the election'. The sums varied from £20 to £60. In some cases the claims were either suggested, or actually put in for the parties without their request or knowledge, by Mr Munster's conducitng agent. He gave as his reason for doing so, that he 'intended that those who voted honsetly and independently', as he conceived, 'should not afterwards be worse off than those who had made a corrupt bargain'.

The Commissioners further noted that another form of corrupt practice, the taking of houses from voters at extravagant prices, which was well known in Cashel, was resorted to on both sides but more extensively on behalf of Q'Beirne. As well, they concluded that bribery was more widely practised by Munster than by Q'Beirne. They could not ascertain that the latter had at his disposal for the election more than £900 and of that sum £400 was spent on hotel bills, the payment of mobs and other expenses. They found that £230 had been expended in bribery, either by Q'Beirne himself or with his knowledge. The Commissioners' Report was submitted to the Government on 18th December.

Reaction
 

It took some time for the Government to respond to the Commissioners' Report. In the meantime there were a number of reactions. There was a feeling abroad that the worst that could happen was the disqualification of the elected representatives and the holding of bye-elections. As early as the publication of Judge Baron Fitzgerald's report on the Election Petitions, half-adozen candidates expressed their intention of going forward for the vacant seat in Cashel. In April a petition signed by the Electors of CasheI against the disfranchisement of the town was presented to the House of Commons.

Then came the report of the Commission of Inquiry and the future looked less bright for the constituency. The Election Petition hearing had caused bitterness, according to John Davis White in the Cashel Gazette: 'The result has been that many of his oldest and best friends and neighbours have been estranged from him. The breach now will in all probability be further widened (as a result of the Commisison of Inquiry).'

The Gazette did not welcome the Commission and told the House of Commons in an editorial 'to cast the beam out of its own eye before it begins to take the mote out of the eye of the electors of Cashel.' The Gazette commented on the Report of the Commissioners in its issue of 12th March 1870. It concluded it was 'a very one sided affair' and claimed that the Commission in its questioning treated the supporters of Mr O'Beirne more leniently than those of Mr Munster.

On 28th March, the newspaper had an editorial about the Disfranchisement Bill and made a strong plea against it. But all was in vain. The text of the Bill appeared on 4th June. Under it the two constituencies of Cashel and Sligo would cease to return Members of Parliament and of the persons named in the schedules none 'shall have the right of voting for the county of Tipperary in respect of a qualification situated within the said borough of Cashel.'

When the Bill was introduced into the House of Commons the Members heard a Petition to Parliament signed by the innocent electors of Cashel. It stated that Cashel had a right to elect a Member to Parliament since 1216 but the people were practically excluded from the rights of voting until the passing of the Reform Act of 1832. From then on worthy people were elected until 1865 when the Electors had to choose between two candidates of the same party and succumbed to bribery.

The petition was in vain. The Bill got its second reading on 16th June and was passed by 153 votes to 23. Only 23 of the Irish Members in the house voted in the division, with 10 voting for and 13 against. The Bill received it Third Reading on 27th June after which it went to the House of Lords where it was given Royal Assent on 1st August. '
 

Conclusion

The Cashel Gazette quickly came to terms with the loss of the seat. In the following February it stated as follows: 'The principal good derived by the citizens from having a Member consisted in being able to obtain nominations to offices in the public service, and now that these offices are open to competition without such nominations we shall not very much miss a parliamentary representative.'

In November 1870 the Town Commissioners of Nenagh met and resolved that their town should get the right of returning a Member that was taken away from Cashel. The Gazette disagreed and proposed instead that the seat be given to the county, which could be divided into north, middle and south. The seat was eventually given to the county after the Reform Act of 1884 when the county was divided into four constituencies, north, mid, east and south. Clonmel lost its right to send a Member to Parliament and the first election under the new arrangement was held in 1885.
 

Sources
Dod's Parliamentary Companion.
Cashel Gazette.
Nenagh Guardian.
The Times (London).
Tipperary Advocate.
Tipperary Independent.
Report of the Commission into the Existence of Corrupt Practices at the last Election in Cashel (Dublin, 1869).

<span class="postTitle">Sporting Highlights Times to Cherish: Cashel and Rosegreen Parish History 1795-1995</span>, ed. by B. Moloney, pp 116-130

Sporting Highlights

Times to Cherish: Cashel and Rosegreen Parish History 1795-1995, ed. by B. Moloney, pp 116-130

It is an impossible task to cover the sporting highlights of the parish of Cashel and Rosegreen within the bounds of an article and yet it is one that ought to be attempted in a book purporting to describe the activities of the people of the parish over two hundred years. Apart from the extensive time span one of the problems that had to be faced was the scarcity of information and the absence of much real organised sporting activities during the first hundred years. Another problem was what to include and what to exclude. At first it was decided to limit mention to those that had achieved national and international fame. But this created a major problem: for one thing it excluded mention of Cashel King Cormac's historic victory in the 1991 county senior hurling final. It also precluded mention of stories and anecdotes of a sporting nature which would give spice to the account. In the end it was decided to be plain arbitrary in the criteria used and what might have been a solid historical account ended up as a personal essay. And, one further point to add to the confusion; the essay hasn't always remained strictly within the bounds of the parish.

THE SPORT OF KINGS

Horses have always played a major part in the lives of the people and Ballydoyle is a name that is synonymous with that activity. A previous owner to Vincent O'Brien, a Mr. Saddler, kept point-to-point horses and was part owner of Ballykisteen stud. He was also an auctioneer and had seven daughters. But, that's another story.

With respect to Mr. Sadlier and his interest in horses, it was county Cork man, Vincent O'Brien, who put Ballydoyle, Cashel and Ireland on the horse-racing, training and breeding map, almost as soon as he arrived in 1951. Before he touched down he had already made an impact on English National Hunt racing having trained Cottage Rake to take the Cheltenham Gold Cup on three consecutive years, 1948, '49 and '50 and having another triple winner with Hatton's Grace in the Champion Hurdle in 1949, '50 and "51 . He was to confirm this form with three successive English Grand National winners with three different horses, Early Mist, Royal Tan, which was bred by J. Topping near Tullamaine, and Quare Times in 1953, 1954 and 1955. He was to take another Gold Cup with Knock Hard in 1953.

Having won all the major honours in National Hunt he turned his attention to flat racing. From Chamier in the Irish Derby in 1953 to the success of College Chapel in the Cork and Orrery Stake in 1993, bringing his tally at Royal Ascot to 25 winners, he won every honour in racing. His tally included 16 English and 27 Irish classics. As well as the six English Derby winners Larkspur, Sir Ivor, Nijinsky , Roberto, The Minstrel and Golden Fleece, six Irish Derby winners Chamier, Ballymoss, Nijinsky, The Minstrel, El Gran Senor and Law Society,have also come out of the famous stables. This success has not been confined to Ireland and England. Sir Ivor won the Washington International in 1968 the Grand Criterium in France in 1967. He won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in three occasions, the French Derby in 1983 and as late as 1990 Royal Academy won the Breeders Cup mile in New York under an inspired ride from the recently renewed Lester Pigott.

Vincent O'Brien has always been concerned with the stud side of the business and in 1973 bought into Coolmore Stud, which was owned by Tim Vigors. This was expanded in 1975 into the Coolmore/Castlehyde operat­ion with John Magnicr and Robert Sangster as partners. It now comprises six farms and over 2,500 acres and rivals any stud set-up in the world. In the early 1980s Lyonstown Stud, midway between Cashel and Rosegreen, was acquired to accommodate mares and home­bred foals and yearlings. Best winners raised there to date include Sadler's Wells, King's Lake, Tate Gallery, Thatching and Lomond, all of whom went to stand at Coolmore.

TIPPERARY TIM AND OTHER GREATS

Still on horses but going back to an earlier time, Tipperary Tim, so-called after the famous Dundrum runner, Tim Crowe, (who ran the London Marathon in 1924 ) won the Aintree Grand National. He was bred by John Ryan at Dogstown, which borders the parish. In 1928 Ryan emigrated to America and, in fact, was on the boat as it was about to leave Cobh when he learnt that the horse he bred had won the 'Blue Riband' of National Hunt racing. The New York Times reported John Ryan's account of how he heard the news:

'I was sitting in the smoking room,' he said, 'when a man pokes his head in the door and says':
'Doe anyone want to know who won the National?' and I said: 'I do.' and he says 'It's Tipperary Tim, and who are you?' 'I'm his breeder saysI', and then we had a bit of celebration all round.
The late Paddy Quinn of Kilbragh bought Golden Miller as a yearling for 100 guineas at Dublin Sales from Mr. Lawrence Geraghty of Co. Meath and sold him as a three-year old for £300. The horse then went to England and eventually became the property of Dorothy Paget. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on five successive occasions between 1932 and 1936 and also won the Aintree Grand National in the record time of 9 mins. 20.4 seconds, carrying 12 stone 2 Ibs.
One cannot talk of horse racing without mentioning the name of Arkle It may interest readers to know that apart from Arkle only one other horse ever beat the great Mill House at level weights and that horse was none other than Hunter's Fort which was bred by Pat O'Connell of Kilconnell.
The late Henry Quinn of Mayfield owned Heirloom, who won the Irish Grand National in 1945. He also owned Dickie May, who won the Massey-Ferguson Gold Cup when trained by Tom Dreaper.
James Ryan O'Connor was a bookmaker in London at the turn of the century but had house near Rosegreen, whereto he returned frequently on holiday. His uncle, Jim O'Connor, donated two of the statues in the Parish Church, Cashel and also the marble altar in Rockwell College.

Ryan O'Connor was a colourful character and named his house in London, 'Rosegreen'. He set up his own trainer - a Mr. O'Dwyer - at Locfedora near Cashel and he trained the Irish Derby winner in 1911 named Shanballymore.

When home on holidays, Ryan O'Connor used to go racing at Limerick Junction and on the train journey back used to throw his small change out the window where the children would wait to pick it up. He also used to give one of the locals a sovereign to go into Cashel in the pony and trap to collect the newspaper. He eventually was made bankrupt as a result of his betting. His daughters continued to live in Rosegreen and the last, Kitty, died as recently as 1992,

EXPENSIVE HORSEFLESH

In the winter of 1940 Tim Hyde moved his racing stable from Cork, where the new Christy Ring field is today, to Cashel. The moving was done bytrain and the horses walked out to Camas Park. Hyde was a most successful jockey. He rode the winner of the Irish National on two occasions, with Clare County in 1938 and Prince Regent in 1945. He won the Aintree Grand National in 1939 on Workman and he trained Dominick's Bar to win the Irish National in 1950. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Prince Regent in 1946 and became the champion National Hunt jockey.

He was also a top show-jumper, winning many victories, including the Horse of the Year championship on Hack On in Harringay in 1949. His successful career came to an abrupt end when he was injured at the Clonakilty Show in 1950 and he spent the remainder of his life in a wheelchair .

His son, Timmy, has made his mark in the stud farm business. In 1984 he sold the most expensive yearling ever purchased in Europe for £3,100,000 at Goff 's Sales. The colt was by Shergar and went on to win two Group I races, including the St. Leger. Some of the successful classic winners bred in Camas include Al Bahatri, who won the Irish 1,000 Guineas, Indian Skinner, who won the French Oaks and Soviet Star, who won the French 2,000 Guineas.

THE OVAL SHAPED BALL

There has been a rugby club in Cashel since 1925 and the club moved to its present location in 1951. The most famous players ever to come from the parish were undoubtedly the Ryan brothers from the Race­course. They were legends in their own lifetimes and the legends haven't faded in the meantime. Mike was capped 17 times for Ireland between 1897 and 1904 and Jack 14 times over the same period. Mike was chosen in 1905 but refused to play because Jack wasn't picked. Both were on the first Irish team to win the Triple Crown in 1899. Both played a major part in that memorable victory. Against Scotland a well-publicised incident happened: Mike slung the biggest Scottish player, McEwan, into the spectators. "He was playing a great game. Now, from our twenty-five he meant to get through.

I saw him coming, teeth bared, jaw set, deter­mination written all over him. Five yards from me he hurled himself for me. I got one arm well round him, swung around with him and let go; he sailed out into the crowd. There was a great hush for a moment in which you would have heard a pin drop. It was looked on as a prodigious feat of strength, but it was his own size and speed that helped me. He resumed the game nothing the worse."

Only five players played in all three matches, Louis Magee, James Sealy, Billy Byron and the two Ryans. "Jack and I returned home. At the Race­course Cross we were held up by all Rockwell. To a man they had turned out to welcome us. They took the horse from between the shafts and insisted on pulling us all the way to the college we loved, though our hands ached from all the fierce handclasps we received."

Jakes McCarthy, an outstanding sportswriter of the time, once described a famous try by Mike Ryan with the memorable phrase: "crossing the line, his frame festooned by Saxons.".
The Cashel club was the home club of Johnny Moroney in the mid-sixties after he left Rockwell because there was no club in Clogheen. Moroney won a number of international caps. The Wolfhounds played in Cashel on two occasions in the fifties. Cashel fielded an all Ryan selection in 1956, captained by Denis Ryan, and played against a county Tipperary fifteen. The first major trophy won by the club was the Garryowen Cup in the thirties.

HANDBALL

The greatest national distinction achieved by people from the parish in the past twenty years has been in the game of handball. Since the opening of the Michael Carrie Memorial Ally in 1975 handballers from Cashel have won an impressive list of victories.

Pride of place in the roll of honour must go to John O'Donoghue, who has won All-Irelands at minor, under-21, junior and senior levels. At the minor level the outstanding player has to be Noel Marshall, for a hat-trick of victories in 1991, 1992 and 1993. Others successful at the minor level were David Moloney, Noel Murphy and Michael Carrie. At the under-21 level John Fitzell, Jocie O'Dwyer, David Moloney and Noel Murphy won the highest honours. David Moloney and Jocie O'Dwyer were again success­ful at junior level and the Cashel club had the honour of winning the junior inter-club All-Ireland in 1992 with a team that included Jocie O'Dwyer, Noel Murphy, David Moloney and Brendan Murphy. Paddy Hoare and Willie O'Dwyer won the novice All-Ireland in 1991.
Other All-Ireland victories in handball have been achieved in Cumann na mBunscoil, Community Games, Tailteann Games, Feile na nGael, Vocational Schools, Junior and Senior Colleges and Inter-Varsity competitions.

At Cumann na mBunscoil level All-Ireland honours were won by Noel Murphy, Noel Marshall, Timmy Moloney, Michael Carrie, Denis White, Connie Crotchett, Barry Moloney and Albert Carrie, Jnr.

In the Community Games the highest honours were achieved by Willie and. John Fitzell, Tommy and P. J. McGeer, Paul and Steven Moloney, John O'Donoghue, Jamie Gillespie, Michael Carrie, Noel Marshall, Denis White, Connie Crotchett, Noel Murphy, Timmy Moloney, John O'Dwyer and Michael Carrie.

In different years John Fitzell, Jocie O'Dwyer, John McGeer, Seanie and Declan White, Michael Carrie, Michael Mclnerney, Brendan and Noel Murphy, Alan Gillespie, David Moloney, P. J. McGeer, have been successful in the Tailteann Games.

Jocie O'Dwyer, Gerard Myers, Seanie White and John McGeer won top honours in Division 11 of Feile na nGael in 1983. Jocie O'Dwyer had the added distinction of being skills champion.
Many of the above mentioned won the highest honours at Vocational School level, John O'Donoghue, John Fitzell, Jocie O'Dwyer, Noel Murphy, Noel Marshall, Denis White and P. J. McGeer.

Cashel boys have also made their impact at Junior and Senior Colleges level, John O'Neill, John O'Donoghue, Jimmy O'Neill, John J. Murphy, John Scannell, Richard Fahy, Michael Carrie and David Moloney. In inter-varsity competitions honours were won by John and Jimmy O'Neill, John Scannell and Michael Carrie.

Nor have the girls been found wanting. Perhaps they have been inspired by the famous handballing nun, Sr. Mary Brennan, who won two over-30s All-Irelands in 1979.
The successes of the girls include Regina Mulligan, Teresa Scully, Nollaig Ryan, Triona and Nuala Bonnar, Anne and Michelle Buckley, Kath­leen Guilfoyle, Margaret Lonergan, Deirdre Healan, Noreen O'Dwyer, Tina Keating, Caroline Kenny, Carol Moloney and Sandra Hourigan in the Tailteann Games.

Many have also won honours in the Comm unity Games, including Teresa Scully, Michelle Fogarty, Regina Mulligan, Nuala, Eithne and Triona Bonnar, Kathleen Guilfoyle, Anne Buckley, Deirdre Healan, Margaret Lonergan, Christine O'Dwyer, Gene Hourigan, Ellen 0 ' Shaughnessy, Monica Broad, Joan McGrath, Carol Moloney, Caroline Kenny, Sandra Hourigan, Roseanna O'Dwyer, Allison White and Catriona O'Reilly.

All-Ireland champions include Jackie Keating, who achieved the highest honours in three consecutive years, 1991, 1992 and 1993. She also came third in the USHA finals in Cincinnati in 1992. Other All-Ireland successes were achieved by Sandra Hourigan and Caroline Kenny in 1992 and by Carol Moloney in 1993.

By any standards this has to be recognised as an outstanding performance by the club members. At the beginning of the account John O'Donoghue was singled for his All-Ireland medals in four different grades.. The achievements of David Moloney and Noel Murphy have also been outstanding: they have won no less than 15 and 13 All-Irelands respectively in diff­erent competitions since they first came on the scene in 1985.

A GOLFING INTERLUDE

It may come as a surprise to many to learn that there was a golf course in Cashel at one time, a golf links to give it its precise name. The information is rather sparse but as far as can be ascertained it was located in what was then Stapleton's land, opposite Dan Grogan's, on the Clonmel Road.

It appears that the original intention was to start a club in a different place. There was a meeting in the City Hall in October 1912 for the purpose of establishing a golf links. One of the main speakers was C. Barrington, J.P., who spoke of the advantages a golf links would have for Cashel. Old and young, fat and thin, men and women could play it. It would bring business to the town. He would recommend starting with a 9 hole course and if that were successful they could always extend to 18. They had about fifty-five potential members,which was adequate. The biggest problem would be renting a suitable site because the land was so rich around Cashel. They would not require the links during summer as golf was entirely a winter game, played from October to April. (Pre­sumably when the grass was eaten or scarce.) Other speakers placed emphasis on the last point. As golf was a winter game the owners of land would not suffer any loss or damage by the establishment of a golf links.

A small committee of six was appointed to find a suitable site. When they reported back they had selected Mr. Dwyer's (no relation of the present owners) land at Locfedora, which contained over sixty acres and the owner was willing to let it to them for the first year for £20. It was agreed to take up the offer. A professional golfer from Tipperary, Mr. Doyle, was engaged for one month to coach the members. The following charges were agreed to for members: Family £2-2-0; Gentleman £1 - 1 –0, Ladies 10/6.

Whatever happened to these plans is not known because they never came to pass. The links was established on the Clonmel Road by 1918. It was an elaborate set-up with a clubhouse in timber with a felt roof and some 'lovely furniture inside.' The links contained 9 holes and the greens were wired off squares. The fairways used to be cut and rolled by Paddy Stapleton and the game was played in the summer, despite the protestations of Mr. Barrington. Some people still living remember the players; the ladies in their long dresses and hats and the men in their plus-fours. Bernard Cantwell and Willie Delaney are remembered driving out in a big white horse and trap to play a game after first mass on a Sunday morning. The Matthews, who worked in the National Bank, used to walk out for a game with their daughter, Miriam. Miss Corby was a member, as were the Trayers and the Ryan-O'Connors. Willie Hackett, who used to live in Bill Gough's, was the caretaker. Paddy Purcell was a keen player as were Mrs. Costello of the jeweller shop, Mrs. Spiers, whose husband was an excise officer, the Coopers of Killenure, some Rockwell priests and Dean Talbot.

It's difficult to establish when it ceased to operate as a golf links. The clubhouse was burned down in about 1922 and was rebuilt a couple of years later. By the late twenties it had ceased to be a viable proposition. One theory is that the upkeep had become too great for the declining membership. Whatever the reason it ceased to exist. A meeting was held in Ryan' Hotel in the early fifties to revive it but nothing materialised. W. P. Ryan and Jack Rodgers were among those who attended.

S0ME LESSER KNOWN HEROES AND HEROINES

Cashel has produced its heroes in less well-known sporting activities. Cork ex-patriate, Mick Bennett, was an All-Ireland tug- o'- war champion. Aidan Fogarty won a national badminton| championship. Boy O'Brien of 7 Haig's Terrace was an All-Army boxing champion. In wrestling Stephen Ryan of Chapel Lane and Jimmy 'Tiger' Ryan of Cathal Brugha Street made it to the top. Joe Delahunty of Dominic Street was a national javelin champion. In running John Fitzell, Brendan Murphy and Anna McCormack have won recognition as also have Tommy Barron and Mary Price in cross-country running. Marie Gayson and Tommy Leon are skittles champions. Michael Perdue won the long puck competition in the 1982 Community Games. In weight-lifting Garda Andrew Fogarty won a national championship and Johnny Ryan-Cagney was a one-mile walk champion. And what about the exploits of Paddy Ang1i m of Rosegreen. He was N.A.C.A. champion of Ireland for six successive years in the long jump between 1931-36 and for the same length of time in the pole vault between 1929-34. Did you ever hear of Tai Kwondo? It's the Korean martial art of hand and foot. John Foley of Dualla Road was on the Black Belt team that won the national championship in 1992. Two years earlier he won the Black Dragon Karate individual championship in his weight. Another O'Brien, a brother of Boy's, was an All-Army champion in 60 and 100 metres. An earlier hero was Michael O'Connor of Rathcowan. His field of fame was the shot putt. He won the All-Ireland championship in the 28 Ibs in August 1900 and in the 56 Ibs the following year. He was presented with a cup, still in the family, called the Rathcowan Cup, by J. Costello, Jeweller, Cashel, in honour of his achievement.

Any account of sporting highlights in the parish of Cashel and Rosegreen that omitted to mention the names of Tommy Wade and Dundrum would be in­complete. The combination brought honour and glory, not only to the little townsland of Longfield but to the broader area of Tipperary and to Ireland at large. Two names from the parish who have made an impact in show-jumping are Seamus Hayes and Shane Breen. One of the youngest heroines in the parish is Niamh O'Connor of Cahir Road, who won a junior internat­ional gold medal for Ireland in the international competition for disabled swimmers in Scotland in June 1993, the first Irish girl to win such an honour. On a completely different plane two people from the parish have won All-Irelands in ploughing, Larry Bergin of Rosegreen and Gary Prendergast of Dangan.

And, did you know that Bernie O'Dwyer of the Old Road is the daughter of the late Paddy Ryan of Pallasgreen, a world hammer-throwing champion! Or that Hurricane Billy Warren, a world heavyweight boxing champion, gave an exhibition in Cashel? Sike and McTigue also boxed in Cashel. And have you heard of Cover Cleary? Not much is known of him but the story goes that one day a running champion was finding it difficult to shake off the attentions of an opponent and was alleged to have said in frust­ration: "Is it the devil I have with me today or Cover Cleary from Cashel?!"

CANINE GLORY

Cashel has had its share of successful doggie men. One of the more recent was Jim 'Jumbo' Ryan, who won the Waterloo Cup in consecutive years with Minnesota Miller in 1976 and Minnesota York in 1977. Back in the fifties Philip Hennessy of Templenoe won the Laurels in Cork with Templenoe Rebel and Philip Holmes won the Tipperary Cup in Thurles with Bellaree. James Farrell won the Derby in Clonmel with Fourth of July in 1957 and the McCalmontt Cup in Kilkenny the same year. Two years later Fainne won the McCalmont Cup in Harold's Cross and in 1971 Fleur-de-Lis won the Corn Cuchulainn at the same venue. John Fahy had a runner-up with Potipher in the coursing Derby in Clonmel in 1967 and his Mr. Gallant won the Deise Cup in Dungarvan in 1969. Frank O'Regan took the Carroll's Irish Derby in 1981 with Bold Work.

One of the most successful trainers in the parish is Tom O'Dwyer. One of his earliest winners was Rattle the Kee in the Produce Stakes in Clonmel in 1962. After more winners in the next two decades he hit a golden patch in the eighties. In 1984 Smokey Dixie won the Connaught Cup and in the following year Smokey Pete captured the Scottish and Welsh Derbies. In the same year Townbrook Bimbo won the coursing Derby in Clonmel and Smokey Hothead captured Corn na Feile. Pyramid Club won the coursing Derby in 1988 and Smokey David the Clonmel Open International in 1993. His wife, Mary, has also had a number of successes. She captured the coursing Oaks at Clonmel in 1978 with Smokey Flavour and the Belsize Cup in Co. Westmeath. She was also successful in the coursing Oaks with Smokey Alice in 1984.

THE MOST POPULAR PURSUITS

Of all the sporting activities that have occupied the people of Cashel for generations, Gaelic games have been the most popular. Even before the founding of the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884 hurling was popular in the parish. In spite of this it took four attempts to found a G.A.A. club in the town and this happened in June 1888 with Dr. Tom Wood as the first chairman. In the course of time the club became known as the Cashel King Cormacs and it has always been the major club in the parish. Other teams to appear at various times were the Rock Crackers, for a brief period in 1887, Racecourse in the same year, Ballyfowloo in 1915, Abbey Rangers in 1941, Knocknagow in 1950, Rosegreen in 1955 and 1980, Suir Rangers 1958, Crokes 1962 and St. Mary's 1963.

Mention of Racecourse recalls the county final in 1910 in which they beat Toomevara twice before losing both games on appeal. Two brothers, synon­ymous with the Racecourse are Jack and Mick Ryan, who were prominent for the club and county in hurling and football.

Even though hurling was always the premier game the first Cashel players to win national honours, Tom O'Connor, Michael Dargan and Michael Devitt, did so in All-Ireland junior football in 1912. In the following year Patrick Dargan won an All-Ireland junior hurling medal and Jim Hickey emulated this feat in 1924. Michael Burke won All-Ireland minor hurling honours in 1932 and 1933.
Not until 1937 did a Cashel man win All-Ireland honours in senior hurling. The honour went to Jack Gleeson of Shanballa, who had the added distinction of winning a junior All-Ireland the following year with London. The next parish man to win the highest honours was Jim Devitt who was probably one of the most brilliant stickmen to come out of Tipperary. He won All-Ireland honours in 1945 and 1949. A few minor hurling stars came next, Mickey Buckley in 1949 and Johnny Murphy, who was later to play for New York, in 1953 and 55. Peter O'Sullivan won five All-Ireland hurling medals in three grades, intermediate in 1963, under-21 and senior in 1964 and senior in 1965 and 1971. Two Cashel players won All-Ireland honours in 1967, Conor Davitt and Patsy O'Connor. Tommy Grogan and Tony Slattery won minor hurling honours in 1976 and under-21 in 1979. In the latter year Cormac Bonnar won his first All-Ireland in the same grade and made it a double the following year. Other successes in the eighties included Sean Slattery and Colm Bonnar in minor hurling in 1982 and in 1985 Colm and Pat O'Donoghue won under-21 hurling honours.
The mention of the Bonnars introduces a household that has brought more distinction to the club and parish than any other .family. As mentioned above Colm won All-Ireland honours in minor and under-21 and was unfort­unate to be on a beaten All-Ireland junior team in 1985. He was a member of the county senior hurling team that ended the famine in 1987 and went on to win All-Irelands in 1989 and 1991. He also won a National League medal in 1988. Also on that successful side was Pat Fitzell, who was getting his second medal, his first having been won in 1979. Another Bonnar, Cormac, having already won two All-Ireland under-21 medals, came back in ,the autumn of his career to win senior glory in 1989 and 1991, thus achieving the distinction of winning All-Irelands in three decades. A younger member of the clan, Conal, was also on the successful winning teams of 1989 and 1991. All three have also been recognised with All-Star awards, Colm in 1988 and Cormac and Conal in 1989 and 1991.

A high point in the history of the Cashel King Cormacs club was undoubtedly the opening of Leahy Park in 1956. The club had used many venues down the decades and finally found a permanent home on the Clonmel Road. The naming of the Park after the famous Johnny Leahy from Boherlahan was a recognition of his stature in the county. It also recalled the fact that he played his first senior hurling with Cashel in 1908 and it recognised the respect Cashel always had for the men of Boherlahan.

Without doubt the outstanding achievement of the Cashel King Cormacs was the winning of the county senior hurling title in 1991. This success was a long time coming but the joy, excitement and satisfaction in winning it were worth the, wait. Almost forty years previously the club had won its first county hurling title in 1953, and over the intervening decades won similar honours in minor and under-21 but the senior contin­ued to elude it until 1991. Having eventually made the breakthrough Cashel went on to win the Munster Club title with a glorious victory over Midleton and were deprived of ultimate honours after a three-game saga with Kiltormer.

While still on the subject of hurling it is worth recalling that Cashel C.B.S. won two All-Ireland 'B' competitions in the early eighties. In 1980 they beat Roscommon C.B.S. to win the school's first ever All-Ireland and to become the first school in the county to win Corn Ui Chaoimh. Cashel repeated the victory in 1982 by beating Callan C.B.S. in the final.

The girls from the Presentation Convent anticipated the achievements of the boys by winning the All-Ireland Colleges junior title in 1975, They were the first team to bring the cup to Munster. The school went one better in 1977 when winning the All-Ireland senior championship. In 1978 the school captured the double, beating Bawnmore in the junior and Shannon in the senior finals. Success continued in 1979 with a second senior All-Ireland in a victory over Athenry. The person largely responsible for these major successes was Willie Prendergast, who got involved in 1974 and retired as games-master in 1980. He was succeeded by Martin Quirke who guided the school to victory in the junior and senior Munster Colleges championships in 1989 and to a further senior in 1990.

At the club level Cashel Camogie Club has done very well in recent years. After winning county junior and intermediate honours in the early sixties, the club hit the jackpot in the 1980s by winning six county senior titles in-a-row between 1986 and 91. Three players have the distinction of having won all six medals, Irene Butler, Julia O'Dwyer and Noreen Ryan. The club was also successful at underage level, winning county under-16 titles in 1987, 1988, 1990 and 1992 and under-18 in 1989. Cashel players have won recognition at county level. No fewer than eight of the successful team that won All-Ireland junior honours in 1992 came from the Cashel club: captain Triona Bonnar, Kaiffe Moloney, Jovita Delaney, Anne Marie Fitzgerald, Helen O'Leary, Marita Tobin, Angela Ryan and Joan Tobin. Club players also contributed to Tipperary's All-Ireland victories at under-16 level, Jovita Delaney, Neassa O'Dwyer, Marita Tobin, Jackie Keating, Sylvia Ryan, Tracy Bargary and Roisin Nash in 1990 and Michaella Bulfin, Edel Keane, Michelle Burke and Anne Barry in 1992. Two girls from the club have won Cidona Awards, Jovita Delaney in 1990 and Kaiffe Moloney in

The problem with an article of such Length, covering such a long period of time and mentioning so many activities and names is the danger of omissions. In anticipation that someone has been left out, I should like him/her to know that it was not deliberate. There is also the possibility that some activities that might have been mentioned have been left out. Again I apologise for the omissions. To all those who made a name for themselves in some sporting activity during the first hundred years of the period covered all I can say is that I came across no records of their achievements and, therefore, was unable to mention them. Finally I should like to thank a number of people who supplied information, particularly Peter McCarthy, Timmy Hyde, Tom O'Dwyer, Albert Carrie, Julia O'Dwyer, Mick Fogarty and many others too numerous to mention.

<span class="postTitle">Sporting Heros</span> Times to Cherish: Cashel and Rosegreen Parish History 1795-1995, ed. by Bernie Moloney, pp 154-163

Sporting Heros

Times to Cherish: Cashel and Rosegreen Parish History 1795-1995, ed. by Bernie Moloney, pp 154-163

It's an impossible task to cover the sporting highlights of the parish of Cashel and Rosegreen within the bounds of an article and yet it is one that ought to be attempted in a book purporting to describe the activities of the people of the parish over two hundred years. Apart from the extensive time span one of the problems that had to be faced was the sparcity of information and the absence of much real organised sporting activities during the first hundred years. Another problem was what to include and what to exclude. At first it was decided to limit mention to those that had achieved national and international fame. But this created a major problem: for one thing it excluded mention of Cashel King Cormac's historic victory in the 1991 county senior hurling final. It also precluded mention of stories and anecdotes of a sporting nature which would give spice to the account. In the end it was decided to be plain arbitrary in the criteria used and what might have been a solid historical account ended up as a personal essay. And, one further point to add to the confusion; the essay hasn't always remained strictly within the bounds of the parish. 

The Sport of Kings

Horses have always played a major part in the lives of the people and Ballydoyle is a name that is synonymous with that activity. A previous owner to Vincent O'Brien, a Mr. Saddler, kept point-to-point horses and was part owner of Ballykisteen stud. He was also an auctioneer and had seven daughters. But, that's another story. 

With respect to Mr. Saddler and his interest in horses, it was county Cork man, Vincent O'Brien, who put Ballydoyle, Cashel and Ireland on the horse-racing, training and breeding map, almost as soon as he arrived in 1951. Before he touched down he had already made an impact on English National Hunt racing having trained Cottage Rake to take the Cheltenham Gold Cup on three consecutive years, 1948, '49 and '50 and having another triple winner with Hatton's Grace in the Champion Hurdle in 1949, '50 and' 51. He was to confirm this form with three successive English Grand National winners with three different horses, Early Mist, Royal Tan, which was bred by J. Topping near Tullamaine, and Quare Times in 1953, '54 and '55 respectively. He was to take another Gold Cup with Knock Hard in 1953. Having won all the major honours in National Hunt he turned his attention to flat racing. From Chamier in the Irish Derby in '53 to the success of College Chapel in the Cork and Orrery stakes in 1993, bringing his score at Royal Ascot to 25 winners, he won every honour in racing. His training tally included 16 English and 27 Irish classics. As well as the six English Derby winners - Larkspur, Sir Ivor, Nijinsky, Roberto, The Minstrel and Golden Fleece - six Irish Derby winners - Chamier, Ballymoss, Nijinsky, The Ministrel, El Gran Senor and Law Society - have also come out of the famous stables. His successes have not been confined to Ireland and England. Sir Ivor won the Washington International in 1968 and the Grand Criterium in France in 1967. Ballydoyle horses won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on three occasions, the French Derby in 1983, and as late as 1990 Royal Academy won the Breeders' Cup Mile in New York under an inspired ride from Lester Piggott, who had come out of retirement just a few months earlier. 

Vincent O'Brien has always been concerned with the stud side of the business and in 1973 he bought into Coolmore Stud, which was owned by Tim Vigors. This was expanded in 1975 into the Coolmore/Castlehyde operation with John Magnier and Robert Sangster as partners. It now comprises six farms and over 2,500 cres and rivals any stud set-up in the world. In the early 1980s Lyonstown Stud, midway between Cashel and Rosegreen, was acquired by Vincent O'Brien from the philanthropic American millionaire, John A. Mulcahy, to accommodate mares and homebred foals and yearlings. Best winners raised there to date include Sadler's Wells, King's Lake, Tate Gallery, Thatching, El Gran Senor, Dr. Devious and Lomond, all of whom went to stand at Coolmore, except El Gran Senor and Dr. Devious. 

After firty-one years as a trainer, forty-four of which were spent at Ballydoyle, Vincent O'Brien announced his retirement in October 1994. 

Vincent O'Brien's eldest son, David, set up as a trainer in the Rahinaghmore Stables, which adjoins Ballydoyle, in 1980 at the age of twenty-four. In a short nine year period, he established himself as one of the outstanding young flat trainers of all time, being one of the few to win the English, French and Irish Derbys. 

In 1982 he was the first British or Irish trainer to win the French Derby (Prix du Jockey Club) with Assert. This horse also won the Irish Derby and the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup in the same year. In 1983 he was the first trainer to win the Irish 2000 Guineas with a filly. This he did with the brilliant Triptych. 

Probably one of the most sensational Epsom Derbys of all time was the 1984 race which was won by a short head by Secreto - trained by David and ridden by Christy Roche from Bansha from El Gran Senor, who was trained by Vincent and ridden by another Irish jockey, Pat Eddery. 

In a very different sphere of endeavour, Jacqueline O'Brien has established an international reputation in photography and, in association with Desmond Guinness, has produced two highly acclaimed photographic volumes: Great Irish Houses and Castles and Dublin - A Grand Tour. 

Tipperary Tim and other Greats

Still on horses but going back to an earlier time, Tipperary Tim (called after the famous Dundrum runner, Tim Crowe, who won the London Marathon in 1924) won the Aintree Grand National. He was bred by John Ryan at Dogstown, which borders the parish. In 1928 Ryan emigrated to America and, in fact, was on the boat as it was about to leave Cobh when he learnt that the horse he bred had won the 'Blue Riband' of National Hunt racing. The New York Times reported John Ryan's account of how he heard the news: 'I was sitting in the smoking room,' he said, 'when a man pokes his head in the door and says: "Does anybody want to know who won the National?" and I said: "I do," and he says, "It's Tipperary Tim, and who are you?" "I'm his breeder," says I, and then we had a bit of celebration all round.' 

The late Paddy Quinn of Kilbragh bought Golden Miller as a yearling for 100 guineas at Dublin Sales from Mr. Lawrence Geraghty of Co. Meath and sold him as a three-year-old for £300. The horse then went to England and eventually became the property of Dorothy Paget. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on five successive occasions between 1932 and 1936 and also won the Aintree Grand National in the record time of 9 minutes 20.4 seconds, carrying 12 stone 2 pounds. 

One cannot talk of horse racing without mentioning the name of Arkle. It may interest readers to known that apart from Arkle only one other horse ever beat the great Mill House at level weights and that horse was none other than Hunter's Fort which was bred by the recently deceased Pat O'Donnell of Kilconnell. 

The late Henry Quinn of Mayfield owned Heirloom, who won the Irish Grand National in 1945. He also owned Dickie May, who won the Massey Ferguson Gold Cup when trained by Tom Dreaper. 

James Ryan O'Connor was a bookmaker in London at the turn of the century but had a house near Rosegreen, whereto he returned frequently on holiday. His uncle, Jim O'Connor, donated two of the statues in the Parish Church, Cashel and also the marble altar in Rockwell College. 

Ryan O'Connor was a colourful character and named his house in London, 'Rosegreen'. He set up his own trainer - a Mr. O'Dwyer - at Lochfedora near Cashel and he trained the Irish Derby winner in 1911 named Shanballymore. 

When home on holidays, Ryan O'Connor used to go racing at Limerick Junction and on the train journey back used to throw his small change out the window where the children would wait to pick it up. He also used to give one of the locals a sovereign to go into Cashel in the pony and trap to collect the newspaper. He eventually was made bankrupt as a result of his betting. His daughters continued to live in Rosegreen; the last, Kitty, died as recently as 1992. 

Expensive Horseflesh

In the winter of 1940 Tim Hyde moved his racing stable from Cork, where the new Christy Ring field is today, to Cashel. The moving was done by train and the horses walked out to Camas Park. Hyde was a most successful jockey. He rode the winner of the Irish National on two occasions, with Clare County in 1938 and Prince Regent in 1945. He won the Aintree Grand National in 1939 on Workman and he trained Dominick's Bar to win the Irish National in 1950. He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Prince Regent in 1946 and became the champion National Hunt jockey. He was also a top show-jumper, winning many victories, including the Horse of the Year Championship on Hack On in Harringay in 1949. His successful career came to an abrupt end when he was injured at the Clonakilty Show in 1950 and he spent the remainder of his life in a wheelchair. 

His son, Timmy, has made his mark in the stud farm business. In 1984 he sold the most expensive yearling ever purchased in Europe for £3,100,000 at Goff's Sales. The colt was by Shergar and went on to win two Group I races, including the St. Leger. Some of the successful classic winners bred in Camas include AI Bahatri, who won the Irish 1000 Guineas, Indian Skinner, who won the French Oaks and Soviet Star, who won the French 2000 Guineas. 

The Oval Shaped Ball

There has been a rugby club in existence in Cashel since 1912 and the club moved to its present location on the Old Road in 1951. The most famous players ever to come from the parish were undoubtedly the Ryan brothers from the Racecourse. They were legends in their own lifetimes and the legends have not faded in the meantime. Mike was capped 17 times for Ireland between 1897 and 1904 and Jack 14 times over the same period. Mike was chosen in 1905 but refused to play because Jack wasn't picked. Both were on the first Irish team to win the Triple Crown in 1899. Both played a major part in that memorable victory. Against Scotland a well-publicised incident happened: Mike slung the biggest Scottish player, McEwan, into the spectators. 'He was playing a great game. Now, from our twenty-five he meant to get through. I saw him coming, teeth bared, jaw set, determination written all over him. Five yards from me he hurled himself for me. I got one arm well round him, swung around with him and let go; he sailed out into the crowd. There was a great hush for a moment in which you would have heard a pin drop. It was looked on as a prodigious feat of strength, but it was his own size and speed that helped me. He resumed the game nothing the worse.' 

Only five players played in all three matches: 'Louis Magee, James Sealy, Billy Byron and the two Ryans. 'Jack and I returned home. At the Racecourse Cross we were held up by all Rockwell. To a man they had turned out to welcome us. They took the horse from between the shafts and insisted on pulling us all the way to the college we loved, though our hands ached from all the fierce handclasps we received.' 

James McCarthy, an outstanding sportswriter of the time, once described a famous try by Mike Ryan with the memorable phrase: 'crossing the line, his frame festooned by Saxons.' The Cashel club was the home club of Johnny Moroney in the mid-sixties after he left Rockwell, because there was no club in Clogheen. Moroney won a number of international caps. The Wolfhounds played in Cashel on two occasions in the fifties. Cashel fielded an all-Ryan selection in 1956, captained by Denis Ryan, and played against a County Tipperary fifteen. The first major trophy won by the club was the Garryowen Cup in 1953-54. It was won a second time two years later. 

Handball 

The greatest national distinction achieved by people from the parish in the past twenty years has been in the game of handball. Since the opening of the Michael 'Monto' Carrie Memorial Alley in 1975 hand ballers from Cashel have won an impressive list of victories. 

Pride of place in the roll of honour must go to John O'Donoghue, who has won All-Irelands at minor, under-21, junior and senior levels. At the minor level the outstanding hardball player has to be Noel Marshall, for a hat-trick of victories in 1991, '92 and '93. Others successful at the minor level were David Moloney, Noel Murphy and Michael Carrie. At the under-21 level John Fitzell, Jocie O'Dwyer, David Moloney and Noel Murphy won the highest honours. David Moloney and Jocie O'Dwyer were again successful at junior level and the Cashel club had the honour of winning the junior inter-club All-Ireland in 1992 with a team that included Jocie O'Dwyer, Noel Murphy, David Moloney and Brendan Murphy. Paddy Hoare and Willie O'Dwyer won the novice All-Ireland in 1991. 

Other All-Ireland victories in handball have been achieved in Cumann na mBunscoil, Community Games, Tailteann Games, Feile na nGael, Vocational Schools, Junior and Senior Colleges and Inter-University competitions. 

At Cumann na mBunscoil level, All-Ireland honours were won by Noel Murphy, Noel Marshall, Timmy Moloney, Michael Carrie, Denis White, Connie Crotchett, Barry Moloney and Albert Carrie, junior. 

In the Community Games the highest honours were achieved by Willie and John Fitzell, Tommy and P. J. McGeer, Paul and Steven Moloney, John O'Donoghue, Jamie Gillespie, Michael Carrie, Noel Marshall, Denis White, Connie Crotchett, Noel Murphy, Timmy Moloney, John O'Dwyer and Michael Carrie. 

In different years John Fitzell, Jocie O'Dwyer, John McGeer, Seanie and Declan White, Michael Carrie, Michael Mclnerney, Brendan and Noel Murphy, Alan Gillespie, David Moloney, P. J. McGeer, have been successful in the Tailteann Games. 

Jocie O'Dwyer, Gerard Myers, Seanie White and John McGeer won top honours in Division II of Feile na nGael in 1983. Jocie O'Dwyer had the added distinction of being skills champion. 

Many of the above mentioned won the highest honours at Vocational School level, John O'Donoghue, John Fitzell, Jocie O'Dwyer, Noel Murphy, Noel Marshall, Denis White and P. J. McGeer. 

Cashel boys have also made their impact at Junior and Senior Colleges level, John O'Neill, John O'Donoghue, Jimmy O'Neill, John J. Murphy, John Scannell, Richard Fahy, Michael Carrie and David Moloney. In Inter-University competitions, honours were won by John and Jimmy O'Neill, John Scannell, Michael Carrie and Eamon O'Brien. 

Nor have the girls been found wanting. Perhaps they have been inspired by the famous hand balling nuns, Sr. Mary Brennan, who won two over-30s AII-Irelands in 1979, and Sr. Paula Buckley. 

The successes of the girls include Regina Mulligan, Teresa Scully, Nollaig Ryan, Triona and Nuala Bonnar, Anne and Michelle Buckley, Kathleen Guilfoyle, Margaret Lonergan, Deirdre Heelan, Noreen O'Dwyer, Tina Keating, Caroline Kenny, Carol Moloney and Sandra Hourigan in the Tailteann Games. 

Many have also won honours in the Community Games, including Teresa Scully, Michelle Fogarty, Regina Mulligan, Nuala, Eithne and Triona Bonnar, Kathleen Guilfoyle, Anne Buckley, Deirdre Healan, Margaret Lonergan, Christine O'Dwyer, Jean Hourigan, Eleanor O'Shaughnessy, Monica Broad, Joan McGrath, Carol Moloney, Caroline Kenny, Sandra Hourigan, Roseanna O'Dwyer, Allison White and Catriona O'Reilly. 

All-Ireland champions include Jackie Keating, who achieved the highest honours in three consectuive years, 1991, '92 and '93. She also came third in the USHA final in Cincinatti in 1992. Other All-Ireland successes were achieved by Sandra Hourigan and Caroline Kenny in 1992 and by Carol Moloney in 1993. 

By any standards this has to be recognised as an outstanding performance by the club members. At the beginning of the account John O'Donoghue was singled out for his All-Ireland medals in four different grades. The achievements of David Moloney and Noel Murphy have also been outstanding: they have won no less than fifteen and thirteen AII-Irelands respectively in different competitions since they first came on the scene in 1985. 

A Golfing Interlude 

It may come as a surprise to many to learn that there was a golf course in Cashel at one time: a golf links to give it its precise name. The information is rather sparse but as far as can be ascertained it was located in what was then Stapleton's land, opposite Dan Grogan's, on the Clonmel Road. 

It appears that the original intention was to start a club in a different place. There was a meeting in the City Hall in October 1912 for the purpose of establishing a golf links. One of the main speakers was C. Barrington, J.P., who spoke of the advantages a golf links would have for Cashel. Old and young, fat and thin, men and women could play it. It would bring business to the town. He would recommend starting with a nine-hole course and if that was successful they could always extend it to eighteen holes. They had about fifty-five potential members, which was an adequate number. The biggest problem would be renting a suitable site because the land was so rich around Cashel. They would not require the links during summer as golf was entirely a winter game, played from October to April. (Presumably when the grass was eaten or scarce.) Other speakers placed emphasis on the last point. As golf was a winter game the owners of land would not suffer any loss or damage by the establishment of a golf links. 

A small committee of six was appointed to find a suitable site. When they reported back they had selected Mr. Dwyer's (no relation of the present owners) land at Locfedora, which contained over sixty acres and the owner was willing to let it to them for the first year for £20. It was agreed to take up the offer. A professional golfer from Tipperary, Mr. Doyle, was engaged for one month to coach the members. The following charges were agreed to for members: Family £2-2-0; Gentlemen £ 1-1-0; Ladies 1 0/6d. 

Whatever happened to these plans is not known because they never came to pass. The links was established on the Clonmel Road by 1918. It was an elaborate set-up with a clubhouse in timber with a felt roof and some 'lovely furniture inside.' The links contained nine holes and the greens were wired off squares. The fairways used to be cut and rolled by Paddy Stapleton and the game was played in the summer, despite the protestations of Mr. Barrington. Some people still living remember the players; the ladies in their long dresses and hats and the men in their plus-fours. Bernard Cantwell and Willie Delaney are remembered driving out in a big white horse and trap to play a game after first Mass on a Sunday morning. The Matthews, who worked in the National Bank, used to walk out for a game with their daughter, Miriam. Miss Corby was a member, as were the Trayers and the Ryan-O'Connors. Willie Hackett, who used to live in Bill Gough's, was the caretaker. Paddy Purcell was a keen player as also were Mrs. Costello of the jewellery shop, Mrs. Spiers, whose husband was an excise officer, the Coopers of Killenure, some Rockwell priests and Dean Talbot. 

It's difficult to establish when it ceased to operate as a golf links. The clubhouse was burned down in or about 1922 and was rebuilt a couple of years later. By the late twenties it had ceased to be a viable proposition. One theory is that the upkeep had become too great for the declining membership. Whatever the reason it ceased to exist. A meeting was held in Ryan's Hotel in the early fifties to revive it but nothing materialised. W. P. Ryan and Jack Rodgers were among those who attended. 

Some Lesser-known Heroes and Heroines

Cashel has produced its heroes and heroines in less wellknown sporting activities. Cork ex-patriate, Mick Bennett, was an All-Ireland tug-o'-war champion. Aidan Fogarty won a national badminton championship. 'Boy' O'Brien of Haig's Terrace was an All-Army boxing champion. In wrestling Stephen Ryan of Chapel Lane and Jimmy 'Tiger' Ryan of Cathal Brugha Street made it to the top. Joe Delahunty of Dominic Street was a national javelin champion. In running, John Fitzell, Brendan Murphy and Annie McCormack have won recognition, as also have Tommy Barron and Mary Price in crosscountry running. Marie Gayson and Tommy Leen are skittles champions. Michael Perdue won the long puck in the 1982 Community Games. In weight-lifting Garda Andrew Fogarty won a national championship and Johnny Ryan-Cagney was a one-mile walk champion. And what about the exploits of Paddy Anglim of Rosegreen? He was N.A.C.A. champion of Ireland for six successive years in the long jump between 1931-36 and for the same length of time in the pole vault between 1929-34. Did you ever hear of Tai Kwondo? It's the Korean martial art of hand and foot. John Foley of Dualla Road was on the Black Belt team that won the national championship in 1992. Two years earlier he won the Black Dragon Karate individual championship in his weight. Another O'Brien, a brother of Boy's, was an All-Army champion in 60 and 100 metres. An earlier hero was Michael O'Connor of Rathcowan. His field of fame was the shot putt. He won the All-Ireland championship in the 28 Ib in August 1900 and in the 56 Ib the following year. He was presented with a cup, still in the family, called the Rathcowan Cup, by J. Costello, Jeweller, Cashel, in honour of his achievement. 

Any account of sporting highlights in the parish of Cashel and Rosegreen that omitted to mention the names of Tommy Wade and Dundrum would be incomplete. The combination brought honour and glory, not only to the little townsland of Longfield but to the broader area of Tipperary and to Ireland at large. Two other names from the parish who have made an impact in showjumping are Seamus Hayes and Shane Breen. One of the youngest heroines in the parish is Niamh O'Connor of Cahir Road, who won a junior international gold medal for Ireland in the international competition for disabled swimmers in Scotland in June 1993, the first Irish girl to win such an honour. On a completely different plane two people from the parish have won All-Irelands in ploughing: Larry Bergin of Rosegreen and Gary Prendergast of Dangan. 

And, did you know that Bernie O'Dwyer of the Old Road is the daughter of the late Paddy Ryan of Pallasgreen, a world hammer throwing champion? Or that Hurricane Billy Warren, a world heavyweight boxing champion, gave an exhibition in Cashel? Sike and McTigue also boxed in Cashel. And have you heard of Cover Cleary? Not much is known of him but the story goes that one day a running champion was finding it difficult to shake off the attentions of an opponent and was alleged to have said in frustration: 'Is it the devil I have with me today or Cover Cleary from Cashel?' 

Canine Glory

Cashel has had its share of successful 'doggie' men. One of the more recent was Jim 'Jumbo' Ryan who won the Waterloo Cup in consecutive years with Minnesota Miller in 1976 and Minnesota York in 1977. Back in the fifties Philip Hennessy of Templenoe won the Laurels in Cork with Templenoe Rebel and Philip Holmes won the Tipperary Cup in Thurles with Bellaree. James Farrell won the Derby in Clonmel with Fourth of July, in 1957, and the McCalmont Cup in Kilkenny the same year. Two years later Fainne won the McCalmon Mont Cup in Harold's Cross and in 1971 Fleur-de-Lis won the Corn Cuchulainn at the same venue. John Fahy had a runner-up with Potipher in the coursing Derby in Clonmel in 1967 and his Mr. Gallant won the Deise Cup in Dungarvan in 1969. Frank O'Regan took the Carroll's Irish Derby in 1981 with Bold Work. 

One of the most successful trainers in the parish is Tom O'Dwyer. One of his earliest winners was Rattle the Key in the Produce Stakes in Clonmel in 1962. After more winners in the next two decades he hit a golden patch in the eighties. In 1984 Smokey Dixie won the Connaught Cup and in the following year Smokey Pete captured the Scottish and Welsh Derbys. In the same year Townbrook Bimbo won the coursing Derby in Clonmel and Smokey Hothead captured Corn na Feile. Pyramid Club won the coursing Derby in 1988 and Smokey David the Clonmel Open International in 1993. His wife, Mary, has also had a number of successes. She captured the coursing Oaks at Clonmel in 1978 with Smokey Flavour and the Belsize Cup in Co. Westmeath. She was also successful in the coursing Oaks with Smokey Alice in 1984. 

No mention of 'doggie' men in the area would be complete without the inclusion of Dick Ryan of Gooldscross, probably the greatest of them all. His list of achievements is incredible and can be appreciated fully only by people 'in the sport. He won the Newbridge Open and Clarke Cup Open nine times. He won the Irish Cup in Clounanna on three occasions. The North Kilkenny Cup in Ballyragget was won on twelve occasions. When he won the Waterloo Cup with Old Kentucky Minstrel in 1957 he was the first Irishman to be successful in eighty years. Having made the breakthrough he won it twice more, with Himalayan Climber in 1959 and Dubedoon in 1963. He trained Move on Swanky in his second season and the dog equalled the record of thirty-four successive courses set and held by Local Master. He also won numerous Irish Grand Nationals on the track. His last venture to England was in 1976 when he won the Waterloo Plate with Tipping Around. Born in 1911 he was honoured during his lifetime with a Caltex Award and the Greyhound Hall of Fame Award, the latter in 1991, a year before his death. 

The Most Popular Pursuits

Of all the sporting activities that have occupied the people of Cashel for generations, Gaelic games have been the most popular. Even before the founding of the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884 hurling was popular in the parish. In spite of this it took four attempts to found a G .A.A. club in the town and this happened in June 1888 with Dr. Tom Wood as the first chairman. In the course of time the club became known as the Cas he I King Cormacs and it has always been the major club in the parish. Other teams to appear at various times were the Rock Crackers, for a brief period in 1887, Racecourse in the same year, Ballyfowloo in 1915, Abbey Rangers in 1941, Knocknagow in 1950, Rosegreen in 1955 and 1980, Suir Rangers 1958, Crokes 1962 and St. Mary's 1963. 

Mention of Racecourse recalls the county final of 1910 in which they beat Toomevara twice before losing both games on appeal. Two brothers, synonymous with the Racecourse are Jack and Mike Ryan, who were prominent for the club and county in hurling and football. 

Even though hurling was always the premier game the first Cashel players to win national honours, Tom Connor, Michael Dargan and Michael Devitt, did so in All-Ireland junior football in 1912. In the following year Patrick Dargan won an All-Ireland junior hurling medal and Jim Hickey emulated this feat in 1924. Michael Burke won All-Ireland minor hurling honours in 1932 and 1933. 

Not until 1937 did a Cashel man win All-Ireland honours in senior hurling. The honour went to Jack Gleeson of Shanballa, who has the added distinction of winning a junior All-Ireland the following year with London. The next parish man to win the highest honours was Jim Devitt who was probably one of the most brilliant stickmen to come out of Tipperary. He won AIlIreland honours in 1945 and' 49. A few minor hurling stars came next, Mickey Buckley in 1949 and Johnny Murphy, who was later to play for New York, in 1953 and' 55. Peter O'Sullivan won five All-Ireland hurling medals in three grades: intermediate in 1963, under-21 and senior in 1964 and senior in 1965 and 1971. Two Cashel players won All-Ireland honours in 1967, Conor Davitt and Patsy O'Connor. Tommy Grogan and Tony Slattery won minor hurling honours in 1976 and under-21 in 1979. In the latter year Cormac Bonnar won his first All-Ireland in the same grade and made it a double the following year. Other successes in the eighties included Sean Slattery and Colm Bonnar in minor hurling in 1982 and in 1985 Col m and Pat O'Donoghue won under-21 hurling honours. 

The mention of the Bonnars introduces a household that has brought more distinction to the club and parish than any other family. As mentioned above, Col m won All-Ireland honours in minor and under-21 and was unfortunate to be on a beaten AIIIreland junior team in 1985. He was a member of the county senior hurling team that ended the 'famine' in 1987 and went on to win AII-Irelands in 1989 and 1991. He also won a National League medal in 1988. Also on that successful side was Pat Fitzell, who was getting his second medal, his first having been won in 1979. Another Bonnar, Cormac, having already won two All-Ireland under-21 medals, came back in the autumn of his career to win senior glory in 1989 and 1 991 , thus achieving the distinction of winning AII-Irelands in three decades. A younger member of the clan, Conal, was also on the successful winning teams of 1989 and '91. All three have also been recognised with All-Star awards, Colm in 1988 and Cormac and Conal in 1989 and '91. 

A high point in the history of the Cashel club was undoubtedly the opening of Leahy Park in 1956. The club had used many venues down the decades and finally found a permanent home on the Clonmel Road. The naming of the Park after the famous Johnny Leahy from Boherlahan was a recognition of his stature in the county. It also recalled the fact that he played his first senior hurling with Cashel in 1908 and it recognised the respect Cashel always had for the men of Boherlahan. 

Without doubt the outstanding achievement of the Cashel King Cormacs was the winning of the county senior hurling title in 1 991. This success was a long time coming but the joy, excitement and satisfaction in winning it were worth the wait. Almost forty years previously the club had won its first county junior hurling title, in 1953, and over the intervening decades won similar honours in minor and under-21 . But the senior continued to elude it until 1991. Having eventually made the breakthrough Cashel went on to win the Munster Club title with a glorious victory over Midleton and were deprived of ultimate honours after a three-game saga with Kiltormer from Co. Galway. 

While still on the subject of hurling it is worth recalling that Cashel C.B.S. won two All-Ireland 'B' competitions in the early eighties. In 1980 they beat Roscommon C.B.S. to win the school's first ever All-Ireland and to become the first school in the county to win Corn UI Dhaoimh. Cashel repeated the victory in 1982 by beating Callan C.B.S. in the final. 

The girls from the Presentation Convent anticipated the achievements of the boys by winning the All-Ireland Colleges junior camogie title in 1975. They were the first team to bring the cup to Munster. The school went one better in 1977 when winning the All-Ireland senior championship. In 1978 the school captured the double, beating Bawnmore in the junior and Shannon in the senior finals. Success continued in 1979 with a second senior All-Ireland in a victory over Athenry. The person largely responsible for these major successes was Willie Prendergast, who got involved in 1974 and retired as gamesmaster in 1980. He was succeeded by Martin Quirke who guided the school to victory in the junior and senior Munster Colleges championships in 1989 and to a further senior in 1990. 

At the club level Cashel Camogie Club has done very well in recent years. After winning county junior and intermediate honours in the early sixties, the club hit the jackpot in the 1980s by winning six county senior titles in-a-row between 1986 and , 91. Three players have the distinction of having won all six medals: Irene Butler, Julia O'Dwyer and Noreen Ryan. The club was also successful at underage level, winning county under-16 titles in 1987, '88, '90 and '92 and under-18 in 1989, '90 and '91. Cashel players have won recognition at county level. No less than eight of the successful team that won All-Ireland junior honours in 1992 came from the Cashel club: captain Triona Bonnar, Kaiffe Moloney, Jovita Delaney, Anne Marie Fitzgerald, Helen O'Leary, Marita Tobin, Angela Ryan and Joan Tobin. Club players also contributed to Tipperary's All-Ireland victories at under-16 level: Jovita Delaney, Nessa O'Dwyer, Marita Tobin, Jackie Keating, Sylvia Ryan, Tracy Bargary and ROlsin Nash in 1990 and Michelle Bulfin, Edel Keane, Michelle Burke and Anne Barry in 1992. Two girls from the club have won Cidona Awards: Jovita Delaney in 1990 and Kaiffe Moloney in 1991. 

The problem with an article of such length, covering such a long period of time and mentioning so many activities and names, is the danger of omissions. In anticipation that someone has been left out I should like him/her to know that it was not deliberate. There is also the possibility that some activities that might have been mentioned have been left out. Again, I apologise for the omissions. Concerning all those who made a name for themselves in some sporting activity during the first hundred years of the period covered by this book, all I can say is that I came across no records of their achievements and, therefore, was unable to mention them. Finally, I should like to thank a number of people who supplied information, particularly Peter McCarthy, Timmy Hyde, Tom O'Dwyer, Albert Carrie, Julia O'Dwyer, Mick Fogarty and many others too numerous to mention. 

<span class="postTitle">Cashel Man of Letters - Dr John Lanigan (1758-1828)</span> Times to Cherish: Cashel and Rosegreen Parish History 1795-1995, edited by Bernie Moloney, pp 187-198

Cashel Man of Letters - Dr John Lanigan (1758-1828)

Times to Cherish: Cashel and Rosegreen Parish History 1795-1995, edited by Bernie Moloney, pp 187-198

It is arguable that Dr. John Lanigan, who was born in Cashel in 1758 and died in Dublin seventy years later, was the most illustrious son of the City of the Kings. His beginnings were modest. His chief biographer, W. J. Fitzpatrick, has him born two doors from the Archiepiscopal Palace (now the Cashel Palace Hotel). Another gives it as Chapel Lane (near the present Folk Village). His father was Thomas Lanigan, originally from Dundrum where his family had been evicted by Sir Thomas Maude. Thomas Lanigan came to Cashel and set up as a schoolteacher. His wife was Mary Anne Dorkan from Beakstown, Holycross: 'a very superior woman whose mind was as original as her appearance was beautiful.' The couple had sixteen children of whom John was the eldest. There were four girls, Mary, Catherine, Hobanna and Anne. Catherine was considered the belle of Cashel. Anne, the youngest, became Mrs. Anne Kennedy and died in Clonmel on 30 October 1860.

Education
 

His father, Thomas, as a boy had intended to be a priest and, with that in mind, had received a good classical education. Family circumstances prevented him from realising his intention and, on arrival in Cashel, he started a school. It was in this school that John was instructed in the rudiments of general knowledge.

Later, he was placed under the care of Rev. Patrick Hare, a Protestant clergyman who, for many years, kept a seminary of considerable repute in Cashel. Hare, or O'Hehir, from Corofin, Co. Clare, went to Trinity College, Dublin, where he obtained college honours and distinctions. He finally became a parson, having converted to Protestantism. In the course of time he was made Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Cashel under Archbishop Agar, with whom he was a great favourite. When the Archbishop was translated to Dublin Rev. Hare threw up the position and appears to have opened a school. This was located in John's Street (in Osbornes' house). It appears to have been a later addition to the rear of the house and it would also appear that
the entrance was from Agar's Lane, which has a built-up doorway.

From what we read, John Lanigan possessed a solidity of intellect and a steadfastness in the pursuit of excellence as a student. On the other hand we hear that he learned to dance an Irish reel. He was reputed to have great eyesight and had a love of letters. He used to read his books at night by the light of the moon. In later life he was nearly blind. At the age of sixteen Thomas Lanigan was assured by Mr Hare that his son's studies were finished. He was appointed an usher in the school. John Lanigan was already thinking of the priesthood and he prepared himself for his vocation by study and reading.

Rome

In 1776 he was recommended by Dr James Butler, Archbishop of Cashel, for a burse in the Irish College at Rome. He sailed from Cork to London. On the journey he befriended a passenger who informed the young Lanigan that he too was going as far as Calais. They shared a room in the same hotel near St Paul's Cathedral. On waking the following morning he found his 'friend' gone and the hour of sailing past. He was informed by the waiter that he had to pay the bill. On putting his hand in his pocket he discovered that his money had been taken during the night. In great distress he contacted the Administrator of the diocese, who came to the hotel, befriended Lanigan, paid the bill and brought the young Cashel man to his house. There he remained until a remittance came from home. The Administrator put Lanigan in touch with a party of priests on their way to Rome and he accompanied them at small cost. They travelled through Brussels, Aix-le-Chapelle, down the Rhine to Strasburg and through the Tyrol to Rome. Earlier, the vessel on which his 'friend' had gone was wrecked soon after sailing.

Fr. Luke Wadding had helped to establish the Irish College in 1627. Until it was suppressed by Napoleon in 1798 it was scarcely able to receive more than eight students within its walls. Among its distinguished alumni were St Oliver Plunkett and Dr John Brennan, Archbishop of Cashel. It had mostly been run by the Jesuits. Shortly before Lanigan's arrival control had been wrested from the Order and the College was taken over by the secular clergy.

There is no record of Lanigan's academical distinctions whilst a student in Rome because the period of his stay was followed by such confusion and ruin, connected with the suppression of the College in 1798, that most records were destroyed. However, we are informed that his progress in philosophical and theological studies was brilliant and rapid. Bishop Blake, an alumnus of the College, and later its President, said of Lanigan's stay there: '1 can say with certainty that his talents and extraordinary acquirements, as well as his natural disposition, gained for him the love and admiration of all who knew him.' He was ordained in 1782, shortly after he had won his doctorate 'magna cum laude'.
 

Pavia

Sometime later Dr. John Lanigan is to be found in Pavia, whither he went on the invitation of Professor Gaggei Tamburini. Beginning as a lecturer at the university he was promoted to a Professorship in 1789 and occupied with distinction the Chair of Hebrew, Ecclesiastical History and Divinity for seven years. On the occasion of his acceptance of the Chair he gave his inaugural address in Latin and this was later printed.

According to M. J. Brennan several of the Hanoverian and Austrian nobility and even princes received their education under this distinguished Irishman. His extensive acquirements ranked him among the first characters of the university. The learned Tamburini was accustomed to designate Lanigan the pillar and brightest ornament of the establishment. On one occasion the Emperor, Joseph II, having visited the university was pleased to honour Dr Lanigan's lectures by his presence. The doctor delivered a Latin oration which was received with unbounded applause, the Emperor at the same time observing 'that so young and so enlightened a professor reflected new lustre on the Irish nation and reminded him of the ancient literary glory of that people.'

Many of Dr Lanigan's sacred writings published during his time in Pavia were unrivalled for their historical research and profound erudition. One work in particular was pronounced highly valuable, Prologomena to the Sacred Scriptures, a work of over 600 pages. It was printed in Pavia in 1793 and Lanigan styles himself 'Joannes Lanigan, Hibernus Cassiliensis' (an Irishman, of Cashel). In this work he set out to give theological students a complete treatise which would enable them to understand the aim and object of the Sacred Scriptures and to draw therefrom 'as from an armoury of truth, those weapons which might be used with deadly effect against Lutherans, Calvinists and other sects . . .'

Not long after its publication the university conferred on Lanigan the degrees of Doctor of Divinity and Canon Law. In the course of his address conferring the degrees, the Archbishop of Pavia, Joseph Bertieri, stated that Lanigan had greatly excelled 'not alone owing to an unblemished and spotless character, but likewise in every kind of literature and erudition, particularly in the teaching and cultivation of theological studies and of canonical jurisprudence ... ' The conferring took place on 28 June 1794 before a distinguished audience.

Return to Ireland

Two years later Napoleon took Pavia and dispersed the University. The professors fled and Lanigan returned to Ireland, leaving behind his valuable collection of books. He sailed from Genoa to Cork and arrived penniless to a cold reception. He vainly applied for pecuniary assistance to Doctor Moylan, the bishop of the diocese, and his vicar-general, Dr McCarthy. The reason for the cold shoulder was Lanigan's known intimacy with Tamburini, the Administrator of Pavia University and the man responsible for organising the Council of Pistoia in 1786. Lanigan had been invited to attend but, whether he smelled trouble or not, he turned down the invitation on the grounds that as the synod intended to deal very much with matters of purely local discipline it was not in his province. As it happened the Council did not confine itself to disciplinary matters but extended its deliberations to discussions of predestination, morals, grace and other delicate questions. The Council was presided over by the Jansenist bishop, Scipione Ricci, and was regarded as schismatical.

With no help forthcoming in Cork, Lanigan was compelled to walk to Cashel where he was welcomed by his surviving relatives. Among his siblings was a sixteen-year-old sister, whom he had never seen. Thirty years had intervened between John Lanigan's birth and that of his youngest sister. The latter related to Fitzpatrick, shortly before she died on 30 October 1860, how she met her brother unknowingly in the Main Street of Cashel on his arrival from Cork and how he clasped her in his arms to her surprise and said: 'Yes. I know you are my little sister.' Apparently, the girl bore a striking resemblance to her brother.

Lanigan hoped to obtain a position in his native diocese and seems to have had an interview with the Archbishop, Dr Bray, but the latter did not give him much encouragement to stay. Dr Lanigan, therefore, proceeded to Dublin, where he was fortunate to find a few friends. One of these was Very Rev. Martin Hugh Hamill, Vicar-General and Dean of the diocese, with whom he had studied in the Irish College at Rome. Through the latter's invitation Lanigan was able to attach himself to Francis Street chapel, which was located between Christchurch Cathedral and St Patrick's Cathedral.

Shortly afterwards the Chair of Sacred Scripture and Hebrew at Maynooth (established in 1795) became vacant as a result of the resignation of the incumbent, Dr Clancy, in 1797. Lanigan was proposed for the position by the Primate, Dr O'Reilly, and seconded by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Troy, and received his appointment to the Chair. However, the Bishop of Cork, Dr Moylan, still suspecting Lanigan of Jansenism, suggested that the latter should subscribe to the formula which had been drawn up as a test of orthodoxy for the French clergy after the Revolution.

This Lanigan indignantly refused to do, though he declared that he would cheerfully subscribe to the bull 'Unigenitus Dei Filius' issued by Clement XI in 1713. The result of the dispute was that he resigned the professorship and left Maynooth in a huff, his dignity having been offended. Those who accused him of being a Jansenist were in the wrong but Lanigan probably over-reacted in the situation. The Chair was not filled for some years afterwards.

The ex-professor walked the journey from Maynooth to Dublin, where he was re-attached to Francis Street chapel under his friend, Rev. Dr Hamill, and with the blessing of Dr Troy, who does not seem to have believed anything of these Jansenistic accusations.

Royal Dublin Society

Two years later, on 2 May 1790, Dr Lanigan was appointed a translator for the Royal Dublin Society. The minutes of the Proceedings of the Society for that day state: 'Resolved: That the Rev. Mr. Lanagan (sic) be appointed to translate the Essays on Agriculture from the German, in the room of Mr Taafe.' He secured his position through the good offices of General Vallancey, whom he had known in Italy and who had been sent to Ireland as a architect and engineer to erect fortifications round the coast of Ireland against the threat of a Napoleonic invasion.

The General was a longtime member of the Society and a Vice President from 1799 to 1812. From a translator Lanigan progressed to be Assistant-Librarian in 1803 at a salary of £100 per annum, which was increased to £150 in 1808. He performed the duties without the title of Librarian.
His job involved the translation of specialist papers from other languages into English. Lanigan was fluent in many tongues, including German, French, English, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Spanish and Irish. One writer has described Lanigan's situation thus: 'The income was small and the work full of drudgery. Lanigan's immense learning found no higher official use than in translating what we would now call Department pamphlets from various foreign languages. In the picturesque words of one of his friends, "this Doctor of Divinity plodded along shearing sheep, curing fish, analysing manure and sowing hemp", for such were the subjects of the translations entrusted to him.

But he earned enough, after providing for his mother, to keep body and soul together as a result of this drudgery, and there were compensations in his lot.' In the minutes of the Society for 25 March 1802 it was ordered: 'That the sum of twenty guineas be paid to the Rev. John Lanigan as a compensation for the extraordinary trouble he has had in correcting the proofs of the statistical reports, published this year under the direction of the Society.'

He was intimately associated with the literary enterprises of the time in Dublin. His wit, learning, liberal Catholicism and the dignity and suavity of his continental manners were a ready passport to the best society. As well as General Vallancey, his friends included Richard Kirwin, President of the Royal Irish Academy, Archbishop Troy, Rev. Denis Taaffe, and the Celtic scholars, William Halliday and Edward O'Reilly. He took a lively interest in the Gaelic Society, founded by the latter in Dublin in 1808, not only for the investigation and revival of ancient Irish literature, but also for the development of the history and literature of the island.

His friendship with Dr Troy was intimate. He used to attend archiepiscopal dinners every Saturday at Liffey Street, presided over by the Archbishop. The latter had an income of £300 a year and was renowned for his hospitality and generous disposition. R. Lalor Shiel's sketch of Dr Troy is not over-flattering: 'He had the look, too, of a holy bon vivant, for he was squat and corpulent; had a considerable abdominal plentitude and a ruddy countenance, with a strong determination of blood to the nose. Yet his aspect belied him, for he was conspicuous for the simplicity and abstemiousness of his life .. .' He was educated in Rome and was nineteen years older than Lanigan. They obviously got on well together. The Cashel man, too, was fond of the pleasures of the table but was a rigid observer of the fasts and abstinences from flesh meats on abstinence days. He loved fish and indulged his appetite for it on the Fridays of Lent.
 

Writings

Dr. Lanigan wrote many controversial articles and pamphlets under the pseudonyms of 'Irenaeus' and 'An Irish Priest', usually defending a Catholic position. He edited a very fine edition of Rev. Alban Butler's posthumous meditations and discourses. He prepared for publication the first edition of the Roman Breviary ever printed in Ireland. His most memorable achievement was a piece on the means of affecting a reconciliation between the churches. He spoke of his efforts to soften controversial asperities. However, although written to conciliate Protestants, Lanigan's points must have thrown some of them upon their mettle.

He showed a profound acquaintance with the writings of Protestant divines and the manner in which he made them propound thoroughly Catholic dogmas by accurate citations from their writings, was very ingenious. At the end of one particular tract he says he has no other object in view than the general good of Christianity and: 'were I ambitious to having my tomb distinguished by any particular epitaph, I should prefer: "Here lies an advocate for the union of Christians".'

In the political and religious questions which then agitated popular opinion, Dr Lanigan took an active part and by powerful and timely contributions to various national journals and magazines he influenced and directed that opinion along sound Catholic and national lines. He argued strongly against the Veto, the proposal for allowing the government to interfere in the appointment of bishops. He exposed the worthlessness of the celebrated Quarantotti Rescript, which presumed to authorise the Irish Catholic Episcopacy to vest in the government a Veto in the appointment of members to that body.
 

An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland

Dr Lanigan's principal work and his major claim to fame is An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, published in four volumes in 1822. The work was begun in 1799 and fourteen years later he commenced the arrangement of the materials for publication. This took nine years of tremendous labour before the completed enterprise appeared in four octavo volumes in 1822. According to the historian, Rev. J. Brennan: 'There has not perhaps been ever written in any nation or in any language, a work more distinguished for accuracy, impartiality and sound criticism than this inimitable production; the precision with which he balances the several statements of our national records prove him to be an antiquarian of the first order; while the immense mass of authority to which he refers may enable us to form some idea of the herculean task which this great man had to encounter. By means of this immortal work, he has rescued from oblivion, as well as from obloquy, the genuine records of his native land; he has placed the ecclesiastical antiquities of Ireland on a solid and imperishable basis. He attends to facts, to truth, and to nothing else.'
In the course of the Preface he gives his reasons for writing the history: 'Most books written about the Ecclesiastical History of Ireland have long since become scarce or are inaccessible because they are in Latin.' And: 'In the civil histories of Ireland that have been written by Keating, MacGeoghegan, O'Halloran and others, little of our Ecclesiastical History is to be found, beyond a few detached anecdotes, in great part fabulous, destitute of chronological accuracy, and often contradictory.' The work begins with the first introduction of Christianity among the Irish and continues to the beginning of the thirteenth century. The book was published with the aid of subscribers and sold for £2-12-0. The names of the subscribers, almost three hundred and twenty, lay and clerical, were published in the first volume. Lanigan's old friend, Dr. Hamill, canvassed for subscribers among the clergy. A second edition appeared in 1829.

The Ecclesiastical History terminates with a very erudite essay on the origin and use of the Round Towers. Dr Lanigan claimed a pagan origin for them which conflicted with Dr Petrie's claim of a Christian origin. Lanigan's line of argument was that the Round Towers, influenced by Eastern pagan practices, were fire temples wherein the Irish venerated the sun.

Another controversial claim made by Lanigan was to name France as the birthplace of St Patrick and to show scant regard for the long-standing tradition that his place of birth was Scotland. In formulating this arbitrary theory he may have been influenced by the intense goodwill which Irish people of his day felt towards France. By contrast, Scotland at that time was viewed unfavourably as being especially hostile to Catholicism.
 

Declining Years

Dr. Lanigan began to reveal symtoms of cerebral decay in 1813. On May 6 he presented the Royal Dublin Society a certificate, signed by two physicians, who urgently recommended extending leave of absence to their patient. His biographer, W. J. Fitzpatrick, paints a sad picture of the great man: 'The old priest, with failing gait and haggard mien, tottered off to breathe the free air of Tipperary. He came to Cashel and was received with open arms by his sister, Mrs. Kelly, who kept a small woollen drapery establishment in the town. His society was sought by local gentry and clergymen. He left Cashel hurriedly in 1814 after a strange apparition about his brother's
death and rushed back to Dublin to find him dead.'

Refreshed from his sojourn in Cashel he was able to resume his duties as Librarian in the Society on 10 February 1814. He superintended the removal of the Royal Dublin Society's library from Hawkins Street to Kildare Street. A letter dated 28 April 1814 contains many suggestions by him on the improvement of the library. He was presen~at the ceremony of laying the first stone of the Pro-Cathedral in Marlborough Street on 14 November 1815. The old church had been in Liffey Street. His good friend, Dr Troy, blessed the stone and later was the first corpse to be laid out in the new edifice.

Despite this return to activity all was not well with Lanigan. During 1814 there were complaints that he was not able properly to discharge his Librarian's duties. On November 17 he wrote a letter resigning the care of the library 'thankfully retaining,' he adds, 'my former situation of translator, editor and corrector of the press, which I had the honour to hold for nine years previous to the year 1808.'

Dr Lanigan's mind was going and he suffered from delusions which related to stones. Many anecdotes are related, including one of an alleged attack on a member of the Royal Dublin Society with a paving stone. A more innocent explanation of the incident may be that he intended to illustrate a philosophical argument under discussion with a paving stone.

Mr Quinlan, a one-time editor of the Dublin Evening Post, and a native of Cashel, remembers its townspeople much puzzled while they described Dr Lanigan boiling stones in a metal pot at the house of his sister, Mrs. Kelly, with whom he stayed during his illness. This illness is supposed to have happened in 1814. Lanigan's mind continued to give way and he found himself unable at times to concentrate his attention on finishing his Ecclesiastical History. His manuscripts got confused in their arrangement, piles of notes which he had gathered lay about hopelessly disconnected: He had only momentary flashes of light and his doctors forbade him to enter his library. At this juncture he got help from a Capuchin friar of great learning, Rev. Michael Kinsella, who organised much of the material for publication, particularly the fourth volume.

Ultimately he became a permanent patient in Dr Harty's Asylum in Finglas. Before that he used to go there voluntarily when he felt bad attacks in the head coming on. In his closing days he would spend hours in silent and solitary prayer before the altar. He suffered from a softened brain, impaired sight, a faulty memory and a failing gait. He was forbidden reading and all occasions of excitement. Sleeplessness also overtook him. He was often bled. He became a withered, wasted, little, old man. To Rev. P. J. O'Hanlon, a friend, who called on him, he said: '1 know not what I had for breakfast and, except that I feel no craving, I do not even know that I have breakfasted. I, who could formerly grasp any course of study, how obstruse soever, cannot now apply my mind to a recollection of the simplest event of yesterday. I know that I am now speaking to you but, in ten minutes after you will have left the house, I will have no remembrance of our conversation, or of you.'

His mental ailment finally merged into an intense melancholy. He did not read or write. A miserable fascination led him to sit Mrs. Kennedy's death was reported in the Tipperary Free Press on 2 November 1860.

In 1925 the University of Pavia celebrated its eight centenary. The President of U.C.C., Professor P. J. Merriman, represented the National University of Ireland at the celebrations and, on the suggestion of the Senate of the National University, proposed to the Academic Senate of the University of Pavia that a memorial tablet be erected to the memory of Dr Lanigan. The proposal was cordially received and, on the occasion of the inauguration of the academic year 1925-26, the tablet was unveiled. A suitable inscription in Latin was prepared by Professor D'Alton of Maynooth (and later Cardinal Archbishop of Armagh) and the National University was represented at the unveiling on November 4 by Rev. Professor T. A. Corcoran, S.J.
 

Sources
Irish Wits and Worthies, W. J. Fitzpatrick (Dublin, 1873).
Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, Rev. M. J. Brennan (Dublin, 1864).
Centenary History of Maynooth College (Dublin, 1895).
Proceedings of the Dublin Society, vols. 35, 38, 44, 48, 49, 50, 51.
An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, Dr John Lanigan (Dublin, 1822).
Dictionary of National Biography, vols. XI, XX (Oxford, 1973).
Sunday Independent, Helena Concannon (Dublin, 8 November 1925).

<span class="postTitle">On the Field of Fontenoy</span> The Tipperary Star, December 31, 1994

On the Field of Fontenoy

The Tipperary Star, December 31, 1994

As the 'St David' steamed out of Rosslare Harbour on the night of 26th August, 1910, there were cheers and good wishes from those on shore and the singing of the 'Boys of Wexford' and 'Gallant Tipperary' was taken up simultaneously with two teams of hurlers on board.
It was the start of an historic journey to Brussels by hurling teams from Cork and Tipperary, who were scheduled to give exhibition games in the Belgian capital in connection with the Brussels International Exhibition.

The novel idea was the brainchild of J. J. Walsh, then chairman of the Cork County Board of the G.A.A. A session of the pan-Celtic Congress was being held in Brussels in conjunction with the exhibition and the Gaels of Europe were there to voice their asperations. Walsh's idea was to send two renowned hurling teams, Cork and Tipperary, to Brussels 'not because of any desire to advertise or popularise the game of hurling on the continent, but merely to show the assembled Gaels of the world what Irishmen could do in the realm of sport.'

To finance the trip, an exhibition match was arranged between a Dungourney selection and a Thurles selection in Cork on the 14th August but had to be abandoned because of inclement weather. The Munster Council voted £100 towards the cost. The Patron of the G.A.A., Dr. Fennelly, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, gave £5. Archdeacon Ryan, P.P., Fethard subscribed £2, and there were smaller contributions. Central Council declined to give any support.
 

The Selections

The two selections set out from Cork and Thurles respectively on 26th August and joined up in Waterford. Each party consisted of seventeen players. The Cork party included Tom Irwin (Redmonds), who was later to be secretary of the county board and a referee, James Walsh (Sarsfields), Willie O'Neill (Sarsfields), Jamesy Kelleher (Dungourney) captain, Maurice O'Shea (Dungourney), who was tragically drowned a short while later, Tom Cronin (St. Finbarr's), Tim Garde (Dungourney), Martin Collins (Dungourney), James Ronayne (Dungourney), Bill Hennessy (Dungourney), Willie Williams (Midleton) Eamonn O'Neill (Sarsfields), Tim P. Forde (St,. Finbarr's), Michael Cotter (Shamrocks), Steve and Tom O'Riordan (Blackrock), Billy Mackesey (Blackrock). 
The following was the Tipperary contingent:- Tom Semple (captain), Jack Mooney, Paddy Burke, Martin O'Brien, Anthony Carew, Tom Kerwick, Paddy Brolan, Jack Mockler, Tim (Thady) Dwyer, Joe McLoughney, William Butler, Joe McCormack, James M. Kennedy (Thurles), Michael O'Dwyer (Holycross), Tim Gleeson (Drombane), Bob Mockler (Horse and Jockey), Jack (John) and Pat Fitzgerald (New Birmingham), Jimmy Bourke (Clonakenny), Jack Ryan-Lanigan, William Carroll, Eddy Finn (Borrisoleigh), R.M. (Dick) O'Hanrahan (Fethard), who wrote the account of the tour for the 'Tipperary's Annual' and Pat McGrath (Munster Council Secretary.)

Early Arrival at Brussels
 

The St. David arrived at Fishguard at about 5 am the following morning and the party continued to London by train.The day was spent sightseeing and at 9 pm there was a train to Dover. From there the Princess Clementine transported the party to Ostend where they arrived at 3.25 on Sunday morning. The journey to Brussels was continued by train and was reached at 6 am. Having arrived at their hotel the party had some linguistic difficulties to overcome before they could make their needs known but then 'steaming pots of teas with plates of bacon and eggs were brought to the diningroom table to everybody's delight.'
 

The first match was played at Malines (Meechelen), a large town north of Brussels on the road to Antwerp. After breakfast and Mass the party travelled out to this town. Four representatives of the group joned over 100 delegates to the pan-Celtic Congress, who were being received by His Eminence, Cardinal Mercier. The delegates were accommpanied by the O'Neill Pipers Band from Armagh, which F. J. Biggan, MRIA, had brought over at his own expense.
 

After the reception the teams mustered in the large square in front of the railway station. They were in playing costume and with hurleys on shoulders they marched two deep through the town, headed by the O'Neil Pipers band with their banner showing the red hand of Ulster. A green flag with a harp was also borne in the procession.
 

The venue for the contest was the grounds of Racing Club de Malines. When the teams arrived a soccer match was in progress, watched by about 20,000 spectators. Some of them remained to watch the hurling match.
 

To the air of 'God Save Ireland', Cork and Tipperary took the field . The preliminaries were quickly got through and Mr. Quinlan of the Limerick County Board was in charge of proceedings. The length of the field militated against a proper contest. Another factor to be consiered was that the players had had no sleep the previous night. The teams confined themselves almost completely to ground play and, when they warmed to their task they exerted themselves to effect, particularly the forwards who pressed hard whenever they were in possession. About thirteen hurleys were smashed whilst the game was in progress and to the spectators it seemed as if a battle-royal was in progress.
 

At half-time the teams were level at two goals each but in the second-half Tipperary scored three more to one for Cork and consequently won by five goals to three.
 

Fontenoy
 

The attendance included Charles Page Bryan, the American Ambassador, Shane Leslie and Joseph Biggar. On Tuesday, 30th August, the teams renewed rivalry on the famous battlefield of Fontenoy. The greasy and sloping nature of the ground didn't admit of anything but a mere exhibition of the game but it highly pleased the spectators present. The teams received a glorious reception in the village. The progress of the players and their friends through the streets was a triumphal one. Perhaps the most impressive and inspiring feature of the reception was the singing of the school children of the Irish anthem, 'God save Ireland'.

Although the match was no more than an exhibition, the respective captains, James Kelleher of Cork and Tom Semple of Tipperary, were loudly applauded and the game was as spirited and dashing as could be expected. The Corkmen retrieved their fame and, after a keenly contested struggle, came out winners by 2-4 to 2-3. During the game Billy O'Neill of Cork got injured and, as the wound was being dressed, made the remark – 'I'm not the first Irishman to shed blood on this plain.'

The players had visited the exhibition on Monday and went there again on Wednesday, the last day of the tour. They also played their final game. It was supposed to begin at 3 pm but, due to objections by the Irishmen over the flying of the British flag in the playing ground, did not get underway until three hours later. Programmes printed in Irish, English and French were on sale and visitors to the exhibition were thrilled as they viewed the game, which was won by Tipperary.
 

Heroes' Welcome
 

The players arrived back in Ireland on Friday to a heroes' welcome. At the railway station at Thurles they were greeted by a large crowd and the Confraternity Band playing 'See the Conquering Heroes Come'. In Cork they were greeted by the Lord Mayor at the Municipal Buildings.

The trip had been a financial disaster, however, and, in an effort to wipe out the debt, Joseph Biggar, who had attended the pan-Celtic Congress in Brussels, was invited to deliver a lecture in Cork.  He did so and summed up the tour with the apt phrase: 'Ireland was on the parade ground of Europe and failed to march past.'

According to Padraig Puirseal 'a fine opportunity for introducing the games to the continent was lost, mainly because of inadequate pre-publicity and poor organisation at the Belgian end . . . This was the first display of hurling in Europe since the days of the Irish Brigade; a chance to publicise Ireland's case for self-rule was missed and financially the tour was a failure.'

It does appear that the games received little in the way of publicity or organisation from the local pan-Celtic Festival Conmittee in Brussels. One gets the feeling, however, that there was a failure in communication between theorganisers in Ireland and the Festival Committee. It would appear that the brainchild of J. J. Walsh wasn't well thought out nor was sufficicient time given for preparations to be made. The idea seems to have come at the last moment and to have been discussed for the first time not much more than a month before departure date.

We must also keep in mind that Walsh, in his own words, had no intention of advertising or popularising the game of hurling on the continent but merely to show the assembled Gaels of the world what Irishmen could do in the realm of sport. However, to do this he needed to advertise and publicise the tour so that as many as possible would attend. He didn't succeed in attracting many to any of the three exhibitions so, ultimately, we must regard the trip as a failure from that point of view.

In the course of a speech on his return from Brussela, Walsh explained to his listeners why they had gone. 'For centuries Ireland had been denied a voice in the council of nations. They saw a golden opportunity of displaying the grand physique of which Irishmen always boasted. . . They saw the golden opportunity of showing to the world and telling the peoples of Europe that notwithstanding the persecutions which had followed their track, they were still a factor in the constitution of the human race. . . (It) was the beginning of a big international movement – a movement for the placing of the Celtic race on a proper footing, and placing it on a stand and position which would be regarded as a factor by the nations of the world. . .'

<span class="postTitle">Recent G.A.A. Publications - 1993</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1994, p 91

Recent G.A.A. Publications - 1993

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1994, p 91

Another poor year for publications at the local level. In fact, as far as I am aware, there was no new club history in the course of the year. Many of the promises of last year were not realised. For instance, the Golden-Kilfeacle book, which Willie Ryan was hopeful would see the light of day during 1993, did not do so. He is now hopeful that 1994 will be the year. In fact, he is at the photograph-collecting state. Everything else is in order. 

Similarly, the Arravale Rovers' history, which many people are looking forward to with interest because of the light it will throw on the early days of football in the county, will definitely not be out before Christmas. Tom O'Donoghue is beavering away at it and is hopeful of seeing it off the press during 1994. 

I thought at one stage that the Galtee Rovers' book was wrapped up and only awaiting the financial arrangements. I was misinformed. Recently, I had an interesting conversation with Seamus McCarthy on the progress of the book. It's not completed but it's not too far from that stage. Specifically, he's hoping it will be published by the middle of 1994. He had some interesting information on the type of book it will be. He has extended it outside purely G.A.A. matters and is using it as a vehicle for publicising some of the important people of the parish, even if they were not involved with the G.A.A. 

One such person is the famous Sir William Butler who, though born in Ballycarron, spent some of his life in the parish. He did some important exploration work in the Canadian west and out of his experience wrote a classic of travel literature, "The Great Lone Land". One of the founders of the G.A.A. was St. George McCarthy, who hailed from the parish and whose sister is buried there. There will also a be a piece on Darby Ryan, of Bansha Peeler fame. Geoffrey Keating was associated with the parish and is reputed to have written his masterpiece, 'Foras Feasa ar Eirinn". in the parish. 

Other notables include John Cullinane, a member of the earliest Central Council of the G.A.A.; Sean Ryan of Dromline, who was a President of the Association; John Moloney of refereeing fame, and Christy Roche, although more renowned for his racing skills, played his underage games with Galtee Rovers. Did you know that a Galtee Rovers' player went down on the Titanic in 1912? He did, and Seamus McCarthy has a photograph of him! I think it's going to be a book that we can all look forward to. 

Coaching Manuals

I am indebted to Denis Floyd for the following information. A welcome addition to the growing volume of G.A.A. literature is a set of Coaching Manuals, produced under the auspices of the G.A.A. Games Development and Coaching Committee. First on the scene was "Gaelic Football Skills Manual" by Eoin Liston and Pat Daly. Produced in a ring binder of 96 loose leaves by Folens Publishers, the manual is laid out in a clear, easy-to-follow lesson plans from infants to sixth class. All the basic skills are covered, along with simple drills and exercises - all presented with full colour photographs. 

"Hurling and Camogie Skills" is a similar type production with 64 loose leaves. Compiled in the main by Denis Burns, a teacher at North Monastery School, Cork, with assistance from Ned Power, Brendan O'Sullivan and Pat Daly, the hurling manual is even more simplified than its football counterpart, with a useful error analysis section at regular intervals. Both manuals are deigned for use in Primary Schools, but are also ideal for team mentors coaching the basic skills at club level. 

The most impressive publication of all is "The Complete Guide to Hurling and Football", edited by Pat Daly, who is the G.A.A. Games Development Manager. This mammoth production of three hundred and thirty-six pages is a veritable masterpiece covering every imaginable facet of hurling and football. A look at some of the chapter titles - Adolescent Coaching, Positional and Functional Play, Tactics, Match Analysis, Physical Fitness, The Psychological Factor, Nutrition, Body Physiology, Injuries and First Aid, etc. gives an idea of the wide-ranging scope of this detailed and excellently researched volume. 

Raymond Smith has done it again and was probably the first book to hit the shelves in time for the Christmas buying spree. Launched at G.A.A. headquarters in Dublin on October 19, "The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games" is an update and more complete edition of the 1988 publication. It has still some way to go before it is "complete" as it does not include the teams that won junior or intermediate All-Irelands. However, it is an essential reference book on G.A.A. matters and sells for £8.95. year. 

<span class="postTitle">The Final Feile?</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1994, pp 71-72

The Final Feile?

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1994, pp 71-72

It appears almost certain that the 1993 Feile will have been the final event of its kind in Thurles. This is the belief of Michael Lowry, expressed in a recent interview, and, while the ultimate decision will be one for the Semple Stadium Management Committee and for the promoters, M.C.D., it is most unlikely that there will be a Feile in Thurles in 1994. If there is to be another, the location most likely will be Boston, Massachusetts, to cater for the huge influx of Irish for the World Cup - provided of course that Ireland qualifies, and that is not known at the time of writing. The most likely proposition for Thnrles will be that one or two single concerts will be held at about the same time. 

Even if there were to be another Feile in Thurles, Michael Lowry would not be involved in its organisation. This may come as a surprise to the many who regard him as being chiefly responsible for the whole concept of Feile and for its success to date. Michael's reluctance to be involved in any further possible event stems from the feeling of having had enough and being unwilling to undergo the enormous pressure any more. An inordinate level of criticism, much of it misdirected, allied to the suspicions of many critics that he was motivated by self-promotion and personal gain, have annoyed him intensely, given his long service to the welfare of the Association in so many areas. Far from gaining any personal or financial benefit for Feile, Michael Lowry has instead paid a high price in terms of time, effort and his own business. Running Feile has been a lonely operation in many ways, and while he greatly appreciates the help and support of Semple Stadium Management Committee and the County Board, he has often had to bear the brunt of the criticism because of being the figure perceived by most people as the public face of the Feile Committee. He has been subjected to abuse and vilification, some of which was also directed at his family, and he feels that there may also have been some political consequences. He reckons that he has lost part of his traditional support but feels that this may have been countered by recognition from younger people who have seen his actions as positive, and weighed in favour of the all-too-often neglected youth of the country. 

Why Feile? 

Why did he get involved at all in this musical festival? He recalls that when he was chairman of the County Board he came to the conclusion that most people in the county were indifferent to the debt on Semple Stadium, and that there was a lack of clarity on whose responsibility it was to clear the debt. He had admired the forethought of those, like Pierce Duggan. who had spearheaded the development of the Stadium and he believed County Board and the Management Committee had an obligation to the investors in the 'Double Your Money Scheme', who had made the development possible, what then, was to be done? On the basis that the mainstream supporters of the G.A.A. in the county had already given enough and could not be imposed upon again so soon, the concept of a three-day rock festival, different from anything seen before in Ireland, gradually began to emerge. It's audience would be the young people who form such a significant portion of our population, and who would not ecessarily have any commitment to the G.A.A.

After a number of disappointments in response to the idea, contact with promoters M.C.D. through a business connection in Belfast was the key element in welding the project together. 

Criticism

Michael Lowry believes that most people do not realise the enormous task involved in organising Feile. It has been the biggest recreational event in Ireland over the past number of years and involved intricate organisation, superhuman effort and meticulous co-ordination. Very much in Thurles' favour was its central location and its magnificent stadium. Indeed, one of the offshoots of running Feile has been the improvement of facilities in the stadium itself. In addition to helping clear the debt, the event has resulted in over two hundred thousand pounds being spent on refurbishments in the stadium, thereby enhancing it's already fine reputation. 

The Feile had not been without opposition, often substantial, and coming in the main from from a traditional element in the G.A.A., from some townspeople in Thurles, and from the Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Dr. Clifford. Michael Lowry understands the reservations of the traditionalists within the G.A.A., and appreciates their point of view, but expresses the opinion that the stark reality of the situation was a debt of £1.28 million, with no way of meeting it. There was a moral as well as a financial obligation to honour the County Board commitments, and there was no viable alternative being offered. He was also acutely conscious of the disruption to the lives of Thurles towns people but felt that the £5 million boost to the local economy might have counterbalanced this given the depressed state of the local economy in recent years. 

Aichbishop Clifford's criticism of Feile probably received most coverage. His condemnations were detailed and insistent and he had a complete right to make them. Michael Lowry refrained from commenting on them at the time in order to avoid the confrontational situation that any reply would bring. An opinion he expressed then and which he still holds to be true, is that Feile is not the source of all of the problems but is actually a mirror image of many of the ills of Irish Society. 

He utterly rejects the unruly behaviour of a small minority, but says that such behaviour, which is not unique to Feile, reflects the disillusionment and the anti-establishmentism of a section of our society and is understandable, if not excusable, given that there are over three hundred thousand people unemployed at present. Cancelling or transferring Feile would not make this problem go away. He would also like it to be remembered that the vast majority were well-behaved and he refutes the disparaging remarks which were applied universally to be the younger generation. 

Success

Ultimately he will have to be judged by the success of what he set out to do. From a debt of £1.28 million when he took over, he expects that it will be less than £100,000 at the end of this year, a figure which he considers manageable and which could be cleared by another phase of the five-year ticket scheme in 1994. In addition, all of the investors in the 'Double Your Money' plan will be repaid by Christmas. 

Michael Lowry, was, in fact, disappointed that the debt was not entirely cleared by Feile 93, but a reduction in the numbers attending was accompanied by a parallel loss of revenue. This was brought about by the intense competition in this particular atea. For example, an attempt to emulate Feile in Tramore this year resulted in an estimated loss of £75,000 for the promoters there. Feile generated additional income for the Stadium this year and was fur ahead of all it's competitors, but he still felt that Feile 93 was only moderately successful from a financial viewpoint. 

The G.A.A. 

Michael Lowry sees the G.A.A. at a crossroads. It is, without doubt, the most popular and broadly based sports organisation in the country and it generates enormous support and loyalty amongst the general public. But he feels that many of the people in positions of authority within the Association simply do not recognise what a power for good the G.A.A. could be on the broader national scene. 

It needs a radical assessment of it's traditional role and of its own place in society. A common public perception of the organisation as representing one side of the political divide must be changed. In the wake of the horrifying carnage in the North in recent times, the G.A.A. is in a unique position to help bring about that change. 

Removing the ban on members of the British Forces and the R. U.C. would be an important and far-reaching gesture which would dispel the cloud of doubt many people have about the ideology of the G.A.A. 

It would also be a major step forward for an organisation which has a far greater capacity for the promotion of All-Ireland peace and harmony, than it has so far realised. 

<span class="postTitle">Nenagh Co-op 1993 County Senior Hurling Championship</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1994, pp 17-18

Nenagh Co-op 1993 County Senior Hurling Championship 

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1994, pp 17-18

In winning the 1993 Nenagh Co-op county senior hurling title, Toomevara achieved something no team since Kilruane MacDonagh's in the late 1970s, put two championships back to back. In doing so they doubled the achievement of the 1960 team, equalled the success of the 1930-31 teams and made it possible to emulate the vistories of the three-in-a-row squad . the 1912-14 era. 

During the course of the celebrations following the1992 win a warning was sent to all and sundry that, having won this great prize, they would not be giving it up easily. A simiolar warning was was issued on the evening of October 10th to anyone who might have designs on 'Dan Breen' for 1994: they are determined to keep it in the home of the 'Greyhounds' for at least another year. 

There were a number of contenders for county honours at the start of the year. Beaten finalists in 1992, Thurles Sarsfie!ds, had definite aspirations and seemed to be on target when they handed out a twelve-point drubbing to old rivals Holycross- Ballycahill in the Mid final at Templemore on the 15th August. In doing so they won _ their first divisional final in thirteen years. 

A week later Mullinahone made history when they won their first-ever senior divisional final by beating Carrick Swans, 1-11 to 0-12, in the South final. It was their first time in the final and only their second year in senior ranks. The victory was inspired by a great display by their captain, John Leahy, who scored nine points of their tally. 

On the sane day Nenagh Eire Og had to survive a tenacious Moneygall display before taking the North championship by 1-14 to 0-12 at Cloughjordan. 

On the last Sunday of August, Moneygall played T oomevara, the North league winners, to decide on the second team to go forward to the county championships. The game resulted in an emphatic win, 1-16 to 1-7 by the league winners and for the second year Toomevara qualified for the county championships without a divisional title. 

On the same day Cashe! were unimpressive in acounting for Kickhams in the West final at Tipperary. On a scoreline of 2-15 to 2-12 the King Cormacks won their fourth title in six years but failed to deliver on the promise they showed against Cappawhite in the semi-final. 

Quarter-finals

The quarter-final pairings pitted Mid v South at Golden. In the first game Thudes Sarsfields did not impress in beating Carrick Swans by 4-8 to 1-8. Playing with the wind in the first half the Mid champions led by 3-4 to 0-4 at the interval and, in the course of the hour, shot no less than nineteen wides against a mostly ineffective Swan side. 

In the second game, Holycross-Ballycahill scored an unconvincing three-point win, 1-12 to 2-6, over the South champions, Mullinahone. Although the Mid side were the better team they played badly and might have been in trouble had John Leahy been on target with his free-taking. 

The two other quarter-finals were played at Ternplernore. In the first Cashel faced Toomevara, who gave a very impressive performance in hammering the West champions by 1-17 to 1-4. At half-time the score stood 0-10 to 1-2 in Toome's favour but, as Cashel were to have the advantage of the wind in the second half, it appeared as if they were still well in contention. However, there was no resurgence and all the King Cormac's were to score was a mere two points. 

In contrast, Toomevara stamped their authority on the game and their supremacy was never in doubt until they ran out convincing and worthy winners by thirteen points. The second game was lacking in excitement and Nenagh Eire Og struggled to a five point win over West runners-up, Kickhams, on a scoreline of 1-14 to 0-12. Nenagh went into an early lead of 0-7 to 0-1 but Kickharns began to respond in the second quarter and brought down the lead to 0-8 to 0-6 at the interval. Midway through the second half Nenagh got the only goal of the game to put them into a 1-10 to 0-7 lead. At times during the remainder of the game Kickhams threatened but their finishing was poor and Eire Og had a five point advantage at the final whistle. 

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played at Semple Stadium on 26th September. In the first, Nenagh Eire Og defeated Holycross-Ballycahill by a single point on a scoreline 0-15 to 0-14 and qualified for their first county final. Nenagh entered the game as favourites chiefly due to poor performances from the Mid men during the year. However, HoIycross-Ballycahill produced a performance in the first half that was largely unexpected and led by an impressive six points at the interval. The margin might have been wider but for some fine free-taking by Michael Cleary, which put a gloss on an otherwise lacklustre performance by the Nenagh men. 

There was a transformation in the teams at the interval. The bottom fell out of the Holycross- Ballycahill challenge in the second half and they could score only three points. In contrast Eire Og came alive, got three quick points and, with a much improved performance from Kevin Tucker, eventually snatched victory by a solitary point. The win underlined the important contribution of Michael Cleary, who scored nine points of the winners total . 

In the second game the champions, Toomevara, completely outshone a poor Sarsfields' performance. It was a most disappointing display in the light of the two-hour battle between the same protaganists in last year's final. 'Toome' led 0-7 to 0-3 at the interval but, as Sarsfields had a slight wind advantage in the second half, it was possible they might make their mark. Instead 'Toome' went further ahead and even though Sarsfields pegged them back a couple of times, 'Toome' always had that extra acceleration when the need arose and this was to take them well away in the final quarter when they scored 0-6 to only 0-1 for Sarsfields. 

The Final

Toomevara went into the final strong favourites. They had impressed along the way, in beating Moneygall in the North play-off, in pushing aside Cashel at Templemore, in overcoming the challenge of Thurles with ease. In contrast, Nenagh Eire Og had just about got there, against Moneygall in the North final, against Kickhams in the quarter-final and just about against Holycross-Ballycahill. 

There was just one doubt looming in the face of certainty: Nenagh had beaten the same opposition twice in the North championship. The answer to that, of course, was that Toomevara hadn't their act together when they went down in defeat. Now, they had and were a very formidable outfit. 

At half-time it appeared that Toomevara were on target and their favouritism justified. With a few minutes to go before the interval they led by 1-8 to 0-3 and while Michael Cleary hit three great points before half-time the more respectable scoreboard did not anticipate what was to come. At this stage no Nenagh forward had registered. 

The North champions introduced Eddie Tucker at half-time and he began to make an impact. After ten minutes they had added three points to their credit while 'Toome' replied with one from a Mike Nolan '65.' Then, following an explosion of pulling between Frank Moran and Michael Murphy, Nenagh seemed to spark fire. A great run by John Heffernan resulted in a goal and this was followed by a point. Another followed and, suddenly, Nenagh were ahead by 1-11 to 1-9. 

It was at this stage that Toomevara showed their true character. They rallied to level but Nenagh went ahead again. With ten minutes to go it was anyone's game with great excitement and some splendid exchanges. Toomevara levelled again and then went two points ahead. Entering injury time Nenagh missed chances and then Cleary scored to leave a point between the sides. By this stage two minutes of extra time had elapsed but most of those in attendance expected four because of a delay attending an injury to Philip Shanahan. However, referee Paddy Lonergan blew the final whistle to the surprise of most and the disappointment of Nenagh, who believed they might have got the equaliser in those extra minutes. Probably everyone present would have liked another hour of such an heroic contest. 

It was a marvellous moment for Toomevara and a tremendous ending to a year that hadn't started off too promising. They showed themselves end-of-season specialists. It was a great moment for captain, Jody Grace, for coach, Sean Stack and for selectors, Fr. Michael Casey, Jim McDonnell and Frank Ryan. 

The winning team was - Jody Grace; Pat Meagher, Rory Brislane, Declan O'Meara; George Frend, Michael O'Meara, Philip Shanahan; Tony Delaney, Pat King; Michael Nolan, Michael Murphy, Liam Flaherty, Tommy Carroll, Kevin Kennedy, Tommy Dunne. Substitute - John Ryan for Michael Murphy. Substitutes - Kevin McCormack, Terry Dunne, Liam Nolan, Michael Delaney, Sean Nolan, Jimmy Dunne, Aidan Maxwell, Brendan Spillane, Noel KenneaIy, Michael McCormack. 

Nenagh Eire Og - Christy McLoughlin, Donie O'Brien, Conor O'Donovan, Noel Coffey; Phil Hennessy, Frank Moran, Paul Kennedy; Philip Kennedy, Michael Cleary; Paul Dolan, John Heffernan, Robbie Tomlinson; John Kennedy, Neilly Corbett, Kevin Tucker. Substitutes - Denis Finnerty for Donie O'Brien; Eddie Tucker for Neilly Corbett; Chris Bonner for John Kennedy. Also - Declan O'Meara, John Tucker, Con Howard, Gearoid Cleary, Michael Kennedy, Michael Grace 

Selectors: Liam Heffernan (coach), John Tucker, Billy Flannery. Man of the Match Award: Michael Cleary (Nenagh Eire Og). Referee: Paddy Lonergan (Galtee Rovers).

Sponsorship: For the first time ever the county senior hurling championship was sponsored. The sponsors were Nenagh Co-Op and the amount of the sponsorship, which was 'substantial', according to county chairman, Michael maguire, wasn't revealed.

Nenagh Co-Op Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship Results 1993 

COUNTY FINAL Semple Stadium - October l0th 

Toomevara 1-14, Nenagh Eire Og 1·13 

Referee: Paddy Lonergan (Galtee Rovers) 

SEMI FINALS - Semple Stadium - September 26th 

Nenagh Eire Og 0-15, Holycross- Ballycahill 0-14 

Referee Tommy Lonergan (Kilsheelan) 

Toomevara 0-18, Thurles Sarsfields 0-9 

Referee Willie Barrett (Ardfinnan) 

QUARTER FINALS - Golden - September 12th 

Holycross- Ballycahill 1-12, Mullinahone 2-6 

Referee Richie Barry (Cappawhite) 

Thurles Sarsfields 4-8, Carrick Swans 1-8 

Referee Michael Cahill (Kilruane-McDonaghs) 

Templemore - 

Toomevara 1-17, Cashel King Cormacks 1-4 

Referee Tommy Lonergan (Kilsheelan) 

Nenagh Eire Og 1-14, Kickhams 0-12 

Referee Willie Clohessy (Drom-Inch) 

<span class="postTitle">Gaile Memories</span> Tipperary Star, Jan 10th, 1994

Gaile Memories

The unveiling of the plaque at the entrance to the former Gaile Sportsfield last Sunday recalled for me Lorrha's first ever county final victory, the 1946 county junior hurling championship. Their opponents were Moycarkey-Borris and the date was November 23, 1947, according to the 'Moycarkey-Borris G.A.A. Story' and December 7, 1947 according to the Lorrha book. The score is also uncertain because none of the local newspapers reported the match. Again, there is a slight divergence between the two books with Moycarkey giving the result 4-4 to 3-3 in Lorrha's favour but the Lorrha book claiming only a three point victory in a score line of 4-4 to 3-4.

Lorrha beat Eire Og in the North final and defeated Galtee-St. Pecauns, the West champsions in the county semi-final at Thurles on November 16. In the other semi-final, Moycarkey­ Borris, who had beaten Thurles Kickhams in the mid final, defeated south champions, Clerihan, at Cashel on September 28.

The venue for the final was Gaile, which is about a half-mile from the border of Moycarkey Borris parish. It was probably as close as it was possible to get to Moycarkey without actually playing the match in the parish! Admission was on shilling and the sideline was sixpence extra. Paddy O’Sullivan of Lorrha remembered the occasion for me. The team and supporters went by hired car. The supporters numbered seven, Tommy Carroll, Kitty O'Sullivan, Martin Lewis, Patrick O'Meara, Paul Boucher, Son Ryan and one other, whose name escaped him.

There was a crowd of about 1,000 present and the referee (whose name is not remembered) let everything run. Lorrha played a great game and needed to be good to beat Moycarkey. Paddy, who was playing centreback, retired five minutes into the second-half. When he later went into the doctor in Thurles to have the injury seen to, the doctor, on hearing of the match, said: 'I can expect more so.' (This gives credence to Mickey Byrne's quip at Sundays get-together that, if the grove of trees were still there they'd be skin and hair growing out of them!)

Lorrha survived to win and the team, according to Paddy's memory was as follows: Paddy Maher, Des Donoghue, Mick Donoghue, Mick O'Meara (L), Billy Hogan, Paddy O'Sullivan, Tom Lambe, Hubie Hogan and Eugene O'Meara, Tommy Ryan, Dan O'Meara, Jim O'Meara, Paddy Guinan, Mick O'Meara, Vincent Darcy. Mick Brophy, who was a key player at the time, had his appendix out earlier in the year and missed the match.

The Moycarkey-Borris team that defeated Thurles Kickhams in the mid final was as follows:

John Power, Eddie Power, Willie Power, Jim Power, Pat Hackett, Tom Rackett, Larry Ryan, Timmy Ryan, Willie Dempsey, Johnny Mockler, Martin Kennedy, Michael Ryan, James O'Grady, Tony Molloy, Matty Bannon, Neddy McCormack.

The Lorrha lads went home after the match and there were no celebrations. In fact, Paddy claims that there were people in the parish who didn't know for years afterwards that Lorrha had won a county final!

<span class="postTitle">Gaile Sportsfield</span> Letter to Editor of Tipperary Star following opening of Gaile Sportsfield Jan 10, 1994

Gaile Sportsfield 

Letter to Editor of Tipperary Star following opening of Gaile Sportsfield Jan 10, 1994

The Editor, 

'The Tipperary Star', Thurles. 

January 10, 1994 

Dear Sir:

The unveiling of the plaque at the entrance to the former Gaile Sportsfield last Sunday recalled for me Lorrha's first ever county final victory, the 1946 county junior hurling championship. Their opponents were Moycarkey-Borris and the date was November 23, 1947, according to the 'Moycarkey-Borris G.A.A. Story' and December 7, 1947 according to the Lorrha G.A.A. book. The score is also uncertain because none of the local newspapers reported the match. Again, there is a slight divergence between the two books with Moycarkey giving the result 4-4 to 3-3 in Lorrha's favour but the Lorrha book claiming only a three-point victory on a scoreline of 4-4 to 3-4. 

Lorrha beat Eire Og in the north final and defeated Galtee-St. Pecauns, the West champions, in the county semi-final at Thurles on November 16. In the other semi-final, Moycarkey- Borris, who had beaten Thurles Kickhams in the mid final, defeated south champions, Clerihan, at Cashel on September 28. 

The venue for the final was Gaile, which is about a half-mile from the border of Moycarkey-Borris parish. It was probably as close as it was possible to get to Moycarkey without actually playing the match in the parish! Admission to the game was one shilling and the sideline was sixpence extra. 

Paddy O'Sullivan of Lorrha remembered the occasion for me. The team and supporters went to the match by hired car. The supporters numbered seven, Tommy Carroll, Kitty O'Sullivan, Martin Lewis, Patrick O'Meara, Paul Boucher, Son Ryan and one other, whose name escaped him. 

There was a crowd of about 1,000 present and the referee (whose name is not remembered) let everything run. Lorrha played a great game and needed to be good to beat Moycarkey. 

Paddy, who was playing centreback, retired five minutes into the second-half. When he later went into the doctor in Thurles to have the injury seen to, the doctor, on hearing of the match, said: 'I can expect more so.' (This gives credence to Mickey Byrne's quip at Sunday's get-together that, if the grove of trees were still there they'd be skin and hair growing out of them.) 

Lorrha survived to win and the team, according to Paddy's memory was as follows: Paddy Maher, Des Donoghue, Mick Donoghue, Mick O'Meara (L), Billy Hogan, Paddy O'Sullivan, Tom Lambe, Hubie Hogan and Eugene O'Meara, Tommy Ryan, Dan O'Meara, Jim O'Meara, 

Paddy Guinan, Mick O'Meara, Vincent Darcy. Mick Brophy, who was a key player at the time, had his appendix out earlier in the year and missed the match. 

The Moycarkey-Borris team that defeated Thurles Kickhams in the mid final was as follows: John Power, Eddie Power, Willie Power, Jim Power, Pat Hackett, Tom Hackett, Larry Ryan, Timmy Ryan, Willie Dempsey, Johnny Mockler, Martin Kennedy, Michael Ryan, James O'Grady, Tony Molloy, Matty Bannon, Neddy McCormack. 

The Lorrha lads went home after the match and there were no celebrations. In fact, Paddy claims that there were people in the parish who didn't know for years afterwards that Lorrha had won a county final! 

Yours sincerely,

Seamus J. King 

<span class="postTitle">Cashel - Munster Club Champions 1991</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1993, pp 53-54

Cashel - Munster Club Champions 1991

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1993, pp 53-54

Only a week after winning their first county senior hurling championship Cashel headed for Ennis to play the Clare champions, Clarecastle, in the Munster club championship semifinal on November 17. The celebrations around their historic win were brought to a halt early in the week and a testing mid-week training session whipped the players into reasonable shape for this Cusack Park test. 

Conditions for the game were extremely poor with parts of the pitch waterlogged after heavy ovemight rain and matters worsened with a heavy downpour towards the end of the first half. Despite this the sides served up a very entertaining game. which was tight up to the three-quarter stage. and gave the large crowd plenty to cheer about. 

Clarecastle had high hopes of reaching the decider after handing out a crushing defeat to Limerick champions, Ballybrown, in a controversial first round game, but it was clear from the outset that they were unable to match the skills of the Tipperary champions. Cashel built up a 1-7 to 0-3 interval lead, the goal a fortuitous one from Ailbe Bonnar ten minutes from half-time. Clarecastle reduced the lead to three points with an Anthony Daly goal from a penalty ten minutes after the resumption but this sparked off a Cashel resurgence, which resulted in two goals from Jamsie O'Donoghue and Tommy Grogan in a three minute period. In the end they were in front by 3-11 to 2-4. 

The victory came from a fine team effort but there were some outstanding performances. Pride of place must go to Colm Bonnar. who played a captain's part with an incredible workrate over the hour. Pat O'Donoghue gave an outstanding display at full-back and in the forwards, Tommy Grogan gave another performance of brilliant marksmanship. scoring a total of 1-9 in the course of the hour. 

Munster Final

There couldn't have been better opposition for the Munster final at Mitchelstown on December 8 than the Cork champions, Midleton. The game attracted enormous attention and called to mind the ancient rivalry between Cork and Tipperary. The Midleton team was speckled with players who had brought honour to club and to county, household names like Denis Mulcahy, Pat Hartnett, John Fenton, Ger Fitzgerald and Kevin Hennessy. 

Like so many games of which much is expected the game fell far below expectations but the closeness of the scoring and the intensity of the exchanges kept the crowd of over 8,000 excited for the hour. It was a game that produced more wides than scores, with Cashel having fourteen to Midleton's eleven. 

Cashel held the upper hand from the start and with scores slow to come they gradually built up a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after twenty minutes. During this period Cashel's half-back line did some fine work, cutting off the supply of ball to the Cork forwards. Of the three Conal Bonnar was particularly impressive. At the other end a titanic struggle for supremacy was taking place between T.J. Connolly and Pat Hartnett. Two points by Tommy Grogan and T.J. Connolly gave Cashel a 0-5 lead at the interval. 

The second half was a close struggle of great misses, the greatest without a doubt from Paudie O'Brien, who had an outstanding chance of a goal ten minutes from the end. By the closing minutes Cashel were three points in front in a scoreline of 0-9 to 0-6. This final period was fought with great tension and there was always the possibility that Midleton might get the major and deprive Cashel of victory. But they failed and a jubilant crowd of Cashel supporters and players celebrated one of the most memorable victories ever achieved by the club. The unbridled emotion was due not only to winning a first provincial club championship but to the fact that the victory was achieved over a Cork team. 

Again the victory was forged from the fighting qualities of all the players but the performance of Pa Fitzell, Colm Bonnar, Michael Perdue, T.J. Connolly, John Ryan and John Grogan deserve special mention. 

Ruislip

After victory in Munster the next target was the All-Ireland club championship and the first step on the road was a long one - all the way to Ruislip, London to play English champions, Sean Treacys of London. The game was fixed for February 9 and there was great excitement, among players and supporters alike, at the thought of a weekend in London. 

Although a Cashel victory was anticipated the problem was motivating the team and preventing complacency which might prove fatal. It was known that the previous year's champions, St. Gabriel's, had come over to Galway and beaten Connacht champions, Kiltormer. Such a fate was devoutly to be avoided. 

In the event the game was no contest and revealed a vast gulf in the standard between to two teams. By the interval the writing was on the wall for the London men, with Cashel in front by 0-16 to 0-2. Cashel eased off somewhat in the second half and were still convincingly in front at the final whistle by 0-23 to 0-6. Again Tommy Grogan contributed greatly to the victory with ten points from placed balls. Others to shine included Timmy Moloney, who deputised for the injured Willie Fitzell, and T.J. Connolly, who scored four delightful points. Cashel rested a number of players in the second half, giving Declan McGrath, Sean Slattery and Joe Minogue a run in the process. 

Kiltormer

Galway county champions, Kiltormer, were to provide memorable opposition in the All-Ireland semi-final which wasn't to be resolved before 210 minutes of hurling had elapsed. The games will be remembered for great struggles that interested not only the respective supporters of both teams but the people of Tipperary and Galway and the followers of hurling in the country at large. 

The first encounter between the sides was at Leahy Park, Cashel on February 23. The home side's expectations were very high but the players and their ardent supporters in a crowd of about nine thousand got the shock of their lives when superb hurling by the Galway champions gave them a deserved lead of eight points after twenty minutes. 

Cashel woke up to the fact that they had a fight on their hands and an opposition of quality that included players of the calibre of Conor Hayes, the Kilkenny brothers, Aidan Staunton, Brendan Dervan and Justin Campbell, all of whom had worn the Galway jersey in one grade or another. The home side gradually found their rhythm and hit a glorious patch shortly before the interval which yielded goals by Jamsie O'Donoghue and T.J. Connolly. As a result they trailed by only three points at half-time in a scoreline of 2-2 to 1-8. 

On the resumption Cashel had to be optimistic with the advantage of the wind and this was confirmed within ten minutes when Tommy Grogan with two points from frees and brother John with a point from play evened up the score. It seemed as if it was going to be Cashel's day but in the remainder of the half the sides scored only two points each to give a final tally of Cashel 2-7 Kilcormer 1-10. Both sides missed chances that might have been and in the end the opinion of neutrals was that it was a fitting result. 

Ballinasloe

Ballinasloe was the venue for the replay on March 8. The feeling in Cashel was that the home side could never play as poorly again and there was hope of a much improved performance. On the other hand there was an awareness that Kiltormer were a fine side capable of a fine brand of hurling with strong-running forwards capable of taking on a defence and that it would take a top performance by Cashel to dispose of the Galway side. 

The day could not have been better and Duggan Park was in excellent condition. Again the expectations were high and the supporters travelled in great numbers. In the end Cashel were extremely lucky when Kiltormer wing-forward, Damian Curley drove a last minute 20 metre free wide and gave Cashel a third chance. 

On the other hand the result was a tremendous tribute to the resilience of the Cashel side who came back from five point deficits on no less than three times in the course of the game! Cashel had to line out without John Grogan and he was replaced by Timmy Moloney, who made a major contribution to Cashel's display. Although well forewarned from the game in Cashel, the King Cormac's were slow to start and were five points behind after fifteen minutes. Not until the 16th minute did Cashel score, a kicked goal by T.J. Connolly. This rallied the visitors and brought them within a point of Kiltormer, 0-6 to 1-2, at the interval. 

Full of determination Cashel took the field for the second half but again it was Kiltormer who took the initiative. In a game in which scores were at a premium Kiltormer went three points in front after ten minutes. Then disaster for Cashel when a Timmy Moloney penalty was stopped. This was followed by two more points for the home side which restored their five point lead. Then when heads began to drop Cashel were awarded a penalty for a foul on Cormac Bonnar and this time Timmy Moloney found the net. This score inspired Cashel and they looked as if they might make it after Tommy Grogan and Timmy Moloney brought them level. In the end there were missed chances on both sides but for Cashel there was a T.J. Connolly effort that might just have been. At the final whistle the score was Cashel 2-5 Kiltormer 0-11. 

The only time Cashel led in this marathon contest was after two minutes of the first half of extra time when Tommy Grogan point put them ahead by 2-6 to 0-11. The omens looked good. However, they flattered only to deceive. During the following ten minutes the Kiltormer men came storming back to score 1-3 and open up a five point lead for the third time in this incredible contest. Cashel had to rise from the dead for a third time and did so in heroic fashion by scoring three points, two from Timmy Moloney and one from Tommy Grogan, during the three minutes before half-time to leave them only two points adrift, 1-14 to 2-9. The final half is a short tale to relate. In a gripping finish Cashel scored twice, after six minutes when T.J. Connolly hit a point and a few minutes alter when Tommy Grogan hit a marvellous leveller from a free. In the end Cashel had to endure the agony of Damian's Curley's close-in free and the ecstacy of his miss. The final score was Cashe1 2-11 Kiltormer 1-14. 

Croke Park

The national headquarters on St. Patrick's Day ought to have been the occasion for the All-Ireland club final. Instead it was the venue for the third meeting of the inseparable twins. 

In the end it was a puck of a ball that separated the sides. With four minutes left and the sides level referee, Dickie Murphy of Wexford, gave a controversial free against John Grogan. The resultant long range free dropped right into the heart of the Cashel defence. Breaking behind the inner backline substitute, Tony Furey, raced after it. John Ryan came off his line to challenge him but Furey got his shot in and scored the goal that decided the marathon encounter. Cashel, who came back so often in previous encounters, just hadn't time. 

However, the game was won and lost in the first half when Cashel, with wind advantage and the backs playing exceptionally well, failed to capitalise on their territorial advantage and went in at half-time trailing by 1-3 to 0-5. 

During this period none of the Cashel forwards had scored from play. Raymie Ryan had hit two points from play, Conal Bonnar one from play and one from a free and Tommy Grogan from a free. 

Cashel had an uphill battle in the second half. After only nine minutes Kiltormer were ahead by 1-6 to 0-5 and Cashel's chances looked slim. But again, when chances looked their worst, Cashel came back. Tommy Grogan pointed a free. Brother John got a great goal in the thirteenth minute and Tommy put Cashel ahead a minute later with another free. Things were looking up for Cashel but again the omens were deceptive. Colm Bonnar went off with a suspected broken finger and he was to prove an unbearable loss and with ten minutes to go Aidan Staunton whipped over the levelling point for Kiltormer. Cormac Bonnar restored Cashel's lead only to see Sean Kelly erase it within a minute. This left the sides deadlocked at 1-8 each when Tony Furey struck his mortal blow four minutes to time. 

In the end one side had to lose but there was no consolation for the losers. They may have been honourable in defeat but there is no substitute for victory. It is a sad state of affairs but winning is the only thing. Congratulations to worthy champions, Kiltormer! 

In the six games played Cashel scored 8 goals 69 points and conceded 6 goals 48 points. The following is the list of the panel, with the number of their appearances and scores.

John Ryan (6), Tony Slattery (6). Pat O'Donoghue (6), Michael Perdue (6), Raymie Ryan (6),(0-2), Pat Fitzell (6), Conal Bonnar (6) (0-2), Colm Bonnar (capt.) (6) (0-2), Willie Fitzell (5). James O'Donoghue (5) (2-4), T.J. Connolly(6) (2-9), John Grogan (6) (1-7), Tommy Grogan (6) (1-35), Cormac Bonnar (6) (01), Ailbe Bonnar (6) (1-0), Timmy Moloney (3) and Sub (3) (1-7), Joe Minogue Sub. (2), Declan McGrath Sub. (3), Seanie Barron, Sean Slattery Sub. (1), Sean O'Donoghue Sub. (1), Joe O'Leary, Peter Fitzell, Ger Slattery, Sean Morrissey, Liam Devitt, Don Higgins.

Selectors: Brendan Bonnar, John Darmody, Justin McCarthy (Coach) Aongus Ryan. 

<span class="postTitle">G.A.A. Publications - 1993</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1993 p.64

G.A.A. Publications - 1993

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1993 p.64

Not a great year for books on the GAA in the county. In last year's piece I mentioned the imminent publication of Gaelic Games in Holycross-Ballycahill by Bob Stakelum. It was launched with due pomp and circumstance by Dr. Russell, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore in Holycross Abbey. That must have been a first to have a GAA book launched in a church. Of the print run of 600 copies over 500 are sold so if you haven't got a copy you should contact the author at 0504-43311. The book sells for £10 and has 406 pages.

The book is dedicated 'to the ladies of the parish who cater for our functions, wash togs and suffer in silence, as the menfolk get all the glory.' It traces the history of the club through the years of defeat up to the first county championship win in junior hurling in 1941. This was followed by the first senior hurling championship win in 1948. This team contained such stalwarts as Pat Stakelum, John Doyle, Bob Stakelum, Jack Dwyer, Ned O'Gorman and they were to play a major part in the revival of hurling glory in the county.

The book is interspersed with pen pictures of club greats, anecdotes from different periods and, of course, photographs. Naturally they are more plentiful in the second half of the book. The club's success at juvenile level, especially in the later decades, is generously covered. The final 30 pages are devoted to statistics and the final picture shows a joyful Declan Carr holding the Liam McCarthy cup aloft after the 1991 All-Ireland final.

Golden - Kilfeacle

It was hoped to have the Golden-Kilfeacle book ready for Christmas and it may still be. The final work towards bringing it to publication was held up for a number of weeks by the illness of the editor, Willie Ryan. The latter is now back on his feet and is hoping to have the book available in the very near future.

Match Programmes

Of all the programmes produced in the county during the year, pride of place must be given to the north final production on August 30. Containing no less than 78 pages it was excellent value for £1 and a tremendous tribute to Bord na nOg, who were responsible for it. The pages contain a fine mix of scholarly articles, personality profiles, potted club histories, player facts and interesting snippets. One of the latter to catch my eye was as follows. Arthur Young, during his tour of Ireland in the 18th century, visited Portroe. He witnessed a game of hurling and described it as a sort of cricket 'but instead of throwing the ball in order to knock down a wicket, the aim is to put it through a bent stick, the ends of which are stuck in the ground. In these matches they perform such feats of activity 'as ought to evidence the food they live on to be far from deficient in nourishment.'

This reminded me of a visit a couple of years ago to the Cricket Museum in the Lord's Ground, London, looking for ideas for the Centrefield Project at Thurles. Two things stuck in my mind from that visit. The first was that the cricket bat was originally a crooked bat and very similar in shape to hurleys that have survived from the 19th century. The bat retained this shape until the second half of the 18th century.

Why did it change? One explanation was as follows: 'The crooked bat became straight out of sheer expediency; wit and not morality was the cause. A curved bat, with the weight concentrated at the bottom, was necessary as a counter to the ancient underhand bowling, quick and along the ground ... As soon as Hambledon men bowled a length and used the air and caused the ball to rise sharply from the ground, a hockey stick sort of defence was of no avail, and so the shouldered narrow blade was evolved.' So, there you are!!

The second thing that struck me was that there was no control on the width of the bat until 1771. In that year at a match between Hambledon and Chertsey 'one Thomas 'Shock' White of Reigate did see fit and strode to the crease carrying a monster of a bat which was in fact wider than the wicket, and shocked everyone into acknowledging the absurdiry of there not being a ruling to prevent it. The Hambledon club were far from amused but they got the message and at the September meeting of their committee passed a resolution limiting the width of the cricket bat to four and a quarter inches.' And that was over two hundred years before the G.A.A. limited the goalie's hurley to five inches!

Records

But, to get back to the north final programme. It also included a comprehensinve record of all the games played in the senior hurling championship, with tthe results and the scores. If one included the final, twenty senior hurling games were played in the division in 1992! No wonder their coffers are bulging.

Tipperary won three AlI- Irelands in field games in 1992, the hurling masters and minor and junior camogie. For the latter Croke Park produced a fine program with the teams in colour and pen pictures of the players. Because it was the first junior camogie All-Ireland won by Tipperary it has to be a collector's item. If you haven't got a copy you might try Croke Park or Marion Graham at 0504-44463.

Finally, Brendan Fullam, who prodused a best seller in 'Giants of the Ash' for the Christmas market last year is reputed to be working on a follow-up at the moment. A Westmeath friend was very annoyed that he omitted the famous Jobber McGrath from the 'Giants' and hopes that he'll be included in the sequel.

<span class="postTitle">Patsy Carroll</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1993, pp 53-54

Patsy Carroll

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1993, pp 53-54

One of my early memories is of a lazy-hazy Sunday afternoon at Rathcabbin sports in Mr. Brackek's field. There we were lying on the grass and watching a three mile race. There were only two contestants, Mick Cleary of Moneygall and local hero, Patsy Carroll. Cleary was in the lead from the early stage by up to about ten yards. Occasionally Carroll would make a burst to catch up but when he did so Cleary accelerated. I was disappointed when Cleary crossed the finishing line in front not knowing then that Patsy Carroll had won the three mile championship of Ireland at Ballinree, Co. Carlow a few days earlier and hadn't yet recovered from the ordeal.

My most recent meeting with the man was last August. As we drank tea he recounted the high and low points of his life. Then suddenly he was under staring orders again. This time it was no gun but the call of commitment to travel to Tullamore for a training session with the Offaly under-21 hurling team. Since 1983 he has been official masseur with the Offaly senior team and now with the under-21 side. Nothing unusual about that until you realise that Patsy Carroll is seventy years of age, having been born on 18th February 1922.

Athletic Greatness

The high period of his athletic achievement was between 1945 and 1951. In these seven years he won seven senior cross-country medals with the county, running under N.A.C.A rules. During that glorious period he was never outside the first twelve on All-Ireland day and was always in the scoring six, the only one to achieve that high level of consistency.

With no athletic ancestry Patsy first became interested in running when he joined the L.D.F. in the early forties and began to run in their races. They were later to become F.C.A. races. Crosscountry running was taking off in a big way at the time and 250 people took part in the first crosscountry race in Lorrha in January 1943. Mick Donoghue of Ballinderry won and Patsy came second. The race was out of Lorrha, up the Minister's Hill and around for four miles. According to Patsy there was great interest in running - people had little else to occupy their free time.

To cater for this growing interest St. Ruadhan's club was formed in 1944 and duly won the County Tipperary novice and junior cross-country championship. The novice was run in January and the scoring four were Francey and Mickey Hourigan, Syl King and Patsy Carroll. The junior was run the following month with the same four plus Paddy Hourigan and Tom Lambe.

They beat a great Nenagh squad captained by Jack Fitzelle, uncle of 'Pa' of Cashel fame. On the last Sunday of the month St. Ruadhan's went to Dunleer for the All-Ireland inter-club crosscountry junior championship and came sixth out of a field of over sixty teams.

Inter-County

The Annual Congress which was held at the end of the year, brought the inter-club All-Ireland to an end. From 1945 onwards teams for the inter-county were picked by trial. In January 1945 Patsy Carroll and Francey Hourigan, coming fourth and tenth respectively, qualified for the Tipperary team. As there was no Munster championship they went straight to Belfast for the All-Ireland junior inter-county on the third Sunday in February. There were three hundred starters and Tipperary, who had the first four home, had a runaway win. The four were John Joe Barry of Ballincurry, Patsy Carroll of St. Ruadhan's, Mick Blake of Coolquill and Gerry Kiely of Aherlow. The other two were Jack Fitzelle and Roddy Teehan of Moneygall.

Senior Success

Patsy Carroll qualified for the county senior team the same year, coming tenth in the trials at Littleton, despite having injured his foot with glass. The All-Ireland took place at Mount Merrion, Dublin and Tipperary beat a great Kildare team to take the senior title. The Lorrha man was the tenth man home and the fifth Tipperary man. For the next six years he was to play a major part in the county's continued success.

If one is to find a peak in Patsy Carroll's achievements it must be 1949. The list of his successes is phenomenal. He won the Southern Command three miles. He dead heated (both got gold medals) with Mick Cleary of Moneygall AC. in the Munster four miles. (Neither would let the other lose!) About 6,000 watched that race at Kanturk and the crowd included intrepid Lorrha supporters like Bobby Dillon, Joe Sutton, Jack Cleary, Tommy Carroll, Paddy Corcoran and Mick O'Meara of Roughan. Patsy won the Army three miles at the Curragh, after being runner-up in 1948, and was to be successful again in 1950. He also won the All-Ireland three miles at Carlow and was second in the national five mile championship run at Moneygall. Other sussesses were achieved at Moyglass and Galway. He was second in the Guinness four miles on a Saturday and won the three miles at Killaloe the following day.

Training

There was little training as we know it today and less talk of pulled muscles, torn ligaments and groin strains. According to Patsy it was up to yourself to get fit. He did his day's work on the land and later worked for Bord na Mona. At the end of the day he went off running around Mr. Bracken's field. He used to take a drink but took the pledge from Fr. Clune about 1945. He remembers the latter with affection and in particular for his ability to cure people and the fierce set he had on Martin Luther! He had no coach but he did have a manager in the person of Denis O'Brien of Nenagh. He also had a physio, Tom Fallon of Templemore.

Getting around was a major chore. At the very north of the county Rathcabbin was far removed from places. For the trials in Littleton in 1945 he cycled to Nenagh, a distance of twentyfive miles, and got a lift with the Nenagh lads. He remembers cycling to Mountmellick, return journey, sixty miles, running, cycling home and dancing all night. Ah! when men were men!

Great Rivals

Because St. Ruadhan's club ceased to exist in 1946 Patsy Carroll joined Moneygall A.C. the following year and was to stay with them for most of his athletic career. The exception was 1949 when St. Flannan's Athletic club came into existence in Lorrha for one year. He remembers Moneygall as a very well run club under the guidance of Jim Ryan.

Another club man he admired was Mick Cleary. Other rivals he remembers with respect are Mick Blake and Gerry Kiely. He recalls with particular affection Martin Egan of Shanaglish, Co. Galway. For him the Healys of Coolcroo were very special people and looked after the runners very well in Belfast in 1945. He also reminisces about Jim Sweeney, Jack Caesar and Mick Ryan of Moyne.

Patsy is adamant that the most important person in his life is his wife, Celia. He married Celia Dowd of Ballymacegan in 1949 and the couple have five girls and two boys. He cherishes the warmth of a good home life particularly since his own childhood was blighted by the death of his only brother, Martin, at the age of three, his mother's death when he was only twelve years old and his father's blindness, the result of the belt of a caveson in the eye from a rearing horse. His own family haven't been free from suffering either with one of his sons suffering a serious head injury in 1983.

The G.A.A.

Patsy was always interested in the G.A.A. and played on the Lorrha junior team but, having taken the athletic road, stayed away from the hurling field to avoid injury. Becoming involved in physio at a very early stage he began rubbing Lorrha teams as early as 1948. In those days it was a mixture of olive oil and wintergreen and it's an odour I will never forget. I can vividly recall Patsy lashing it on and the smell filling the upstairs room in Foley's pub in Borrisokane during the early rounds of the 1956 championship. Patsy has an interesting point of view on all this rubbing. He believes that much of its success has got to do with belief in its efficacy!

As he continues rubbing today, whether in Offaly or Tipperary, Patsy Carroll can look back to a very successful and full life. He still believes in what the N.AC.A stand for, 32 county athletics. His reasoning is simple and practical: this country is too small a unit to be divided for any sport and our rare successes in the international field gives substance to this point of view. He represents the amateur ideal at its noblest, a life of honest endeavour in the field of sport with little or no material reward to show for such effort. But he does have this reward, the knowledge that he was once great and that he proved that greatness by winning numerous All-Ireland athletic medals.

<span class="postTitle">The Senior Hurling Championship - 1993</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1993, pp 16-19

The Senior Hurling Championship - 1993

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1993, pp 16-19

Toomevara bridged a thirty-two year gap when they captured the Dan Breen Cup for the first time since 1960 in a thrilling county final replay at Semple Stadium on November 8. In doing so they beat their opponents of over three decades ago, Thurles Sarsfields, and took the premier hurling trophy to the north division for the first time since Borrisoleigh's triumph in 1986. It was Toomevara's eleventh senior title. 

The long wait had made victory all the sweeter and the success was greeted with an explosion of joy and celebration by the supporters at the game and later in the evening in a crowded village, where the formalities lasted for almost an hour. Among the many speakers was Neil Williams, who is regarded as having played a major part in the revival of hurling in the parish, which culminated in this great victory. In the course of his remarks he said: 'There was a warrant out for the arrest of Dan Breen and Toomevara executed that warrant. We'll keep him in captivity for quite some time. He's home to stay'. The tremendous spirit, skill and determination shown by the team, especially in the second half, and the fact that the elders on the team are a mere twenty-seven years of age, none of them having been born when the club had their previous victory, may well prove Neil to be prophetic. 

Divisional Finals

However, a year is a long time in hurling as Cashel found to its chagrin after scaling the heights in 1991. In the first of the divisional finals, played at Bansha on July 27, the 'Kings' failed to make it three-in-a-row before a spirited performance by a Declan Ryan-inspired Clonoulty-Rossmore, who went out easy winners by 2-15 to 1-11. 

The south final was played at CLonmel on August 16. On that day Ballingarry returned to the throne of south hurling for the first since 1987, when they defeated title holders and neighbours, Killenaule, by 2-12 to 1-10. Star of the encounter was captain and 'Man of the Match' award winner, Don Lyons, who had a spectacular game, scoring seven points from play for the winners. 

On the same day there was a replay of the mid final at Boherlahan. In this LoughmoreCastleiney staged a sensational recovery when they came back from ten points down with nine minutes to play and grabbed an injury-time equaliser to take the game to extra time. During the extra period they swept Thurles Sarsfields off their feet to win by 3-18 to 2-14. In the drawn game on the previous Sunday Thurles Sarsfields had survived by virtue of a last minute equaliser from centrefielder, Brendan Carroll to leave the scoreline Loughmore-Castleiney 1-9 Thurles Sarsfields 0-12. 

MacDonagh Park, Cloughjordan was the venue for the north fmal on August 30. Eire Og, Nenagh ended a twenty· year wait when they trounced a tired and ineffective Lorrha by 1-18 to 0-8. Toomevara, the Hogan League winners, qualified for second north spot in the county quarter-finals, when they recovered from a disastrous start which saw them trail by 3-3 to 0-1, to beat a hapless Lorrha side by 1-14 to 3-5 at Nenagh on September 9.

Plenty of Controversy

The first two quarter-final games, between the mid and the west representatives, were fixed for August 23, the Sunday after the replayed mid-final. Or so the advertisement for the game stated in the 'Tipperary Star'. At a meeting of the county fixtures committee on August 18 the representatives of the mid board claimed a provision was agreed to at a previous county fixtures meeting that the quarter final would go back to August 30 in the event of a draw. The claim was rejected by county chairman, Michael Maguire, and, after the mid delegates walked out, the fixture was re-affirmed for August 23. 

On the following day the two mid clubs secured eight signatures, as per rule to seek a full meeting of the county board to have their case heard. County chairman, Michael Maguire, turned down the request and the clubs decided to appeal his refusal to the Munster Coincil. On the Friday before August 23 fixture Loughmore-Castleiney and Thurles SarsfIelds announced they would not be fulilling the fixture. 

The mid board issued a detailed statement on the affair on August 24 in the course of which they reiterated their claim that a proviso was agreed, to put back the quarter-final games to August 30 " in the event of a mid draw, at the county fixtures meeting of July 28. On the night following the statement a meeting of the county fixtures meeting decided to throw the two clubs out of the county championship because of their failure to play the quarter-finals as fixed. 
 

Phoney War

After the events of August 24 a kind of phoney war developed. The mid teams were left is a limbo situation with an appeal to the Munster Council pending. Quite a lot of anti-county chairman propaganda emerged from scribes favourable to the mid stand. A county board meeting on September 14 did not discuss the matter. Instead it was announced that a special meeting of the board would take place the following Monday to deal with the matter. 

At the special meeting of the board on September 21 the two clubs were reinstated at a cost. Thurles Sarsfields and Loughmore-Castleiney were each fined £2,000 as was the mid board for allegedly misleading the clubs. During the course of a lengthy meeting chairman, Michael Maguire, continuously resisted impassioned pleas from several delegates to allow the mid clubs take part in the quarterfinals. Yet, he failed to bite the bullet but instead kept coming back to the delegates in the hope of finding a way around such an unpopular decision. Eventually after a recess and continued pleaing, he left the decision to a vote by the members. The result was a narrow 35-32 vote to allow the mid clubs back in the competition and the vote in favour may hwe been achieved by a crucial intervention in favour of leniency by South secretary, Micheal O'Meara and chairman, Jimmy Collins, near the end of the discussion. Their intervention may have swung neutral south deleales in favour of reinstatement 

Many issues

The whole affair raised many issues. The most obvious one was the need to have minutes kept of the proceedings at county fixtures meetings. There was, of course, the flouting of the county board's authority and this was the third occasion that the offenders came from the mid division. What role did the mid board play in the affair? Did it "mislead" the clubs as Pat Cullen of Loughmore Castleiney seemed to imply. What part did personalities play in the affair and how big a part did the "I'll get you" mentality surface. But, there were even greater issues. The major one was the power of the club. In this case the clubs put the gun to the head of the county board - by withdrawing from the championship and left it in an extremely difficult position. Should it take firm action and dismiss the two teams or should it take the strength of the clubs' feelings on the matter into consideration? In this case the county chairman took firm action and then relented. As Noel Morris pointed out at the special board meeting Lorrha took similar action effectively in 1984. There is also the other side of this coin, the attitude of the clubs who will gain from the suspension of clubs. In the case of Clonoulty and Cashel there was an element of blackmail. It was hinted to them that if they took the games they would be going against tradition in the matter. In the event both sides decided to back the county chairman. Traditionally clubs have not taken games and this puts board decisions in an impossible position. 

Quarter-finals

The first of the quarter-finals were played at Semple Stadium on September 13 between the teams form the south and the north. The better of the two was the Toomevara-Ballingarry confrontation. The north side had qualified only four days previously when they beat Lorrha in the play-off between the league winners and the championship runners-up. They showed a lack of urgency in their play and whereas they were ahead for most of the game they could never shake off a determined Ballingarry side. Toomevara went ahead in the first quarter, were dragged back to level after twenty minutes but were in front by 2-4 to 0-6 at the interval. In the second half they continued in front despite some bad shooting and had five points to spare, 2-9 to 0-10 at the final whistle in spite of considerable late pressure from the south champions. 

The second game saw Eire og, Nenagh coast to an easy victory against a very poor Killenaule side. After some early difficulties the north side established their superiority, were in front by 1-8 to 0-2 at the interval and were easy winners by 3-14 to 0-7 in the end.

Mid v West

The other quarter-finals, delayed by controversy, were eventually played at Boherlahan on September 27. The two mid teams came to the fray with the support of a huge and partisan crowd that was going to give the west, and the chairman who came from there, the answer they deserved. 

On the day the displays of Thurles Sarsfields and Loughmore-Castleiney deserved the successes they won. In the first game Sarsfields were easily the better side in the first half but failed to translate their advantage into scores and at halftime the sides stood level at three points each. West champions, Clonoulty-Rossmore, were hoping to lift their game in the second half and looked placed to succeed but their forwards lacked penetration and they wasted possession just as the mid men had done in the first half. In the end there was only a point between the sides in a low scoreline of 0-6 to 0-5 in favour of Thurles. 

In the second game Loughmore-Castleiney gave a superb performance and defeated Cashel by six points in a scoreline of 2-12 to 2-6. The difference between the teams was the hunger and zest of the mid champions in contrast with the listless performance of the Cashel team. Loughmore hunted everything with a fierce appetite and harried their opponents at every opportunity. Within five minutes the mid team led by 1-2 to nil. 

Cashel came back to level by the twentieth minute but Loughmore were ahead by 1-5 to 1-3 at interval. With ten minutes to go Loughmore had stretched their lead to double scores, 2-10 1-5 but Cashel got 1-1 to their opponents 0-2 in the final minutes to give the scoreboard a more respectable look. In spite of Loughmore-Castleiney's super- iority Cashel could only regret their dismal failure from pIaced balls in the first half and their craze for futile solo running the second half when the quick delivery into the inside forward line might have paid greater dividends. 

The semi-finals

After a superb display at Boherlahan Loughmore-Castleiney must have gone into their semi-final game against Toomevara on October 11 at Semple Stadium with reasonable confidence. However, whatever happened during the intervening two weeks had something of a debilitating effect on the team because the sparkle was not in evidence and overall they gave extremely tame performance. In fact, it as a very poor game with the last minutes lifted a little by the excitement of Toomevara coming from level to win by two points in an exciting finish Loughmore had a two point advantage 0-6 to 0-4 at half-time. Toomevara levelled early in the second half and the sides were locked at nine points each with a few minutes to go. During the final minute Toomevara got two points to win by 0-11 to 0-9. 

The second semi-fmal was more exciting and saw Thurles Sarsfields came from three points down with about five minutes remaining to draw with Eire 6g on a scoreline of 1- 12 each . The north champions led by a point at the interval, 1-7 to 1-6 and played the better hurling for most of the second half only to lose their advantage in the closing minutes. 

The replay was at Cloughjordan on the following Sunday and from the throw-in to the final whistle Sarsfields superiority was never in doubt. They led by 1-8 to 1-2 at the interval, the Eire Og goal coming from a Michael Cleary penalty. The second half became a parade for Thurles and their nine point superiority, 2-15 to 2-6, at the final whistle was no less than they deserved. To underline the Thurles superiority Nenagh failed to score from play until ten minutes into the second half and their second goal also came from a penalty. 

The County final 

As a result of their spectacular victory over Eire 6g at Cloughjordan, Thurles Sarsfields were slight favourites going into the county final at Semple Stadium on November 1. It was an intriguing contest in many ways. not least of which was that neither team held divisional honours. On the other hard each side represented a proud hurling tradition in the county with the Blues and the Greyhounds among the finest hurling pedigrees. Toomevara were appearing in their first final since 1961 while Thurles last reached this stage in 1979. 

The crowd of about 10,000 did not get the kind of game they expected. The first half was a dull uninspiring contest at the end of which Sarsfields led by 0-4 to 0-3. In the second half Toomevara began to take control and not even a goal by Seamus Quinn in the ninth minute after the interval could halt their momentum and they scored five points without reply from Sarsfields. With three points up. the wind behind them and only eight minutes to go they appeared set for victory. But. inexplicably. they failed to drive home their advantage and Thurles came back to score three points in the final minutes and earn an unexpected draw. In the end it was a major disappointment for the north men to have apparent victory elude their grasp in the final minutes. The final score was Sarsfields 1-8 Toomevara 0-11. 

The Replay

To many experts it appeared as if the men from the north had let slip the opportunity of bridging a 32 year gap. However, Toomevara went into the replay a week later with an increased confidence in their ability and they expressed that confidence in a much improved display. Yet Sarsfields had a point to spare at the interval in a scoreline of 1-4 to 0-6. their goal a fortuitous one by Connie Maher from a melee in the front of the goal. In the second half Toomevara's superiority became more pronounced but they were never able to pull out of the danger zone chiefly due to a tenacious defence by the Thurles backline, especially Michael Maher. Seamus O'Shea and Seamus Maher, until he retired with an injury. In fact many believed that the performance of the veteran, Michael Maher, deserved the Man of the Match award. 

But there were sterling performances at the other end of the field also and as the game wore on we saw some superb defending by Declan O'Meara, George Friend and Man of the Match. Philip Shanahan, who was just half the age of the leading contender from the opposite side. The quality of the Toomevara defence can be seen in the paucity of Sarsfields' scores in the second half, a mere two points. The last ten minutes saw trojan efforts on both sides to gain the verdict and the excitement was intense up to final whistle, with only a puck of a bell between the sides, Toomevara 0-12 Thurles Sarsfields 1-6. It has been another day for defences and the game confirmed the low level of forward power in the county at the present. 

Teams:

Toomevara: Jody Grace, Pat Meagher, Rory Brisbane, Michael O'Meara (Capt.), George Friend, Declan O'Meara, Philip Shanahan, Pat King, Tony Delaney, Tommy Dunne, Michael Murphy. Terry Dunne, Liam Flaherty, Liam Nolan, Tommy Carroll. Subs: Michael Nolan for Flaherty, Kevin McCormack for Carroll. Also: Sean Nolan, Kenneth McDonnell, John Ryan, Jimmy Dunne. Brendan Spillane, Kevin Delaney, Owen Cuddihy. Selectors: Fr. Michael Casey, Jim McDonald, Frank Ryan. Coach: P.J. Whelehan. 

Thurles Sarsfields: Pat McCormack, Michael Maher, Tommy Maher, Michael Sparrow, Jim Moloney, Seamus O'Shea, Seamus Maher, John Dorney, Liam Duggan, Eamon Walshe (Cap.t), Brendan Carroll, Connie Maher. Ml McCormack, Paddy Maher, Seamus Quinn. Subs: Clive Hanrahan for Moloney. Graham O'Connor for Walshe, Michael Hanrahan for S. Maher. Also: Kieran Carroll, Lar Barrett, Tony Coman, Andy Rossiter, P. J. Kavanagh, Tony O'Meara, John Kennedy, Kevin Cummins. Selectors: Tom Barry (coach), Denis Maher, Liam O'Donnchu.

<span class="postTitle">From the Superintendent’s Eyrie</span> Irish Times Educational Supplement, June 14, 1993

From the Superintendent’s Eyrie

Irish Times Educational Supplement, June 14, 1993

One of the regulations laid down by the Department of Education in the General Instructions for Superintendents (Revised 1993) reminds superintendents to give their entire attention to the work of superintendence 'and that the reading of newspapers or books, making out advise notes or advise slips, writing letters, sewing, knitting, or engaging in any occupation other than superintendence, during the examination is incompatible with the proper discharge of their duties.' They are not allowed to bring into the centres any newspapers or books, presumably lest they be tempted. And, of course, they cannot smoke. The only thing not forbidden is the cup of coffee. But, I can see that going also: try taking your elevenses during maths exam and it definitely interferes with the insatiable demand for graph paper .

It's midway through the afternoon session and I'm beginning to wilt. The boiled bacon, cabbage and spuds tasted lovely but have begun to take their toll. The effects of the coffee and ginger snaps at three have quickly worn off. A terrible drow­siness has come over me, helped by the air made heavy with thunder. I could almost sleep on my feet.

The mind, almost consumed, is suddenly awakened. How many left-­handers among the forty candidates for Leaving Cert? The answer is eight. Twenty percent! Is this the national average? Has the number increased in recent years since people came to the conclusion that there is nothing sinister in writing with the left hand? Strange, that it is still held that left-handed golfers and hurlers never really make it. That is, of course, with such exceptions as Bob Charles and Jimmy Doyle.

Four of my boys wear earrings. Why do they? Why do the other thirty-six not? What does it tell us about either grouping? Five wear glasses. Is the national average for 17-18 year olds twelve and a half percent? And what about the four with pronounced acne? Are they also part of an average or are they telling me about their diets or sex lives?

I consider my group to be conservatively dressed. No less than thirty wear blue jeans. If jeans were a compulsory uniform in school would anyone be wearing them? And, because they are not : but a sign of liberation have we thirty conservatives slavishly imitating their peers? The remaining ten show a spot of independence: Oh, yes, they still wear different brands of jeans but the colours are other than blue.

A similar conservative outlook can be seen in their footwear. A majority, twenty-four, wear different makes of runners, Nike, Adidas, and rarer breeds. Usually on a hot day they stink but there are no odours emanating today. There are five pairs of Doc Martins and eleven pairs of assorted shoes. The Doc Martin is so eminently suited to schoolboys. And girls, for that matter .

Apart from my own there are only eight shirts in the room. They are of assorted colours and makes but recognisably shirts. The remainder are a rainbow coalition of tee-shirts, sweat-shirts and sports jerseys advertising a whole spectrum of goods and clubs and universities.
Only four are of the long-haired variety and even they reflect a conservative hirsute streak. One has a pony tail tying back shiny black hair a la Jerry Ryan as he used to be. The vast majority reveal a partiality to tidy locks, many even favouring close-cut concoctions.

As a result of this survey do I know anything more of my silently-working scholars? Can one judge the book by the cover? Are they any different to a similar group in the next town or city? If not, are they part of a vast amorphous mass being processed through the present secondary school system? Does the system and peer pressure stifle individuality?

Whatever it tells me the important thing is I'm awake and alive again and the clock is fast approaching the magical hour of five o'clock and the breakout into the refreshing air.

<span class="postTitle">G.A.A. Publications - 1992</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1992, pp. 157-158

G.A.A. Publications - 1992

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1992, pp. 157-158

By the time this Yearbook appears the history of Holycross-Ballycahill by Bob Stakelum will probably have made the shops. Or so Bob hopes. At the time of this writing the book is with the printers and it is intended to have it in the shops by Christmas. It will be about 400 pages long and will cost £10. There will be a print run of six hundred. Well done, Bob, but we shall have to wait until next year for a review. 

Another book that is in the offing is the history of Golden-Kilfeacle by Willie Ryan and a FAS team. I asked Willie recently would he have it out before Charlie goes and he told me he was in no rush. I'm not quite sure if he meant Charlie or the book! Good work, Willie. 

The Galtee Rovers' book, which has been in the pipeline for some time hasn't yet appeared. Initially I heard it was only a financial matter and as soon as the finances were right the book would appear. I hope so, because with author Seamus McCarthy the new manager of the county senior football team and hell bent to bring a Munster title to the county, there won't be much time for writing. 

The great hurling story of Thurles Sarsfields is also in a spot of bother. It was believed that the late Donie O'Gorman had all the work completed but it now transpires that such was not the case. Quite a bit of research and writing has to be completed before the book will see the light of day. The task is being undertaken by Liam O'Donnchu. 

Finally, on the county scene, the history of underage games in Tipperary should be out around Christmas. The book has been completed and is with the printers but whether it will make the shops by Christmas is not yet certain. It will contain over two hundred pages and about eighty photographs and it covers the organisation of juvenile games in the county since the first attempt in 1928 to organise them. 

The Hogan Stand

G.A.A. magazines don't have a long life, for some reason. There are a few notable exceptions, but, in general, there is not the same loyalty among young people to a G.A.A. magazine as there is to a soccer magazine like Shoot, for instance. Maybe it's the quality of the production and the stronger appeal of international sports stars. 

A new G.A.A. magazine hit the newstands on March 22 and it is still making G.A.A. deadlines. Called the Hogan Stand, it is subtitled 'Your Weekly G.A.A. Magazine' and it is published by Lynn Publications, Creevagh, Crossakiel, Kells, Co. Meath. It claimed to be the first weekly G.A.A. magazine and promsed to be regular, colourful and informative. 

Since the beginning it has given a good coverage of inter-county affairs and now, with the decline in inter-county activity, it is concentrating its attention to counties and schools and lesser areas of G.A.A. activity. Its chief contributor is Eugene McGee and it has a number of guest writers from different counties. One of the most regular is John McIntyre, the former Tipperary centre back. 

Overall it appears to be going okay with a plentiful supply of advertising, without which such productions cannot flourish. It gives a weekly results section and a good supply of pictures in colour and black and white. It sells for £1 and appears on Thursdays. 

Gael Sport was always a colourful and professionally produced annual for young people, which hits the shops at Christmas. Since October it has appeared as a monthly and quite attractive it looks. It appears to have the qualities that will appeal to younger people with the emphasis on colour, action shots, short pieces on players and excitement in general. There was a very big Tipperary focus in the first issue and camogie and Leitrim receive emphasis in the second production.

It should do well and is attractively priced at £1. However, it appears to have fallen down on distribution. The shops in Cashel hadn't heard of it. One magazine shop in Clonmel had heard of it but hadn't received it while a second had. If you're going to sell a magazine you should make it easy for the public to go and buy it. Another crib, I had to search the November issue to find our where it came from, who was the editor and information that should be slap bang inside the front cover. And, what really annoyed me was the civil service mentality of the following statement: 'Gael Sport is an official publication of C.L.G. but its published views are not necessarily those of the Association'. It reminds me of Dev sending the delegation to London as plenipotentiaries but insisting that they report back before they signed anything. 

Giants of the Ash

I bought my copy of this book by banker, Brendan Fullam, a couple of days ago and haven't had sufficient time to study it. Most of you have read the reviews and they have been many. The reason for the publicity may be because it's the first of its kind, seventy-five profiles of the greats in hurling based on interviews taken over a period of ten years. Tipperary is represented by Liam Devaney, Jim Devitt, John Doyle, Tommy Doyle, Martin Kennedy, John Maher, Michael Maher, Tony Reddin, Johnny Ryan, Pat Stakelum and Tommy Treacy. 

Each profile begins with quotations from the interview with the player. In the case of Jim Devitt it begins: 'The game of hurling is a noble art of the best field game, but I am sorry to say it has lost some of its basic skills, such as ground hurling, the drop puck, and the clash of the ash as the centrefields fought in the air for possession'. There is more and the account goes on to give Jim's career in hurling. 

Each piece is captioned by the name of the player, his years playing at inter-county level, the name of the player's club and county and the player's signature. This is a major work with black and white photographs of the players and some colour pictures as well. The book has been so well received that a sequel is planned which would include more contemporary players. For instance, Jimmy Doyle isn't included. My only crib is the price of the book, £15.95, which is a bit saucy, even if it is a well produced work of 254 pages by the Wolfhound Press. 

Have a good read! 

<span class="postTitle">Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook Comes of Age</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1992, pp 140-141

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook Comes of Age

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1992, pp 140-141

The 1991 Yearbook was the twenty-first edition of the publication to reach the public. Twenty of these have been produced by committees of the County Board. The exception was the 1978 edition which was produced by a commercial company for the County Board. The production evoked so much criticism that this method wasn't tried again. 

The first Yearbook appeared in 1970. Prior to that two editions of a commercial production came out in the 1960s. The 1970 Yearbook covered the events of that year and the same was the case for the 1971 Yearbook. 

The third edition was called the 1973 Yearbook and that has been the practice since then with the Yearbook recording the events of the previous year. The exception of this practice was in 1984. The 1984 Yearbook covered the events of 1983. 

When it came to the production of the Centenary Year book the committee decided it couldn't very well be called the 1985 Yearbook and called it the Centenary Yearbook. So if you are a collector there are no 1972 and 1985 Yearbooks. 

On the matter of collection, to be the owner of all twenty-one editions would be to have a very fine collection indeed. I know of three people with such a collection and if there are more they should cherish and mind the same. 

 
First Editor 

The first editor was Gerry Slevin of Borrisokane, then reporting Gaelic games for the "Guardian" and now the editor of that newspaper. The first edition cost 5/- or 25p. and had eighty-four pages. The 1991 Yearbook contained 184 pages and cost £4. 

Gerry Slevin continued to edit the Yearbook up to and including 1977 when he moved to the "Clare Champion". 

There was a problem with the 1978 edition and it was eventually produced commercially. 

As a result of the outcry against the 1978 edition the County Board set up a proper Yearbook Committee under the chairmanship of Seamus O'Riain and secretary, Martin O'Connor. (Seamus O'Riain had been the inspiration behind the first Yearbook, having been county chairman at that time). The joint editors were Bill O'Donnell (Divot) and John O'Grady (Culbaire). The remainder of the committee included present county chairmen, Mick McGuire, Patrick Mullins, Seamus Leahy and Patrick McLoughlin. The set-up established in that year has remained essentially the same to-the present. 

Printing

The first seven editions of the Yearbook were printed by the "Guardian" newspaper. The 1978 edition was printed in Dublin. Under the new Yearbook Committee the "Limerick Leader" did the printing in 1979 and 1980. There was a move to the Wellbrook Press, Freshford in 1981 and they printed the book until 1986. The latter year saw the first introduction of colour. There was a move to the "Kilkenny People" in 1987, when the Yearbook calendar made its first appearance, and the printing has been done there since. 

A Record

In his forword to the first edition, county chairman, Seamus O'Riain stated the aim of the Yearbook as follows: "In these pages we try to recall to our readers the highlights of the G.A.A. year in Tipperary". That aim remains essentially the same to this day. What the years have seen has been a more extensive coverage of these highlights. Many readers will recall the saturation coverage given to the All-Ireland victory in the 1990 edition. 

The coverage has also been extended to handball, camogie and Scor. It would be true to say that the Yearbook today is very much a comprehensive record of everything that took place in the county during the year. So much is done every year to improve the comprehensivenes of the production. The results section will be a valuable source of information for future historians. Another section that has grown in latter years is the obituary notices. In the 1991 edition there were no less than 27 entries. 

Special articles

Results and accounts of matches can be boring. Another aim of the committee is to include special articles on G.A.A. history and personalities from the past. In the 1991 edition there were articles on Jimmy Kennedy, the Walls of Carrick and two historical pieces on the election of Paddy O'Keeffe as Secretary of the G.A.A. in 1929 and on Emly men in Hayes's Hotel at the 1884 meeting. Such articles extend the appeal of the Yearbook and give it an extra value. 

Photographs

There is one aspect of the Yearbook that has improved out of all ends - the photographic coverage. The first edition in 1970 had twenty-four pictures in all, less than camogie alone received in the 1991 edition. The latter Yearbook has nearly 350 pictures, surely an incredible number. Whereas many of them are formal poses of teams, quite a number are delightfully informal. On page seven there is one of the three selectors, Donie, Babs and John O'Donoghue, staring at something with their mouths open. There's another of Nicky English and Fr. Mick O'Brien after the Munster final with Nicky very much in need of a tan. There's a great one of the Senator on page fifteen and one of a very perplexed senior football team on page twenty-five, and who would blame them! 

Finally, there's Sean O'Driscoll, that inimitable collector of G.A.A. bric a brac, who has been giving us bits from his collection for the past few years. He gives a decade by decade view of things G.A.A. For instance he tells us in the 1991 edition that the crossbar was lowered from ten feet to eight and throwing the hurley was made illegal in 1901. 

Overall, an emporium for the G.A.A. enthusiast, a collection of records for the future historian and a very healthy publication going on twenty two years old. 

<span class="postTitle">Feile na nGael - 1971-1991</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1992, pp 83-84

Feile na nGael - 1971-1991

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1992, pp 83-84

Feile na nGael came of age in 1991 and it was only fitting that the celebrations should be held in County Tipperary. It was here, twenty-one years before that the three men of foresight and vision, Tomas O Baroid, Seamus O Riain and Eamon de Stafort, thought up the idea of a festival of hurling for young people from all over the country.

The format of events on the weekend of June 21-23 was very similar to that of 1971, but the programme was more extensive over the previous two weeks. The first event was the official opening of the Feile Exhibition in Hayes's Hotel on June 8. It is worth noting that the co-ordinator of this project was Willie Corbett of Drombane, who had performed the same task back in 1971.

The official launch of Feile took place the following day and it was performed by Uachtaran C.L.G. Peadar O Cuinn. On Monday, June 10, the visitation of Primary Schools in the county by G.A.A. and R.T.E. personalities began and continued during the week. Tuesday saw the divisional finals of the Feile Skillstar Competition. On Sunday the All-Ireland final of the Feile Poc Fada competition and the Camogie County Skillstar Competition took place.

The number of events increased during the second week. Monday saw the county finals of the Tipperary Primary Schools Competition. On Tuesday the county final of the Skillstar Competition took place at Semple Stadium. There was a gala night for the Primary Schools at Hayes's Hotel on Wednesday with the final of the Table Quiz Competition. Thursday saw the arrival of teams and officials from all over Ireland to centres at Nenagh, Thurles, Tipperary, Cashel and Clonmel. There was a Golf Slogadh at Thurles Golf Club on Friday and the first round games got under way. The games continued through Saturday and the finals were played on Sunday.
 

No President
 

For the previous ten years President Hillery had never missed a Feile. Now in retirement he was invited for the official opening of the exhibition. President Robinson had been invited on the Sunday for the finals but had a previous engagement and was unable to attend. Without the presence of the President, the event lacked some of the pomp and circumstance of previous events.

Despite that Sunday, June 23 was a very successful day. All the teams and bands assembled at Semple Stadium on Sunday morning for Mass celebrated by Most Rev. Dr. Clifford. Afterwards there was the Féile Parade, which included over twenty bands, through the streets of the town. The teams then returned to Semple Stadium for the main events of the day, the finals. Before the games began, the assembled boys were addressed by Ard Stiuirthoir Liam O Maolmhichil. He told them that by their presence they were very important people as they were the representatives of over 200,000 young people who played our games in the four provinces. 'The disciplined, colourful and vibrant array is a source of satisfaction to all of us, but you mean more than that in that you symbolise our past, you represent the whole great Association of today and you are our future', he added.
 

Successful

Durlas Og were hoping to do well in Division I and repeat their victory of 1990 but they were beaten by Na Piarsaigh of Cork in their third match and failed to qualify. The Cork champions won out the division. Ballingarry performed very well before being beaten in the semi-final.

Borrisoleigh were beaten in the final of Division II. Tipperary teams were rather unlucky in this section, with no less than three of the semi-finalists coming from the county. The other two were St. Mary's and Arravale Rovers. After a promising opening half in the final Borrisoleigh succumbed to a much stronger, Horeswood, Co. Wexford side and were beaten by 2-7 to 1-2.

Division III provided an all-Tipperary final. Ballygalget, Cahir, Fethard and Cashel made it to the semi-finals with Cahir and Fethard coming through. This all-South final provided great excitement with Fethard winning decisively in the end by 4-3 to 0-5 and reversing the result in the south championship.

No Tipperary team reached the semi-final stage in Division IV but there was another all-Tipperary final in Division V. In this game Sean Treacy's proved too strong for Newcastle and won by 4-2 to 1-2.

Overall then a reasonably successful Feile for Tipperary teams. Not so much success in handball or camogie. In the former Silvermines were beaten in the final of Division 3 and Roscrea won Division 5 of the camogie competitions.
 

Some Bests

At the conclusion of the grand parade on the Sunday a number of prizes were awarded, Navan O'Mahony's were voted the best dressed hurling team. Loughmorc-Castleiney won the best banner in Tipperary and Birr got the best visiting banner. The best dressed team in camogie was won by Loughmore-Castleiney. The best banner in the county wait to Uppcrchurch-Drombane and the best visiting banner was won by Ballyboden-St. Enda's, Dublin.

The National Executive of Feile na nGael 1991 was as follows: chairman – Pádraig MacFloinn, Down, secretary, Pádraig P Guthrie, Clare, Donal Hickey, Dublin, Eamonn MacMahon, Antrim, John O'Connell, Cork, Jim Whelan, Wicklow.

The Tipperary Executive was: chairman, Donal Shanahan, Toomevara, secretary, Denis Floyd, Newport, programme, Seamus J. King, Cashel, parade, Liam Ó Donnchú, Thurles, fields/referees, Liam McGrath, Holycross-Ballycahill, schools, Eugene Ryan, Moneygall, skills, James Gleeson, Templederry, handball, Ken Conway, Clonmel, camogie, Marion Graham, Littleton, catering, Eleanor O'Connell, Thurles and P, J. Harrington, Upperchurch-Drombane, Tommy Kelly, Kickhams, museum, Willie Corbett, Upperchurch-Drombane.

<span class="postTitle">Pat Fox</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1992, pp 17-18

Pat Fox

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1992, pp 17-18

The announcement in October that Pat Fox had been chosen as "Tipperary Person of the Year 1991" by the Tipperary Association in Dublin was received with much satisfaction by the vast number of people in the county. It was seen as a fitting recognition for a player who has given long and sterling service to Tipperary hurling in three decades.

The statement issued by the Tipperary Association said: "His marvellous displays in this year's Munster and All-Ireland hurling finals made him a person apart in the Premier County and a worthy recipient of the Tipperary Personality Award for 1991. Arguably the best hurling forward in 1991, his unique ability to conjure scores led Tipperary to its 24th All-Ireland senior hurling title."
 

A Culmination

To call this award a culmination is not to imply that Pat Fox is at the end of his days. Far from it! His dedication and commitment are such that one can safely bet that the thirty-year old Eire Og, Annacarty man has a number of years of hurling left in him for the nineties. But, the award must surely be seen as a high point in the recognition of a hurling wizard, who has been honoured in many ways over many years.

He has been the recipient of virtually all the awards that can come the way of a top class hurler. He was awarded the RTE 'Man of the Match' Award for his display in the 1991 All-Ireland. This display, which saw him score five points, was no flash in the pan. He was also voted the Most Consistent Player of the Year for 1991. He has also at different times received the Player of the Month Award, Jury's Player of the Week and the Man of the Match Award. He received two Cidona Awards in 1981 and 1989 and got All-Star Awards in 1987 and 1989. There is probably no greater racing certainty than that Pat will pick up a third All-Star Award this year. Some of his admirers would like to see him end the year with the most prestigious of all awards, the Texaco Award. He is probably a short odds favourite for that also.
 

Three Decades
 

Pat's hurling career stretches over three decades and he has won All-Irelands in the seventies, eighties and nineties. Over that time he has played in a variety of positions. When he played minor for the county for the first time in 1978 it was at left corner-forward. Tipperary were beaten 1-14 to 3-6 by Cork in the Munster final. Two other survivors from that team are Bobby Ryan and Donie O'Connell.

Still a minor the following year, Pat played at centre-forward on the team that lost to Cork by 1-8 to 2-4 at the semi-final stage. So Pat came through the inter-county minor grade without a Munster or All-Ireland medal. He had some consolation for these years when he won a county junior hurling medal with Eire Og and an under-21 hurling medal with Cappawhite/Eire Óg in 1977.
 

Under-21

Pat came on to the under-21 panel in 1979 and was to be on it for four years and three All-Irelands. A sub during the earlier stages of the championship, he played centrefield against Galway in the All-Ireland final at Portlaoise and won his first All-Ireland in a scoreline of 2-12 to 1-9. Flowery Ryan was his partner and Michael Doyle was at full-forward.

Two more All-Irelands were to follow in 1980 and 1981. The first of these two was won against Kilkenny at Waterford in a score of 2-9 to 0-14. Pat was now at corner back and at full was Cormac Bonnar. Bobby Ryan was centre forward and Donie O'Connell was full. Pat was in the same position in 1981 when Kilkenny were beaten once again at Waterford, this time by 2-16 to 1-10. Bobby Ryan and Donie O'Connell were in the same positions as in the previous year and Nicky English was wing-forward.

To have won three consecutive All-Irelands was a most satisfactory achievement. To throw away the chance of a fourth in 1982 was a big disappointment for Pat. He was again at corner back and the team included no less than eleven of the 1981 All-Ireland winning side. As well, no less than seven players were on the senior team. Plenty of preparation was made for the first championship outing against Limerick on June 25 and all was set for what was thought to be an easy victory.

From the beginning of the game problems abounded, especially in attack. Tipperary were behind by 1-6 to 0-4 at the interval and went further behind in the third quarter. By the time they got their act together towards the end it was too late and Limerick ran out easy winners by 2-12 to 1-7.
 

Senior Debut

Pat had already made his senior debut as early as 1979 when he was drafted on to the National League panel and played a couple of challenge games. For the championship in 1980, when Tipperary were beaten by Cork in the Munster semi-­final at Thurles, Pat partnered Gerry Stapleton at centrefield.

The following year he played corner-forward on the side that was beaten by Limerick in the replayed Munster semi-­final. Michael Maher was a selector that year and maintained it was Pat's best position. One of Pat's older brothers, Kevin, was also on that team. Both of them were on again on the side beaten in the first round of the 1982 Munster championship by Cork. Pat was back at centrefield for this game.

The same year saw the beginning of Pat's knee problem. Playing inter-firm at Cashel he tore the ligaments in his knee and didn't take the proper care of the injury. The result was that he missed out on everything in 1983. He came back as a junior in 1984 and played cornerback on the side beaten by Cork in the Munster final.

Back on the senior side in 1985 he was at cornerback when Tipperary went down by 4-17 to 4-11 to Cork in the Munster final. For the debacle at Ennis in 1986 Pat was a sub and watched their stunning 2-10 to 1-11 defeat by Clare from the sideline.
 

Recovery

After the great successes of the under-21 years, Pat must have felt that his chances of senior success were slowly slipping away in the aftermath of the 1986 championship. Little did he envisage the achievements of the following years. The new management took over and things began to look up again.

Pat lacked confidence in his knee and played indifferently in the early stages of the 1986-87 league. He is grateful to Babs for sticking with him and he has missed no championship game since then. Ironically, when he was taken off in the Munster final in 1990 it was the first time ever he was taken off in a championship game, whether at minor, under-21, junior or senior level.

He considers the success of Babs as due to a number of factors. Luck had a part to play in it. So had the Supporters' Club and the money they raised which enabled the players to be treated better, so that they responded better. Babs also brought considerable experience to the job. He has absolutely no bitterness towards Babs for taking him off in that final.

Pat's contribution to the recovery of Tipperary's hurling fortunes has been significant. He got the winning point which put the team into the 1987 league semi-final. He won the Man of the Match Award for his display against Kerry in the first round of the 1987 championship. He got the two points which gave us a draw against Cork in the Munster final. His contribution to our success in Killarney was enormous. In fact, he remembers that game as his greatest and, with this year's All-Ireland, the game that gave him the greatest satisfaction.
 

All-Irelands

The story of Pat's success in the last few years has been well documented. After the defeat in the 1987 All-Ireland semi-final, came the league victory of 1988 and the defeat in the All-Ireland of that year. Against Galway he found Ollie Kilkenny a tough opponent.

He has an interesting comment on all opponents. He reckons he has beaten them all and has been beaten by all. He prefers to mark a hurler that's tough and skilful. This may come as a surprise because many are of the impression that Pat is small in stature. He is, in fact, five foot eight inches and weighs twelve stone. He has a low centre of gravity and is a very difficult player to push out of the way.

What he may lack in height he makes up in skill and aggression. He can fight tenaciously for possession and then has the skill to put it to good use. On the top of that is his enormous experience. To date he has played inter-county hurling for all of thirteen years and has gained a wealth of experience over that period.

Another interesting fact about his playing career is that it has been significantly devoid of injuries. Apart from his knee, Pat has escaped all but superficial injuries. He has never broken a bone and has never had to retire because of injury.

The highpoint of his success was the All-Ireland senior hurling medal in 1989. A player has finally arrived when he has won this honour and all previous accomplishments are mere milestones on the journey. Pat's display may have been overshadowed by Nicky English's 2-12 but his contribution in the four championship games was vital and he was an essential link in a most impressive full-forward line. He shared in the euphoria of victory and the end of the long 18 year famine.

He shared the disappointment of defeat in the 1990 Munster final and the frustration of having been replaced at half-time. However, 1991 was to give him sweet revenge and his brilliant championship campaign was to erase the memory.

His goal in the drawn Munster final was a gem of purest ray serene and a classic example of his opportunism and his knowledge of back play as well as forward play. That goal was part of the 2-12 he scored in the three championship games leading to the All-Ireland when he crowned an outstanding year by adding a further five points and winning the Man of the Match Award.

Equally important for him was to have beaten Kilkenny in a final. The sceptics had said 1989 was no victory despite having beaten Limerick, Cork and Galway along the way. To have added Kilkenny to that list of hurling scalps in 1991 put paid to these petty protestations.
 

Club and Family

At the time Pat Fox won the 1989 All-Ireland he was one of the few members of the team to be married. In 1985, when he was making his way back from the doldrums of injury, he married Marita Heffernan of Dundrum and she has shared his successes and failures since then. The couple have two children.

Pat himself was the fifth of a family of six boys. His father died earlier this year and his mother is still alive and well. Four of the brothers played on the Eire Og team that captured the west championship in 1981. Pat won a second senior medal in 1986 and has Crosco Cup medals as well. Seamus has an All-Ireland junior medal from 1989 and Kevin has an All-Ireland inter-firm medal.

Latterly Pat has developed an interest in golf and is enjoying the game. It has had one good effect on his hurling because it has improved the flexibility of his right side and given him another option in tight situations.

Pat is shy and unassuming and while glad of the great honour the Tipperary Association has conferred on him dreads the thought of having to make an acceptance speech.

He is also an extremely courteous and helpful individual and everyone who knows him wishes him the best of luck in his hurling and business career.

<span class="postTitle">Cashel King Cormac's</span> All-Ireland Club Hurling Quarter-Final, London, February 2, 1992

Cashel King Cormac's

All-Ireland Club Hurling Quarter-Final, London, February 2, 1992

When Cashel won the county senior hurling championship of Tipperary in 1991 it was the first time the club achieved this honour in its 101 years history. During that long period it contested four other finals. Three of these were played in 1937, 1939 and 1940, and the fourth in 1989. 

A team from Cashel did contest a county final before 1937.  This was in 1910 when a team from the parish, Racecourse, beat Toomevara in the county final by 3-0 to 2-2.  The losers objected and Racecourse counter-objected.  Eventually it was decided that the final be replayed and Racecourse decisively won by 5-2 to 0-3. Toomevara again objected, claiming that no fewer than seven of the Racecourse team had played with other teams in the 1910 championship. The north side were awarded the match but the verdict wasn't well received in Cashel, where Toomevara were referred to as the 'paper champions.'

The Cashel Gaelic Club  was founded in 1888 after a few abortive earlier attempts. The first chairman was Dr. Tom Wood, the father of the present chairman of the Cashel U.D.C., Richard Wood. One of the rules of the new club was that the members pay one penny per week to meet the expenses.

Since the west division in the county wasn't formed until 1930, Cashel played either in the south or the mid divisional championships. The club won the south senior hurling championship in 1913 and 1914, and a junior hurling championship in 1924.  In the latter year Cashel also won a mid junior football championship.  The west division came into existence in 1930 and since then the club has won 14 senior divisional championships in hurling.  Leading the roll of honour with seven senior medals is Mickey 'The Dasher' Murphy. 

The first players from the club to win All-Ireland medals were Mick Devitt, Tom Connors and Mick Dargan. They were on the Tipperary team that won the first junior football All-Ireland in 1912.  Tom Connors son, Michael, has spent the last 40 years of his life in England and is presently living in Didcot.  He is the proud possessor of his father's medal.

The first All-Ireland senior hurling medal winner was Jimmy Hickey, who was on the Boherlahan selection in 1925, having won a junior medal the previous year.  Later winners were Jack Gleeson in 1937, Jim Devitt in 1945 and 1949, Peter O'Sullivan in 1964, 1965 and 1971, and the Bonnar brothers in 1989 and 1991.

Probably the greatest period of success in the club's history, before the present time, was in the seventies, when there was tremendous success at underage level.  For some reason this never translated into senior success until the present and it is significant that six of the current panel first achieved success at county level over twenty years ago.  At the present time the club has won county titles in all grades except in intermediate and senior football.