Authors: Donal Keenan
Brothers in Sport
To
Abbie, Dara and Aoife
MERCIER PRESS
3B Oak House, Bessboro Rd
Blackrock, Cork, Ireland.
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© Donal Keenan, 2010
© Foreword: Criostóir Ó Cuana, 2010
ISBN: 978 1 85635 742 5
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Is cúis mhór áthais dom na focail seo a leanas a scríobh don leabhar seo agus scéalta clainne bailithe ag an údar ag deánamh mionscrúdú ar roinnt de na deartháireacha is cáiliúla in ár gcluichí.
The family unit has always stood out for the unique and stand-alone contribution that it has made, and continues to make, to our association. If any one aspect of our membership encapsulates and distils what the GAA represents, it is the role of so many families who help make our club network the bedrock of the association.
Of course that unique family contribution does not stop at club level but features prominently at county level too, adding further credence to the importance of home place, identity and representation.
This book captures between two covers the incredible family ties and the contribution that so many siblings have made to all levels of the GAA and notably to the shop window that is our inter-county scene.
There is something special about a team – and especially a successful team – that includes a band of brothers. For example, the driving force role played by the Ó Sé brothers, Darragh, Tomás and Marc, has provided a fascinating strand to our games in recent years. Few other sports some close to matching this.
A glance at the family names featured in this book is enough to spark memories of the incredible exploits of so many figures who have enthralled and entertained in equal measure.
Of course it’s not just about the games. This trip through the decades also charts the vast social changes that Ireland has experienced in six decades and how family life has changed over the same period.
It’s not so long since the GAA library was a limited and sparsely stocked one. I am glad to say that this has well and truly changed, and the publication of
Brothers in Sport – GAA
is a valued and most welcome entry shining a light on a fascinating dimension to our association’s activities.
Rath Dé ar an obair.
Criostóir Ó Cuana
Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael
Time and space. You never have enough of either especially when undertaking a project such as this one.
The stories here are the result of a journey this year that allowed me to revisit the four corners of Ireland, and places in between, to meet old friends and, hopefully, make some new ones. Those miles travelled and the family histories that were recounted, illustrate, in often startling fashion, just how much Ireland has changed over the last half-century.
My fourteen-year-old son was often a companion on those journeys and he listened bemused and amused as I recalled days using a wind-up telephone in a bar in Knocknagoshel to file a report on a Munster football final. That was the 1980s. Or hours spent cursing the traffic when stuck outside Kinnegad or Bray or Fermoy or countless other towns and villages. That was the 1990s and the early part of the twenty-first century. He could go through a long life without ever seeing any of those places on Ireland’s new road networks. He was rewarded for patiently listening to my drift down memory lane by meeting his heroes, like Seán Óg Ó hAilpín and Peter Canavan and, with his sister, enjoying the heartiest of breakfasts in Paudge
Quinn’s fine hostelry on the Ballygawley Road.
Visiting the homes of great footballers and hurlers and writing about them was the easy bit. When planning this book about brothers in Gaelic games, the real problem was deciding who to leave out. Mercier Press made suggestions, but the final decision was mine and I take full responsibility. The fact that there were so many sets of brothers from which to choose is part of the story of the GAA itself.
Mercier did suggest Dermot and Paul Earley. I would have chosen them anyway and not just because I am a native of Roscommon. Growing up I had three sporting heroes. My father was one, for obvious reasons, even though I never saw him play. George Best was another and the third was Dermot Earley. I still consider him a hero. Though only ten years or so separated us in age, Dermot was a giant of my childhood in the 1960s and 1970s, and of my adulthood.
Alas, Dermot had been struck down by illness by the time I got round to researching the Earleys’ story. He died at the age of sixty-two on 23 June 2010. He was my idol and friend. But his story in football and in the service of the nation, rising to the post of chief-of-staff of the Irish army, tells itself. The hours spent with his brother Paul were fascinating and thought-provoking, and I hope this is conveyed. The GAA should mine this man’s flair and talent for all it is worth. I am glad to report that process has started.
Friends advised that I get the best mix of counties possible, so it was decided not to profile two families from one county. That ruled out
Tony and Éamon
McManus from Roscommon and lots of others. As ever, Offaly proved to be the exception. In GAA terms, probably in others as well, Offaly has always been exceptional. In football, I could have chosen either side of the Connor family from Walsh Island, the Fitzgeralds or the Darbys. But I chose the Lowrys and hopefully the chapter explains why.
The revelation by Michael that an irate Eugene
McGee dumped Brian
Cowen in the centre of Dublin after an ignominious defeat in the Leinster Under-21 Championship against Carlow was justification alone. There were multiple choices in hurling too, but the story of the Dooley brothers from Seir Kieran encompasses the rich modern history of Offaly hurling better than any.
In choosing the Ó Sé brothers of Kerry ahead of the Spillanes, I was conscious that the story of the Templenoe siblings has been recorded often in the past. And the compilation of this book coincided with Darragh’s announcement that he was retiring from inter-county football.
Travelling to Galway, there were multiple choices in both football and hurling – the Connollys, Collerans, Donnellans, Meehans and Cannings immediately spring to mind. The Cooneys of Bullaun are also remarkable. I often wonder if Joe were not such a quiet man would he have a much greater profile today? When talking of hurling genius, the names of
Ring, Mackey, Rackard, Doyle,
Keating,
Keher,
Barry-Murphy,
English,
Carey and
Shefflin are always mentioned. Joe Cooney belongs with them. His oldest brother Jimmy is best remembered for a big-game refereeing error, when he brought the All-Ireland hurling semi-final of 1998 between Offaly and Clare to a premature end. But he has done much more than that in hurling. And, with four other brothers, they were the spine of the first team ever to win back-to-back All-Ireland Club Championships.
The dilemma was the same in Kilkenny, Wexford and Tipperary, where there are also many potential subjects. But can anyone argue with the selection of the Hendersons, the three Bonnars and George and John O’Connor? Maybe you can. Having read the chapters here, I hope you understand my reasoning. A few hours in the company of George O’Connor is an enriching, almost exhausting, experience. The sport of hurling is in safe hands as long as George is around.
As ever, I am indebted to the hospitality and generosity of all the people written about here. From Donegal town to Dún Chaoin, Piercestown in Wexford to Glencull in Tyrone, I was received with great warmth and friendship, and I am entirely grateful.
The support received from Abbie, Dara and Aoife cannot be valued. It was, and is, priceless. The kids laugh when they recall me as ‘an irritable git’ during the months of production. That says everything. I was just that. Thanks to all at Mercier Press, and to Ray McManus and the Sportsfile team whose assistance was invaluable.