The passing of Bill Callaghan on Friday, April 3 has removed from the Tullow St. Patrick's football team of the late 1940s and early 1950s a very jolly character, both on and off the field of play. The 'Doc' as he was better known, played his football in the defence, and what a strong defender he was with forwards finding it very difficult to pass him. He won a Rathvilly Tournament meddal in April 1951 and a County Carlow Junior Championship Final medal on October 14, 1951 when they defeated Ballon in the final on a scoreline of 2-5 to 1-2. For the record, that championship winning team was as follows: Joe Hurley RIP, Pat Mulhall RIP, Vincent Maher, Joe Archibold RIP, Bill "Doc" Callaghan RIP, Mick "Goxy" Gorman RIP, Brian McHutcheon RIP, Billy "Trigger" Canavan RIP, Bill "Buller" Canavan, Joe Hogan RIP, Tim Donohue RIP, Ben Mulhall, RIP, Paddy Stafford RIP, Chris Maher RIP, Jim Savage RIP, Bro Stafford for T Donohue, Tony Maher for P Mulhall. Many have asked over the years how did Bill get the nickname "Doc". Well during that period there was a famous Roscommon county player named Bill "Doc" Callaghan, so it just came natural for the Tullow boys to also call their own Bill the 'Doc'. Bill was laid to rest in St. Patrick's Cemetery, Tullow on Monday, April 6. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis. Many thanks to Tony Maher, 20 Pairc Mhuire, Tullow, our local GAA historian for the above details. We all send our very best wishes to Tony and hope he has a speedy return to good health. Tony, as PRO for the Tullow Juvenile GAA club, was a prolific supporter of notes of the highest calibre to his column for many years and was honoured with many awards at local and county level for his excellence in this regard. Tweet

Most Read Stories