The late Luke Kelly In August 1935, Carlow played a Leinster league final in Baltinglass, veterans of the Leinster Junior triumph of two years earlier still expected to lead the challenge, men such as Billy Nolan, Lar Keeffe, Vesty McGrath, Ned Butler, Mick Brennan and 'Drakes' Walker. There were a few newcomers too, Mickey Byrne slotting in at wing-forward while a Ballymurphy native by the name of Luke Kelly lined out at midfield. The evolution of the only Carlow team to win the Leinster SFC had begun. Luke Kelly, just 20, helped Carlow to victory that day and subsequently made a huge contribution to the golden era of Carlow football, those furious 40s when Carlow contested three Leinster finals, five semi-finals and generally drew huge crowds wherever they played. The reason for this was the lovely brand of entertaining combination football played by the men in red, yellow and green, while a certain charisma attached itself to a minnow striving for the major breakthrough. Part of that Carlow team's box-office appeal was down to their magnificent midfield pairing of Jim Morris and Luke Kelly, two big men who were excellent fielders of the ball. This duo plied a talented forward line with such scoring geniuses as Jimma Rea, Micky Byrne and John Doyle keeping the umpires busy as Carlow blazed a trail through Leinster, the old brigade of '33 slowly but surely giving way to a new breed who knew no fear. A narrow 1-7 to 1-6 defeat by Laois in Athy in the first round of the 1940, by which time ten of the '44 men were on board, was viewed as the 'turning point in Carlow football history' as a county who had plied their trade in junior ranks less than a decade earlier realised they had the talent to mix it with the best, such as Laois, a strong force in that era. When "Kelly and Morris had a decided pull over Tommy Murphy and Haughney at centrefield" in the 1941 Carlow v Laois championship confrontation in Dr Cullen Park, the foundations for victory were laid and that 3-4 to 3-1 Carlow triumph set in train a fantastic few years for followers of the red, yellow and green. The famous '41 marathon' with Wexford followed, four games, one if which went to extra-time and still finished level, before Carlow advanced to a first ever Leinster senior final appearance. Alas, the curse of foot-and-mouth prevented the final from being played on the appointed date, Dublin were nominated to represent Leinster as Carlow were not allowed travel outside their jurisdiction, and when the delayed decider was eventually played, the Metropolitans emerged easy 4-6 to 1-4 winners in Dr Cullen Park. Carlow were back in the final again the following year, Wexford and Offaly after a replay falling to the might of the scallion-eaters, and though Dublin won a hard fought final 0-8 to 0-6 in Athy, a subsequent objection saw Carlow crowned champions for 24 hours. 'The Jimmy Joe Affair' was tied up with the ban and tough Leinster Council awarded Carlow the title, Dublin's appeal to Central Council was upheld the following night as the man who gave evidence as to the Dublin player attending a rugby game was not on any Vigilance Committee and as such should not have been at the fixture himself! Undaunted, Carlow came back in 1943, seeing off Wicklow and Wexford (after a replay) before falling narrowly to Laois (3-8 to 3-6) in the semi-final. Many felt, by then, that Carlow had missed the boat and when ace attacker Tom 'Drakes' Walker retired after that '43 championship those views were enforced. However, 1944 was to prove a red-letter year, the arrival of Brian O'Rourke and Ted Joyce strengthening the defence while Paddy Sullivan came into the attack to devastating effect. The one constant the remained throughout the 40s was the mid-field partnership of Morris and Kelly, both of whom were honoured by Leinster, and they were inspirational throughout the victorious 1944 campaign, central to the first round replay victory over Kildare, the topping of Laois and the comfortable win over Wexford in the semi-final. Same again in the final in Athy, Luke Kelly a tower of strength, Morris also outstanding as Jimma Rea and John Doyle racked up the scores that gave Carlow a memorable 2-6 to 1-6 victory over Dublin. On now to Croke Park and all All -Ireland semi-final clash with the mighty Kingdom, a game Carlow lost narrowly 3-3 to 0-10, Luke Kelly forced off through injury in the first half before returning to the field of play in the closing half as he preceded to carry the game to Kerry. It was the closest Carlow ever came to reaching an All-IReland final though there was one final burst in this team, Luke Kelly coming out of retirement to help steer his county past Wicklow and Laois before a late, late Wexford goal denied Kelly and his men a place in the Leinster final. It marked the end of an era, Carlow soon returning to the tag of 'also-ran' as Luke Kelly and others of the '44 team, including his mid-field partner Jim Morris decided to call it a day. Luke Kelly's death marked the end of another era, at 92 years of age, passing away in Ashbourne, Co. Meath, his funeral attended by officers of the Carlow county board and Paddy Sullivan, one of just three '44 colleagues still alive, Ted Joyce in Borris, 'Ding-Dong' Hughes in foreign climes. To Luke's family we extend our deepest sympathy. Ar dheis de go raibh an ainm dhilis. Courtesy of The Carlow Nationalist 06 April 2007 Tweet

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