Meath's defensive rock
November 30, 2009It doesn't get any better for a Gaelic games player than to win an All-Ireland senior medal and Miceal gained two and might well have had more. He was a key defensive figure on the ground-breaking Meath team which defeated Cavan in the 1949 final and five years later was still as influential as ever when the title was regained at the expense of Kerry.
In between there was the bitter disappointment of losing finals to Mayo in 1951 and Cavan, after a replay, the following year when the Maguire brothers played on opposing teams - Brendan for Meath and Des and Liam for Cavan. Miceal was also on the losing end in a semi-final against Kerry in 1947.
Like fellow Skryne players of that era, his cousin Paddy O'Brien and Brian Smyth, he won five Leinster Championship medals, a feat later equalled by Colm O'Rourke and Liam Hayes during the Sean Boylan era. Paddy O'Brien, of course, later threw in his lot with Sean McDermott's in Dublin after helping Skryne to Senior Championship success in 1944 and 1945.
Add in Miceal's annexation of National League medals won in 1946, when Wexford were beaten in the final, and 1951, when Meath defeated New York in the Polo Grounds soon after losing the All-Ireland decider, and it adds up to an inter-county football career rich in silverware and surely even richer in wonderful memories.
But it didn't end there because there was also a hurling side to Miceal's playing days and the high point came in 1948 when he lined out at full-forward on the Meath team which defeated London in a replayed All-Ireland JHC final before 6,000 spectators at Pairc Tailteann. Also on that team was Brian Smyth with whom he was later to share so much national success in football.
It represented an extraordinary inter-county career, with so many games played as part of that great full-back line completed by Paddy O'Brien and Kevin McConnell.
"My first game for the Meath senior team was in 1942 and I was on it and off it after that, more off it than on it," Miceal recalled. "Meath won the National League in 1946, beating Wexford in the final, and it was plain sailing after that!
"We beat Laois in the Leinster final in 1947, but we lost to Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final. We were well beaten. It was disappointing not to get the chance to play in the final in the Polo Grounds."
Meath surrendered their provincial title when losing by a point to great rivals Louth in 1948, having earlier got the better of Westmeath. But a wonderful adventure was just around the corner.
"The three games against Louth in the 1949 Leinster Championship brought us forward a lot," he said. "They were tough games. I got sent off along with Stephen White in the second match. We beat Westmeath easily in the final and then played very well against Mayo in the All-Ireland semi-final. We surprised everyone that day. We were rank outsiders.
"It was a great feeling to win the final against Cavan. I was playing on Edwin Carolan. He was a great player. It was a huge thing for the county to win it. The celebrations went on for months and months afterwards. Bill Halpenny got our goal. I remember Bill saying 'now that we have won one there will be more of them'.
"There was a great rivalry between Meath and Louth then. There would usually be a point in it, or it would be a draw. We lost the Leinster final to them by a point after a replay in 1950."
But Meath bounced back to win the Leinster title in both 1951 and 1952. They edged out Louth by a point in a replayed semi-final in '51, before scoring an easy win over Laois in the final, and the following year defeated the Wee County by the inevitable one-point margin in the final.
However, there was great disappointment when they lost the All-Ireland final in both those years after winning semi-finals against Antrim and Roscommon, respectively.
"We lost to Mayo in the 1951 final," Miceal added. "A lot of them were thinking of New York and the League final and not about Mayo. A lot of them got vaccinated, those who hadn't been vaccinated before. Some of them were sore. The All-Ireland final took place two days before we went to New York. Losing it was a big disappointment. We were well beaten."
It didn't get any better a year later when neighbours Cavan spoiled the party.
"We lost to Cavan in a replay in 1952," Miceal said. "Edwin Carolan scored a point in the drawn game which was disputed. We were a point ahead at the time. Mick Higgins went to town on us in the replay. He had a great game that day. He was a very good player."
After losing to Louth by a point in the 1953 Leinster Championship, having earlier beaten Dublin, Meath came storming back the following year, regaining the provincial crown with a final win over Offaly, before gaining revenge on Cavan in the All-Ireland semi-final.
"We beat Cavan by a point in the 1954 All-Ireland semi-final and beat Kerry well in the final," he added. "It was great to come back and win it again. We were entitled to it. We won the final more comfortably than people would have expected.
"Micheal Grace was outstanding that day. He was only a young lad. I remember Paddy Meegan came back from his honeymoon in Killarney to play in that game. He was a great little man, one of the best.
"I played in the early part of the Leinster Championship in 1955, but wasn't there for the final against Dublin. I pulled a muscle in a club game and went back on and damaged it so much that I was out for 12 months. I never played for Meath again. A lot of us retired around the same time."
Miceal was also fortunate enough to win two National League medals in 1946 and 1951 and the latter represented a memorable success.
"We beat Mayo in the 'home' final in 1951 and that earned us a trip to New York for the final proper," he recalled. "It was a great experience to go to New York. We flew out and came back by boat. It was a lovely calm journey home.
"That was a great trip, some experience. We travelled up to Boston by train. All in all, we stayed for about a week. I had relatives out there and they were a big help to me. We also won the game. That was a whale of a New York team, a very good team. A lot of people were emigrating at that time."
Miceal was selected on the Ireland team twice at right full-back, in 1952 and 1953, when they played a universities selection, while he also has fond memories of playing in the Railway Cup, winning four medals in 1952, 1953, 1954 and 1955.
"The Railway Cup on St Patrick's Day was one of the big days of the year then," he said. "It would be crowded out on that day."
It was a truly remarkable inter-county football career and other highlights were the winning of the Owen Ward Cup in London three times in succession with Meath in 1950, 1951 and 1952. This competition was organised by the Monaghan man and took place on Easter Sunday.
Playing hurling was also hugely important to Miceal and being part of the Meath team which won the All-Ireland Junior Championship in 1948 was a big thrill.
"We drew with London in the final over there," he added. "We were well behind, but Joey Loughran came on and banged home a couple of goals. He had played in the 1927 final too. He was a great hurler.
"We played well in the replay in Navan and beat them. It was great to win a hurling medal with Meath too. The junior grade was a strong grade then. We had some very good players like Tony Donnelly who was an outstanding hurler and footballer."
Miceal was lucky enough to be on the scene during the greatest era in Skryne's history and while there were many disappointments in his club career, often suffered at the hands of great rivals Navan O'Mahonys, he still managed to win six Senior Championship medals, the first of them in 1941 in his first year on the team.
Skryne had won their first senior title the previous year when they beat Kells Harps in the final and by the time they got the better of the same opposition in the 1941 decider, Miceal had arrived. He had played just two games and was already the holder of a senior medal.
"This was the year that the Skryne team introduced a teenager called Miceal O'Brien. Miceal was to thrill the gaels of Meath for all of 20 years with his skills and indomitable spirit and for the greater part of this time his name was a household word the length and breadth of Ireland and he starred for Skryne, Meath and Leinster in a variety of positions," wrote Paddy Cromwell in the club's booklet which was produced to mark the GAA's Centenary Year in 1984.
Paddy wasn't exaggerating and by the time Miceal played his last game for the club in the opening round of the Senior Championship against Navan O'Mahonys on Easter Sunday, 1960, he had made one massive contribution. While each of his All-Ireland football final appearances were in the No 2 jersey of Meath, there was certainly more in the way of variety when it came to wearing the blue of Skryne.
He lined out at right half-back in that 1941 final against Kells, was at midfield with cousin Paddy when Parnells were overcome after two replays in 1944, switched to centre-forward for the following year's decider when Oldcastle were beaten and was at centre-back for his three other successful final appearances, against Syddan in 1947, Duleek in 1948 and Kells in 1954.
There was a great rivalry between Skryne and Syddan during this era and the men from the north of the county enjoyed their successes in these battles too, including in finals. However, it was the rivalry with Navan O'Mahonys which really took on a life of its own in the latter years of the 1950s. Sadly for Skryne, the outcome in championship finals was never a happy one.
O'Mahonys won the Intermediate Championship and Feis Cup in 1956, the same year that Skryne were deprived of Keegan Cup glory when Syddan edged them out in the final. The Navan men and Skryne had met in a couple of Feis Cup deciders in the early 1950s, but it wasn't until 1957 that the championship rivalry took off.
O'Mahonys retained the Feis Cup that year, beating Skryne along the way after a replay in the semi-final, and the teams later progressed to meet in the championship decider at Pairc Tailteann in what became known as 'The Miceal O'Brien Final'. With full-back Donal O'Brien retiring injured, Miceal was switched to his position and went on to produce a performance so good that he was later presented with a special medal.
Sadly for Skryne, they lost as Colm Hilliard scored a late winning point for O'Mahonys. A year later Skryne should have beaten their town rivals in the final at Kells on a day when Seanie O'Brien starred, but they were thwarted by a late equaliser. A week later in the replay the Navan men, who started Seamus Clynch, Jack Fagan and former Mayo and Sligo player Bill Shannon in a changed team, won easily.
When the sides next met in a Feis Cup game at Kells in the spring of 1959 a new-look Skryne team won well and hopes of championship glory were reignited. The race for the Keegan Cup returned to a knockout format that year and Skryne and O'Mahonys met in the final again, this time at Trim in late August.
This was an outstanding match, but a particularly disappointing one for Miceal who was forced to retire with a head injury approaching half-time. O'Mahonys were in front at the time and pushed further ahead to lead by six points with 10 minutes remaining. But Skryne rallied and goals from Colm Cromwell and Jack Gordon had them level.
Skryne had grasped the initiative and surged forward in search of a winner, but O'Mahonys broke away upfield and punished hesitancy in the blues' defence when Patsy Ratty scored the title-clinching point.
By the time the great rivals faced each other in the first round in 1960 Miceal was playing his last game for Skryne. They fielded a depleted team and lost despite playing well on a day when Michael Staunton emerged as a new star.
Miceal had known many disappointments in his days playing club football, including defeat in seven senior finals in the 1950s, but there were so many high points too and as well as winning six Senior Championship medals, he tasted Feis Cup success five times in the 1940s.
"I played 20 seasons with Skryne," he said as he reflected on his club career. "My last game was against O'Mahonys in 1960. I had given it up at that stage, but I changed my mind. I thought we might beat them because it was the first round.
"We had a great rivalry with Syddan. They were very good. We beat them a number of times, but they got us back a few times too."
However, the greatest rivalry of all was with O'Mahonys who inflicted so much misery on Skryne in finals.
"We could never beat O'Mahonys in a final," he added. "We drew with them once, but couldn't beat them. They had great players. It was a huge disappointment to lose to them so often, miserable."
Miceal played club hurling with Oberstown and later with Kilmessan.
"I won one Senior Championship medal with Kilmessan, but we lost it on an objection," he recalled. However, he did win two O'Growney Cup medals with the club.
Miceal and wife Patricia are now enjoying seeing their grandchildren showing promise - Donal and Shane Landy with St Patrick's in Stamullen and Stephen O'Brien with Skryne.
Regrettably, Miceal's fabulous collection of medals was stolen in 1988 and they have never been traced to this day.
But there are so many golden memories for a man who was honoured by the Skryne club with its Hall of Fame Award in 1985, along with Paddy O'Brien and Brian Smyth, and who was similarly honoured by Meath County Board five years later along with the other two members of that great Royal County full-back line, Paddy O'Brien and Kevin McConnell. Tweet
