The original Croke Cup competitions had a short life, being staged between 1896 and 1915, but among the nine counties to win the football trophy was Meath who achieved their one and only triumph in the 1911 staging which concluded with the final against Waterford at Jones' Road, Dublin, on 26th May, 1912.

Dr Thomas William Croke, the Archbishop of Cashel from 1875 until 1902 and after whom Croke Park was named, presented cups for the competition which was usually contested by the four beaten provincial finalists in football. But for the 1911 version there were only three as a result of Cavan awarding a walk over to the Royal County in the semi-final after they had lost the Ulster final to Antrim.
Meath, largely made up of Bohermeen Geraldines' players, had earlier enjoyed a very encouraging start to their Leinster SFC campaign when they defeated Dublin by 2-3 to 0-2 at Jones' Road, but their hopes of a first provincial success since their breakthrough triumph achieved by Pierce Mahonys in 1895 ended when Kilkenny beat them by 2-4 to 1-1 in the final at the same venue.

This was Kilkenny's third Leinster SFC success following their triumphs in the inaugural staging in 1888 and again in 1900, but they have never won the title since. Indeed, their only other appearance in the provincial final came in 1922 when they lost to Dublin. They haven't won a Leinster SFC match since getting the better of Louth in 1929 and haven't competed in the championship since 1982.
The Drogheda Independent newspaper was very much behind Meath's bid for honours and offered them some advice in the build-up to the final.

"Bohermeen boys, we feel proud of you," the piece read. "You can play football, you have shown that. All Meath will be going to see your performance in the final. Show them that you are in form and deserve to win. Let us not forget that Kilkenny will be expecting to win too and they will be thinking that it will be easier to overcome Meath than it would be to defeat Dublin."
The writer encouraged good preparation and reminded one and all of the dangers of the demon drink!

"So lads, get into training at once," he added. "The honour of the county and perhaps the province is at stake. Neglect nothing that makes for success. The porter drinker will be left to one side because everyone knows he could not play an hour's football in a Leinster championship final."
Kilkenny weren't on the field at throw-in time and Dublin referee MF Crowe declared Meath the winners. But they didn't want to 'win' in such a manner and after Kilkenny eventually arrived they went on to claim the title, before losing to Antrim in an All-Ireland semi-final.

It was disappointing, but Meath still had the Croke Cup to look forward to and several months later they played Waterford in the final.
Waterford, who were bidding to add to their only Munster SFC triumph annexed in 1898, had lost the 1911 provincial final to Cork on a 0-1 to 2-5 scoreline, before the Rebel County went on to claim their second All-Ireland senior title with a 6-6 to 1-2 win over Antrim in the decider.

That 1898 Munster success remains as Waterford's only senior provincial triumph in football, but they were a strong footballing county around this time when, like today, Cork and Kerry claimed the brunt of the silverware. They were deemed good enough to be warm favourites when they headed up to the Capital for the Croke Cup decider in early summer, 1912, with some bookmakers offering odds as big as 2/1 about Meath.

Bohermeen Geraldines were the dominant force in Meath football at this time and won the senior championship on a record six successive occasions between 1909 and 1914, before adding a seventh title in 1916. The closest any club has come to matching that achievement was the five consecutive titles won by Navan O'Mahonys from 1957 to 1961.
With such a powerful team it was no surprise that Bohermeen provided the vast majority of players to the Meath panel, including John Newman who had the distinction of captaining the side. He was regarded as an outstanding leader and was one of 14 Bohermeen clubmen to help Meath to their first national trophy. There were also three from Navan Harps and two from Castletown.

Newman had played his club football with Castletown and Trim, before helping to establish a club in his own parish of Bohermeen in 1909. After he brought a distinguished playing career to an end in the early 1920s he embarked on a successful administrative career and served as Meath County Board chairman from 1921 to 1937. He also represented the county on the Leinster and Central Councils.
His finest hour in a Meath jersey came in that Croke Cup final almost one hundred years ago when Meath made light of their underdog tag by leading from start to finish. They defended heroically and limited Waterford to just one point, while their accuracy in attack was sufficient to help them to a clearcut 1-5 to 0-1 victory.

Jack Mulligan, one of the Navan Harps' representatives on the team, was a star performer for the winners and a Meath Chronicle report of the final was glowing in its praise.
"A feature of the game was the display of Jack Mulligan who played brilliant and 'heady' football, clearly stamping himself as one of the best forwards in Leinster," stated the report.

Meath made the best possible start when Jimmy Hickey, like Mulligan a Navan Harps' player at the time, scored the only goal of the final. With James Coogan, Hickey and John Newman's brother Mick rowing in with points the Royal County gradually moved into a position of supremacy and with a 1-3 to 0-1 interval lead they looked likely to bring the cup donated by Archbishop Croke back to Meath.
Waterford were in trouble, but they became more prominent early in the second half when they threatened to dismantle Meath's useful advantage. However, Meath defended strongly under pressure as they frustrated the Munster side's forwards and prevented them from adding to their tally.

Another star of the final was Bohermeen's Sam Rennicks who was outstanding in goal. He was a grand uncle of that brilliant Meath footballer of the 1970s Ken Rennicks who played such an important role in the surprise 1975 National League success which earned him the centre-forward position on the All-Stars team that year.

Scores were few and far between in that second half when most of Meath's efforts were concentrated on defending their lead, but they did manage to add a further two points courtesy of Mick Newman and J 'Dublin' Fox from Navan Harps.
When the last whistle sounded Meath were comfortably in front as they became the latest holders of the Dr Croke Cup for football. The first winners had been Clare 15 years earlier.

The victorious Meath panel was: Sam Rennicks, John Newman, Mick Newman, James Coogan, Parnell Timmons, Mick Hynes, Mattie Ward, James Mallon, Mossie Keeffe, Tommy Clarke, Kit Commons, J Daly, Charlie Matthews, Jack Shaw (all Bohermeen Geraldines), Jack Mulligan, J 'Dublin' Fox, Jimmy Hickey (all Navan Harps), T Farrelly, Willie Donegan (both Castletown). Tweet

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