Eugene Renehan was a member of the Kilskyre team which won the junior hurling championship of 1945. Here, he recalls that memorable victory and much, much more besides. Nineteen-forty-five. The year in which World War II finally ended and Tipperary and Cork were crowned All-Ireland hurling and football champions respectively. It was also a significant year for Kilskyre who captured the Meath junior hurling championship title for the very first time. One of the heroes of that particular success was Killallon's Eugene Renehan, a man who continues to hold a keen interest in the fortunes of the club. "We had been knocking on the door for a few years before that victory finally came," the highly-active octogenarian recalls. "We played Kilmessan in the final and from what I can remember, it was very close throughout. They were very strong and were backboned by the Donnelly brothers. What won the game for us was a great flicked goal by Michael Cahill. I can remember it vividly as I had put the ball into to him from close to the sideline." Renehan has fond memories of that period and was one of four Killallon men to feature in the '45 triumph. "That time, there was a good spread of players on the Kilskyre team," the former half forward notes. "We had fellas playing for us from Kilskyre, Killallon, Oldcastle and Kells. From Killallon, there was myself, Michael Cahill, Hughie Reilly and Tommy Gerrard. Tommy was a great player who also played for the county. His nephew Michael 'Spike' Fagan later played football for Westmeath and also played for Ireland against Australia in the Compromise Rules." Other members of that team who Eugene has great praise for are Peadar Reilly and Paddy Gogarty. "Peadar was a great captain who led the team from midfield. I would go as far as saying he was one of the top players in the county at the time. "As well as playing, Paddy Gogarty was involved in the selection of the team with Danny Brady. Paddy played at centre back and continued to be a great servant of the club for many years afterwards. His nephew, also Paddy Gogarty, won an All-Ireland medal with the Dublin footballers in the mid-1970s." Renehan didn't play for Kilskyre again after 1945, deciding to put all his efforts into working at home on the farm. The north Meath outfit qualified for the junior championship decider six years later but were defeated by Longwood after a marathon series of games. By then, however, the club was in terminal decline and went out of existence in 1956. The club reformed four years later and made an immediate impact on their return to competitive hurling with the junior and intermediate championship titles being annexed in 1961 and '65 respectively. Since then, Kilskyre have won junior titles in 1978 and '92 and intermediate titles in 1969, '81 and '94. In 1974, the club's impressive ground - Brian O'Higgins Park - was officially opened. Two years ago, Kilskyre lost the intermediate championship decider to Dunboyne and, despite their best efforts, have yet to atone for that disappointment. Last season, under the guidance of Paddy Muldoon, Mick Geraghty and James Reilly, they defeated Trim and Navan O'Mahony's and also drew with Drumree. However, defeats to Athboy and Na Fianna put them out of the running for the knock-out stages. While acknowledging that hurling has always been strong in the Kilskyre area, Renehan believes that it is not easy to keep young players interested nowadays. "There are so many distractions now that we didn't have years ago," he claims. "When I was young, there was very little else to do on a summer's evening than to go out into the field and play hurling. Fellas used to come over from Brownstown to Killallon and we'd be pucking a ball around all night. "I can remember going into Clonmellon to see Brownstown and Kilmessan playing in tournament games and you'd have huge crowds watching. That wouldn't happen now. Young lads nowadays have so much more than hurling to keep them occupied." Now in his 82nd year, Eugene Renehan was born in Co. Wicklow. His parents, who both hailed from Nenagh, purchased a farm in Killallon when he was just 12 and Eugene has been living there ever since. Eugene attended Killallon national school before boarding in Blackrock College for one year. He remembers Blackrock as being rugby orientated but says that hurling was also quite popular among its pupils. "A good bit of hurling was played there but it was never really organised properly," he recalls. During Eugene's teenage years, a football team existed in Killallon and he lined out for them on a number of occasions. But hurling was his favourite sport and he took great pride in donning the Kilskyre jersey. He had been a regular on the team until he decided to bow out after the aforementioned junior success of '45. Renehan grew up supporting Tipperary and continues to be an avid follower of the Premier County to this day. "When there is a big hurling match on television, I wouldn't take my eyes off it from start to finish. It's the best sport in the world," he says. Married to Oldcastle native Nasey Tuite, Eugene has four sons and five daughters. Only one of his sons, Seamus, hurled for Kilskyre while nowadays his grandson Chris Renehan dons the black and amber colours and is a regular junior footballer with Ballinlough. Eugene is also an uncle of former Meath senior hurling manager John Davis and has another nephew, George Beggan, playing his club hurling with Brownstown. Renehan has been impressed by the work John Davis has carried out with the Meath hurlers and is delighted to see them competing against the best in Division One of the National League. "It's great to see Meath up there playing against the top teams in the country. Hurling doesn't enjoy the same profile in this county as football but that could change if the hurlers continue to progress. "I was talking to John (Davis) after the championship defeat to Laois and he was very disappointed with the performance. But he reckons there is great potential in Meath hurling and I'd love to see them pulling off a big championship win over the next couple of years." Who knows, the next time Eugene sits down to watch a big hurling match on television, it could be Meath he'll see in action. The Kilskyre team which won the Meath junior hurling championship in 1945 was: John Reilly; John Smith, Pat Farrell, Jim Kearney who won All Ireland Senior Honours in 1949; Phil Gilsenan, Patrick Gogarty, Hughie Reilly; Michael Cahill, Peadar Reilly; Jack Olohan, Tommy Gerrard, Eugene Renehan; Austin Brady, Joe Lear, Mick Feeney. Tweet

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