Silver Jubilee
December 31, 1999
GAA President Joe McDonagh helped the members of the Wolfe Tones club celebrate their silver jubilee this year at a function in the Headfort Arms Hotel, Kells on Sunday, 24th October. Royal County takes a look back at an eventful quarter of a century.
The Wolfe Tones, Oristown club came into existence at the beginning of 1975 when St. Johns and Gibbstown joined forces. Earlier that decade there was three clubs in Oristown parish, that was before Kilberry and Garryowen amalgamated to form St. Johns in 1973.
The first committee of the newly formed club was: chairman - Joe McKeown (often referred to as Mr. Wolfe Tones and after whom the club's pitch at Kilberry is named); vice-chairman - Jimmy Dunphy; secretary - Declan Brady; asst. secretary - Michael Geraghty; joint treasurers - Padraig Heaney and Pat Moriarty; committee - S. McLoughlin, J. Doggett, A. Tiernan, T. Mulvany, J. Quaile, J. Hubble, W. Mitchell and G. Clarke.
Selection committee - J. McKeown, J. Dunphy, J. Browne, O. Heaney, A. Clarke, H. O'Neill.
Purple and gold were decided upon as the club colours and it was agreed that the pitches in Gibbstown and Kilberry would be used alternately.
The new amalgamation made an instant impression, winning their first competitive outing, a SFL clash against Slane at Kilberry by 2-9 to 2-0. They led by 1-5 to 1-0 at the interval and with Joseph McKeown (who finished with a personal tally of 2-4) in inspired form they maintained their dominance in the second half. Michael Carr, Sean McLoughlin, Gerry Clarke, Michael Geraghty, Michael McDonnell and Liam McMahon were others to impress on that historic occasion.
That was just a taste of things to come, Wolfe Tones fried a much bigger fish in their first senior championship outing . . . reigning Keegan Cup holders, Summerhill. Skryne was the venue for the 'biggest upset' of the 1975 championship as the men in purple and gold overcame their more illustrious opponents by the minimum of margins, 1-7 to 0-9.
A newspaper report of the game began as follows: 'For those unfortunate enough to have missed a truly dynamic match, let it be stated right away that on the day the better side won. This was a superb display by the new team who showed scant respect for Summerhill's well-deserved reputation as being among the best Meath champions for some time. The Tones tore into the title-holders from the opening whistle, settled down remarkably fast in defence, and by the end would not have been flattered by another two or three points in their favour'.
In assessing individual performances it reports: 'As stated, their defence was superb, especially Sean McLoughlin at full-back, who, despite conceding as much as six inches and certainly two or three stone to a variety of opponents, played each of them out of the game. In turn, Paddy Brennan, who inclined to foul early on, was equally brilliant at centre half-back and some of his catching was as good as that seen from any player at the Skryne venue for a long time.
'Mick Geraghty and John Doggett were always totally in control at corner-back. At midfield, the Tones more than shared the laurels. Tom O'Donnell, who looks a very promising player, brought off some splendid high catching throughout and his efforts were complimented by the non-stop work rate of Donal McKeever. In attack, Liam McMahon lived up to his ratings as a fine prospect while, at the other end of the scale, Paddy McKeever shot the most valuable points of his long career. Michael Carr gave the attack great strength on the wing and Joey McKeown, despite wasting one or two opportunities, had a fine hour'.
The Tones led by 1-4 to 0-5 at the interval. Their goal came from the penalty spot when Liam McMahon was fouled. He took the spot-kick himself and drilled a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Robbie McMahon was 'the big name' on that team and the following year he was a member of the Meath XV which lost out to Dublin in the Leinster decider.
The Wolfe Tones XV which recorded that memorable win was: J. Kavanagh; J. Doggett, S. McLoughlin, M. Geraghty; M. McDonnell, P. Brennan, G. Clarke; T. O'Donnell, D. McKeever; M. Carr (0-1), R. McMahon (0-1), L. McMahon (1-2); P. McKeever (0-3), J. McKeown, T. McDonnell.
Unfortunately, the north Meath club couldn't maintain those dizzy heights and their spell in the 'top flight' came to an end two years later. They reached the Intermediate decider in 1979 and '81 but lost out to Martinstown-Athboy and Ballivor in respective years. There was a Winter League success in '79 but the Oristown parish club subsequently failed to make an impact in the Intermediate grade and dropped down to junior in the early '90s.
Sadly, not much has changed in the junior grade. They have reached two All-County Football League finals in the 90s; they lost the Div. 5 decider to Kilbride in '93 and Donaghmore-Ashbourne defeated them in the '98 Div. 4 final, but have continued to underachieve in the championship. Former O'Mahonys player Peter O'Toole was in charge of the first team this year, but it proved to be no exception.
Light at the end of the tunnel presents itself in the form of a number of underage successes this decade. Combined with St. Michaels, they garnered Minor league titles in 1990 and '94 and took a first Minor crown on their own steam last year when getting the better of Yellow Furze after a titanic three match struggle. They also captured the 1998 U17 Div. 3 title after a replay with Moynalvey, and put minor crowns back-to-back this year.
The hurling section of the club was formed in 1976 and a team was entered in the U14 grade that year. The first every hurling team to represent Wolfe Tones defeated Kilskyre. In 1982 they fielded their first adult hurling team but had to wait a year for their first championship scalp. In 1984 the club donated the Matthew O'Brien Cup to the Hurling Board for the JHC 2.
They won that cup themselves in the 1985 with a final victory over Longwood. Also in '85 there was an U16 success to celebrate and a Minor final defeat.
In 1986 and '87 they contested the JHC decider but had to wait until '88 to make the breakthrough at the expense of Kilmessan. Intermediate championship success followed in '92 with a final victory over Longwood.
'The Tones confounded the odds when reaching the showpiece of the Meath hurling GAA calendar in their very first year senior. They surprised many by overcoming Kilmessan at the penultimate hurdle and were unlucky to lose out to Rathmolyon in the final by the minimum margin.
They were at it again this year, reaching the semi-final, but Kilmessan were not going to fall for the same mistake twice. Frank Foy was this year's manager. He enlisted the services of fellow Offalyman, Johnny Dooley. The two times All-Ireland medalist offered some advice in the build-up to the Kilmessan encounter.
Women's football has also yielded a number of trophies for the club which is located just north of Navan. They won the Senior championship in 1985 and '97 and were beaten in the '86 final. The ladies club then disbanded for a while but was reformed this year when they fielded U12 and U14 sides.
Club officers for 1999: Chairman - Sean Power; vice-chairman - Paddy McGrath; secretary - Gerry Thompson; asst. secretary - Maureen Harrington; treasurers - Owen Heaney, Derek McKeever; PRO - Gerry O'Brien. Owen Heaney was the chairman of the Hurling section.
In 1974, St. Johns (Kilberry and Garryowen had united two years previously) captured the intermediate football championship when scoring a deserved 2-3 to 0-5 victory over St. Vincent's (Ardcath) in the final at Pairc Tailteann.
The defence, marshalled superbly by Sean Duffy and captain Paddy Brennan, laid solid foundations for this success. Up front the three McKeever brothers, Donal, Peter and Paddy, along with Liam McMahon, played starring roles.
The victorious St. Johns team was as follows: J. Kavanagh; J. Doggett, S. Duffy, M. Geraghty; J. Smyth (0-1), P. Brennan, G. Clarke; S. O'Halloran, D. McKeever (1-0); T. O'Donnell, Peter McKeever, L. McMahon (1-1); J. McKeown (1-0), Paddy McKeever, P. Reynolds.
Sub - N. Geraghty for O'Halloran.
Under 17 Div. 3 crown for determined Wolfe Tones side
Extra-time was nothing unusual to the underage footballers of the Wolfe Tones during 1998. They eventually got their hands on that year's Minor Div.3 crown after a titantic three match struggle with Yellow Furze, so Moynalvey must have been worried when the 1998 U17 Div.3 decider between the two clubs ended in stalemate and an additional thirty minutes was required to decide the destination of the title.
There concerns were realised when a Darren McGrath goal inspired the extra-time specialists to a 4-13 to 2-13 success in a pulsating replay at Walterstown in December of '98.
While the Tones finished the strongest, both teams must be praised for the effort and skill they produced in deplorable conditions.The exchanges were tight in the first period with both teams registering five scores. But two of the Kilberry side's scores were goals which arrived courtesy of Aidan McKeever and McGrath, which gave them a 2-3 to 0-5 advantage at the break.
Boosted by the outstanding Robert Quinlan, Moynalvey fought back after the resumption and his late goal looked to have sealed victory as they opened up a two point lead in injury time. However points from McGrath and Colm Reilly came to the Tones' rescue and sent the game into extra-time where they upped the tempo. Further goals from McGrath and Niall McLoughlin left them 4-10 to 1-11 ahead.
Moynalvey refused to throw in the towel and substitute Ciaran Collins scored their second goal. They narrowed the gap but it was insufficient in the end and the team in purple and gold held on for a two goal win.
Sean Power, Michael Forry, Gordon McKeever, McLoughlin and McGrath did most to ensure that the Tones would be bringing the cup home with them.
Wolfe Tones - A. Kiely; J. Finnegan, C. Marry; R. Murphy, C. Reilly (0-2), B. Armstrong; S. Corrigan (0-2), V. Meade; D. Cassidy, D. McGrath (2-2), N. McLoughlin (1-0); R. McDonnell, A. McKeever (1-2).
Subs - M. Forry (0-1), G. McKeever (0-1), S. Power (0-3), J. Tiernan
First MFC Div.2 title for Wolfe Tones
Wolfe Tones claimed their first MFC Div. 2 crown when they came from behind to beat St. Ciarans on a scoreline of 1-10 to 0-9 in the final at Pairc Tailteann in late July.
Playing against the breeze in the first half, the Tones acquitted themselves well and a brace of points from Aidan McKeever and one from Sean Power ensured they trailed by just three points (0-3 to 0-6) at the break.
With the elements in their favour and Darragh McGrath proving influential from his centre forward berth, the emphasis switched from defence to attack and parity was restored with points from Power (two) and Rossa McDonnell.
The Kilberry side went ahead soon after and they put the issue beyond any doubt when Niall McLoughlin netted midway through the second half.
Thomas Finnegan, Colin Reilly, Stephen Corrigan, Niall McLoughlin, Darragh McGrath and Sean Power were outstanding in a fine all-round team display.
Wolfe Tones - A. Kealy; C. Maree, T. Finnegan, R. Brady; D. Cassidy, C. Reilly, B. Armstrong; V. Meade, S. Corrigan (0-1); N. McLoughlin (1-2), D. McGrath, J. Tiernan; R. McDonnell (0-1), A. McKeever (0-2), S. Power (0-4).
Subs - R. Murphy, M. Forry.
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