Once a Ballybay man; always a Ballybay man
December 30, 2010Lining out alongside his brothers Paul and Brian, Cathal McCarthy was an integral part of the Ballybay Pearse Brothers side that scooped the Monaghan senior football championship in 1962 and again in '69. They beat Castleblayney in both finals and also lost the '63 decider to the Faughs … as well as a number of semi-finals. With the likes of Eamonn McAleer, Paddy Kerr, Fr John McCabe, Sean McKerney, Gerry Finlay and Eamonn Duffy, all of whom represented Monaghan (as did Cathal and Paul McCarthy), it was a truly exceptional Ballybay side.
Cathal also played for Newbridge in Derry (where he met his wife Marie, sister of former Derry footballer Tommy Doherty), lining out in the 1968 Derry SFC final. He also had a spell with the Bamba club in London before settling in Meath in 1976, joining Walterstown. He won a Meath junior medal there and his sons John, Justin, Charles and Paul have all represented Walterstown with distinction (while James focussed more on rugby). His eldest son John won All-Ireland MFC and U21 medals with Meath in 1990 and '93 respectively, while Charles also enjoyed a spell at midfield for the Meath seniors, firstly under the watchful eye of Sean Boylan. He played against Cork in the 2007 All-Ireland semi-final and also won a Leinster U21 medal.
Reflecting on the genesis of his own footballing career, Cathal - who lined out mainly on the 40 or at the edge of the square - notes: "My late father Charlie would have won a McKenna Cup with Monaghan in the 1930s and an Ulster championship in 1930. He also played against Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final that year and won a SFC with Latton the same year. There were seven Ballybay men on that Latton team because Ballybay didn't have a senior team at the time.
"I played with Pearse Brothers and we won a minor championship in 1961 and a senior the following year. We won it again in '69 and I played through into the early 1970s. I was going back and forward to England a good bit so, looking back, it's hard to believe that I managed to play senior football for about ten years. In '62, we beat 'Blayney and in '63, they beat us in the final in Carrickmacross. I'm fairly sure both those finals were played in 1963. 'Blayney then remained undefeated until we beat them again in '69.
"In '68, I joined Newbridge in Derry and we played Bellaghy in the county final. That Newbridge side was backboned by the Diamonds, the Cribbens, the Dohertys, the Walls and the Murphys and they also included Martin McGuinness' brother Tom, who was a phenomenal footballer. Tom McGuinness won three Ulster SFC medals at midfield with Derry and also played against Mayo in the 1970 national league final."
A successful Monaghan man in Meath, Cathal owns and runs Navan Shopping Centre in conjunction with his business partner Eamonn Duignan - an ardent Royal County gael who's active in the Friends of Meath committee. The landmark shopping centre was built in 1981 by Phil Monaghan from Dundalk and the current proprietors bought it in 1995. These are harsh economic times but the business is more than holding its own.
Obviously, Cathal supports and follows the local club in Walterstown but he also keeps a close eye on Ballybay and Monaghan. The appointment of Seamus McEnaney as new Meath senior football manager means that there's now a much more high-profile Monaghan man doing the rounds in the Royal County! What does Cathal make of the Banty situation?
"If he fails in Meath, it certainly won't be due to lack of effort. He puts 100% into everything, as does his entire family. Banty brought Monaghan from a very low level and I thought he could maybe have done more with them if Monaghan had held onto him. We have a very small population base in Monaghan and it puts it into perspective when you consider that the greater Navan area is nearly as big as Monaghan county - there are around 180,000 people in Meath and only 55,000 in Monaghan.
"I always felt Monaghan's biggest problem was that we have 16 or 17 really good players but lack strength in depth throughout the panel. When one of the first-team regulars is injured, we don't have the same quality to come in. The result was that we were going back to the well too often with the same group of committed players and you needed them to perform to the pin of their collars every time, which of course isn't possible."
"Having said that, I would hope that the fresh start will be positive and that the different ideas and different thinking from Eamonn McEneaney will provide us with a new dimension. One of the problems facing Monaghan - and every GAA team the length and breadth of the country - is the economy and the poor state of the country. This is going to have a major bearing. Men have to think about their homes and families and mortgages first and foremost - it's very hard to ask a lad to go out and train three nights a week if he has no job. My worry is that Monaghan will struggle now because as a county we are blighted by emigration. A lot of lads will be tempted to go to the UK or Australia for work and you can't blame them.
"We have to try to keep these lads playing football. We have to organise something to keep them interested. We need initiatives to find work for players. You can't ask a man to be committed to football if he's worrying about his mortgage and his family. Nobody can be happy if he's under that sort of pressure. His priority has to be his family and home life - and that in turn keeps his confidence and self-respect up.
"I really hope we can keep them but it's not going to be easy. And it's not only in Monaghan - this problem is nationwide. I read somewhere that 240 club players have emigrated from Kerry."
To this end, Cathal has helped establish the Monaghan Foundation Fund, which issued a two-and-a-half hour video promoting the history and merits of the county. The aim is to raise funds to promote education and already the fund has placed three students in DCU as well as financing a defibrillator and raising money for Alzheimer's and various other projects.
"We work off the interest that the money in the fund raises," he notes. "The investors have done an incredible job in keeping the collateral there and to keep the money coming. Monaghan people are resourceful and we all know how to work. There's a tremendous entrepreneurial spirit amongst Monaghan people."
The former Monaghan attacker concludes: "I'd like to wish the Pearse Brothers all the best and to complement them on the great work they have done with their facilities and new clubhouse. I'd also like to wish Kieran Finlay all the best as he's fighting a long, hard battle at the minute. Ballybay did well this year, but two of their senior players are off to New York and the town is rampant with unemployment, with only one factory, so hopefully they won't lose too many men." Tweet
