Judge Sean reveals his passion for GAA
December 30, 2010considerable note in his younger days.
Donegal native Sean MacBride was appointed judge of District Court No.5 in late 2004, having served in Dublin and throughout the country since September 1999. The appointment means Judge MacBride oversees court sittings in the Cavan/Monaghan area, including Monaghan town, Clones, Carrickmacross, Ballyconnell, Cavan town and Virginia.
The district judge, who replaced Judge Flann Brennan, previously enjoyed a distinguished career practising as a solicitor in his native Moville, Co. Donegal and was schooled in St Columb's College, Derry - the alma mater of Seamus Heaney and John Hume. In addition to his undoubted academic prowess, Sean also enjoyed an outstanding sporting career - particularly in athletics - and he was instrumental in the revival of the now-flourishing Moville GAA club, helping nurture a stellar side that would become affectionately known as 'MacBride's Babes'.
Sean's popularity was highlighted when he was named as the Cavan/Donegal Association's Donegal Person of the Year for 2007 - an honour previously bestowed upon none other than Donegal GAA legend Brian McEniff. So the judge certainly finds himself in fitting and favourable company!
Judge Sean inherited his passion for Gaelic games from his late father Joe, who was a talented footballer and handballer, lining out for Gaoth Dobhair and serving Donegal as a selector. Many years later, Sean would help revive football in his native area. Adapting a hands-on attitude as manager and approaching the task at hand with a steely resolve, he was part of a driven band of volunteers who put Moville on the Donegal GAA map.
Moville - also known as Bun An Phobail - fielded an adult team for the first time in 1996 (winning the county JFC at the first attempt). The Blue & Navy are still going strong today. Hardly a year has passed without them winning at least one major trophy. A year on from their inception, they captured the Donegal U21 'B' crown and were named Irish Times Club of the Year. Moville regularly win a glut of Inishowen juvenile titles and the ladies section of the club - formed in 2000 - has enjoyed phenomenal success at all levels.
Not bad for an area traditionally associated with soccer! The club has earned representation on various county teams and is proud to have a constant flow of young talent coming through to safeguard their future. Though he was an integral part of the renaissance of Moville, Judge Sean modestly says: "I just feel extremely humbled to have played a small part in the revival of Gaelic games in my home patch. I'll always remember Martin McHugh speaking in the square in Moville after Donegal won the All-Ireland in 1992 and it was his words that lit the torch under me."
Sean has been working as a judge since September 30 1999. He practised as a solicitor in Donegal for almost 25 years previously. The Moville man qualified in 1975; met his wife Greta (whose nephew Joe Friel won a National League medal with Donegal in 2007) in '76; started his practise in '77; and was married in '78. Busy times, indeed.
"Moville was a bastion of soccer at the time," recalls the man who would play Gaelic football with aplomb during his six years at St Columb's boarding school in Derry, the famed academy to which he won a scholarship from Donegal County Council. While at college, Sean MacBride also carved out quite a reputation for himself as an athlete of considerable merit.
In 1968, he finished second to Eddie Leddy from Ballinamore (who would represent Ireland in the Olympic Games in Munich four years later) in the All-Ireland Colleges 3-mile race. Sean was an outstanding cross-county runner. With Columb's, he was on the Ulster championship winning senior schools cross-country team in 1968 which finished third in the All-Ireland series. In '66, the Derry college finished second to Blackrock in the All-Ireland U16 event. "I formed some great friendships with the boys from St Pat's in Cavan. It's hard to believe 41 years have passed since I ran against them in third place," he notes.
Sean was introduced to Gaelic football at St Columb's and - at the age of 13 - kicked a ball in earnest for the first time under the guidance of a canny Kerry man, Sean Moynihan. He started to play club football back in Moville, under the tutelage of late hotelier Brendan Keaveney, winning an Inishowen U16 championship as full back in 1965 and reaching a county semi-final. The would-be judge also played between the posts on occasion, though wing back was his preferred position. Unfortunately, his playing career was stopped in its tracks when the Moville club folded in 1968. But there would be a dramatic epilogue to that particular story a quarter of a century later.
Athletics pretty much dominated Sean MacBride's sporting life from U16 level onwards. An All-Ireland cross-country colleges title was gleaned with Columb's in '66, followed by an Ulster U19 senior colleges crown in '68. Sean then made his breakthrough on the track with guidance from Fr Seamus Farrelly - a great track & field coach who instilled in the young Donegal man a relaxing sense of confidence, humility and level-headedness. Fr Seamus' father was actually a founder member of An Garda Siochana, who hailed from just outside Virginia.
At UCD, Sean ran under Jack Sweeney (who coached Ronnie Delaney) and was lucky enough to be selected as a miler in his first year. Supplementing his studies, he ran up to 100 miles a week to increase his stamina and also did a lot of weight training for strength. The hard work paid off as he won the UCD Mile at the annual college sports at Belfield four times - in 1971, '73, '74 and '75 - a feat which has never been matched. He captained the Belfield students in 1974 and won All-Ireland senior inter-varsities track & field honours in '70, '72 and '75 with UCD. UCD also won the George V Ryan Cup - which was essentially the unofficial All-Ireland club competition - in 1970 and '72. Sean ran sub-four-minute 1500metres and his best time was 3.56, recorded in 1975.
That same year, he ran neck and neck with a young Gerry Finnegan (a future Irish cross-country champion) and finished a creditable second in the 5000m, with a time under 14:26, as the UCD record was smashed. In that race, he went through the three-mile mark at 13:50.
Sean got to represent his country. He ran for Ireland at inter-varsities level in 1972, an honour which meant a great deal to him - and still does to this day. He still has the vest he wore in the 1500 metres as Ireland beat their counterparts from England, Scotland and Wales. Sean captained UCD to win the Colours against Trinity in 1974 and actually had trials for the full Irish vest but missed out narrowly. Had he continued to run, he could well have gone on to even greater things.
After qualifying, Sean rejoined his local Cranford club, which was a star-studded outfit at the time with men of the calibre of Danny McDaid, Hugo Duggan and Paddy Marley on board. After winning an Ulster senior cross-country title in '76, Sean - a perfectionist who could no longer give 100 per cent due to the long hours that would go into his new legal practice - retired from athletics the following year (before his 27th birthday) and became involved in administration. He was secretary of the Donegal Athletics Board and a member of the Ulster Sports Council in the late 1970s.
Sean has always held a deep interest in the GAA. He regularly attends Donegal matches and was delighted when Anthony Molloy captained his native county to All-Ireland glory in 1992. "Anthony and Martin (McHugh) came around to Moville and they asked if we could get football back up and running in Inishowen. Great work was invested at underage level and in 1995 the players held a meeting and I was asked to manage their first adult team."
Having agreed to take on the job, Sean built a team with a two-man full forward line and three midfielders, playing a traditional brand of football, with short passing only encouraged when a player was in danger of losing possession. After a series of challenge matches, the team was ready for action and - incredibly - they won the 1996 Donegal JFC, finishing runners-up in the St Jude's All-Ireland Sevens Shield the following year.
In '96, Sean's son Joe - who would be top scorer on the Moville team that claimed the county U21 Division 2 championship under Jimmy Hegarty a decade later - featured on the Moville side that eclipsed Naomh Ultan to claim the Donegal U12 Division 2 crown. Sean was also in charge of that side. "I was fortunate to be involved with some very talented youngsters and we won four county titles with that group of players between 1996 and '98," he says.
Just before he was appointed as a judge, Sean handed over to his assistant Jimmy Hegarty - a former county minor and under 21 selector - who has since done great things as a coach and manager in Moville.
"Jimmy has done a wonderful job within the club. Great credit is also due to club chairman Con O'Donnell and former treasurer Joe McGeady for their sterling work over the years," he says.
"Moville won the county junior championship last year under Eddie Devine and subsequently reached the Ulster club semi-final where they lost to St. Theresa's of Belfast. The club is trying to regroup at the moment and become a force to be reckoned with at intermediate level once again.
"I'm proud to have had the chance to act as a small cog in a big wheel in Moville. They now have their own pitch, clubhouse, an Astroturf pitch and over 300 playing members. The ladies are doing brilliantly under Anthony Doogan. They won county U14, U16 and minor titles in 2007. They've won five senior leagues in-a-row and have won two senior championships. They lost this year's final to Termon, but I've no doubt they'll be back.
"We have our own secondary school in Moville now and we were proud to have Ciara and Niamh Hegarty on the Donegal team that won the All-Ireland intermediate title this year. Their older sister Aoife also won an All-Ireland junior medal with Donegal a few years ago," explains a man who is adamant that Ireland's indigenous sporting Association must retain its amateur status.
Sean is full of praise for the virtues of the GAA and feels that the Association plays a key role in the overall welfare of society: "It's a great interest to have and you'll rarely see a young lad who's involved with a GAA team getting into trouble. Clubs bring entire communities together and help create a sense of identity. The club brings everybody in the parish together, whether that's as players, committee members, parents, people who sell lotto tickets or supporters."
Since taking up his post in Cavan/Monaghan, Sean has followed the footballing fortunes of both counties closely. And as much as he admired Seamus McEnaney for the progress he made during his six-year tenure, Sean believes Eamonn McEneaney's appointment as manager couldn't have come at a better time.
"Eamonn will bring a fresh enthusiasm which is probably needed at this stage," he says.
"He will keep the core of the team, but has also acknowledged the need to blood some younger players and will use the McKenna Cup and the National League to do this. Monaghan has had good success at Vocational Schools level in recent years, so the young talent is there.
"I thought Seamus McEnaney did a fantastic job and was unlucky not to win major silverware. Monaghan were possibly at their best in 2007 when they lost the All-Ireland quarter-final to Kerry by a point. With a little bit of luck, they could have gone on to win the All-Ireland that year.
"There was huge hype in the build-up to this year's Ulster final after the fine wins over Armagh and Fermanagh, but unfortunately the real Monaghan didn't show up on the day against Tyrone. But the new season is just around the corner and hopefully the team will be able to make amends," he concludes. Tweet
