They say that the 'Island' referred to in Walsh Island really should be 'Oasis' although Walsh Oasis would not sound as good. The fact is that the area is surrounded by bogland, but that was no hindrance to the great footballers who emerged from the 'oasis' in the 1970's and '80's. They were an exceptionally talented group and won no fewer than six successive county SF championships, 1978 to 1983 inclusive, while also going on to capture the Leinster title on two occasions. Add in their contribution to Offaly's three successive Leinster titles that culminated in the famous All-Ireland victory of 1982 and it's plain to see that the Walsh Island footballers were an exceptionally talented and resilient group of athletes. But when Willie Bryan and Murt Connor helped the Faithfuls make history by winning the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time in 1971, their club was Eire Og and not Walsh Island. Eire Og was a combination of Clonbologue, Bracknagh and Walsh Island but all the combination side had to show for their endeavours was a county final appearance against Gracefield in 1970. Dissatisfied with the parochial difficulties that plague most amalgamations, Walsh Island decided to go it alone in the mid-1970's. The decision led to a remarkable run of success and may well have influenced the destination of the All-Ireland title in 1982. In their first year on their own, 'the Island' qualified for the county final but lost out to Ferbane by a point in a replay. Two years later, in 1978, they were back to take the Dowling Cup and their six successive titles remains a unique achievement in the history of Offaly club football. Not that Walsh Island were without tradition. The era that preceded the six-in-a-row may have been forgettable but back in the 1930's Walsh Island were a serious force. They won their first title in 1933 and retained it in 1934. They were champions again in 1937 and '38 and they won their 5th and 6th titles in 1942 and '43. There were four Connors on the team that won the first title in 1933 - John, Jim, Tom and Din - and the Connor name was again to the fore when 'the Island' re-emerged in the 1970's. Their captain in the 1976 final against Ferbane was Richie and although disappointment was his lot on that occasion, he led the team to victory in 1981 and 1983 and was Offaly's All-Ireland winning captain in 1982. Richie's playing career began with the Eire Og underage teams but his first 'major' success was with the Erins Hope team that won the Dublin under-21 title in 1974. Erins Hope was the teachers' team that operated out of the training college in Drumcondra. He helped them retain the title in 1975 and also won an Offaly under-21 medal with Walsh Island in the same year. In the aftermath of the All-Ireland successes of 1971 and '72, the Offaly SF team went into decline and, as with the other teams in Leinster, they struggled to match the newly emerging Dubs. The Metropolitans were the dominant force, winning six provincial titles on the trot, 1974 to 1979, but they certainly had to pull out all the stops to deny Offaly in the 1979 decider. Richie was captain on that famous occasion and must have thought that he was going to lead his team to victory as they led for 68 of the 70 minutes. It was the famous occasion on which Jimmy Keaveny was sent off but the 14-man Dubs staged a late, late rally and snatched victory with a goal which Brian Mullins engineered for Bernard Brogan. Despite the trauma of the defeat, there was still a substantial degree of optimism about Offaly football. The 'old guard' had been dispensed with and in 1978, the all-conquering Dubs had been somewhat fortunate to survive against the Faithfuls in the Leinster semi-final at Portlaoise. Offaly should certainly have won the aforementioned 1979 final but it eventually came right in 1980 when they succeeded in bringing Dublin's six-year reign to an end. The 1980 All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry was a most entertaining affair with Kerry, arguably at the very peak of their powers, emerging as winners on a 4-15 to 4-10 scoreline. Matt Connor scored 2-9 and ended up on the losing team! It was quite devastating to score 4-10 and still lose but manager Eugene McGee remained upbeat about the team's potential to win the title. They made a successful defence of the Leinster title, beating Laois in the final before registering a comfortable win over Down in the All-Ireland semi-final. Meanwhile, Kerry had trounced both Cork and Mayo en route to the final and were warm favourites to win the title for the fourth successive year. They eventually managed to achieve that particular feat but they struggled against a still improving Offaly side that 'blew' its prospects of victory by squandering several decent scoring opportunities. They were still in contention when Jack O Shea scored the game's only goal in the closing stages. It appeared to be a long road back but manager McGee never lost faith in his team and they returned to win the Leinster title for the third successive year in 1982, beating Dublin by a whopping nine points in the final. And without their captain and centre-half-back! Richie went into hospital for surgery on a troublesome knee injury before the game against Dublin and faced a battle to win back his place for the All-Ireland semi-final clash with Galway. It was a battle that he eventually won and he was chosen at centre-field alongside his cousin Tomas. Offaly eventually got the better of the Connacht champions, but only by a point, and they were generally regarded as lucky winners against a Galway team that threw away a handful of chances in the closing stages. As a result of this somewhat fortuitous victory, (and Lady Luck had also shone on them in the Leinster semi-final against Laois), Offaly were rank outsiders for the All-Ireland final clash with a Kerry team that was on the verge of becoming the first ever to win five successive All-Irelands. The target certainly generated unprecedented hype and Offaly were cast in a purely supporting role. The Faithfuls' sensational victory has been well chronicled and Seamus Darby's goal has become part of football's rich folklore. Less attention has been paid to a number of other factors that eventually saw Kerry's hopes of a 5th successive All-Ireland evaporate. First, there was the calm authority of Richie's younger brother Matt in pointing two frees when Offaly were trailing by four points with time ticking away. The vast majority of players would have tried to conjure a goal. And then there was the role played by Richie and the selectors. Richie had played most of his football at centre-half-back but in the aftermath of the 1981 defeat by Kerry when Tim Kennelly dominated for Kerry, the Offaly management decided to move the captain to centre-half-forward should they come up against the Kingdom again. The ploy was not used during the run to the All-Ireland final but Richie was on the '40 for the big day. He seriously restricted Kennelly's contribution and when Offaly needed a change both he and Gerry Carroll were brought to midfield with Tomas O Connor and Pairic Dunne going to the half-forward line. Richie was also involved in the build-up to Darby's goal. Other aspects of Offaly's achievement were also forgotten about...most notably their perfect progress over a five-year period...Leinster semi-final in 1978, Leinster final in 1979, All-Ireland semi-final in 1980, All-Ireland final in 1981 and champions in '82. Throughout it all, the Connor and O Connor cousins from Walsh Island were to the fore with Richie proving to be an inspirational captain and Matt establishing a reputation as one of the greatest forwards ever to grace Croke Park. Liam and Tonas O Connor were also key players, at full back and centrefield respectively. Offaly went into decline in the wake of the 1982 success and Matt's retirement because of injury was an enormous loss to his county, his club and to football in general. Walsh Island also went into decline, eventually descending to the junior ranks. Richie's only All Star award came in 1981 but there's little doubt that his missing the Leinster final as well as his positional switches deprived him of a second award in '82. He spent some time managing the Laois team in the early 1990's but will always be associated with the halcyon days of Walsh Island and Offaly. Tweet

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