Kill Shamrocks GFC has produced many a fine footballer. One of the club's most talented and forceful players down the years was James McEnroe. Kevin Carney reports Kill's gaels were lucky to have James McEnroe among their midst. But then again, the former teak-tough midfielder is the first to explain that the relationship was a mutally beneficial one. He got as good as he gave to the club. Home is where the heart is and, in this respect, the popular shopkeeper/farmer is in his element as he waxes lyrical from the warmth of his home in Kill about his football career for club and county. Like many of his peers, James McEnroe has manifestly failed to cast aside the shackles which tie him to the game he graced and still loves. Whereas football was something he almost instinctively ate, slept and drank as a gasún growing up on the family farm, these days he treats talk of the big ball game almost as desert/sweet - something to be teased out, slowly gone through and thoroughly enjoyed. In many ways James is a throwback to 'oul God's time when horses and trap was the preferred means of transport to and from church, when youngsters were hired out on fair days . . .and when Gaelic football truly was a religion. Not that our man McEnroe lives in an illusionary world of Walter Mitty-type proportions. Far from it. Very much rooted to this world, rooted to mother earth is the former Kill Shamrocks, Cootehill Celtic and Cavan ace. James was a very good footballer in his day - his opponents and team-mates from the forties, 'fifties confirm same. Where he is personally concerned, the admiration is distinctly mutual. "There were a lot of great players. Men like P. J. Duke of Stradone, Jim Tom Conaty, Peter McMahon, Hugh Brady, Johhny Cusack of Lavey, Eugene Garraghan of Drungoon, the Doc McCabe, Brian Gallagher and John Joe Tierney of Cootehill - all great footballers and there's not too many like them around now," says James emphatically. And the former resident midfielder played against quite a few of the big-name players that adorned football in Cavan and Ulster over the course of two decades. A winner of an Ulster senior championship medal in 1949, James first caught the eye on the inter-county front two years previously when, despite playing the proverbial stormer, he ended up on the losing side against Monaghan in the 1947 junior provincial championship. "We had a good team in '47 but they (Monaghan) had an even better one with men like the Moyna twins and the O'Rourke brothers very prominent," the then full-forward cum midfielder recalls. Indeed at a time when the cream of Monaghan football was practically on a par with Cavan's All-Ireland winning teams, the Kill clubman is understandably proud of having been part of the Breffni Blues elite in those hugely competitive years in Ulster football circles. Linking up at county level with fine footballers like Batty McEnroe (no relation) of Castlerahan and Butlersbridge stalwart Sean O'Hare was a time of great experience and pride for the ambitious Shamrock. That said, somehow though one suspects that McEnroe's most proud and most enjoyable times were garnered on the club front. In 1944, for instance, James McEnroe spearheaded Kill's drive for county honours and, boy, did he not revel in the exchanges, just like his wife Gladys on the camogie field, winning three senior championship medals with the Kill club! "The football was tough but it wasn't dirty. You hit and you got hit and went about your business although if a modern-day ref was controlling the games back then, only about half of the players would be left on the field!" Referees were pretty lax then so? "There weren't that many good refs around, that was the problem. The standard of refereeing was poor although old Herbie Clegg from Cootehill was a good ref - he was the best I ever saw even though he put me off one time," the then 5'10'' and 13 stone-plus fighting fit stalwart comments. Rows were aplenty back then so? "It didn't always come to that although I remember a comical incident in Rathluden one year. It was a match between Kill and Cootehill. I was playing for Kill at the time and a row broke out before the match even started. "The ref wouldn't start the match 'till the row was settled. He said he was going to let them fight on 'till they got tired of fighting after, sure enough, when the dust settled down the match got underway and there were no problems after that." Ironically some of the same combattants from the very same row were later to join up as brothers-in-arms on the Cootehill Celtic teams which won a junior championship title and a hat-trick of blue riband titles at the start of the 'fifties. Things had been good for a long time with Kill and it wasn't the lack of success which prompted the young McEnroe, Patsy O'Hare, Johnny Lynch and the Coyle brothers Paddy and Phelim to leave the Shamrocks and head for the Celts. Kill were, after all, one of the best junior teams in the mid to late 'forties. James remembers when the Shamrocks beat Cavan Slashers by two points in the championship when the county town side had no less than 12 county men in their midst, including such football luminaries as Joey Devlin and others such as the Doonans and the Conatys. "The Slashers were that good at the time that they could even afford to leave three county minors sitting on the subs bench for that match. That 1944 team was the best Kill team I was part of," James explains. Sadly by the advent of the 'fifties, some 12 of Kill's first choice players had emigrated and Kill Shamrocks simply weren't able to field a team. Kill's loss would be Cootehill's gain. "It wasn't long before Kill had disbandoned that I was asked by Gene Doherty and Paddy Coyle to play with Cootehill. I had no qualms about doing so and I enjoyed my time playing for them. "The only pity I thought at the time was that if Kill and Cootehill had decided to amalgamate in the forties, we'd have won a few senior championships together." The memory of beating the likes of Cornafean - Big Tom Reilly, the gallant John Joe et al - under the stewardship of the legendary Hughie O'Reilly is still vivid in James' mind as his is days in the team's engine room with Brendan Keyes. "Those were great Cootehill teams. Everyone of the 15 players that went out to play the likes of Cornafean were countymen, either at underage, junior or senior. It gave us all a great sense of self-belief and confidence, knowing that there was so much talent in the team. "The dedication of the players, as much as their talent, was the secret though in us winning those junior and senior champioinships. We often made it out to training under Hughie Reilly in the meadow at five o'clock in the morning before going off to do a day's work ... but we loved it and thought nothing of it. Son of Eddie and brother Barney and Eddie (two other highly talented club footballers who later lit up the scene on the U.S Gaelic football scene, those who remember James as a youngster maintain that he was always destined to make an impact in sporting circles as he grew older. A natural-born athlete, a greyhound type figure with the strength of two lads his own age, the fledgling countyman first made an impression in the field of athletics where he became a champion runner at 100, 200 and 400 yard sprints in the vest of Laragh Athletic Club. Ironically despite his athletic and football exploits (he would play football at adult level for an amazing 37 years), James says his first love was hurling and he has some great memories playing the small ball game with John Joe Tierney and others in the Cootehill colours. James passed on his grá for Gaelic football to his family; his son Stephen has a junior championship medal to his name and has served the Shamrocks well for many years. In the U.S meanwhile other McEnroes are spreading the Gospel of Gaelic football. It seems like James will have some more talking to do about football for quite some time to come. 'Finbarrs on top A tremendously powerful first half display laid the foundations for a fine win by the St. Finbarrs amalgam in the final of the Under 16 Division Two league when they met St. Josephs at Killygarry in mid-July. St. Finbarrs led from pillar to post as they secured the title on foot of a 2-10 to 0-9 scoreline. It was a hard-earned win though as their opponents never gave up the fight and really put it up to the champions-elect, particularly in the second half. St. Finbarrs were very impressive in the opening stages of the contest with a point from Sean Gaffney getting them off to a confident start. However St. Josephs played very well throughout too and with great gusto they rebounded off the ropes to go 0-3 to 0-1 in front after some 12 minutes of play. However in a game in which goals were going to be all-important, a goal by Sean Gaffney came as a great shot in the arm for St. Finbarrs as it kick-started a real purple patch for Gaffney and co. The Barrs were now well on top and another point by Stephen Reilly added to the team's momentum. Minutes later, a great passing move down the field from defence to attack ended with centre half forward Niall McCaffrey finding the St. Josephs net with a fantastic shot. Pushing forward at every opportunity, St. Finbarrs added to their lead thereafter with a fine point by Niall McCaffrey although a point by 'Josephs from the kick-out did reduced 'Finbarrs lead somewhat. At the interval, St. Finbarrs led by 2-3 to 0-4. With St. Josephs having a player sent off just before the interval, St. Finbarr's were in bullish form as the second half got underway but they had to roll up their sleeves as their opponents made light of their numerical disadvantage. Good defending was called for, and delivered, by the St. Finbarrs defence in the early part of the second half. As the half wore on though, St. Finbarrs settled down and points from Ciaran Galligan, Cathal Donohoe and Niall McCaffrey put 'Finbarrs in the driving seat once again. A brace of points by St. Josephs served as a timely reminder though to Finbarrs but in a strong run to the finishing line, points from Tony Brady, Sean Gaffney and substitute Dermot McDermott catapulted the Barrs past the winning post with something to spare. The St. Finbarrs team, and subs, that featured against St. Josephs was as follows: G. Fay, M. Brady, B. O'Reilly, M. McEntee, B. McMenamin, A. McCaul, B. Halton, C. Galligan, C. Donohoe, M. Slowey, N. McCaffrey, S. Reilly, M. Magee, T. Brady, S. Gaffney. Subs used; D. McDermott and Sean Og Foster. Tweet

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