For former Ballybay player Cathal McCarthy, the senior football championship triumphs of 1962 and '69 still hold special memories. Now a successful businessman living in Meath, he continues to take a keen interest in the affairs of Ballybay and Monaghan. Ballybay has produced many accomplished footballers down the years and foremost among them is Cathal McCarthy, who featured in the club's county championship successes of 1962 and '69. A former county player, McCarthy was one of three brothers who wore the Ballybay colours with distinction during the 1960s and 1970s. Paul was arguably the best known of them, playing at midfield for Monaghan for many years and also manning the goalkeeping position for Ulster in the Railway Cup. Brian, who is now a garda detective based in Naas, was also part of that powerful Ballybay team. "I have many happy memories of my time as a Ballybay player," remembers Cathal, who is now more likely to be found following the fortunes of his adopted club Walterstown in Co. Meath. "We had an excellent team and my only regret is that we didn't win a couple of more championships. We beat Castleblayney in the finals of '62 and '69, but they beat us in '63 and they also got the better of us in a number of semi-finals. In fact, they won five championships between our two successes which just goes to show how strong they were." McCarthy recalls how the strength of both 'Blayney and Ballybay was reflected on the county team at the time. "We had seven countymen and I'd say Castleblayney had even more. Our county contingent would have included the likes of Eamonn McAleer, Paddy Kerr (who later managed Monaghan), Fr John McCabe, Sean McKerney, Gerry Finlay (older brother of 'Jap') and Kevin Duffey, as well as myself and Paul. "Castleblayney's top players of that era were Barney McDonnell, Eamonn Tavey, Tony Loughman and Gerry Fitzpatrick." Cathal, who also garnered under 14, under 16 and minor honours with Ballybay, was a regular on the Monaghan team from 1967 to '71. Major honours eluded him, but his inter-county career still had its highlights, none moreso than when he scored a goal against Dublin in a National League win at Croke Park. Between Ballybay's championship victories in 1962 and '69, McCarthy worked in Derry for a spell where he met his late wife Marie (her brother Tommy Doherty is a former Derry player). During that time, he played for Newbridge and was a member of their team which lost the 1968 county final to a Bellaghy side backboned by the Cassidys and Diamonds. After returning to Ballybay, he then emigrated to London where he played for the Bamba club which had strong Monaghan and Galway connections. In 1976, McCarthy settled in Co. Meath where he became involved with Walterstown. That same year, he helped his new club to junior championship glory. Cathal's sons have clearly inherited his footballing talent. This year, John, Justin and Charles were regulars on the Walterstown senior team, while another son Paul, was among the substitutes. Cathal took great delight from seeing John win All-Ireland minor and under 21 medals with Meath in 1990 and '93, and was equally proud when Charles established himself at midfield on Sean Boylan's senior team this year. "Charles matured a lot as a footballer this year," he says. "He's a big lad who is still filling out. He's a new type of Gaelic footballer in that he is very athletic. He looks more like an athlete than a footballer, but I suppose that's the way the game is going." Cathal admits that he found himself in a difficult position this year when Monaghan and Meath met in the All-Ireland qualifying series at Clones. "I had mixed emotions after that game. Obviously, you'd like to see your own son doing well and I was pleased to see Meath winning from his point of view. Also, Meath has been very good to me and my family and I am something of a converted Meath supporter at this stage. "But I still have great fondness for Ballybay and Monaghan. I would have been shouting my head off for Monaghan if they had gone to play in the later stages of the championship," he explains. McCarthy believes it is no coincidence that Monaghan's fortunes have improved since Colm Coyle arrived in the county. He rates the former Meath star very highly and expects Monaghan to continue their improvement under his tutelage in 2004. "Monaghan supporters should consider themselves fortunate to have a man of the calibre of Colm Coyle in charge of their team," he opines. "Colm did a tremendous job this year in bringing Monaghan to a much higher level than what they had been at. He is a very ambitious manager and assuming that he continues to get the full support of the county board, he will continue to improve Monaghan's lot. "In my time living in Meath, I have seen a lot of outstanding footballers and Coyle would rank with the best of them. In the four-match saga against Dublin in 1991, he played in four different positions. What other player would be versatile enough to do that?" Monaghan's sensational defeat of All-Ireland champions Armagh in this year's Ulster championship was a major highlight for Cathal and he hopes to see them achieving similar results in the season ahead. "I like the look of this Monaghan team. A lot of young lads were blooded this year and they can take plenty of encouragement from the fact that they were the only team to beat both Tyrone and Armagh. Although the Ulster championship is very competitive at the moment, they should be aiming to win a provincial title within the next few years." McCarthy has been very successful in business and is joint-owner along with Navan O'Mahony's clubman Eamonn Duignan of the Navan Shopping Centre which sponsors the Meath senior football championship. His sons John and Paul have taken over the running of Duignan-McCarthy Partnership in recent years, while Justin and Charles are directors of a separate company, JMP Construction. Tweet

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