Remembering the minor double of 40 years ago...
December 08, 2006
In April 2006, Ballybay Pearse Brothers held a special function to mark the 40th anniversary of their historic 1966 minor league and championship winning feat. It was a poignant occasion as shortly afterwards Mickey 'Scrub' McArdle, who captained that team, lost his brave battle with illness and passed on to his eternal reward.
The team that won the 1966 Monaghan minor league and championship double was captained by Mickey 'Scrub' McArdle and included Gerry Finlay, Hugh Francis 'Hansie' McArdle, Eamon McDonnell, Mickey Lennon, Johnny Leahy, Kevin Duffy, Paddy Goodman, Brendan 'Cub' Duffy, Paddy Kerr, Tommy 'Coiner' Pearse, Eamon Hughes, Gerry Connolly, Pat Marron, Martin O Kane, Paddy Gilmour, Tony Farrelly, Francie McQuillan, Martin Taaffe and John McAviney. John Moen and John West acted as team managers.
Forty years after the famous double victory, a special function was held in Pat O'Brien's to commemorate this wonderful achievement of 40 years ago. The re-union was a resounding success as the surviving members from the 1966 side traveled from near and far to reminisce and catch up. Sadly, 'Scrub' departed this mortal coil shortly afterwards, so the re-union had acted as an opportunity for some of his friends to say a final farewell to this great Ballybay clubman.
The Fergal O'Hanlon Cup (minor championship) took pride of place at the re-union and was fittingly decked out in maroon and white, and an encouraging number of current players also turned up on the night, to mark a social event that started the club's centenary celebrations in impressive fashion.
From the 1966 minor team, Paddy Kerr's is undoubtedly the best-known name. Paddy went on to excel with Ballybay at senior level for over 20 years and also lined out regularly for Monaghan, UCD and Ulster during the course of a long and distinguished career. Winner of two SFC medals in Monaghan and two more in Dublin, Paddy had the distinction of captaining UCD to the All-Ireland club championship in 1974. He won Ulster SFC medals with Monaghan in 1979 and '85 as well as three Dublin U21s with UCD. Amazingly, though, the former Railway Cup star modestly insists that he just about scraped onto the amalgamated minor team in 1966:
"I believe I was very lucky to get on the team. It was a strong side and we had a lot of very talented players. I certainly wasn't close to the best player on the team. Players like Kevin Duffy, Scrub McArdle, Tony Farrelly, Johnny Leahy, Gerry Finlay, Martin O'Kane and Gerry Connolly were outstanding and I just about managed to squeeze my way into the reckoning."
Paddy was minor again the following year when Ballybay/Drumhowan forced their way to another county final only to be beaten by Smithboro/Killevan in an overtly physical encounter. Casting his mind back to the re-union in 2006, he notes: "The event went very well. The people who could be there were, apart from those who have departed and two or three who couldn't get back from England. There were a few people I hadn't seen since the time we won it and it was nice to meet them again. It was a good night and things like this aren't done often enough."
Minor is often cited as the stage at which most teams break up. Well, 40 years ago, this was even more prevalent and the Ballybay Class of '66 mostly went their separate ways shortly afterwards. "A lot of them would have gone off to work in England and they did really well for themselves. Some came back to Ireland since and have done well in life.
"I suppose I was fortunate in that we had a family business in town and I was one of the lucky ones who could stay at home. But in those days most young lads had to go to England to work.
"Five or six of that Ballybay minor team went on to play senior county football for Monaghan and there were at least three or four more who could have done the same had circumstances been different. As I've said, I was by no means one of the best players on that team and I really enjoyed playing on a side that had so many good footballers."
How would those players compare with minor footballers of the present era? "There's very little difference, apart from the fitness level, which is probably higher now. Those were good all-round players and I don't think the skill level has improved drastically since. It was good football and we trained regularly."
Paddy admits that he was by no means a keen football enthusiast at the time. He preferred cross-country running, fishing and hunting. But things changed completely when he went to Gormanston College for two years and fell under the tutelage of the great Joe Lennon. After he got a taste of life at the sports-mad Gormanston campus, Paddy never looked back.
Though he enjoyed his playing career immensely (and has also been very successful as a coach), Paddy does have one regret. He says he'd gladly trade any - or all! - of his medals for an All-Ireland with Monaghan but, even though Monaghan went close and captured a national league in '85, the big one remained elusive, as it still does in the county today:
"I always enjoyed playing for the club and with UCD, but Monaghan was special. I'd give them all for an All-Ireland with Monaghan and I hope to see a Monaghan team doing it some day soon. I saw what the Ulster championship win did for the Monaghan people in 1979 and I'd love if we had been able to deliver an All-Ireland. Unfortunately, we came up against what I consider to be the best side in GAA history in the Kerry team of that era.
"The first All-Ireland is always the best and hopefully Monaghan can win one. The standard has evened out and Fermanagh proved that anyone can get into contention. I don't think an All-Ireland is beyond any team that puts their minds to it and I see no reason why Monaghan can't make it a reality with the talent we have in the county at the moment."
In 1966, the Ballybay minors proved that dreams can morph into reality.
Centenary celebrations
2006 was a historic year for the Ballybay Pearse Brothers as the famous mid Monaghan club celebrated its 100 years of GAA. Many events were held during the year to mark this occasion.
One of the earliest was the unveiling of a new jersey for year. It is loosely based on the colours the club wore in its early years, white with a blue hoop. Sean Kelly launched the jersey in Croke Park on 30th March with Paul Finlay, Fergal Smyth, Paul McCabe and Eddie Sullivan. The jersey proved popular with the younger fans and was seen in evidence at many games during the year.
The club also ran a successful fun day in the football field with face painting, karaoke, penalty kick and puck competition to mention just a few. The highlight of the day was the duck race which was a fund raiser for a defibulator in the field. This event had the distinction of being cancelled the week before as the river level was too low, surely the first time a sporting occasion was called off in Ireland because the weather was too good!
In conjunction with the Centenary year, the club had embarked on an ambitious development programme in the football field. The main focus of this was the building of four new state of the art dressing rooms along with a gym and a spacious meeting room with kitchen and bar facilities which look out onto Pearse Park. The centre has already become a model for other clubs even before it is fully operational. When it is up and running it will have few equals in the country.
A musical night was held in the centre to signal its opening. This concert was the first time many people would have been able to view this impressive structure and it is a testament to the volunteer nature of the GAA that a lot of the community gave up their leisure time in the weeks preceding the opening to ensure that all was ready come 9.30 that Friday night. The concert was the brainchild of Kieran Finlay who opened proceedings with his usual partner Martin McCabe. Martin's brother Jess was on bass ably backed by Kenny Farrelly on drums, Mickey McCormick on guitar and Gary McKeown on the accordion. A host of locals took the stage to entertain the crowd. They included: Brid McCabe, Joanne Quigley, The McAdam family, Leo Brennan, Karen Owens, Clare and Ellen Duffy and Brendan Macklin. Damien Caraher, who along with Thomas McSkean and Sean McGuinness was the driving force behind the development, was called upon to sing "The Gambler", (well at least the bits that he knew) with Cathal McCarthy on backing vocals and the night was rounded off with a rousing version of the Unofficial Ballybay Anthem, "The Circle". A great night was had by all and we look forward to many more.
The following Sunday the juvenile players were taken on a trip to Croke Park for the 2nd Compromise Rule Test. Despite the result and some of the unsavoury tactics by the Australians, everybody enjoyed their visit to Headquarters.
The night before the Centenary Banquet, night, the club held a mass to remember deceased club members. This was a very touching ceremony as many of those who had travelled home for the celebration banquet were able to attend. A book containing the names of those club members who have died was offered up and this book is still available to the public if they wish to enter any further names. The choir including Gerry Finlay, home from America, excelled and as usual Monsignor McSorley delivered a wonderful sermon. At the end of mass, miniature flags in the club colours, supplied by Peter Murnane were handed out to those who wanted to put them on the graves of loved ones.
The Banquet itself started with a mulled wine and champagne reception at 7pm in The Oriel Suite in the Glencarn Hotel. With the club putting on free buses to ferry patrons to the venue, nearly all the guests were there on time. This left ample time for them to view the DVD history that had been prepared by Paddy Gilmore and Cathal O'Brien. There also was an extensive photographical history of the club that had been donated by various people and a collection of jerseys from the early 70's to the current centenary jersey. It was great to see so many Ballybay greats enjoying the night as well as friends from all over the county especially Latton, Drumhowan, Blayney and Scotstown.
Fr John Leahy offered a special prayer for the deceased and local parish priest Fr La Flynn said grace before meals. After a spectacular five-course meal, Rev Jonathon Hayhoe said grace after meals and Fear an Ti, Martin McAviney began the evening's events. With three former GAA Presidents invited expectation level for the speeches was very high. However the sheer quality of the content and delivery of the oratory by Peter Quinn, Sean McCague, Ulster Council secretary Danny Murphy, Monaghan county board chairman John Connolly and finally Sean Kelly were so good it made a great night into an unforgettable one. The speeches were sandwiched between a photographic slide show of the clubs history, a free raffle for €500 and €400 of travel vouchers, donated by The Pearse Brothers and the Latton O'Rahillys respectively. Jimmy Sullivan and Gabriel Kerr won these prizes and very generously donated them back to the club. A "heads and tails" game for charity was also held and was won by committee member, Francis Linden who also handed the money back to the charities concerned. These were Sean Kelly's Self Help organisation and several local causes.
The band "Sounds Familiar" accompanied by Pat Treacy on violin, kept the momentum going to the small hours and many guests made use of Catherine McAviney's temporary studio to get photographs taken on the night. Fabian Murphy caught all of the action on video and Tom Fox's buses got most of the revellers back to Ballybay where there were one or two impromptu parties until the sun came up.
After such a magnificent night, it is important to remember that these occasions don't happen without a great deal of planning. The club would like to thank the members of the Centenary committee, Anne Brady, Deirdre Duffy, Ann Finlay, Martin McAviney, Imelda Smyth, Therese Smyth and Joe Sullivan for all their hard work and dedication since their first meeting in January 2006 which helped to ensure that the night was a resounding triumph. The committee in turn would like to thank anyone who helped in any way to making the night as successful as it was. In particular the people of Ballybay and the surrounding areas for getting to the hotel on time and ensuring a smooth running of the night.
Most Read Stories