'Jogger' remembers his playing days
April 30, 2011From Paddy 'Steelbar' Bracken to Ned 'Dinger' Bruer and John 'Jobber' McGrath, Westmeath has produced its fair share of GAA stars who were as well known for their unusual nicknames as for their prowess on the field.
Former county hurling full back Tommy 'Jogger' Doyle was another who fitted into this category. A key member of the talented Lake County side that came so close to making a major breakthrough in the mid-1980s, 'Jogger' was at the height of his powers when he left for New York where he played out the remainder of his career. In 1993, he returned to live in his native Collinstown where he is happily settled with his wife Offaly-born wife Theresa and three children Thomas, Brendan and Mary. He works in both construction and farming.
A noted high-fielder with a strong physical presence, Doyle played his early hurling with the old St. Mary's juvenile club, which catered for players from both Collinstown and Glenidan. St. Mary's later became part of Lough Lene Gaels, which was formed in 1969, and for whom Doyle played until his departure to the US in 1987.
The nickname 'Jogger' was given to Tommy when he used to leave class early to go off hurling with the Westmeath Vocational Schools team. "I was attending Castlepollard Community School at the time," he remembers. "When the Westmeath Vocational Schools team was playing, I used to run out of the classroom and some of the lads started calling me 'Jogger'. It wasn't as if I liked jogging or was any good at it. That's how I got the name and it has stuck with me ever since."
Doyle first came to notice as a goalkeeper on the Westmeath minor team that won a Leinster 'Special' championship in 1975. In the same year, he was sub goalkeeper on the first Lough Lene Gaels team to win a senior championship. The Gaels beat Raharney in 1976 to retain the Examiner Cup when a young Doyle was once again on the subs bench.
By the time 'Jogger' established himself as a regular starter, Brownstown had become the dominant force on the club hurling scene and the Gaels hardly got a look in.
"Brownstown took over after we won in 1976 and we had to wait until 1985 before we got back into a county final. I was captain that year, but not for the first time during that period, Brownstown beat us.
"We had some great battles with them, but they usually came out on top. To be fair to Brownstown, they had an exceptional team and the fact that they played in 13 county finals between '77 and '93, winning nine of them, says it all."
Having represented Westmeath at minor and under 21 level, Doyle graduated to the senior team in 1978. He made his National League debut against Kerry in October of that year in Tralee, lining out at left half forward in a 2-7 to 0-4 win. Also making their Westmeath debuts that day were Brownstown's John Leonard and Pat Dalton of Castletown-Geoghegan, who 'Jogger' would later hurl alongside in the Big Apple.
Tommy played in the forwards, midfield and corner back before eventually making the full back position his own in 1983. "John Davis had been the Westmeath full back for years and when he retired, James Kilcoyne, Richie Shaw and my own club-mate Mick Healy all played in the position. I started at full back in the win over Tipperary in the first round of the 1983/84 National League at Cusack Park, and stayed there for a few years after that," he recalls.
That 5-12 to 3-11 victory over Tipperary, coupled with success in the Walsh Cup, highlighted the improvement in Westmeath hurling at that time. In 1984, Westmeath beat London to win the All-Ireland 'B' title before going on to give Galway a big fright in the All-Ireland quarter-final at Birr.
The team continued to make strides over the next few years. They won promotion to Division 1 of the National League in 1986 after beating Tipperary for a second time in a matter of years before losing 0-15 to 3-8 to Kilkenny in the quarter-final after Mick Cosgrave had a late goal controversially disallowed.
Westmeath defeated Offaly and Galway in the 1986/87 National League, but were relegated back to Division 2 after losing a playoff to Wexford in Portlaoise. In the 1987 Leinster championship, they lost to Dublin in what proved to be Doyle's last game for the county.
"I had moved over to New York by then, but the county board brought me home for that game in Nowlan Park. Mentally, I wasn't right for it and to make matters worse, I broke my thumb. By then, emigration had begun to bite hard and you had a situation where we had as many good hurlers in New York as at home," he says.
"It's a pity things worked out like that because Westmeath were a match for most teams in hurling at that time. If the likes of Michael Daly, Willie Lowry and Pat Dalton had stayed at home, they could have made all the difference. When I started, we were only in Division 3 but we ended up in Division 1. We used to train hard for the league and got some great results against the likes of Tipperary and Galway.
"But we tended to fade come the championship because we didn't have the same numbers as the stronger counties. They could freshen things up for the championship whereas we were relying on the same group of players the whole time.
"We probably peaked in '86, but within a year the team was decimated by emigration."
Such was the increase in the number of Lake County natives moving to New York that it led to reformation of the Westmeath club in 1986. The club went on to become one of the strongest in both hurling and football on the New York GAA scene, but sadly ceased to exist a few years ago.
'Jogger' played on the first Westmeath hurling team in New York before moving out there on a permanent basis in 1987. "I first went over for a weekend in 1986 and played in what was only the team's second ever game against Cork. There was plenty of work in construction so I returned to live in Woodlawn the following year."
He continues: "It was a real home from home with the amount of Westmeath hurlers who were out there at the time. Half the county was out there. So it made sense for the Westmeath crew to come together and set up their own club.
"Tom Nugent (Raharney), Andy Carr (Raharney) and Dessie Costello (Castletown-Geoghegan) were responsible for getting it up-and-running. And because of the numbers we had, we went senior straight away."
Among Tommy's team-mates were: Pat Dalton, Willie Lowry, Peter Kirby, Ger Jackson, Eamonn Corcoran (all Castletown-Geoghegan), Michael Daly (Brownstown), Brian McCabe (Fr Dalton's), Gerry Gillen (Cullion), Seamus McKeogh (Raharney) and Mick Cosgrave (Lough Lene Gaels). Ger Manley (Cork), Padraig Horan (Offaly) and Harry and Lester Ryan (Kilkenny) were among the high-profile stars who were flown out from Ireland for major games.
Westmeath lost three New York SHC finals in-a-row between 1987 and '89 to Tipperary (twice) and Galway before finally making the breakthrough in 1990 when Galway were defeated in the final. They won back-to-back titles in 1992 and '93 at Tipperary's expense and were victorious again in 1996 when Kilkenny were overcome in the final. Tommy returned home after the 1993 success and thus missed the '96 triumph when Westmeath also won the New York senior football championship.
"I retired completely from hurling after the 1993 final. I suffered a work-related injury and decided to call it a day," he remembers.
"Most of the lads I played with in New York have returned home at this stage. Willie Lowry is still out there and so are a few of the Kirbys from Castletown. But the rest are back living in Ireland."
'Jogger' continues to closely follow the fortunes of both Lough Lene Gaels and Westmeath. His two sons, Thomas and Brendan, play underage hurling with the Gaels and have also represented their county at juvenile level. Thomas - who is full back on this year's Westmeath minor team - also plays football with Ballycomoyle and soccer with Mullingar Athletic. Mary, meanwhile, is a member of the Lough Lene Gaels under 10 camogie team.
Doyle feels it is imperative that Westmeath win this year's Christy Ring Cup and earn their place in next year's Liam McCarthy Cup.
"I watched a few of their games this year and the big problem seems to be their lack of firepower. They have good backs and a solid midfield, but they struggle to put scores on the board. Having said that, there is no reason why they can't win the Ring Cup this year, especially as no team came down from the Liam McCarthy last year," he concludes. Tweet
