Ulster football has improved beyond recognition in the past decade or so and the success of the northern sides on the national stage can be attributed in no small way to the expert coaching of men like Brother Laurence Ennis, the Coralstown native who was honoured with a GAA President's Award last June. Mention the name of Br Laurence Ennis to anyone who is familiar with the Ulster GAA scene and they'll immediately know who you are talking about. For decades, the Coralstown native has worked tirelessly at colleges level in Ulster and some of the province's best known footballers have passed through his hands. Indeed, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he has made a significant contribution to Ulster football's current well-being. Br Ennis has been chairman of the Ulster Colleges Council since 1982 and has overseen some outstanding achievements by schools from Ulster at All-Ireland colleges level. Only recently, he was involved with the Omagh CBS team which captured the MacRory Cup (awarded to the Ulster Colleges SFC 'A' winners) for the first time. "I've been training teams since I first came to Omagh CBS nearly 50 years ago," says Br Ennis, who is now principal of the Co. Tyrone school. "I've had a fair bit of success with teams since then and winning the MacRory Cup this year is up there with the best of them. I've made a lot of friends through the GAA and I consider myself lucky to have worked with players who have gone on to perform at the highest level." Among the recent All-Ireland winners Br Ennis has coached are the late Cormac McAnallen, Sean Cavanagh, Colin Holmes, Philip Jordan, Ryan Mellon (all Tyrone) and Diarmuid Marsden, Paul McGrane, Ronan Clarke and John Toal (Armagh). His achievements were fittingly recognised last June when, along with another Westmeath man, Paddy Flanagan, he was the recipient of a GAA President's Award at a special function in Croke Park. "The award came out of the blue," he claims. "I knew nothing about it until I got a call a few days beforehand to go to Croke Park. It was a great honour to receive the award and it was also great to see Paddy Flanagan being honoured for his sterling service to the GAA." Br Ennis was a talented footballer in his younger days but, growing up during the Second World War, the opportunities to play were limited owing to the fact that there was no organised football at underage level in Westmeath. He was, however, selected for a Mullingar juvenile team and captained the Mount Street team that won a Mullingar Street League competition during his time as a student at St. Mary's CBS. In 1948, Br Ennis - then aged 15 - left Coralstown to begin training as a Christian Brother in Marino. He subsequently received a teaching degree from Queen's University in Belfast and, in 1957, he joined the teaching staff at Omagh CBS. Br Ennis immediately immersed himself in the local GAA scene and, playing under a false name (members of the clergy were permitted from playing GAA at that time), he won a senior championship medal with St. Enda's, Omagh in 1963. Around the same time, he started hurling coaching at primary school level and he later played for the Tyrone junior hurling team. "When I first came to Omagh in 1957, there was a great interest in the GAA because Tyrone had won their first Ulster title the previous year. Football was very strong and we also succeeded in getting hurling off the ground," he recalls. After spending 10 years in Omagh, Br Ennis was transferred to the Glen Road CBS in Belfast and guided the school to two All-Ireland Vocational School hurling final appearances. In 1973, he moved to St. David's, Artane where he played a leading role in building up the school's Gaelic football tradition. Four years later, he became principal of St. Mary's Grammar School in Belfast. Under his guidance, St. Mary's won an Ulster under 15 colleges title, but were unable to repeat the success at senior level. "We were unlucky to lose a MacRory Cup quarter-final to Maghera one year," he remembers. While based in Belfast, the Westmeath native managed the Antrim senior football team for two years, winning the McKenna Cup with them in 1981. That was during the height of the Troubles and Br Ennis has never forgotten the difficulties which GAA players in Antrim faced in those difficult times. "You would have to admire them for keeping the thing going. I remember training the team one night in Belfast and there were bombs going off all around us." In 1982, Br Ennis was on the move again, this time to Green Park CBS in Armagh. The school amalgamated with St. Patrick's, Armagh five years later and Br Ennis was appointed principal. During his time in Armagh, Br Ennis trained the Orchard County minor footballers for seven years, winning Ulster championships with them in 1992 and '94. In the former year, they reached the All-Ireland final, only to be denied victory by a last-minute Meath goal. "That was probably my biggest disappointment in football - how we managed to lose that final I'll never know," he ruefully reflects. "The likes of Paul McGrane, Diarmuid Marsden, Justin McNulty and Barry O'Hagan played on that team and, needless to say, I was delighted for them when they finally won an All-Ireland with the Armagh seniors 10 years later." Br Ennis returned to Omagh CBS as principal in 1999 and brought them to the MacRory Cup final in 2001. But, after drawing with St. Michael's, Enniskillen, they were prevented from playing the replay because of a Foot and Mouth outbreak in the Tyrone area. However, this year's historic success, achieved at the expense of St. Louis' Kilkeel, made up for that disappointment. Br Ennis has lost virtually all contact with Coralstown (he has no family left in the area), but knows the likes of Luke Dempsey and Richie O'Donoghue well through their involvement in colleges and underage GAA. "When I was in charge of the Armagh minors, we played challenge matches against Westmeath who were then managed by Luke Dempsey. Richie O'Donoghue is another man I would have come in contact with quite a bit down the years through the colleges scene. I would have regularly brought school teams down to play St. Mary's CBS," he explains. Br Ennis was thrilled to see his native county finally win a Leinster senior football title last year, but is concerned about their form so far this year. "I was at all of Westmeath's matches in Croke Park last year and I was overjoyed when they won the Leinster title. It was a great achievement after all the years of frustration. "I'd love to see them having another good championship run this year, but the signs are not encouraging. They need to pick things up between now and the first round if they are to have a chance of retaining the Leinster title," he concludes. Tweet

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