As a Cavan man in the UK, Joe McIntyre - life president of the Cavan Association in London - never lost touch with his homeplace. Through his active involvement in the Cavan Association down through the years, he also ensured that many others were able to remain in sync with their unique Irish (and Cavan) identities. Living in a foreign country can be a challenging, alienating and downright depressing existence, but by virtue of their outstanding service to the Cavan diaspora in London, Joe and his colleagues in the Cavan Association made sure that life was not just bearable but a positively invigorating experience for our ex-pats in the English capital.
Before emigrating at a young age, Joe played minor football for Belturbet and also had a few outings with the Drumlane seniors. He was also an adept cross-country runner with Tomregan Harriers in Ballyconnell, County Cavan … a naturally fit and healthy all-round sportsman. He worked on the family farm up until 1950 and then decided to emigrate to London. This wasn't the type of decision that was taken lightly, but those were harsh times in Cavan - and in Ireland as a whole - and there was little or no choice.
"Farming was very difficult in Ireland those days and it was very sad to have to leave your own country. But it was a decision I had to make."
He left Ireland with a heavy heart and would spend the next 50 years in England, building a highly-successful career for himself in the heating, ventilation and refrigeration sector, including 20 years as a senior manager at The Daily Mirror newspaper. Having experienced first hand the wrench of leaving his home behind, Joe would devote a great deal of his time abroad to keeping the community spirit alive and making sure his fellow countymen and countrymen maintained a sense of identity and a togetherness. By preventing Irish people from becoming isolated or alienated, the Cavan Association in London was a godsend - and Joe McIntyre was one of its principle driving forces.
"Arriving in London was an experience that many Irish men and women had to face and most of them didn't understand the challenges that lay ahead. Those were dreadful times in Ireland and 1.5 million people left between 1950 and '53. The priority was to find work and I was no different from anybody else. This was the first issue I had to address.
"The Cavan Association in London was the first Association to be founded in London. The first chairman and founder member was James Conway from Mullagh, County Cavan. The London Irish Centre was founded in 1955 by Fr Tom McNamara from County Cork. Both these organisations gave much-needed advice to Irish immigrants arriving in London, and indeed the UK in the 1950s and have continued to provide wonderful advice to all immigrants arriving in the UK thereafter.
After initially working briefly for a company building airport hangars, he worked in engineering for a while and then opted to complete his education before joining one of the largest companies in Britain, in the refrigeration, ventilation and heating area. He worked on numerous major contracts, including the 20-year stint with The Daily Mirror (where he always had a copy of The Anglo-Celt on his desk every Friday morning). Throughout all this time, he kept alive his strong association with the GAA and became an honorary life president of the Dulwich Harps club.
The greatest of many personal accolades afforded Joe was when he was given a civic award for his community work for the Irish people in Great Britain and the freedom of the borough of Southwark. He was also the main organiser of the Irish Festival in Southwark for eleven years, during which time he brought over five or six Irish bands every year - the crème de la crème of Irish musicians and showbands. This festival still takes place on an annual basis and is organised by a committee that Joe established.
Following months of negotiations with Southwark Council, Joe finally secured a gaelic football pitch in Peckham - Rye Park. The London County Board were delighted, as were Croke Park. More important, Dulwich Harps can use the pitch to train young players in football and camogie.
The 500-mile bike ride from London to Ballyconnell - organised by the London Association - was also a huge success. The principal of the Holy Family School in Cootehill and St Felim's Hospital received cheques for 15,000 euro each and the celebrations were held in the Slieve Russell Hotel.
Joe was also involved in bringing some legendary Cavan All-Ireland winning footballers over to the UK, including Big Tom Reilly, Seamus Hetherton, Phil Brady, Mick Higgins, Peter Donohoe (the Babe Ruth of gaelic football and also a former president of the Cavan Association) and Owen Roe McGovern.
Over the years, the Cavan Association in London collected and donated a huge amount of money to charity (including Great Ormonde Street Children's Hospital and Cavan General Hospital, the Holy Family School in Cootehill to mention just a few), something that hasn't always been recognised but is no doubt greatly appreciated by the many worthy causes who benefited from the Association's generosity.
Joe was one of the guests at the St Patrick's Day parade in New York in 1998 - marking the 150th anniversary of the Cavan Association in New York; was present at the opening of the Shannon - Erne Waterway; and also took enormous pride from the discovery of the grave of Ireland's Forgotten Son, Liam MacCarthy. He was part of that historic discovery as well as the historic occasion that saw a memorial erected on his grave in Camberwell Cemetary, South London in 1996, with an extended memorial with hundreds in attendance. Not a lot of people know this but Joe points out that MacCarthy - after whom the All-Ireland SHC Cup is named - was the founder of the GAA in Britain.
Another proud moment for Cavan people across the channel came in 1991 when Garfield - a clumber spaniel from Belturbet - beat a field of 23,000 dogs to be crowned overall winner at the famous Crufts Dog Show.
Considering that he arrived in England with no trade and an education up to the age of 15 (which was above average in Ireland at the time), Joe McIntyre's achievement in forging a successful career for himself, working for and within huge companies, represents a massive success story. He met some great people over the years and was thrilled to be able to inject some meaning and identity into the lives of Irish people who otherwise had nowhere to go socially.
The Cavan Association brought many dignitaries over to London to attend events and there has always been a strong appreciation in Cavan of what the Association does. All of this costs money, but the committee always left no stone unturned in achieving its goals and has made huge difference in the lives of many. Though he has been home in Cavan since 2000 (having promised his father that he would return one day), Joe still visits London (where his daughter lives) on occasion and stays in touch with the Mayor of Southwark.
The festivals and functions were distinctly Irish, aimed at preserving and fostering the Irish culture and way of life. Ironically, these were always a lot more 'Irish' than Irish festivals back home. After he came home, Joe never lost his tremendous organisational skills and in 2005 he organised 'The Emigrant Return', which raised 110,000 euro for St Luke's and the Breffni Care. Another wonderful personal achievement…
Joe's wife Lily hails from Cloone, County Leitrim and they have a family of one son and one daughter. Their son Sean married a Cavan girl and lives in Cavan with three young children. The family support the Drumlane GAA team, and occasionally Butlersbridge, where Sean's wife Breda comes from.
Joe's daughter, Jackie, lives in London where she is supervisor with a financial firm. His wife served as PRO of the Cavan Association for the arbitrary two-year term, while Jackie won Cavan Girl of the Year in 1990 and appeared at the Cavan Girl final in the Kilmore, which was won by Maeve Sheridan from Lough Sheelin.
Joe was present with Cavan Association members at the opening of St Christopher's Hospice in Cavan. Since returning to Ireland, he has been voted on to the board of directors.
When Catherina McKiernan from Cornafean won her silver medal at the Maiden Castle Grounds in Durham, Joe McIntyre was present with his wife in the company of Mick McCann and his wife Kay. "This was a great moment for Cavan. Catherina was only six seconds behind the gold medal winner, Deratu Tulu from Ethiopia. She received a wonderful reception in Durham, with many dignitaries from Cavan present."
Joe also has great memories of the late, great Mick Higgins: "Mick will be remembered by gaels across Cavan and Ireland for many years - not least his wife Margaret and family. He attended The Emigrant Return in Ballyconnell in 2005 and was a great ambassador for gaelic games. He was probably the best full forward ever to wear a GAA jersey. May he rest in peace."
As a true Cavan man, the GAA has always been a big part of Joe's life and he believes the greatest Cavan players of all time were on duty at the Polo Grounds in 1947 as the Breffni County eclipsed Kerry to claim the Sam Maguire Cup. He's delighted that Dulwich Harps - the club of which he's life president - is still going strong and hopes 2010 will be a great year for all Cavan teams, at home and abroad.
He concludes by saying: "I would like to wish the GAA every success in the future and to congratulate the Association on reaching its 125th anniversary in 2009." Tweet

Most Read Stories