Pat Dunny - Kildare's Magnificent All-rounder A Natural at Both Games And A Great Administrator Later On Whether he likes it or not, Pat Dunny from Prosperous is, perhaps, the best known Kildare player since Larry Stanley or Jack Higgins. And knowing Pat for as long as I do, he'll probably shoot me for saying so. No, I didn't say that he was our best footballer, for he's always mentioned in the same breath as Carbury's Pat Mangan and Tommy Carew of Clane and Coill Dubh. These three were 'the three persons' of Kildare's fabulous 'Class of '65,' the Under 21 crew which swept Ireland like a prairie fire that year. They beat Cork in a classic All-Ireland final and lost the following year with the double in their grasp to Dermot Earley's Roscommon. That '66 All-Ireland set-back, as well as the loss of the Leinster Senior final of the same year to an experienced Meath crew by a single point, was to be the start of a succession of heartbreaks which were to bedevil Pat Dunny's playing career. Strange to relate after twenty season in the white shirt of Kildare, Pat finished up without even one Leinster Senior medal despite playing in five provincial deciders, losing on two occasions each to the great Offaly team of '71/'72 and Heffo's Dubs in the middle of the decade. It will long remain one of the great mysteries why Kildare never made the breakthrough in that period. "They say this present lot are young," says Pat referring to the current Kildare crew. "But remember we had eight Under 21's on that Leinster final team in '66 and Jack Donnelly was only a few months older." Pat Dunny has fairly definite views on this subject." We just didn't put in the work", he asserts. "There was so much talent around at that time that we could win matches far too easily up to a certain level. Then when the step up was required, we just hadn't the preparation put in. certainly had we done the amount of slogging which this present squad have done, we'd have won something. Make no mistake about it." Pat is slow to apportion blame for this seemingly criminal waste of talent. In hindsight, he puts it down to immaturity. "Yes, we had good trainers, Lord knows we had as many trainers as Jack Doyle, God Rest Him. People like Jim Clarke and Peter O'Reilly spring to mind and, of course, Eamonn O'Donohue.": Pat speaks very highly of the Johnstwonbridge man. "Eamonn came on the scene far too late for the older members of our squad. Had we put in the effort back in the early days which we did under Eamonn, it might have been so very different." Dunny speaks with deep affection of that Kildare bunch. Jack Donnelly an extraordinary talent cut off in his prime, Tommy Carew of the silken skills, the lion-hearted Pat Mangan and, of course, the mighty Pa Connolly - "the greatest of them all." Others to spring to mind from that Kildare era were big Mick Carolan, little Jimmy Cummins, Ollie Crinnigan, safe and sure, Allenwood's Joe Doyle and Patsy Kelly and, of course, the flying Kevin Kelly. When pressed about players he faced during his inter-county career you're left with the distinct impression that Pat Dunny feels privileged to have played against them. The man from Valentia, Mick O'Connell has a special place in his heart - "he was really something," says Pat. Brian Mullins, the quintessential Dub, is another high on his list of all-time greats. But where Pat Dunny differs from your average Kildare player even at top level is in his excellence as a hurler. Such was his prowess with the caman that he held down a regular spot on Leinster Railway Cup teams for five consecutive years, having the unique distinction of winning inter-provincial medals in both codes in 1974, garnering five in all (four of them in hurling). Pat is full of admiration, almost bordering on reverence for the great hurlers, Keher, Doran, Doyle, Roche, Hartigan, Cummins, Silke, Clarke and the Connollys. His voice becomes animated when he reminisces and you get the distinct impression that maybe, hurling was the first love. It all began for Pat at primary school in Prosperous where 'the master' was Michael Brosnan, a man from 'the Kingdom' who wore the jersey of Kildare with distinction as did his son Micheal who played with Clane. At post primary level, the remarkable dual skills were nurtured at the local St. Farnan's by dedicated men such as Conor Morris, Liam McFadden and Ray O'Malley. From there, Pat moved on to the local Caragh club who 'had, in the early sixties, fine footballers such as Sean McCormack, Neil McCarthy, Aidan Mullan (brother of Mick, a contemporary of Dunny's with Kildare and uncle of current star Johnny McDonald) and Mick Masterson, who later played with Moorefield. Strange to relate, there was a major exodus to Raheens, the Senior team at the other end of the parish. The Championship barrier was crashed in 64 at the expense of Clane and Pat Dunny was on course for seven Kildare Championships and one Leinster Club awards in a glorious career with the Blue and Gold. Perhaps the high point was the Leinster Club final victory over Portlaoise in 1982, failing only to ultimate winners, Nemo Rangers, by four points in a Pairc Ui Chaoimh semi-final. That was a great Raheens team with Pat Dunny as a sort of 'father figure'. Pat's memories of Raheens are golden ones, of great teams, great players and great people. Two names he mentions are that of Jack Sharpe Senior, now in his eighties and still involved - 'Mr. Raheens' downs the years and a great influence on Pat' career. The second is Pat Lawler - 'Raheens powerhouse at midfield for so many years and 'as good a footballer as ever laced a boot". Eire Og were the hurling wing of Raheens founded in the '50's by men like Tom Johnson, Paddy Power (Ex. T.D), The Walshe's, Pat Doherty and John Ryan. Between themselves and Johnny Walshe's Ardclough, they farmed the Kildare Senior Hurling Championship for almost two decades. That period coincided with the halcyon days of Kildare hurling when men like the Walshes and Burkes of Ardclough, the Carews of Coill Dubh backboned a Kildare side which won All-Ireland Junior, Intermediate and Senior B titles, as well as qualifying for a couple of League quarter finals. At the end of his playing days, Pat decided to 'put back a bit' and became involved as his club's Hurling Board Delegate. He subsequently became Vice-Chairman of that body, Vice-Chairman of that body, Vice-Chairman of the County Board and County Chairman, a position he held for eight years succeeded by Sen. Jack Wall, the present incumbent. At present, he is Kildare's Central Council Delegate. He has particularly strong views on that body, feeling that their authority is far too often undermined by Croke Park Committees. He is happy with the way in which the G.A.A. has developed and is especially pleased to see more resources being channelled towards promotion of the games. But he holds trenchant views on other aspects of the Association. While recognising the value of Micko's efforts in the county, he feels that the media have 'transformed' managers into cult figures generally. The media are also not above reproach when dealing with referees. "Thirty players go out in a match and make an average of three or four mistakes each, which come up near one hundred. Let the poor ref make one or two and the national papers are howling for his head". He is also critical of what he sees as abuse of their influence in disciplinary cases. "Their latest caper seems to be virtually dictating to the G.A.C. as to what suspensions to impose in advance of the actual committee meeting. Obviously, in their view, some player and especially some counties are more equal than other," he adds. He is happy enough with the rules of hurling. But football he feels needs some attention still. "We have failed to define the tackle," says Pat "and until we do, it will continue to cause controversy." He's delighted with the introduction of the open draws in the provincial Championships. "They're a breath of fresh air," says Pat. But he sees the actual provincial competitions themselves as sacrosanct. Of the present Kildare squad, he is hopeful. "They need to find a couple of big strong forwards," muses Pat. "Also, there has to be a determination to contest every ball even the 40-60 ones," he says with just a trace of a twinkle in his eye. Hurling in the county needs "more of the work being done at Underage in places like Ardclough and Coill Dubh", he reckons. Pat Dunny and his wife, Ellen, who hails from Donegal, have four children - Karen (18), Avril (16), Jeffrey (12) and Niamh (10). The younger ones play hurling, football and Camogie at primary school in Prosperous. Apart from a one year flirtation with neighbouring club Ballyteague, he has kept away from training teams. "I'd sooner be with the youngsters anyway and I don't even get time for much of that", he says. The Raheens man looks back on his playing days with great affection. "It was great. Really great. I met some marvellous people and made friends the length and breath of Ireland". There's certainly no doubt about that, for on more than one occasion your scribe been asked in all sorts of odd places like holiday locations, by people from all over Ireland - do you remember that man from Prosperous, Pat Dunny? He was a great one, wasn't he? And I'd often recall John D. Hickey's description of Sean Purcell and trot it out as original (to my shame) "Yes" I'd say Pat Dunny was a great footballer entirely". The fact that he was as good a hurler is a tremendous indication of the contribution to Kildare teams by this magnificent all-rounder. Written by Hogan Stand Magazine 04 /06 /93 Tweet

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