Brothers in Sport Read online

  To

  Abbie, Dara and Aoife

  MERCIER PRESS

  3B Oak House, Bessboro Rd

  Blackrock, Cork, Ireland.

  www.mercierpress.ie

  http://twitter.com/IrishPublisher

  http://www.facebook.com/mercier.press

  © Donal Keenan, 2010

  © Foreword: Criostóir Ó Cuana, 2010

  ISBN: 978 1 85635 742 5

  This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Foreword

  Is cúis mhór áthais dom na focail seo a leanas a scríobh don leabhar seo agus scéalta clainne bailithe ag an údar ag deánamh mionscrúdú ar roinnt de na deartháireacha is cáiliúla in ár gcluichí.

  The family unit has always stood out for the unique and stand-alone contribution that it has made, and continues to make, to our association. If any one aspect of our membership encapsulates and distils what the GAA represents, it is the role of so many families who help make our club network the bedrock of the association.

  Of course that unique family contribution does not stop at club level but features prominently at county level too, adding further credence to the importance of home place, identity and representation.

  This book captures between two covers the incredible family ties and the contribution that so many siblings have made to all levels of the GAA and notably to the shop window that is our inter-county scene.

  There is something special about a team – and especially a successful team – that includes a band of brothers. For example, the driving force role played by the Ó Sé brothers, Darragh, Tomás and Marc, has provided a fascinating strand to our games in recent years. Few other sports some close to matching this.

  A glance at the family names featured in this book is enough to spark memories of the incredible exploits of so many figures who have enthralled and entertained in equal measure.

  Of course it’s not just about the games. This trip through the decades also charts the vast social changes that Ireland has experienced in six decades and how family life has changed over the same period.

  It’s not so long since the GAA library was a limited and sparsely stocked one. I am glad to say that this has well and truly changed, and the publication of Brothers in Sport – GAA is a valued and most welcome entry shining a light on a fascinating dimension to our association’s activities.

  Rath Dé ar an obair.

  Criostóir Ó Cuana

  Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael

  Introduction

  Time and space. You never have enough of either especially when undertaking a project such as this one.

  The stories here are the result of a journey this year that allowed me to revisit the four corners of Ireland, and places in between, to meet old friends and, hopefully, make some new ones. Those miles travelled and the family histories that were recounted, illustrate, in often startling fashion, just how much Ireland has changed over the last half-century.

  My fourteen-year-old son was often a companion on those journeys and he listened bemused and amused as I recalled days using a wind-up telephone in a bar in Knocknagoshel to file a report on a Munster football final. That was the 1980s. Or hours spent cursing the traffic when stuck outside Kinnegad or Bray or Fermoy or countless other towns and villages. That was the 1990s and the early part of the twenty-first century. He could go through a long life without ever seeing any of those places on Ireland’s new road networks. He was rewarded for patiently listening to my drift down memory lane by meeting his heroes, like Seán Óg Ó hAilpín and Peter Canavan and, with his sister, enjoying the heartiest of breakfasts in Paudge Quinn’s fine hostelry on the Ballygawley Road.

  Visiting the homes of great footballers and hurlers and writing about them was the easy bit. When planning this book about brothers in Gaelic games, the real problem was deciding who to leave out. Mercier Press made suggestions, but the final decision was mine and I take full responsibility. The fact that there were so many sets of brothers from which to choose is part of the story of the GAA itself.

  Mercier did suggest Dermot and Paul Earley. I would have chosen them anyway and not just because I am a native of Roscommon. Growing up I had three sporting heroes. My father was one, for obvious reasons, even though I never saw him play. George Best was another and the third was Dermot Earley. I still consider him a hero. Though only ten years or so separated us in age, Dermot was a giant of my childhood in the 1960s and 1970s, and of my adulthood.

  Alas, Dermot had been struck down by illness by the time I got round to researching the Earleys’ story. He died at the age of sixty-two on 23 June 2010. He was my idol and friend. But his story in football and in the service of the nation, rising to the post of chief-of-staff of the Irish army, tells itself. The hours spent with his brother Paul were fascinating and thought-provoking, and I hope this is conveyed. The GAA should mine this man’s flair and talent for all it is worth. I am glad to report that process has started.

  Friends advised that I get the best mix of counties possible, so it was decided not to profile two families from one county. That ruled out Tony and Éamon McManus from Roscommon and lots of others. As ever, Offaly proved to be the exception. In GAA terms, probably in others as well, Offaly has always been exceptional. In football, I could have chosen either side of the Connor family from Walsh Island, the Fitzgeralds or the Darbys. But I chose the Lowrys and hopefully the chapter explains why. The revelation by Michael that an irate Eugene McGee dumped Brian Cowen in the centre of Dublin after an ignominious defeat in the Leinster Under-21 Championship against Carlow was justification alone. There were multiple choices in hurling too, but the story of the Dooley brothers from Seir Kieran encompasses the rich modern history of Offaly hurling better than any.

  In choosing the Ó Sé brothers of Kerry ahead of the Spillanes, I was conscious that the story of the Templenoe siblings has been recorded often in the past. And the compilation of this book coincided with Darragh’s announcement that he was retiring from inter-county football.

  Travelling to Galway, there were multiple choices in both football and hurling – the Connollys, Collerans, Donnellans, Meehans and Cannings immediately spring to mind. The Cooneys of Bullaun are also remarkable. I often wonder if Joe were not such a quiet man would he have a much greater profile today? When talking of hurling genius, the names of Ring, Mackey, Rackard, Doyle, Keating, Keher, Barry-Murphy, English, Carey and Shefflin are always mentioned. Joe Cooney belongs with them. His oldest brother Jimmy is best remembered for a big-game refereeing error, when he brought the All-Ireland hurling semi-final of 1998 between Offaly and Clare to a premature end. But he has done much more than that in hurling. And, with four other brothers, they were the spine of the first team ever to win back-to-back All-Ireland Club Championships.

  The dilemma was the same in Kilkenny, Wexford and Tipperary, where there are also many potential subjects. But can anyone argue with the selection of the Hendersons, the three Bonnars and George and John O’Connor? Maybe you can. Having read the chapters here, I hope you understand my reasoning. A few hours in the company of George O’Connor is an enriching, almost exhausting, experience. The sport of hurling is in safe hands as long as George is around.

  As ever, I am indebted to the hospitality and generosity of all the people written about here. From Donegal tow
n to Dún Chaoin, Piercestown in Wexford to Glencull in Tyrone, I was received with great warmth and friendship, and I am entirely grateful.

  The support received from Abbie, Dara and Aoife cannot be valued. It was, and is, priceless. The kids laugh when they recall me as ‘an irritable git’ during the months of production. That says everything. I was just that. Thanks to all at Mercier Press, and to Ray McManus and the Sportsfile team whose assistance was invaluable.

  The Henderson Brothers

  Distinguished Service: For twenty-seven years between 1964 and 1991 the Henderson name was a constant on the Kilkenny team. Pat, Ger and John won eleven All-Ireland medals between them. © Ray McManus/SPORTSFILE

  In the sitting-room of their home on the outskirts of Kilkenny city, Pat and Mary Henderson have set aside one corner for a modest display of Pat’s sporting achievements. All Star awards from the early years of the scheme stand side by side with the Texaco Hurler of the Year trophy. Above that is the poster from the 1974 Texaco Awards, with Pat standing beside other Irish sporting legends like Willie John McBride, Kevin Heffernan, Eddie Macken, rally driver Billy Coleman, athlete Neil Cusack and rower Seán Drea. Pat points out the various photographs of All-Ireland-winning Kilkenny teams. And then he lingers on The Fenians. Everything goes back to his beloved club in Johnstown, the home village in north Kilkenny from which he blazed a trail in the early 1960s that was followed by his brothers Ger and John, and is still being walked by modern giants of hurling.

  It was into Johnstown that Pat Henderson was born in 1943 and where he would pick up his first hurley and learn the basic skills; from where he would travel to Thurles Christian Brothers School (CBS) for his secondary schooling and to further his hurling education. It was where he learned the values of community and fellowship that he passed on to his younger brothers and his own sons, values that are still so important at the start of a new century. It is to Johnstown that he consistently returns when looking back on his life and his sporting career as a player and coach during which Pat, Ger and John Henderson played a unique part in hurling’s history.

  From the day Pat first proudly pulled on the famous black and amber stripes for the opening round of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship against Wexford in June 1964, to John’s final game in the 1991 All-Ireland final against Tipperary, the Henderson brothers had a presence, and more often a dual presence, in twenty-eight consecutive Championships. Between them, they won eleven All-Ireland senior hurling titles and eight All Star awards. And they contributed substantially to a glorious era for The Fenians club, during which five county Senior Championships and a Leinster club title were won. Pat played senior hurling for Kilkenny from 1964 to 1978; Ger first appeared in 1974 and retired in 1989; John began as a sub in 1978, the only season all three were in the squad together as players, and retired thirteen years later. And Pat was the Kilkenny coach when Ger and John were members of the All-Ireland-winning teams of 1979, 1982 and 1983.

  In amongst the exhaustive list of achievements is a remarkable September in 1975. Over the course of a fortnight between 7 and 21 September, John won an All-Ireland minor medal, Pat followed hours later with a senior medal and two weeks later Ger was a member of the under-21 team that captured a unique treble for Kilkenny, Johnstown and the Henderson clan. ‘It was a proud day for the family,’ says Pat quietly. John admits that it is only in hindsight he appreciated what had happened. ‘I remember after we won he [Pat] came into our dressing-room under the Cusack Stand. He congratulated us and said, “now you’ve done your bit we’ve got to do our part”.’

  * * *

  Gerard Henderson Senior was not a hurler. Cycling was his sport. His father, grandfather to the would-be hurlers, played cricket. But Gerard was an enthusiastic follower of hurling and encouraged his eldest son Pat from an early age. Pat recalls excursions to Semple Stadium in the late 1940s and early 1950s, being lifted onto his father’s shoulders to avoid the crush or to catch a glimpse of some of the great players of the time, including Christy Ring. Back home in Johnstown Pat dreamed of emulating the feats of those players. There was no great tradition in north Kilkenny at the time. It had been in 1912 that the local team had last won the Kilkenny Championship and that was made up largely of men from Tullaroan. But there was great interest in the game. ‘We played in local leagues and in a small triangular field at the national school across the road,’ Pat remembers. ‘We made our hurls from bits of boards, we played with anything that resembled a hurling stick. A hurling ball was very precious and it would be carefully mended until it fell apart completely. Whoever had the ball decided when a game would be played.’

  For secondary school, day pupils went to Thurles Christian Brothers School (CBS) while boarders went to St Kieran’s College in Kilkenny. Pat was twelve when he first made the journey across the county border into Tipperary to the CBS, and became consumed by the hurling tradition in the school. He played at every level and won Croke Cup and Dean Ryan Cup honours, losing in a Harty Cup final. ‘Tipperary were going well through my school days and there was great rivalry,’ he says. ‘I remember when they won the All-Ireland in 1958 and one of my teachers, John O’Grady, was in goal. An ex-pupil, Tony Wall, was on the team. They brought the cup to the school and it was a great day for everybody. Naturally they rubbed our noses in it.’

  In Johnstown Pat was also enjoying some success. The juvenile teams were strong and, by the time they reached minor level, they had qualified for two Kilkenny county finals. It was a watershed. ‘At that time the area was not known for producing hurlers for the county team. I was fortunate that we had a bunch of very good players come along at the one time because it made sure that I was noticed. Without that team no one would ever have heard of me and I might never have played for Kilkenny.’

  In 1961 Pat Henderson wore the number six jersey of Kilkenny for the first time and enjoyed his first taste of success. They beat Tipperary in the All-Ireland minor final and he marked Michael ‘Babs’ Keating. They had played against each other in schools’ competitions and would meet often over the following decade, generating a great rivalry that developed into a good friendship.

  Pat played under-21 hurling in the inaugural year of that grade, 1964, but Wexford beat them. In that same year, he made his senior debut for Kilkenny. ‘The first time I was handed that Kilkenny jersey meant an awful lot to me, to the family and to Johnstown,’ he says. ‘Playing minor was great, but to be handed a senior jersey was special. It was unusual for someone from our area to play for the county at the time and I think that made it more important. It is one of the things that stands out for me. I cringe to this day when I hear that someone doesn’t want to play for the county. It means so much.’

  He won his first Leinster Senior Championship that summer, but also suffered the first big disappointment of his career when they lost to Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. They lost to Wexford in 1965 but reached another final in 1966 when they were strongly fancied to win. They lost to a youthful Cork team captained by Gerald McCarthy. Kilkenny’s success in the National League ‘home’ final and a subsequent visit to New York, where they played the exiles in what the GAA dubbed the ‘away’ final, provided some form of compensation.

  By 1967 Kilkenny supporters were becoming impatient. The county reached the All-Ireland final again and this time Tipperary were the opposition. Kilkenny hadn’t beaten their great rivals in the All-Ireland series since 1922. Trailing by

  1–3 to 2–6 at half time, their prospects of ending that losing streak looked bleak. But Kilkenny used a strong wind in the second half to turn the game around and win the title. ‘Because it was my first All-Ireland I suppose it does stand out,’ says Pat. ‘That and the fact that we had beaten what was a very good Tipperary team.’

  Back home in Johnstown, Ger and John had watched the final on television. Pat’s first final in 1964 is also a treasured childhood memory for the youngest members of the family. Another brother Michael, next oldest to Pat, was a hunting and fishing e
nthusiast. Their sister Margaret ensured the hurling bloodlines would remain blue when she married into the Fitzpatrick family, well known in hurling circles in Kilkenny and beyond. They shared in the family pride. Pat recalls the 1967 victory fondly for another reason. His father saw him win an All-Ireland. Two years later, at the age of fifty-nine, Gerard Henderson passed away. Ger was just fifteen years old, while John was eleven and still in national school. ‘Pat became more of a father-figure to us then than a brother,’ says John. ‘He became a huge influence in every way. He was fourteen years older than me so I looked up to him in every way. But he didn’t just influence us. He influenced the whole of north Kilkenny. As a hurler he broke the mould and many others would follow him.’

  Pat himself was greatly influenced by Kilkenny’s trainer at the time, Fr (now Monsignor) Tommy Maher. ‘He was a great mentor. Himself, Donie Nealon and Snitchie Ferguson invented hurling coaching during the 1960s and 1970s. They spent their summers in Gormanston studying the game, working out new training and coaching techniques. It was a whole new approach and those of us lucky enough to learn from him applied all the tricks of the trade when we began coaching ourselves.’ Fr Maher’s legacy continues to the present day – Brian Cody was one of his students as well.

  ‘Fr Tommy’s philosophy was that the best way to train was playing hurling, but he also realised the need to prepare physically. For that he brought in an international athlete, Michael Lanigan, who showed us how to get fit. Dr Kieran Cuddihy looked after our diet and everything else relating to our well-being. He was an excellent guy who made a great contribution.’

  Johnstown had been home to a number of different clubs over the decades. In 1968 the town had both St Kieran’s and St Finbarr’s. They decided to amalgamate and took the name The Fenians, winning their first Kilkenny Senior Championship in 1970. Pat was captain and was given the honour of captaining Kilkenny in 1971. They won another Leinster Championship and again faced Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. It was the first of five consecutive finals for the team during the period of experimentation with eighty-minute games. They were considered good enough to win all five, but were stopped in their tracks in 1971 when Tipperary won by three points in a high-scoring game, 5–17 to 5–14. They did win three of the next four Championships, the sequence being broken when they lost to Limerick in 1973.