Brothers in Sport (30 page)

There were hints of what was to come for Roscommon and the Murrays at the end of the 1930s and early 1940s. Roscommon won the All-Ireland Minor Championship in 1939 and Phelim was a member of the squad. The county team was regraded to junior status, however, and they won the All-Ireland Junior Championship in 1940 with Jamesie playing at midfield alongside Éamon Boland. Phelim was a substitute. They were beaten by Galway in the 1941 and 1942 Connacht finals before they made the big breakthrough in 1943. For the first time since 1914 they won the Connacht title. They beat Louth in the All-Ireland semi-final and prepared to meet Cavan in their first ever final. Phelim started at right half forward with Jamesie in his now customary position at centre half forward and team captain.

Jamesie described the occasion of the final to the broad-caster and author Brian Carthy in his book
Football Captains
: ‘As a young fellow in our own back yard I had imagined leading the parade. I loved looking at newspapers on a Monday morning after a final just to see a photograph of the parade. I always thought it would be wonderful to march behind the band at Croke Park. Now I was doing it and better still I was captain of the Roscommon team in their first ever All-Ireland. It was a great feeling. Then other thoughts crossed my mind and I wished I was away from the pitch and sitting in the stand. I looked up at Micheál O’Hehir in the commentary box and I imagined he was saying something like “here comes Roscommon led by the fair-haired Jimmy Murray”. It brought my mind back to my native village, Knockcroghery, and I tried to envisage what my father and mother were doing. I knew my mother would be praying and I could imagine all the crowd in the kitchen listening to the radio and I said to myself “we have to do something for those people”. It made me feel good and fierce determined to do or die for the sake of Knockcroghery more than anything else. I had a great village feeling.’

He was sentimental. This was the realisation of a childhood dream. But Jamesie Murray was also very tough mentally. His leadership was based on massive commitment and courage. He demanded the same from his team-mates. The final ended in a draw, 1–6 each. Roscommon won the replay two weeks later by 2–7 to 2–2.

They began the defence of their title in less than im-pressive fashion in 1944 when they were fortunate to escape with a draw against Sligo in the opening round of the Connacht campaign. Phelim was switched to defensive duties and Jamesie returned from injury in time to lead the team to a comfortable final win over Mayo, a feature of the game being Phelim’s two points from ‘50s’. They beat Cavan easily in the All-Ireland semi-final to qualify to meet Kerry. Jamesie later said: ‘To beat Kerry in the final was a wonderful thing. I have always said that no team can be regarded as champions until they beat Kerry.’ Roscommon duly did so by 1–9 to 2–4. Jamesie Murray became the first man to captain a county to consecutive Championships. Only a handful have followed him – John Joe O’Reilly of Cavan (1947 and 1948), Seán
Flanagan of Mayo (1950 and 1951), Enda
Colleran of Galway (1965 and 1966), Tony
Hanahoe of Dublin (1976 and 1977) and Declan
O’Sullivan of Kerry (2006 and 2007).

By this time Phelim had moved to Dublin and UCD, with whom he won a Sigerson Cup in 1944. After qualifying as an engineer, he continued to live in Dublin and would retire from inter-county football at the age of twenty-six. He was still around, however, for one of the most famous All-Ireland finals, the two-game saga with Kerry in 1946. In the drawn game Roscommon were leading by 1–7 to 0–4 with less than five minutes remaining. Jamesie had to receive attention on the sideline for a facial injury and watched with something approaching horror at the events taking place.

Later he recalled: ‘I had lost a fair amount of blood and I imagine I looked a messy sight. One of the St John Ambulance men got to work cleaning the blood from my face. He said he wanted to make me presentable when I received the cup. Thousands of other people, including myself, thought Roscommon had won. What happened is history. Kerry scored two late goals to draw the match and they went on to win the replay. The extraordinary thing is that I came back into the game after Kerry scored the second goal. I can’t remember how it happened but I definitely got back on the field and even got one chance to score a point, but I missed. It would have made history for me and for Roscommon if I had scored.

‘Of course that was my greatest disappointment in football and the thought of that day still hurts. We felt terrible. I knew coming off that day that we should have won the game and when you feel like that it is very hard to win a replay. I don’t like making excuses for losing but I think we were a very tired team in the replay. Collective training [with squads coming together for a week and sometimes two for full-time training] at the time was allowed and in 1946 we had seven spells of training, nearly two weeks each time, and it was just too much. The hunger was gone.’

Jamesie remained closely involved with the GAA for the rest of his life with St Dominic’s and Roscommon. He was the county’s Central Council delegate for a time and served in various roles with the club. His public house, his home for his entire life, became a shrine and attracted visitors from all over Ireland and abroad. During a fire that extensively damaged the premises, Jamesie risked his life to save the match ball from the 1943 final which is still displayed proudly by his son John.

An inspiration to generations of young footballers, he was the perfect host and many a great day ended with his version of ‘The West’s Awake’. He took up golf and played into his eighties. He died in January 2007. Phelim died in 2005.

Nicky, Bobby, Billy and Jimmy Rackard

Nicky Rackard was already a ten-year veteran of Championship hurling when Wexford reached the Leinster senior hurling final in 1951. It was their second consecutive final but only their third since Nicky had first established himself in the team in the early 1940s. His best years should have been behind him. In fact, they were only starting.

As he led the team out for the provincial decider against Laois he was joined by three of his brothers. Jimmy played in goal, Bobby started at centre half back and Billy lined out at left half back. Nicky had spent the best part of his career at midfield, but was now settling in at full forward where he would play out the remaining years of his time with Wexford.

Victory over Laois, bringing Wexford their first Leinster senior hurling title since 1918, began a period of success that is still heralded in Wexford and beyond. Not only was a new force emerging, but they were playing a different brand of hurling, moving the ball through the air and keeping it off the ground. It didn’t always make them popular with the traditionalists, but it brought them unprecedented success and encouraged others to change their tactics.

Jimmy did not hold his place, but Nicky, Bobby and Billy played in their first All-Ireland final that September and would become three of the best-known players in hurling over the next decade, during which Wexford won All-Ireland titles in 1955 and 1956 and played in some of the most memorable games in the history of hurling.

Although beaten in the provincial finals of 1952 and 1953 by Dublin and Kilkenny respectively, Wexford were continuing to build. By 1954 it seemed as if they were ready to finally end the long wait for All-Ireland success. They beat Dublin comfortably in the Leinster final and then scored an extraordinary 12–17 in an annihilation of Antrim in the All-Ireland semi-final, with Nicky contributing seven goals and seven points.

The final against Cork was one of the most memorable of the period. When Wexford lost their brilliant full back Nick
O’Donnell to injury early in the second half Bobby, who was giving a masterclass at centre half back, was switched to number three. With just minutes remaining Wexford led by two points. Then Cork’s Johnny Clifford, later an All-Ireland-winning coach, took advantage of some hesitation in the Wexford defence to pounce on a loose ball and score the decisive goal.

Nicky Rackard admitted in interviews after the game that he believed then his chance of winning an All-Ireland title was gone. In the twilight of his career he had played in two finals and lost both. A year later, however, he realised his dream. Bobby, Billy and Nicky starred in the All-Ireland final success over Galway, 3–13 to 2–8, Nicky’s goal at the start of the game providing the inspiration for a famous victory.

He considered retiring after the final. But there were those who claimed that Wexford could not be regarded as true champions until they had beaten a Munster team in an All-Ireland final. So they gathered themselves again for another campaign and duly reached the final, in which
Christy Ring was aiming to win a record ninth medal in the colours of Cork.

His task seemed hopeless when Wexford led by seven points during the second half. Inspired by
Ring, however, Cork gradually reduced the margin and
Ring hand-passed a point to give them the lead ten minutes from time. Wexford fought back to go two points ahead. Then, with minutes remaining, Ring bore down on goal. His shot was goal-bound, but Wexford goalkeeper Art
Foley stuck his hand in the air and saved. In the next attack Nicky smashed the ball into the net. The All-Ireland title was returning to Wexford.

Nicky and Bobby retired in 1957, the latter following an accident at home. Billy continued to play and won a third All-Ireland title in 1960, retiring in 1964.

Nicky worked as a vet in Wexford for many years and suffered from alcoholism. But by the 1970s he had overcome the problem and became a prominent figure with Alcoholics Anonymous. The brothers shared a deep passion for horses and horse racing.

Lar and Des Foley

Around the farmlands of Kinsealy in north County Dublin in the 1940s and 1950s the people had an ecumenical view of sports. Officially the GAA’s ‘ban’ on its members playing sports other than Gaelic games was in place, but the locals here played what they liked. In the Foley household some played soccer, others played football and hurling. In some cases they played all three. Lar and his younger brother Des played football and hurling. With work on the farm they didn’t have time for anything else. That was good news for their club, St Vincent’s, and for the Dublin football and hurling teams of the late 1950s and 1960s.

From their earliest days with Dublin under-age teams in the mid-1950s, to the conclusion of their club careers at the start of the 1970s, the Foley brothers would write a very special chapter in Dublin GAA history. They played in the 1961 All-Ireland hurling final when Dublin lost narrowly to Tipperary and were back in Croke Park two years later as the Dublin footballers won the All-Ireland senior title when beating an up-and-coming Galway team.

They played interprovincial hurling and football with Leinster, and Des created history in March 1962 when he played in the Railway Cup finals in both codes on the same day. He played at midfield alongside Dublin’s Mick Kennedy as Leinster beat Munster in the hurling final and then lined out with the footballers, with Lar at full back, as they beat a star-studded Ulster team.

The heady days for the Foleys began in 1955, when Lar won the first of two All-Ireland minor football medals with Dublin. They beat Tipperary in the final and the following year Des had graduated to the team of which Lar had been named captain. They defeated Leitrim in the final and Lar was selected on the St Vincent’s senior team. They were beaten in the county final by Erin’s Hope, but Lar and Des would share in some remarkable successes with the club in both football and hurling between 1957 and 1972. St Vincent’s won twelve Dublin football titles and four hurling titles in that period.

With Dublin they were back in Croke Park on All-Ireland football final day in September 1958. This would be a unique day for the Foley family. Des became the second brother to captain the Dublin minor team to All-Ireland success and Lar won his first All-Ireland senior medal when he lined out at right corner back on the team that beat Derry. Lar had already won his first national title at senior level earlier in the year when Dublin captured the League title with victory over Kildare.

There were signs of growing prosperity for Dublin hurling during this period. In 1958 they had lost to Kilkenny by just one point after a replay. They were beaten by Kilkenny in the 1959 provincial final and lost to Wexford in 1960, as Wexford marched to a famous All-Ireland victory. Even with that record of improvement, there was little expectation outside the team that they would make the breakthrough in 1961. Wexford were strongly fancied to at least retain their Leinster Championship and all the talk was of a re-match with an outstandingly talented Tipperary team. But in a sensational Leinster final Dublin beat Wexford by 7–5 to 4–8.

With Galway now playing in the Munster Championship, the Leinster winners went straight through to the All-Ireland final. Five players from the St Vincent’s club lined out for Dublin against Tipperary – the full back line of Des
Ferguson, team captain Noel Drumgoole and Lar Foley, Shay Lynch at left half back and Des Foley at midfield. Hurling’s first televised All-Ireland final would prove to be heartbreaking for Dublin. Lar’s sending off along with Tipperary’s Tom Ryan did not help the cause, but they also missed a number of good chances and lost by just one point, 1–12 to 0–16. Dublin did reach the 1963 and 1964 Leinster finals, but a great opportunity to win an elusive All-Ireland title was lost.

Hurling was their first love, but football would provide them with a measure of compensation for the 1961 defeat. In the 1962 Leinster Championship Dublin re-emerged from under the shadow of Offaly to regain the Leinster title, but lost to Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final. A year later they returned to the semi-final stage and a meeting with the outstanding Down team of the period. In an interview later with Raymond Smith, Des Foley described their victory. ‘That success was the making of us,’ he declared. ‘It may not have been a great team from a footballing point of view, but no Dublin team had greater heart or spirit. They trained very hard and showed tremendous fire in all their games.’