Next Sunday’s Evening Echo County Senior Hurling Final will be a fascinating mix of the new and the old. The new, fittingly enough, is represented by the Cork Institute of Technology. It is probably Cork’s third youngest club (the two clubs that were formed since CIT are Dripsey and St John’s of Aubane). Carrigtwohill will represent the old. They have been part of the GAA since the Michael Cusack called that famous first meeting in November 1884.
Back in 1884 when Michael Cusack founded the GAA, one of his main aims was to preserve the uniqueness of the Irish character. The first patron of the GAA, Archbishop Croke lent his name to these ideals and in his letter of endorsement said “Ball playing, hurling, football-kicking according to Irish rules…and all such other exercises…may now be said to be not only dead and buried, but in several localities to be entirely forgotten and unknown.” This was never so in Carrigtwohill.
One of my fondest possessions is a copy of A History of Gaelic Games in Carrigtwohill written by Denis Walsh, John O’Mahony and Oliver O’Connor and published in 2000. (All three have autographed my copy) In Chapter One we learn that hurling was played in Carrigtwohill over 800 years ago. “A contemporary account of the Norman Invasion noted, the people of Barryscourt (Carrigtwohill) ‘carried a stick bent at one end’.” There are also accounts of hurling matches in the 1850s between the men of Carrigtwohill and Midleton that began at Ministers Hill between the two towns, and the winners being the side that hurled the ball back to their own home. It is because Carrigtwohill won the latest version of this ancient fixture two weeks ago, that they are in the county final next Sunday.
Carrigtwohill fitted nicely into the profile of a hurling area in the early years of the GAA. Like all the strong hurling areas, the land is good and reasonably flat. Although the club did not enter the first county championship in 1887, it did enter the following year. The draw for that championship was regionalised. Nine teams entered from East Cork. Carrigtwohill defeated Killeagh in the first round, accounted for Little Island in the second and lost to Aghada in the third round.
Over the next 50 years Carrigtwohill were one of the stronger clubs in Cork hurling. The club qualified for seven county finals between 1889 and 1937. Unfortunately for them, they only managed to win one county title. That was the 1918 final when they defeated Blackrock 4-1 to 1-7.
Three players from Carrigtwohill were on the Cork team that won the All-Ireland senior hurling championship title of 1919. Cork defeated Dublin 6-4 to 2-4 in the final. The three were Jimmy “Major” Kennedy, who was also captain, Ned “Sailor” Grey, and John O’Keeffe.
Apart from being a splendid hurler, “Major” Kennedy was distinguishable by the soft felt hat he always wore while playing. John O’Keeffe also holds a special place in the annals of the GAA. His father Pat was the first Carrigtwohill player to win an All-Ireland senior hurling medal in 1893. When son John won his medal in 1919, they became the first father and son to each win All-Ireland senior hurling medals.
Carrigtwohill had a very strong side in the 1930s. They reached four finals without winning any. They lost to St Finbarrs in 1932 and 1933. A controversy over the fixing of the county final in 1935 meant Carrig did not get the opportunity to play against Glen Rovers in that final. The clubs met again in the 1937 final when the Glen won 3-5 to 1-0. Carrigtwohill dropped out of senior during the 1940s but came back again after winning the 1950 intermediate championship.
In 1952 Carrig created one of the hurling shocks of the 20th century when they defeated Glen Rovers in the first round of the Cork county championship. Carrig were lead by the Cork players Matty Fouhy (who was captain) and Willie John Daly while, eight of the Glen team also won senior All-Ireland medals with Cork later that year.
My father, Donie O’Donovan was playing for Glen Rovers that day. In one of those strange quirks that the passing of time occasionally throws up, a relationship between my family and Carrigtwohill began that day. It has continued, on and off, ever since.
Twenty-eight years later, in 1980, the Carrigtwohill secretary, the late Con O’Mahony was working on a job with my father. He persuaded him to take some training sessions with the Carrig football team. Carrig had just qualified for East Cork Junior ‘B’ championship final; their first every adult football final. Carrig defeated Youghal in that final and have remained a strong junior football force since.
Carrigtwohill won the Junior hurling championship in 1994 and two seasons later I was asked to take a help out with the intermediate hurling and junior football teams. I had some great fun with the Carrigtwohill teams over the next three seasons. It was the first time that I had ever trained a team outside my own club of Glen Rovers and St Nicks and it gave me a whole new perspective on training and managing teams. The Carrigtwohill club and especially the president, Willie John Daly made me very welcome. The lessons I learned stood me in good stead during the rest of my coaching career.
In more recent times, when I was chairman of the Cork County Minor Board, the vice-chairman was Peter Hogan of Carrigtwohill. Five years ago I engaged a builder Martin O’Halloran, to work on my house near Ballyferriter in Kerry. When I called to his house for the first time he brought me into his front room. On the mantelpiece was a photograph of the 1952 Cork hurling team. I was surprised to see photo of a Cork hurling team so far west in Kerry so I immediately asked why it was there. “My wife Ann’s father, Matty Fouhy is in that photograph” he said.
Naturally, with such a glowing reference on his mantelpiece, Martin got the contract. Our two families have remained friends since and the link with in Carrigtwohill continues.
Even the most casual of visits to Carrigtwohill will reveal the deep pride and interest that everyone has in the hurling and football club. There is a passage in the foreword of the Carrigtwohill book that says, “…the narrative is, unavoidably driven by matches and championships…this implies an omission. Carrigtwohill has always been blessed with people who sustained the club with selfless attention to inglorious tasks…many of theses are only mentioned in passing with out elaboration on the contribution they made.”
While over a century of history separates Carrigtwohill and CIT, the same can be said of about the selfless work that has gone on behind the scenes to get CIT to their first final next Sunday.
This is the real beauty of GAA and the county championships. The competitions are not just about the players that take the field; they weave into the whole GAA community. Even someone like this writer who, on the face of it, has no earthly connection with next Sunday’s game, knows dozens of people, in both camps, who will not sleep well again until next Sunday’s final has long passed.
Sunday’s final should be a great occasion. Regardless of whichever team wins, let’s hope that CIT and Carrigtwohill will help restore the lustre to a final that was once known as Cork’s Little All-Ireland.