CLUB
PERSONALITIES (Present & Past)
When
Packie Hughes left his home village of Emyvale,
it was the proverbial St Brendan’s gain and
Emyvale GAC loss.
For Packie has proved to be a mainstay
of Gaelic games in London.
The man known as “Speedy” Hughes
had gained a reputation for fleetness of foot
in athletics and ability on the football
field. As
well as representing his local club he was
deemed worthy of county honours and had worn
the blue and white of County Monaghan.
Packie’s
economic migration saw him join the relatively
young St Brendan’s Gaelic Football Club in
Hayes, west London.
It was with this club that he has spent
the best part of 40 years as a player, coach,
administrator and sponsor.
So significant has his contribution
been to the Gaels of St Brendan’s that he is
the only one in the club’s history ever to
be inducted into the hall of fame.
As
a player, Packie played in a number of junior
competition finals when the Brendan’s were
an unfashionable part of the London GAA scene.
As an administrator the passionate
Monaghan man has held all the club executive
and committee positions.
He was also elected to executive
positions on the London County Senior and
Minor Boards.
A lesser known fact is that Packie
refereed a number of Gaelic football matches
before capacity crowds in Wembley stadium. Packie has been a selector with popular Donegal man, Tommy
McDermott, on the London County team and was
responsible for bringing a professional
approach to coaching the Exiles.
This duo was so successful that annual
approaches are made by the County London team
to bring them back.
They were also responsible for
developing the platform from which St
Brendan’s went on to win the London and
British Championships in 2002.
Indeed but for a kick of a ball St
Brendan’s were close to pulling off the
shock of the decade when narrowly defeated by
former All Ireland champions Crossmolina of
County Mayo.
It was Packie who proposed that the
west London team become senior against popular
opinion. He was vindicated when they won a senior trophy within two
years. In
the British Championship St Brendan’s wore
the jerseys with Hughes Taverns emblazoned
across their chests. The sponsor being none
other than Packie himself.
In
the Boot public house Packie has given over a
comfortable corner to his love of Gaelic
sports culture.
Artefacts from football matches,
photographs from across the ages and awards
won by Packie and St Brendan’s adorn the
walls. It
is a privilege to sit in this corner and take
in the ambience, enjoy Packie and Mary’s
company and partake of the odd beverage.
Packie is one of the best-known
Gaelic games enthusiasts and activists in
London. One
of Packie’s lesser publicised
attributes is his social conscience.
Many young Irish men have come to
London in search of work and Packie has helped
set them up in accommodation, employment and
the occasional handout.
Packie
Hughes is testament to all that is good about
Gaelic games.
I was once told that in sports that you
should give more that you get out, Packie’s
list of achievements and awards are dwarfed by
his immense contributions.
In a society overly focussed on
individuality, he has a refreshing commitment
and record for the betterment of others.
Back to top
A
personal appreciation by John Collins.
My
first memory of Paddy Corscadden is of being
picked up by him on a late November afternoon
in 1985, to go to New Eltham to play the
Thomas McCurtains in a minor championship
match that evening. At the time I was playing
for St Clarets and had only been in London
about four months, but as my own club had no
minor team, I was allowed to play for the
Brendan’s in the competition.
When
we got there, Paddy named me as goalkeeper and
threw me his black referees jersey (the
goalkeeper’s top had long disappeared from
the particular set of woollen jerseys we were
using that evening).During the game I got hit
with a ball in the face and when the match was
over I asked Paddy to check to see what damage
had been done (the fixtures and fittings at
New Eltham didn’t stretch to mirrors). He
told me that there was nothing wrong and he
handed me an apple from Jim O’Regan’s bag.
The next day I had one tooth crowned and
another
two capped. I hear apples are good for
teeth. It’s just as well Paddy chose to be a
brickie and not a dentist!
When
the opportunity arose for me to join the
Brendan’s in 1991, Paddy, unbeknown to me,
was kept completely in the dark on the whole
affair. The look on Paddy’s face was a
picture when I turned up with Billy Galvin.
All Billy had told him was that he had a
player who was going to transfer, but hadn’t
told him who it was.
Talking
to Paddy much later about that night he said
that whilst he had no problem with me joining
the club, he was concerned that it would cause
a problem between himself and his friend Denis
McCarthy, who was still manager of the
Clarets.
Things
didn’t start that well between myself and
Corscadden when the season finally got going.
In my first game for the club against the
McCurtains in Dagenham I was played at wing
forward and in my next match was against the
Clarets in Hayes and I was beaten from fifty
yards out by Martin Hession. However, soon
Paddy began to accept me as part of the
furniture around the Brendan’s and a trust
developed between us. By the end of the year
he had handed me my senior inter county debut
for London in a challenge match against Offaly
at Ruislip.
Being
involved in a club like the Brendan’s at the
time took a great deal of energy and no small
amount of time. Players were constantly coming
and going, needing work, needing digs and more
often than not needing money. Paddy in my
opinion was a master at sorting all of those
things out. If it was to help the Brendan’s,
then nothing was too much trouble.
Winning
the Brendan’s first Championship in 1994 was
undoubtedly the pinnacle of Paddy’s
managerial career and his moment of glory was
richly deserved, although his role in the
success of 2002 is not to be under-estimated
either.
Right
through to the present day, Corscadden is one
of those characters that will always
leave a lasting impression on people. He is
good with people, he enjoys people's company
and has a lust for life, but most of all Paddy
loves football.
Back to top
Over
the years several “high profile” players
have come to London, basked in the glory of
their previous achievements and left again
without ever really leaving a lasting
impression on the people they have dealt with
in London.
Some
of these players have played in and won Senior
All Ireland finals, some have received
All-Stars and many were household names
throughout the GAA world.
One
man though stands apart from these individuals
as a player who came to town with a big
reputation and now fifteen years after his
arrival, it is fair to say that his reputation
and people’s opinion of him have risen to
even greater heights.
Hailing
from Ballyshannon in Co Donegal, Tommy
McDermott arrived in London in 1987, a couple
of years after his biggest footballing
success, winning a senior Ulster Championship
with Donegal in 1983. The year prior to that
he had played centre half back on the Donegal
under-21 team that had won the counties first
ever All-Ireland title and in the wake of his
success with Donegal he also played for Ulster
in the Railway Cup (winning it in 1984), as
well as receiving an All-Star nomination in
1983. Tommy had also helped his home club Aodh
Ruadh to two county titles in 1986 and 1987,
following in a family tradition that stretched
back to his grandfather in 1932 and 1937 and
his father, Jackie in 1951
At
the time of his arrival the club was in its
first year as a senior team, having been
promoted from the Intermediate ranks following
an excellent run in both the Intermediate
League and championship. Former All-Star Colm
McKinstry, another legend of Ulster football
and long time servant of Armagh, was also
playing for the club at the time and the
arrival of the young McDermott was seen as a
real coup.
Over
the next few years the Brendan's began to find
their feet at senior level and with McDermott
controlling the team from centre back, they
were soon competing with the big boys for the
major honours.
The
first break through of note came in 1990 when
the club made their first Senior Final only to
be beaten by a Tir Chonaill Gaels team, that
in fairness was probably the best club side
ever to come out of London.
The
following year, a call from Brian McEniff
persuaded Tommy to try his luck with the
Donegal team once more and he agreed to sign
home to his native Aodh Ruadh club for that
year’s Donegal championship ; the year
turned out to be a poor one for both Aodh
Ruadh and the St Brendan's alike.
When
he returned to the club in ‘92 Sligo man
Frankie Dowd had established himself at centre
back and the decision was made to try and
experiment with Tommy at centre forward and
full forward. Despite the fact that he was
capable of playing the position with great
ease, a niggling knee injury made his
contributions fairly ineffective, although he
did score the decisive goal for the team in
the final of the 1991 Conway Cup (played in
1992), when he latched on to a cross from
fellow Ballyshannon man Frankie Gallagher to
seal the team’s first ever senior trophy.
By
1993 the condition of the knee had
deteriorated and with it Tommy’s fitness. An
attempt to make the London senior team in the
Connaught Championship against Sligo failed as
Tommy was unable to compete against some of
the younger, fitter players that were then in
town. Tommy had played for London in the
Connaught Championship when he first arrived
in London against Sligo in 1988 and Galway in
1989 (when he marked future Irish rugby
international Eric Elwood), as well as when
the team won the McGrath Cup against Waterford
in 1988.
Over
that winter Tommy had a clean up operation on
his knee and when he returned to the Brendan's
at the start of 1994 and with the departure of
Frankie Dowd he also reclaimed the centre back
spot.
1994
was of course the year the club reached their
Holy Grail and won the championship with Tommy
playing a very significant role in the whole
year.
Over
the next few years Tommy’s performances
continued to maintain that consistency one
would expect from an inter-county player of
his quality and indeed he played in another
county final in 1997, again against the Gaels
and again a game that the Brendan's lost.
1997
also saw a shift in responsibility for
McDermott. Following a disastrous National
League campaign several London players
approached the London manager Pat Griffin and
demanded that efforts be made to get Tommy
involved in the set up. Tommy agreed and in
the space of six weeks he transformed what was
a shambles of a team into one that was cruelly
beaten in extra time by Leitrim, in what was
one of London’s finest ever performances in
the Championship.
Tommy
stayed on as trainer in 1998 and
was on one occasion forced to play at
full back for the team in a National League
game against Westmeath at Castletowngeoghan.
That year the team was narrowly beaten by
Sligo in the Championship and the following
year Tommy accepted the job as manager of the
team for the historic game against Galway, the
reigning All-Ireland champions.
The
impression that McDermott made following the
1999 game was massive and despite a ten point
defeat, the team walked away with their heads
held high. Tommy stayed on for a disappointing
campaign in 2000 against Roscommon and then
handed over the reigns of the team
2001
was to see the end of Tommy’s serious
playing days when a continual neck problem
resulted in major surgery to remove two
vertebrae from his back. That year the Brendan's
got to another final, again against Tir
Chonaill Gaels and despite bringing the game
to a replay, the Donegal men were once again
victorious. The absence of Tommy from the
centre of the defence was crucial to the team
during that series of games.
Having
taken on the role of club chairman in 2001,
Tommy was in place to over-see the most
successful year in the club’s history, when
in 2002 they not only won the London
Championship but also the Provincial crown and
in the resulting game did so much for London
football when narrowly beaten by Crossmolina.
With the help of Tommy’s organisational
skills the club were able to enter the game as
well prepared as they could have wished to be.
At
the end of
a disappointing 2003 McDermott will no
doubt be full of ideas for moving the club
forward again after a year when, it would be
fair to say, too many individuals in the club
allowed the previous year’s success to
distract them. If there is one thing that
Tommy McDermott will not tolerate and that is
poor application and poor attitude.
Back to top
John
Collins takes a look at the life and times of
current London football captain Kieran
McCarthy as he takes in St Brendans’
Championship victory in 2002 as well as his
own new responsibilities as London prepare to
face Sligo in the Championship.
Trying
to combine a full time study programme and
playing football is never an easy challenge
for anyone, particularly at this time of year
with exams looming and course work deadlines
fast closing in, however, the task of
satisfying these two masters is made even more
difficult when you throw in hurling
commitments and the captaincy of the London
senior football team for good measure. But
that’s the way it is for Cork man Kieran
McCarthy at the moment and it’s a situation
he is more than comfortable with.
Having
arrived on the London county scene last year
as a virtual unknown the man from Ballyhooly
quickly established himself as a fixture on
the London football team, filling the problem
position of full back with some considerable
ease and remaining in place all through the
National League and Championship campaigns.
Although a new face to many of the onlookers
of club football in London, Kieran was
actually in his third year in the capital,
with the previous two summers having been
spent playing at home and also in San
Francisco. However, those familiar with the
college football competition in England would
have been only too familiar with the Brunel
University sports science student’s prowess
with the big ball.
His
decision last year to remain in London
throughout the summer was one that bore much
fruit for the quietly spoken Brendan's man, as
not only did he achieve recognition when
playing in the London colours but he also had
the distinction of winning county and
provincial championship medals in both hurling
and football with the Sean Treacys and St Brendan's
respectably, a achievement he shared with his
fellow London team mate and Ballyhooly native
Liam O’Connell.
Looking
back on both those club championship campaigns
last year Kieran has mixed feelings about the
two All-Ireland quarter finals that he played
in. From a football point of view he will
always remain disappointed that the Brendan's
weren’t able to topple Crossmolina as he
felt that the team had enough chances on the
day to win the game. The preparation was
excellent in the run up to the clash with the
Connaught Champions and all that was missing
was maybe that little bit of luck or possibly
that more important factor of self belief.
As
for the Treacy’s defeat at the hands of
Athenry, he feels that there was far too much
talent on the Treacys team to justify a defeat
of the magnitude of that which they suffered
at the hands of the Galway men and the fact
that the game will be best remembered for a
paramedics helicopter landing on the pitch in
the middle of proceedings probably speaks
volumes for the teams efforts in that clash.
As
a personal reward for his achievements in
hurling last year Kieran was the recipient of
the Irish World Hurler of the Year Award, an
accolade that he feels was more deserved by
half a dozen other exponents of the game,
naming his fellow clubmates Ollie Fitzgerald
and Kevin Heaney especially as possible
candidates as well as Fr. Murphy’s Mick
Gordon and Colm Murphy of the Emmetts as other
worthy nominees. However, for Kieran it was a
fantastic end to what had been a very
memorable and successful 2002 for him.
So
now to this year and the small matter of
leading the London team against Sligo in the
Connaught Championship on May 25th.
As preparation goes this year has not been
ideal for Kieran. Having been honoured yet
quite shocked to be awarded the captaincy of
the county team at the start of the year,
Kieran’s contribution to their efforts has
been greatly hindered by a knee injury that
forced him out of all but two of the teams
National League games. The recovery programme
took longer than either he or his physio had
expected and he has only really been able to
link up with his team mates again in the past
month or so. As a result of this extended lay
off he is only just now getting back to
anything like match fitness, although he does
feel that he will be ready by the Sligo game.
Looking
forward to the game Kieran confesses that he
knows no more about the Connaught men than the
average football fan. Having grabbed the
headlines over the past number of years in the
Championship especially in the performances
against Tyrone and Armagh last year, he knows
that Sligo are indeed a very capable, well
prepared and organised side. However, he does
feel that their erratic form throughout the
last league campaign indicates that they are
by no means the finished article and given the
sort of complacency that big teams are
notorious for showing when they come to
Ruislip on Championship day, he by no means
feels that London are chasing a lost cause.
Whilst
it is obviously too late to try and change
anything regarding the fitness training that
the team has done over the past six months or
so Kieran does feel that if the players can
get into the right positive frame of mind over
the next two weeks and convince themselves
that there is a very real possibility of
victory in the game then anything can happen.
He points to the fact that he own native Cork
have been dumped from the Munster Championship
at the first time of asking this year by a
good but relatively inexperienced Limerick
team as an example of teams getting it right
on the day and also the surprising success of
Monaghan over the reigning All-Ireland champs
Armagh as another. Having tasted narrow defeat
last year at the hands of Leitrim and knowing
what it is like to walk from the field with a
head full of “what ifs” and “might have
beens”, Kieran is determined that if London
are to fall to Sligo then it won’t be
because the players weren’t prepared for the
game ahead but more because they were beaten
by fifteen better players.
As
for the coming year well Kieran is looking
forward to putting his student days behind him
for good at the end of June when he will
hopefully qualify as a science teacher having
completed his one year PGCE at Brunel. After
that he has the task of finding himself a
permanent position in a school and beginning
life in the big bad world of roll calls,
detentions and marking kids homework.
With
another exciting year in prospect for both the
Treacys and the Brendan's there is a fair
chance too that there will be little time for
rest and relaxation for this most personable
of young men as both teams as well as the
London county team try to claw back a little
honour for a Gaelic outpost that has at times
been its own worst enemy.
Back to top
“For
me it was a pleasure to be associated with
him”. Those were the words used by club
secretary Pat McNabb to describe the
impression that “Big Bernie” had left not
just on him but on all the players who had
shared a St. Brendan’s changing room with
the amiable Kiwi.
Bernie,
a former All-Black, joined the Brendan’s at
the start of the 1999 season, for “a bit of
craic”. The great thing about Bernie’s
interpretation of
“craic” was that it was about on a
par with what many of us would consider total
commitment. With a sporting background like
his, he played in two World Cups for the
All-Blacks, winning one of them and he was a
fixture on the Auckland Rugby team for many
years, it would be fair enough to assume that
whatever we tried at the Brendan’s, it was
going to be exactly what Bernie said it would
be, “a bit of craic”.
Bernie’s
involvement in Gaelic football reaches back
some twenty years before he ever joined the
Brendans. His father, Barney, hailed from
Frosses in Co. Donegal and ensured that his
children (all nine of them) were baptised in
the Celtic traditions and that meant that at
the earliest opportunity Bernie began to learn
the finer points of his father’s native
catch and kick game. He was soon pushing hard
for inclusion on his local Roskill Rangers
(later Marist Rangers) side and shortly after
that, a place on the Auckland team that played
in the annual Australasian Games. In 1986 he
was picked on an Australasian All-Star team to
play a game against the touring Irish squad.
Bernie’s
association with the Hayes club came as a
result of his connections with Brendan’s man
John Collins, who had played in goals for
Marist Rangers in 1996 on a
team that contained thirteen Kiwi’s
and two Irish men and that won the Auckland
Championship with some ease. As ever Bernie
was the fulcrum of everything that the team
did but by this stage he was being ably
assisted by his older brother Patrick and
younger siblings Michael and Brendan.
When
Bernie joined Zinzan Brooke(another future
Brendan’s man), John Gallagher and John
Schuster in an Antipodean coup at Harlequins
RFC, the opportunity to get Bernie to carry on
with his ancestral game was taken and he
signed for the club in time for the first
games of 1999. His debut was against the Tara
at Parnell Park, but the first real display we
saw was later that month when he outplayed the
former Tyrone star Jody Gormley to help the
St. Brendan’s win their first Senior League
title ever.
Aside
from his obvious sporting talents Bernie was
an absolute gentleman. He acknowledged the
authority of the referee at all times and was
sporting to the last, no matter who the
opposition were. Off the field he was
tremendous company and equally at home with
the students from Twickenham or the famed Will
Carling or Keith Wood.
His performance of the “Haka “in
the Red Lion in Teddington will go down in
folklore amongst all of those who were sober
enough that night to remember it!
Seldom
has a player had such a universal appeal to
everyone involved with the club. All the
players respected his efforts for the team and
he also gained instant admiration from all his
opponents, be he the victor or the vanquished.
Indeed it was a pleasure
to be associated with the man.
A
native of Glenbeigh, Co. Kerry, Billy was one
of few Kerry exiles in London who did not opt
for the Kingdom club. He joined St Brendan’s
in 1983 coaching underage teams along with
Paddy Corscadden.
In
1985 Billy, along Paddy and Packie Hughes took
the Brendan’s to Cork as they entered the
under 14 Féile Peil na nÓg, winning Group C.
This was but the first of a long line of
underage successes during Billy’s time with
the club. In 1986 they returned to Cork, but
were beaten in semi final by Renmore, Galway.
Although not successful this time new links
were forged with the Mayfield and Brian
Dillon’s clubs, who later travelled to
London with teams on many occasions. In 1987
and 1988 the Brendan’s travelled to Kildare,
where they reached the semi-finals stage both
years. The Brendan’s were also able to
secure awards off the field at Féile as they
won the Best Banner awards in 1985, 1986 &
1987.
1989
saw a very proud moment for Billy as the under
14’s once again took the Féile title, this
time in Galway defeating a strong Thurles Óg
team. Billy had coached and mentored many of
this Féile team since they were nine or ten
years old, and still ‘too young and too
weak’ for the Under 12 team; among them was
his own son Willie. As well as this the new
club banner, crafted by the nimble fingers of
Billy’s wife Margaret, also secured the best
banner award that year (and again in 1990
& 1993). Billy continued to ensure that
St. Brendan’s teams travelled to Féile in
the 1990’s and although no titles were won
they reached the semi-final stages in 1991,
1992 and 1993. He believed that it was
important to encourage London born players to
keep playing Gaelic Games and instil in them a
belief that they could take on the best of the
32 counties. Such trips did not come cheaply
and the players travelling were never asked to
pay a penny. This required a great deal of
fundraising and sponsorship and without all
those who contributed at different times, in
different ways, such trips, and indeed such
successes, would not have been possible.
Back
in London St. Brendan’s underage successes
went unrivalled by any other club. Along with
help from John Fahy and Timmy Donoghue, Billy
took teams to claim three Under 14 league
titles, as well as the Under 14 and Under 16
Championship of Britain titles on three
occasions. At Minor level he managed teams who
claimed four County League titles and 3 County
Championship titles. In 1993 he and John (The
Dub) McCormick took the minors on a tour to
Dublin and Mayo, where again they proved that
they could compete with some of the best teams
in the country. The successes of St.
Brendan’s underage was reflected in the
‘Independent Newspapers’ award for ‘Best
Underage Club in Britain’ in 1995
Billy’s
career with the Brendan’s was not solely
conducted from the sideline. He refereed
underage games for over 7 years and at senior
level for 5 years. In 1985 Billy was elected
club chairman, a position he held until 1996,
and he set about promoting and developing the
club, both on and off the field of play. The
following year the Brendan’s won the
Intermediate Championship and went Senior,
although there were to be many though years
before the Brendan’s were able to secure the
Senior crown. He introduced the weekly club
lotto in 1994, which helped to increase club
funds considerably. After stepping down in
1997 he was re-elected in 1998 and 1999.
Billy’s
love of Gaelic Games was never hard to see,
but his real passion clearly lay in underage
football. This was reflected not only in his
work for the club, but also with the London
Minor Board. From 1991 – 1994 Billy was a
selector for the London Under 16 and Minor
Panels. He took on the additional role of
Assistant Secretary to the London Minor Board
for 3 years and then the Assistant Treasurer
for another 3 years.
In
the mid 1990’s he was elected President of
Minor Board a position he held for 2 years
followed by a three year run as Vice
President. He remains Honorary Vice President
of both the London Minor Board and St.
Brendan’s GFC.
Back to top
“Its
time boys, to sh*t or get off the pot”, the
familiar cry of former St Brendan’s captain
Dara Faherty during the four years in which he
did all he could to push the club towards a
senior championship, a championship that sadly
he never achieved.
Arriving
at Strawberry Hill in 1995 from his native
Moycullen, in County Galway, to begin his
university studies, Dara (or Rustic as he
later became known), joined the Brendans along
with Ronan Hart, Brendan Bolger, Paudi
McKeever and Ian Reilly, four other new
arrivals to the Twickenham college.
At
the time, the Brendan’s were in what could
best be described as a transitional phase,
with the championship winning team of 1994
gradually breaking up, there was indeed a need
for a fresh intake of players. The five
players from Twickenham were just the tonic
required.
Dara’s
first match was on September 24th
1995 against St Mary’s in a 1-8 to 1-7
victory in the Conway Cup, played at Parnell
Park. By the end of the year he had played in
all the club’s remaining nine fixtures,
during which time they won they Conway Cup,
the Canon Stritch Cup and were also beaten in
the League final. By the beginning of 1996,
Dara and indeed the rest of his college bodies
had become fixtures on the Brendan’s team
and with it the clubs long and fruitful
association with the Strawberry Hill College
began.
Despite
playing in many of the league matches at the
beginning of 1996, all of the students opted
to play their Championship football at home
that year, as many of them had made prior
commitments to their native clubs.
1997
brought a change in attitude though and most
of the college players, who by now had swelled
in numbers considerably, to about fifteen made
the decision to throw their lot in with the
Brendan’s and it bore fruit for the club
when they qualified for the Championship final
for the first time since 1994.
Now
firmly established as a St Brendan’s player,
Rustic was awarded the captaincy the following
year, a role that he retained until his
departure at the end of 2001. During that time
he led the team to a Championship final as
well as the club’s first league title in 199
and three Tipperary Cups, together with a
number of other seven a-side trophies. His
value of his versatility was immeasurable to
the team and his ability to play anywhere from
centre half back to full forward often helped
the team dig themselves out a hole in the
middle of games. His willingness to take on
the responsibility of free taking also proved
of tremendous worth to the club, as there was
a genuine lack of pedigree free takers at the
time.
To
my mind the greatest tragedy in Rustic’s
career with St Brendan’s was that he never
won a championship medal with the club.
Despite playing in three county finals (the
2001 final went to replay), he never actually
lifted the cup. When you consider how little
work many put into a championship it is a
great pity to see someone as worthy as Rustic
not attain that goal.
Dara
Faherty undoubtedly deserves to be mentioned
amongst the very best of St Brendan’s
players and clubmen.
The Observational
Rantings of Headmaster Cullen.
For
nearly ten year’s now the headmaster of St
Bridget's in Armagh and former St Brendan's
player Enda Cullen, has kept club members
entertained with his witty observations,
anecdotes and half-truths.
Below we have a
small sample of some of his earlier
“creations”.
After
a successful club trip to Birmingham in 1995
·
Extensive
planning had also been carried out by the
Hayes club to ensure that Noel Collins was not
left behind this week, these included clean
underwear and a label attached to his back
saying please
return to Emerald Rooms preferably before
closing time.
·
After the presentation captain Gary
Fearon delivered a three page acceptance
speech which was so comprehensive in its
coverage of GAA affairs that only the debate
over amateur status was left out.
·
It was pleasing to see so many St
Brendans supporters making the trip to
Birmingham, they were rewarded with swallows
of brandy from the cup and one Mayo lady spent
so much time with her head in the silverware
that it prompted one observer to say she
reminded him of a calf at feeding time.
At
Paul Sheehy’s wedding
Tommy’s
Tip
Tommy
McDermott’s tip for this feature is designed
to help meet the needs of both one’s spouse
and the call of St Brendan’s.
“Probably the best person to give
tips on combining marriage and Gaelic football
is Paddy Corscadden, he seems to be able to
have more freedom for games than most of the
single fellas.
However, one tip I can offer is for
Paul to offer to not drink and to drive Martha
home from Ruislip on a couple of Friday nights
before the dinner dance, he should have enough
brownie points built up for the session at the
dinner dance. Failing that, arrive home on the evening of the dinner dance
with a few drinks taken and volunteer to
drive. You
won’t be allowed and you can blame the lads
for buying you drink.
That tactic has been very successful
for me.”
Marking
history
Schillaci
makes history
Enrico
Pellistri, a native of Massa near Naples, came
off the bench to feature in two of the games
in St Brendan’s successful venture in the
London 9-a-side.
This must be a first for the GAA with a
trophy being won by an Italian.
Giving
the “Bull” a helping hand
Bootless
It
is sad to report that a theft has occurred
from a member of the club.
Gerry Perry had a pair of Blackthorn
leather studded boots taken from Ruislip.
An inferior pair were left in their
place. Searches
of a certain car boot have proved fruitless.
However there is a positive side to
this story as Gerry has bought a new pair,
leaving some one to say that this was the
first time they had seen him in clean boot.
This is the second pair of boots that Gerry
has lost recently, with the previous pair
having been destroyed when his house burnt
down. The things people do to avoid training!
Giving
“Skib” a helping hand.
Wanted:Female
friend for a roving west Cork man who has now
returned to his roots.
Excellent prospects as he still has his
Confirmation money.
Paul Sheehy will put you in touch with
him.
After
a Conway Cup victory in 1995
St
Brendan's had a deserved win over their old
rivals, Tir Chonnail Gaels in the final of the
Conway Cup.
After the game Pat Corscadden, with his
hands on the cup, said “ I picked a team to
win today”.
Some might ask what does he do on other
days.
On
The Wonders of Modern Medicine
Wes
Duncan would
have been amazed at the miraculous recovery
made by Pat McNabb in the Four Seasons Hotel.
Arriving in Northern Ireland on
crutches as a result of a football injury, he
was able after 30 minutes and three pints to
discard the walking aides and dance all night
often on his own.
Mind you, it wasn’t just Lazarus
McNabb who recovered from injury, Niall
Barry’s sore knee was able to perform a rave
routine.
On
Travelling Overseas
For
those of you contemplating air travel, make
sure that you take your good suit in the
aircraft cabin.
Enda Roche made this mistake and
discovered on the morning of the ceremony that
the unpressurised atmosphere had shrunk his
attire. Thanks
to a Monaghan retailer, Enda was able to
purchase a new suit and have it hemmed within
30 minutes.
Pat Corscadden was happy as he was able
to fit into Enda’s old suit.
Enda showed his new two piece off on
the dance floor.
Tony Fagan wryly remarked that Enda had
undertaken more exercise on the dance floor
than he had done all year on the training
field.
How
To Tame A Legend
A
source of constant gossip at the wedding was
how quiet Ronan Hart had become.
The ex St Brendan’s player, currently
serving a three months suspension for using a
hurley stick as a club, was escorted by Louise
from Keady.
It seems that it wasn’t only her hair
that she had straightened out for the day.
And
Finally…..Who not to tell your secrets to!!
The
window that Pat Corscadden broke gaining entry
to Packie Hughes’ Emyvale summer home was
easily fixed with a plastic bag and masking
tape and will allow others to visit later in
the year.
Back to top
When
Armagh man Gary Fearon made his initial
journey up to London to play for the Brendans
in 1993 little did he expect to be still
making the same trip from his home in
Portsmouth eight years later.
But
that was exactly how it turned out for the
Carricruppin clubman. Persuaded by his former
college friend Laurence Strain to try football
in the capital as opposed to the Gloucester
league with Southern Gaels, Gary arrived on
Valentines Day 1993 to play in a challenge
match against Acton Gaels in Hayes.
It
would have been most unfair to judge Gary on
his first game for as
he was hung over and playing in a
completely new team, in the middle of winter
and in a position that he was less than
familiar with at centre halfback. However, he
did enough to convince the selectors that he
was worth bringing up from Hampshire again and
thus began Gary’s love affair with the club.
Gary
was a virtual ever-present in the team for the
rest of the year and after being selected for
the London Senior panel by P.J. McGinley, Gary
began to make his 140 mile round trip from
Portsmouth up to London four times a week for
over three months. Whilst this fact alone may
sound very commendable, when you consider that
Gary did not drive at the time and that his
journey was made each day by a combination of
rail, boat, coach, car and bicycle transport,
then you can fully appreciate the level of
effort that Gary was prepared to put into his
time with the Brendans.
Consistency
was the keyword when talking about Gary and
this trait led him to playing in two Connaught
Championships for London as well as being
selected on the first London team to play in
the National League (as ever Gary managed to
contribute a point in London’s win over
Waterford).
Indeed, he would have been able to add
considerably to this appearance record had he
not decided himself to shelve his inter-county
ambitions following the 1994 Championship game
against Galway.
Gary’s
contribution to the 1994 Championship winning
season was immense not just for his
outstanding displays as an attacking wing back
but also for the inspirational leadership he
provided as team captain. The respect that he
commanded amongst the players was unquestioned
and on the few occasions that he missed games
his true value was really emphasised to his
team-mates.
During
the 1996 Championship encounter with Tir
Conaill Gaels Gary was to suffer a serious
knee injury, which kept him out of football
for almost a year.
Gary
soldiered through 1997 and 1998, playing in
the county final of 1997 but by the time the
1999 season came around the enjoyment factor
had long disappeared for him. His trips up the
A3 became fewer and at the beginning of 2000
he decided to call an end to his football
career with the Brendans.
I
doubt very much if anyone will ever make as
much selfless sacrifice for the Brendans as
Gary did during his eight year association
with the club.
I also doubt very much if the club will
ever be lucky enough to benefit from the
services of such an outstanding individual for
as long as they did with Gary Fearon.
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