PROGRAMME PLUS – VOL. 1, NUMBER 10, NOVEMBER 11th, 2016

I love the October time of year when county finals are at their height and there’s no shortage of

fairytale stories to read about from all over the country. It’s also exciting for programme collectors

given the wealth of diverse material published across all four provinces, ranging from excellent to

poor.

And in keeping with the theme of the day, I am describing this tenth edition of ‘Programme Plus’ as

a county final special, with reviews of most of the publications I have got my greedy hands on to

date.

Before I get into the thick of it, I’d like to re-visit my comments on our county P.R.O’s from the last

edition. You may recall that I was scathing in my criticism of many office holders who don’t even

have the courtesy to reply to e-mails, whereas others deserve nothing but the height of praise for

their efficiency.

I received a few items of interesting correspondence on the matter, firstly from Ed Donnelly whose

work in Munster features regularly in ‘Programme Plus’. Ed noted that in defence of the P.R.O’s, in a

lot of counties they don’t produce the programmes. His own beloved Tipperary would be a prime

example. However, Ed did add that he couldn’t defend the lack of a reply.

He went on to raise a very interesting point that won’t be solved by programme collectors,

although more’s the pity. He noted that P.R.O’s are not appointed, they are elected. And no doubt

we are all aware of situations where the best qualified P.R.O. misses out on the job at Convention

because he or she doesn’t have the connections to get the position in a contest. G.A.A. politics

strikes again!

Ed poses the question: ‘Should Treasurers and P.R.O’s be appointed rather than elected given the

importance of these two specific roles?’ Ed feels that ‘yes’ is the answer, and I agree with him one

hundred per cent. Unfortunately, the chances of it happening are slim in the extreme. I have yet to

hear the idea even mooted at official level, and even if it was thrown out there, it would take an age

for it to wind its way through the slow-moving mechanics of G.A.A. administration.

Now to another point on P.R.O’s. I was in contact with the vast majority of them over the past

month as I specialise in collecting county final programmes and always try to get the full set. And in

the course of an e-mail conversation with one helpful gentleman, I was interested in this comment:

‘I get a lot of requests for programmes but most do not even say please not to mind include a few

bob to cover postage!’

That’s the other side of the story in a two-way process, dear readers. I can’t for the life of me

understand why a collector would expect to receive a programme via the post without at the very

least offering some money for the transaction. In my experience I have found that many send the

material free of charge anyway, but I never regard it as an imposition if they ask for something to

cover the postage, or perhaps an S.A.E.

After all, if only ten collectors from around the country looked for two county final programmes

from a P.R.O., the postage alone is going to cost a few bob. I don’t believe that cost should fall at the

door of County Boards, although some might disagree; basically, if you write away asking for a

programme, you should be prepared to pay for it and any associated costs. Nothing else in life is

free, so why should our hobby be any different?

For the record, the following county P.R.O’s have been very helpful to me so far in my county final

quest: Armagh, Clare, Cork, Derry, Galway, Kerry, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon,

Tipperary. I also received replies from Cavan, Kildare, Laois and Sligo, and in the case of some of the

others, I’m expecting them to make contact in the near future. I haven’t received programmes from

all of the above counties might I add, but at least my queries have been acknowledged.

All that being said, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty of this bulletin and take a closer look at the

various items that have arrived through my letter box since the last edition.

PROGRAMME OF THE MONTH: After looking at county final programmes of various shapes and

sizes, my choice for this month is the glossy 76-page publication for the Derry Senior and Junior

football championship deciders held in Celtic Park on October 16th, with Slaughtneil accounting for

Loup and Magilligan beating Drum.

I really like the magazine-style feel to the content of this programme, with a lot of meaty articles to

get stuck into. It’s the type of effort that simply couldn’t be read in its entirety at the games during

the various breaks and intervals, because there’s just too much content. That is always a good

complaint to have regarding a programme, and this one which cost £3 has a host of interesting

pieces to savour.

Three people deserve great credit for the finished article, namely editor and county P.R.O. Dermot

McPeake, designer Niall McGlinchey, and David Higgins of DJ Print who was responsible for

production. Niall came up with an eye-catching cover featuring cut-outs of one player each from the

four finalists, with two of them carrying what appear to be burning footballs.

The Irish language is never neglected in programmes north of the border, and this cover carries the

competing club names as Gaeilge. Indeed, there is an interesting quote from the late Seamus

Heaney re-produced on page 5, as follows: ‘Not to learn Irish is to miss the opportunity of

understanding what life in this country has meant and could mean in a better future. It is to cut

oneself off from ways of being at home. If we regard self-understanding, mutual understanding,

imaginative enhancement, cultural diversity and a tolerant political atmosphere as desirable

attainments, we should remember that a knowledge of the Irish language is an essential element in

their realisation’.

The Chairman’s welcome is on 3, before messages from the Senior managers on 4. Page 5 carries

the clár, the words of our anthem plus a piece and photograph of the singer, along with various

acknowledgements. Dermot McPeake writes: ‘We believe in offering a quality publication with

original material for an affordable price and go to great lengths to ensure we try to achieve that’. On

the evidence of this programme, they have definitely succeeded.

The managers’ forewords from the Junior finalists are on 6 and 7, with photographs of the referees

and the names of all officials on the top of 8, followed by a long list of all the young participants in

the half-time games super-imposed on an action shot of two eager participants. There’s a full-page

photograph of a grounded, celebrating Loup player on 9, although the absence of a caption is a

source of frustration to this reader for one.

Michael McMullan of the ‘Derry Post’ runs the rule over Drum on 10 and 11, tipping them to win

the Joe Brolly Cup (grandfather of that Joe!). There’s some super photographs on those pages from

past club victories, including a lovely one of a young girl cheering on her daddy. Quality photography

is an essential component in making a good programme, and this one certainly ticks the boxes on

that score.

Pages 12 and 13 are headlined ‘The Road To Celtic Park’, with the focus on Drum in four brief match

reports with line-outs, the list of their scorers, and four action photographs. Magilligan get the same

treatment on 14 and 15, and then Bernie Mullan has two pages of ‘Did You Know?’ on 16 and 17.

These are meaty pieces rather than short snippets, concentrating on historic items from the Junior

finalists.

Drum’s pen pictures are on 18 and 19, with head and shoulder cut-out photographs of everyone

along with name, age, position, occupation and best sporting memory. Magilligan’s similar two

pages are on 20 and 21, and there’s a ‘Can You Guess The Players?’ photographic special on 22. This

features 14 snaps of some of the county finalists from their childhood days, with the answers

contained elsewhere in the programme. I imagine this would have created a real stir among the

locals in the crowd.

Photographs from the involvement of Drum and Magilligan in the 2010 national Féile are carried on

23, with the point made in the headline that the event is now ‘bearing fruit’. The Junior line-outs are

on 24 and 25, with the club crests on top and a backdrop of the numbers 1 and 6 on fire, following

the theme of the front page.

The Senior and Junior rolls of honour are on 26 and 27, on either side of a generic photograph of a

red and white sideline flag on a green background to break up the text. Local reporter Michael

McMullan returns once more on 28 and 29 with a Senior preview where he correctly tips Slaughtneil

to do the business, although the four photographs included are all Loup-related.

Loup’s ‘Road To Celtic Park’ is on 30 and 31, followed by Slaughtneil’s. As well as brief match

reports on the paths to the final, there’s mention of a ‘man of the moment’ in some of the games

along with after-match quotes. The Loup pen pictures are from 34 to 36 and, would you believe it,

the first adverts since the inside front cover don’t appear until page 37.

Somewhat unusually perhaps, the centrespread is a two-page advert for Noones of Maghera who

are highlighting an anniversary sale. It may take a little from the overall production, but I imagine the

store specifically asked for these pages and no doubt the money they paid for the privilege went a

long way towards the printer’s bill.

The Slaughtneil pen pictures are on 40 to the top of 42, with adverts filling out the latter page.

There’s some excellent writing after the fold, starting on 43 with Conan Doherty’s profile of Mickey

Moran: ‘The Best Of The Best’. The Senior line-outs are on 44 and 45, with action photographs on 46

and 47 as well as a list of the championship top scorers.

The ‘Press Box View’ is on 48 and 49, with the opinions of six local journalists sought on ‘who will

be the most important player today for each team and why?’, ‘what will be the key match-up in

today’s game?’, and ‘who will win and why?’ Page 50 and most of 51 carries an interesting piece by

Paul Fitzpatrick of the ‘Irish Examiner’ headlined ‘Monsignor Laurence Higgins, Derry Footballer Who

Became Chaplain to NFL’S Tampa Bay Buccaneers’.

London exile Chris McCann has two nostalgic pages headlined ‘Glory Days - Well They’ll Pass You

By’, complete with a photoshopped version of the author in Bruce Springsteen pose on the rock

star’s ‘Born In The U.S.A.’ album cover. This is original writing as promised by Dermot McPeake in his

foreword, the type that isn’t seen enough in G.A.A. match programmes.

The late Seamus Heaney is revered in his home county, and on page 55 the former Co. Chairman,

John Keenan, writes about his aunt, Rosie, the inspiration of the Heaney poem ‘At the Wellhead’.

Cahair O’Kane profiles Loup and former Derry stalwart Johnny McBride across 56 and 57 under the

headline, ‘A Leader For All Seasons’.

Dermot McPeake has a thought-provoking piece on 58, 59 and 60 headlined ‘A Value-Laden

Association?’, taking his lead from an Irish government body which highlighted the large drop-out

rates in the G.A.A. but completely neglected one key aspect of the research. Lughaidh Mac Gioll

Bhrighde is profiled under the ‘Gael Ar Lár’ headline on 61, while there’s an in-depth profile running

to four pages by well-known G.A.A. author Seamus McRory on ‘Roddy Gribbin - The Last Man Of Our

1947 Heroes Still Standing’.

Steven Doherty writes about ‘The Bright Lights Of The Derry Club Championship’ on 66 and 67

above a superb photograph of action from a game played in Owenbeg with the rolling Derry hills in

the background. Photographer Danny O’Kane produces seven black and white photographs on 68

under the headline, ‘Do You Remember The Day’, focusing on the 1988 Junior final between

Magilligan and Ballinascreen.

A tribute to the late Hugh Corey by Bernie Mullan fills the top half of 69, with the Celtic Park ground

regulations below. Scór gets the next two pages along with some adverts, and there’s another page

of old photographs from Danny O’Kane on 72. Adverts complete a superbly-produced and illustrated

programme with all of the required factual information on the two finals along with a host of

unexpected material on a variety of subjects. Well done to Derry on a fantastic county final

production!

THE MONTH IN PROGRAMMES (COUNTY FINAL SPECIAL): I’m concentrating exclusively this month

on county final programmes, but I don’t propose to go into the reviews to follow in as much detail as

the above piece on the programme of the month - if I did, I would be typing until Christmas! Instead

I will take a quick scan through each item and highlight anything that perhaps was a little bit

different, or worthy of note.

ANTRIM HURLING (Loughgiel v. Cushendall, Ballycastle, September 25th): One imagines a great

deal of material would be available to produce a really good Antrim hurling final programme, given

the passion for the game in the area that I have witnessed first-hand on so many occasions. Alas, the

16 pages produced for £2 here was a really disappointing effort.

Six and a half of those pages are ads and, after the cover and Senior line-outs are taken out of the

mix, that just leaves room for a Chairman’s address and referee’s profile, a page on the top ten

championship scorers with action cut-outs, a page each of Senior profiles comprising photograph,

name, age and occupation, the Minor final line-outs condensed into one page, paths to the final, and

a half-page outlining the results of the seven county finals between Loughgiel and Cushendall

between 1985 and 2012.

ARMAGH HURLING (Middletown Na Fianna v. Armagh Cuchulainns, Athletic Grounds): I can’t give

the date for these games because it’s not on the front cover, and neither is the venue! The curtain-

raiser saw Seán Treacy’s from Lurgan play Naomh Moninne of Killeavy in the Junior final, and this 16-

page production didn’t have a cover charge either. What is on the cover then? A picture of the four

captains together with representatives of the holders, I presume, with the trophies in their hands.

Below that are the details of the times, pairings and officials for both games.

Each team gets two pages comprising a photograph alongside text in the form of addresses from

the Chairman, captain and manager. Killeavy don’t have a team picture though, so that page is filled

with a snap of both Junior captains with the trophy. Two of the pages feature adverts, while four

contain line-outs.

CLARE FOOTBALL (Kilmurry-Ibrickane v. Cratloe draw, Cusack Park, October 9th): Clare opt for the

larger B5 format and charge €3 for 60 pages. Séamas O’Reilly is a familiar face in the collecting

world, and his ‘County Express’ run the top score award as always which is featured on page 5. Peter

O’Connell profiles Limerick exile and now Cratloe stalwart John Galvin, while the 1991 jubilee pieces

aren’t just confined to Senior (Doonbeg) for a very good reason: remarkably, Cratloe won their first-

ever adult football title, in the Junior ‘B’ grade, as recently as 25 years ago.

Pádraig Mac Mathúna, another great friend to collectors thanks to his treasure trove of a shop in

Cusack Park, has a page on Kilmurry-Ibrickane’s first Senior title won in 1933, while Páraic McMahon

of ‘The Clare Herald’ (any relation, I wonder?) has a piece on Cratloe’s former Donegal footballer,

Antóin McFadden. My old college classmate, Joe O Muircheartaigh, has an interesting piece looking

back to the 1966 final which was played on the very same day, October 9th, and won by Kilmurry-

Ibrickane. A fine team photograph is included, although without a caption unfortunately.

CLARE HURLING (Ballyea v. Clonlara draw, Cusack Park, October 16th): Another B5 offering of 56

pages this time, maintaining the high standards set in the Banner over the years. Former County

Board Chairman and Ballyea stalwart, Michael O’Neill, is interviewed by Seamus Hayes of the ‘Clare

Champion’, while the player profiles reveal each panel member’s favourite G.A.A. person.

Clarecastle captain Paddy Quinn relives his memories of their 1991 success, with a match report and

photograph sourced by Pádraig Mac Mathúna on the following two pages.

Pádraig also has an interesting piece explaining problems in the early years of the Junior

championship, with his information sourced from various club histories. Meanwhile, Joe O

Muircheartaigh delves into the history surrounding the G.A.A. in the county around the Easter Rising

period in a piece reproduced from the ‘Clare People’.

CORK HURLING (Glen Rovers v. Erin’s Own, Páirc Uí Rinn, October 9th): 52 pages for €3, this was

the first major venture from the new programme editor on Leeside, Rory Noonan, who takes over

from Brendan Larkin. Both men come from newspaper backgrounds, as Rory is chief sub-editor of

the ‘Evening Echo’ and assistant production editor of the ‘Irish Examiner’, ‘Evening Echo’, ‘Western

People’ and ‘Roscommon Herald’.

It’s no surprise then that the design is quite eye-catching, starting with the four action cut-outs on

the cover (Bandon played Fermoy in the Premier Intermediate final curtain-raiser). John Horgan of

the ‘Evening Echo’ previews the big game, and there’s one-page interviews with David Dooling (Glen

Rovers), Shane Murphy (Erin’s Own), Peter Murphy (Bandon) and Jeffrey Daly (Fermoy). All four

clubs get another two pages apiece including a photograph of their mentors and a general history.

One criticism is that the four team photographs are not captioned. There’s no excuse for that in this

day and age when all it takes is to send the pic via e-mail to a club official and ask them to return the

names. An uncaptioned team photograph significantly takes from the quality of any programme in

my view. There’s a fine two-page look-back to 1916 including a photograph of the title-winning

Midleton team, winners over Shamrocks in the final of one hundred years ago.

CORK FOOTBALL (Carbery Rangers v. Ballincollig, Páirc Uí Rinn, October 16th): Slightly smaller at

48 pages, and again retailing for €3, this follows the exact same format as the hurling as outlined

above. The curtain-raiser this time again featured Bandon, playing Rockchapel in the Intermediate

football decider where they completed a notable double.

Diarmuid O’Donovan has a page headlined ‘Years Of The 6s’ where he looks back at all the finals

from 1896 right through to 2006. It’s a repeat of a similar page that appeared in the hurling

programme. There’s a grainy photograph of the Cork All-Ireland Under-21 hurling winning panel of

1966 which was being honoured on the day, certainly not an original and more than likely re-

produced from an original newspaper page. I’m not sure why this hurling team was honoured on

football final day by the way, and the Midleton county champions of 1991 were presented to the

hurling crowd one week before.

The 1916 review again carries a photograph of the football victors, Collegians, while the ‘Stars of

the Future’ spread has some celebratory photographs from after the three county Minor finals,

similar to a feature in the hurling programme.

DONEGAL HURLING (Seán Mac Cumhaills v. Burt, Letterkenny, September 10th): 16 pages for a

reasonably-priced €2, given that it includes no fewer than nine pages of ads. The remaining seven

feature the cover, welcomes from the County Chairman and Hurling Board Chairman, a piece by the

Seán Mac Cumhaills manager with a crosfhocal underneath, the line-outs on the centrespread, the

Burt manager’s thoughts above ten questions in Irish and the crosfhocal answers, and a page from

Colin Regan, the G.A.A. Community and Health Manager.

DUBLIN FOOTBALL (St. Vincent’s v. Castleknock, Parnell Park, November 5th): 24 pages for €3, the

Dublin club final programmes tend to be just about sufficient and rarely give collectors more than

the bare minimum in terms of information. Given the crowds attending their games, and the

relatively low cost of producing a 24-pager, I imagine their programmes are big money-spinners, not

that they’re struggling for a few bob or anything of the sort!

The player profiles are slightly different in that, as well as name, date of birth and occupation, all

players are asked for their favourite movie quote, sporting hero, and ideal dinner guests. There’s

match reports on both semi-finals, brief club histories, and paths to the finals incorporating the team

line-outs and scorers for the games. A fairly basic effort on the whole.

KERRY FOOTBALL (Dr. Crokes v. Kenmare District, Killarney, October 16th): 68 pages in B5 format

for €3, the cover is an eye-catching montage of one player apiece from the four finalists (the Junior

decider was the curtain-raiser), but neither the date nor the venue is included. And while the date

does appear on top of Clár an Lae on page 3, the first reference to the venue comes in the form of a

thank you to the voluntary stewards on 5.

This programme maintains the very high standard set by its hurling counterpart, with the usual

attractive lay-out, fine use of cut-out photographs, and a wide variety of features. The two pages on

Féile Peil na nOg 2016, complete with eight pictures on pages 8 and 9, does a fine job in conveying

the colour and success of the weekend. The Premier Junior finalists (Na Gaeil and Darran O’Sullivan’s

Glenbeigh-Glencar) get lots of coverage on their big day while Dara O Cinnéide pens a piece in his

native tongue.

There’s a page on Kerry’s historic All-Ireland Minor three-in-a-row, while Junior manager Stephen

Wallace writes about that side’s achievement in annexing back-to-back titles. Local journalists

preview the games, with paths to the finals and scorers incorporated into their musings. Fittingly,

Marc O Sé is afforded a page in the wake of his retirement from inter-county fare, while there’s head

and shoulder photographs of all Senior final panel members with their name, age, most memorable

game and toughest opponent (‘AIB when trying to get a mortgage’ was the answer supplied by

Andrew Kennelly of Dr. Crokes!).

The combination of information on the finals and a look back at the year continues after the fold as

the Hogan Cup success of St. Brendan’s (Killarney) is recalled by one of the team’s defenders, Cian

Gammell. Similarly, Maurice Fitzgerald is interviewed about St. Mary’s All-Ireland Intermediate Club

success and, given the absence of a Kerry yearbook for many years now, these articles will serve as a

useful historical guide to the highpoints of 2016 in future.

The plans for the Kerry Centre of Excellence look very impressive spread across two pages, and

there’s a comprehensive look at all of the county’s development squads from Under-14 to Under-17,

with all names listed. There’s photographs of six of the seven teams too, and it’s all done over just

two pages which makes it all the better.

Dr. Crokes were also the jubilee team from 1991, going on to win the All-Ireland Club title the

following St. Patrick’s Day. As well as reproducing that team photograph, there is an enlarged image

of the mascot from that occasion who needs no introduction. As the caption says: ‘That little boy is

now a man and he has gone on to be regarded by many people as Dr. Crokes’ and even Kerry’s

greatest ever player’. I also liked the excellent two-page spread on the 1987 final when Kenmare

District beat Dr. Crokes, complete with three photographs, two in colour, plus re-productions of a

couple of newspaper pages. Templenoe and the Kerry Under-16 girls also feature on pages to mark

their All-Ireland triumphs, while Jimmy Darcy writes about the G.A.A. World Games and author Dr.

Richard McElligott has a feature on Kerry G.A.A. and the 1916 Rising.

This is an excellent programme on the whole, a worthy souvenir of one of the bigger county finals

around the country. I should add that I received a full batch of Kerry club programmes from October

1st to the 30th, encompassing two separate Senior football quarter-finals (20 pages for €2), the Senior

football semi-finals (24 pages for €2), the Junior football final (8 pages for €1), the Minor and

Intermediate football finals (20 pages for €2), and the Premier Junior football final replay (12 pages

for €2). Some counties are very poor when it comes to publicising and marketing their club

competitions, but that criticism could never be laid at Kerry’s door.

KERRY HURLING (Kilmoyley v. Ballyduff replay, Tralee, September 24th): The programme for the

drawn game ‘won’ the monthly award in the last edition, and for this game the B5 format has been

reduced to A5 for 32 pages, with a €2 cover charge. The use of a backdrop of flames is becoming

commonplace on front cover photographs, and they appear again behind a tussle for possession

between two players from each side.

Sourcing fresh material for a replay is never easy, but a ‘what the papers said’ article is always

helpful and there’s one spread over two pages here. There’s Q&A pages with Paudie O’Connor

Kilmoyley and Jack Goulding (Ballyduff), and a nice tribute to Mike Marshall of Kilmoyley who died

suddenly during the year. Two more pages look back at the finals of 2006 and 2001, appropriately

won by Ballyduff and Kilmoyley respectively, while there’s half-pages on the Senior and Minor

deciders of 1966 along with a tribute by John Barry to a former Kerry goalkeeper, Jerome

O’Donovan.

KILDARE HURLING (Celbridge v. Naas, Newbridge, October 2nd): 44 pages for €3, with colour

reserved for the front and back (an advert), the line-outs on the centrespread, three pages

explaining how the Kildare finances are spent, and a page on the Moorefield jubilee team of 1991

(the club crest and background are in colour, but there’s no team photograph).

One amazing fact to note from this day is that the Naas club was involved in all three finals: Minor

‘B’ at 12 noon, Minor ‘A’ at 1.30 p.m., and Senior at 3.30 p.m. To feature in two finals would be a

fairly regular occurrence, but three takes some beating! The big match is previewed in an interesting

way, along with reviewing the year in general, as various personalities from other clubs are asked

questions on their hurling highlight, biggest disappointment, SHC game of the year, stand-out

players of the Senior championship, and key match-ups. Those spoken to include county hurlers

Martin Fitzgerald (Ardclough) and Paddy McKenna (Clane) along with Kildare selector Peter Beirne.

LEITRIM FOOTBALL (Aughawillan v. Glencar-Manorhamilton, Carrick-on-Shannon, October 9th):

This was a bumper day in Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada as the Senior final was preceded by the Minor

and Intermediate deciders. The programme comprised 68 pages for €3 on thicker paper than would

be the norm in other counties.

I’m an advocate of using images of old programmes wherever possible, so it was gratifying to see a

piece on the official opening of the venue 52 years ago included the front cover from 1964. Likewise,

a photograph of the Allen Gaels Senior-winning team of 1991 is followed by three-page re-

productions of the line-outs from the Senior, Intermediate and Junior finals of 25 years ago, with the

programme covers squeezed in down the middle.

Tommy Moran writes a nice scene-setting page, John Connolly of the ‘Leitrim Observer’ outlines

what county final day means, and there’s a sombre page reflecting on the lives of the late Mark

Rooney and Frank Heavey. Interestingly, Leitrim is one of the counties using townlands/street

addresses on their line-out pages. I’m a fan of this, and always did the same during my own time as

Wexford P.R.O. I think it adds another little bit to the magic of county final day.

LIMERICK HURLING (Patrickswell v. Ballybrown, Gaelic Grounds, October 23rd): This runs to 100

pages for €3, but that’s somewhat misleading given that no fewer than 58 are filled by ads. Indeed,

many are across two-page spreads, while there’s also a tendency elsewhere for right-hand pages to

be used for ads with reading material on the left when it should always be the opposite from a visual

point of view. I also note that the centrespread carries two ads. Is this a new, fast-developing trend

whereby the team line-outs for the main game appear elsewhere? If it is, I don’t like it!

Clearly the revenue generated from ads for this county final programme is a key driving force, and

it has been for some time in Limerick. In terms of worthwhile reading material, Harry Greensmyth

looks at the life of John Daly after whom the cup is named, while Liam O’Callaghan explores the

events of 1916 in the county from a G.A.A. perspective. There’s a page reflecting on 30 years ago

when Claughaun did the Senior-Minor double, and that includes a front cover image of the

programme.

The Senior line-outs appear on pages 66 and 67, and there’s a feature on the triumphant

Patrickswell team of 1966 complete with photograph. In another throwback to 1986, there’s a page

on Limerick’s All-Ireland Junior hurling semi-final and final games versus Monaghan and Kilkenny

respectively that year, a victory in Carrickmacross followed by a five-point defeat to the Cats.

Copies of this programme are available (cost €3) by sending a self-addressed envelope to the Co.

P.R.O., Eamonn Phelan, 19 Well Field, Garryowen, Limerick.

MAYO FOOTBALL (Castlebar Mitchels v. Knockmore, Castlebar, October 29th): Well-known

collector James Rocke is heavily involved in programme production at MacHale Park, so he knows

the relevant boxes to tick in terms of content for a county final. This may be a relatively small

programme in terms of pages at 28 (for €3), but all of the information one would expect to see is

contained therein.

There’s a nice page on the teams’ 1980 county final meeting made all the better by fully-captioned

panel photographs, while pages 6 and 7 are a feast of facts as they contain the roll of honour, top

scorers, and full championship results. A two-page Castlebar Mitchels club spread is topped off with

the Connacht Club fixtures, and in similar fashion Knockmore get that treatment too with the 2017

Allianz National League fixtures underneath.

The Burrishoole Intermediates from 1966 were the jubilee team, and again the piece on the

champions of 50 years ago was adorned by a captioned photograph. The curtain-raiser was the

Intermediate final, so the men from Westport and Kiltimagh are also bestowed some coverage,

while fair play to James for finding the room to include a paragraph on ‘Programme Plus’.

Among the many items James sent on, I also noted a 16-page programme for €3 was compiled for

the Junior and Minor football championship finals.

MAYO HURLING (Ballyhaunis v. Tooreen, draw and replay, Tooreen, October 23rd and 30th): They

keep it simple in Mayo hurling circles where just four pages were produced for both games, and

presumably given out free of charge as there’s no price on either cover. The reading material on the

back of the drawn programme is a look back, in words and a picture, on the Tooreen jubilee team

from 1991, winners over North Mayo in the final on a 2-11 to 1-1 scoreline, while the 2017 National

League fixtures fill the replay teamsheet.

MONAGHAN FOOTBALL (Scotstown v. Clontibret, Castleblayney, October 2nd): 72 pages plus cover

for €4 from Co. P.R.O. Noel Duffy and his team of helpers, containing everything that one would

expect and a lot more besides. The Minor final was the curtain-raiser, and I was interested to note

that the Corduff Gaels mentors included former All-Ireland referee Pat McEnaney and a relatively

recent addition to the list of inter-county whistlers, 28-year-old Martin McNally, whom I predict will

one day follow in Pat’s footsteps on the biggest day of the lot in Croke Park; remember where you

read it first! There does seem to have been a printing error on page 9 as a new Corduff Gaels team

photograph has been professionally gummed on to the original page by the printers. It doesn’t take

from the overall production though because it was done with great care.

All of the essential elements of a county final programme are included, such as player profiles with

head and shoulders photographs, paths to the final, rolls of honour, previews, and Q&A pages. One

of the more interesting pages is penned by Joe Hanratty and headlined ‘Back To Castleblayney’,

highlighting the fact that the county final is returning to the renovated St. Mary’s Park for the first

time in 33 years. Scotstown beat Ballybay in 1983 by 3-4 to 0-10, and they were successful again this

time around, making it a happy hunting ground for the blues. The Senior pen pictures are colourful

and well laid-out, with nine per page and featuring dates of birth, height and weight, the year of the

player’s championship debut, and their favourite G.A.A. moment.

A statistical preview on pages 48 to 50 also catches the eye, a detailed look at the match analysis

from both semi-finals containing various percentages focused on kick-outs won, the shots to scores

success rate or otherwise, the number of attacks, turnovers, and various other aspects of the games.

There’s also a lot of 1916-related content, and pages outlining the last 25 finals plus the full list of

man of the match winners since 1987.

No mention of Monaghan’s county final output would be complete without commenting favourably

on their Intermediate and Junior football championship final programmes also. Blackhill played Seán

McDermott’s in the Junior in Drumhowan on October 9th, and the 56-page programme cost €3. Then

one week later it was the turn of Donaghmoyne and Rockcorry to meet in the Intermediate in

Clontibret, with another 56-pager for €3 on offer.

Both programmes would put many Senior finals in other counties to shame, and it’s clear that the

games are treated with the same respect as the main event in Monaghan. Both are full colour and

contain each and every one of the features deployed in that Scotstown v. Clontibret programme

from the start of the month. The committee spent three consecutive weeks in October putting

together productions of the highest quality, and that was no mean feat.

OFFALY FOOTBALL (Rhode v. Ferbane, Tullamore, October 16th): 60 pages for €3, including a nice

two-page look back at Offaly’s All-Ireland winning Under-21 football campaign of 1988. They

certainly earned it, as I’ll never forget the four games it took before they finally defeated Wexford

after an epic Leinster final saga in Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow. One slightly odd feature is that the Minor

line-outs are on the centrespread, followed by the Senior on the next two pages when it probably

should have been the other way around.

The Offaly programmes follow a set format and are always very strong on facts and figures. As a

historical record, they build up over the years to provide a second-to-none compilation of club life in

the county. The last page of readable text features a report on the county football final of 1915

between Killeigh and Ferbane which wasn’t played until October 29th of the following year. I’ve

outlined the content of their hurling programme in greater detail below, but the majority of the

features mentioned in the following paragraphs are also included in their football production.

OFFALY HURLING (St. Rynagh’s v. Birr, Tullamore, October 23rd): 56 pages for €3, and featuring a

lot of factual and historical information supplied by one of our most loyal readers here, Patrick

Donegan. He contributed the top individual scoring feats of 2016 on page 10; St. Rynagh’s path to

the final on 13; previous meetings of the clubs on 17 (this is excellent, listing all 45 of their meetings

from 1944 to 2014); all-time top scorers in county finals on 20 (Phil Purcell of Birr leads the way with

4-4 in 1946); Birr’s path to the final on 22; Senior championship top scorers since 2008 on 39; the

2016 top scoring chart on 42; the list of all previous winning Birr and St. Rynagh’s captains on 43;

and a two-page look-back at Offaly’s 1991 National Hurling League final triumph which includes an

image of their line-out page from the official programme. Suffice to say that Patrick has considerably

enhanced the overall quality of this publication with his extensive research and hard work.

There’s a lot more interesting content too, such as full details of the seven previous final meetings

between 1971 and 2001, the list of both clubs’ final appearances thus far and their rolls of honour,

the full list of winning captains for both the Senior and Minor championships, Minor final referees

since 1986, and a ‘Senior Hurling Final Day By The Numbers’ feature where we learn that 29 steps

will be climbed by the winning captain in O’Connor Park to accept the cup. I’m sure Seán Dolan

savoured each and every one of them after his St. Rynagh’s side ended their 23-year wait for the

Seán Robbins Cup.

Incidentally, Patrick also sent me on the four-pager for the Offaly Senior hurling semi-finals which

was available for 50 cent. Its one saving grace was that the back page carried a full list of results at

that stage of the competition from 1996 to 2015.

ROSCOMMON FOOTBALL (St. Brigid’s v. Pádraig Pearses, Kiltoom, October 23rd): 100 pages for €4,

with the cover printed on heavier card paper. This has a lot of reading material although the running

order is somewhat haphazard, with the Senior line-outs on the two pages immediately after the

centrespread which has the St. Brigid’s team photograph and profiles of their joint captains.

The county development squads get five pages of coverage, with pieces written by assorted

mentors. I was drawn to a piece on the 75th anniversary of the St. Michael’s club because it includes

a photograph of their recently-launched history book…another one to hunt down! There’s a page on

Paddy Moran from Boyle, a participant in the 1916 Rising, while Brian Carthy of RTE reminisces

about his friend, the late footballing great, Gerry O’Malley.

Seamus Duke looks at the history of Dr. Hyde Park, Roscommon’s main home since 1971, which

couldn’t host this final as it’s halfway through a major refurbishment. That piece is adorned by a fine

photograph taken from the air of the venue. Other features include a page on Paddy Mulvey from

Lecarrow, a G.A.A. President’s award recipient during Christy Cooney’s tenure; a part re-production

of a newspaper article from 1966 when surviving players from the 1916 Connacht final between

Roscommon and Mayo were honoured; a look at county final day from the viewpoint of John Lynch,

Shannonside Northernsound Radio’s head of sport; a page on referee Paul Daly where I learned that

he underwent a kidney transplant as recently as 2014, so fair play to him.

There’s also a three-page look-back at the county Minor final of 2006 between Elphin and Clan na

Gael, based on the fact that the interest in the game was so high after the county had won the All-

Ireland title at that level. Patsy McGarry writes about being a Rossie from Ballaghdereen, that most

divided of towns, while a piece on the Roscommon All-Ireland Under-21 winning team of 1966 is

followed by a two-page spread of uncaptioned photographs from their introduction to the crowd at

the Connacht final during the summer. The original match report from the ‘Roscommon Herald’ on

the win over Kildare is featured across three and a half pages.

A very readable programme ends with six pages on the Clan na Gael jubilee team of 1966,

comprising a chat between Co. P.R.O. Hugh Lynn and some of the players, the newspaper match

report, and a page by Cathal Durney on the team’s goalkeeper, Johnny O’Neill, who died last month.

Honourable mention must also go to Roscommon for producing a 40-pager for €3 for their

Intermediate and Junior football finals in Strokestown on October 9th. Both games were draws, and a

32-pager for €3 was on offer when the teams reconvened at the same venue 13 days later.

Please contact Hugh Lynn (pro.roscommon@gaa.ie) if you’re interested in these programmes as left-

overs are available.

TIPPERARY FOOTBALL (Loughmore-Castleiney v. Moyle Rovers, Cashel, October 30th): 32 A5 pages

for €3, with Jeddy Walsh of the ‘Clonmel Nationalist’ ‘Hoping that an outstanding year for Tipp

football can be polished off in style’ in his match preview. There’s Q&As with Danny Lyne of Moyle

Rovers and John Ryan of Loughmore-Castleiney, plus a nice photograph of the Dunne and Campbell

families celebrating the involvement of their sons in Tipperary’s memorable All-Ireland quarter-final

win over Galway.

Both clubs get two pages in the normal format for the county comprising history, panel

photograph, list of officers and/or honours, path to the final, and a photograph of the mentors.

There’s a two-page montage of uncaptioned pictures from Tipp’s summer odyssey, while Jackie

Cahill interviews manager Liam Kearns. Eoghan Cormican of the ‘Irish Examiner’ writes that

‘Tipperary are on the right track’ over two pages and, finally, nobody covers their jubilee teams

better than the Premier county, thanks to historian Seamus J. King. The Fethard winners of 1988 and

1991 are the subjects this time, and they get five pages with paths to the final, colour photographs

of both teams, a complete run-down of both campaigns, and player profiles of all panel members.

TIPPERARY HURLING (Thurles Sarsfields v. Kiladangan, Thurles, October 16th): 64 B5 pages for €4,

editor Ger Corbett went for something different on the cover as he commissioned artist David

McElgunn to draw a cartoon-style picture of Kiladangan joint captains Alan Flynn and Darragh Egan

with their Sars rival, Pádraic Maher, holding on to the Dan Breen Cup. The Tipp final programme

follows a tried and trusted format, and why change it when it’s always so good? There’s absolutely

no need, and this latest offering is on a par with anything produced by the All-Ireland champions

during Ger’s long tenure.

On a side note, it struck me as unusual that the Senior and Minor final referees both hailed from

the same club, Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams. Most counties would try to spread the

appointments because it means a lot to clubs to be involved in any way on the biggest day of the

year. That’s merely an observation, and nothing whatsoever to do with the programme I’m

reviewing of course!

As usual, good friend of the bulletin Seamus O’Doherty contributes a wealth of interesting

information, and let’s hope his well will never run dry. Noel Dundon of the ‘Tipperary Star’ is another

whose byline appears more than once. Collectors will love page 12, as a piece on the 1960 final

includes an image of the programme cover and the line-out pages. Tipperary Minor coach Michael

Bevans writes about their All-Ireland winners, while a review by Seamus of his county’s golden year

includes a photograph of 23 members of the Seniors’ full backroom team of 24!

Another ‘Programme Plus’ regular, Ed Donnelly, is there with his daughter, Caitlin, as part of the

stats team. I’m intrigued to know what exactly the two ‘match day advisors’ do, and I’m sure Ed will

be happy to enlighten me when he reads this! The photograph also includes the manager, two

selectors, coach, three sports psychologists, physio, goalkeeping coach, video analyst, kitman, liaison

officer, doctor, trainer, S&C provider, two nutritionists and a masseur - that’s what it takes to

succeed these days.

There’s a superb compare and contrast picture sequence on page 38, with Bridget Delaney’s images

of a thronged Semple Stadium at the 2016 homecoming, above that of 2011 after defeat to Kilkenny

when there’s nearly enough room on the pitch to play a match in the background. This was an

historic final pairing due to the presence of Kiladangan, and Liam Hogan researched their last

appearance at this stage in 1938 and managed to source a captioned photograph. Jackie Cahill

interviews two club stalwarts, Jim Ryan (Kiladangan) and Joe Barrett (Thurles Sarsfields), as well as

the Semple Stadium chief steward, Robert Ryan.

There’s five pages on All-Ireland winning captain Brendan Maher. It’s explained that this chapter

was ready for inclusion in Noel Dundon’s 2014 book, ‘Captains of the Premier Ship’, only to be put

into cold storage when Kilkenny won the replay. The six-page spread on Cashel King Cormac’s, the

champions of 1991, is about as comprehensive as it could possibly get, and there’s a plug near the

back for the third annual memorabilia fair in Thurles on November 27th which promises to be a great

day.

WICKLOW FOOTBALL (Baltinglass v. St. Patrick’s, Aughrim, October 9th): A very disappointing 20

pages for €3, though no surprise unfortunately as Wicklow is not a county renowned for putting

much effort into its programmes. The only colour is on the cover, with an action photograph per

player. There’s six pages of adverts and four line-out pages (the Intermediate final was the curtain-

raiser), so that gives you an idea of the near-total lack of content for games of this magnitude.

There’s Senior player profiles across the centrespread, absolutely nothing similar on the

Intermediate finalists, and three lazy pages of uncaptioned action photographs. It’s difficult to be

charitable in any way about such a poor programme.

That’s as far as this review of county final programmes goes, but please note that there will be

more to follow in the next edition, including Wexford, Longford and Galway among others.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: You will recall that last month’s ‘From The Archives’ reviewed the match

programme for the official opening of St. Jarlath’s Park in Tuam, Co. Galway, on Sunday, May 21st,

1950. I received a lovely letter on that topic from long-time collector Michael O’Donohoe from

Caherpuca, Ballyglunin, Tuam, only yesterday, with his recollections of that day:

‘Your article on Tuam Stadium brought back some very pleasant memories for me. I was there and I

have the programme as well.

‘Dublin were represented by Geraldines, a well-known club team, and all of the players bar one

were from outside the capital. They had some great players and were a formidable outfit and could

take on any county team. They togged out in black strip with a pale green sash. They beat Galway by

4-4 to 2-9.

‘Before the second game between Mayo and Cavan a two minutes’ silence was observed and the

“Last Post” was sounded as a mark of respect to the late P.J. Duke (Cavan) who had died a short time

before that. He was one of the best footballers in the country in his early twenties.

‘The second game was the one most people came to see. Cavan had been champions in 1947 and

1948 and were league champions in 1950. Mayo had lost by a point to Cavan in the 1948 final and

had a score to settle. The first half was a dull affair with Cavan leading by 0-4 to 0-3.

‘At half time groups of young lads, myself included, scrambled on to the pitch to see our idols who

remained on the pitch. We were allowed to mingle through the players and we knew all of them from

looking at pictures in the newspapers. It made our day - indeed our year.

‘Cavan added a goal after the break before Mayo came to life. In a ding-dong struggle Mayo came

good and won by 2-9 to 2-5. Pádraig Carney dominated the second half and swung the game Mayo’s

way. The fisted pass had recently been introduced and caused some confusion among the players.’

Many thanks to Michael for that wonderful recollection and for really bringing those games to life

for our readers. He has an incredible scrapbook collection dating back to 1948, and you can learn

more about his collection in the latest directory which is attached to this issue.

For this month I’m taking a look at one of the programmes from the Wembley games which were

an annual event from 1958 until 1975. The British G.A.A. rented the iconic football ground in London

for the hosting of exhibition games for the first time 58 years ago, and the venture was so successful

that ‘Wembley at Whit’ became an annual date on the British G.A.A. calendar until 1975.

In 1962 over 40,000 spectators attended the challenge games, and it was a big deal for players to

make the trip in an era when overseas travel wasn’t as commonplace as nowadays. I’ve chosen the

programme from 1961, when Down met Kerry in football while Wexford took on Tipperary in hurling

on May 20th.

The programme comprised 16 pages plus a cover on slightly thicker paper featuring the only spot

colour deployed and a nice design incorporating the four provincial crests and a backdrop map of

Ireland. The London County Board produced this souvenir which cost 1/-, and the inside front cover

advertised another big game due to take place eight days later, with the Warwickshire County Board

set to host a football challenge between Offaly, All-Ireland semi-finalists in 1960, and Mayo, League

semi-finalists in 1961, in Alexander Stadium, Perry Barr, Birmingham. Beneath it was another ad for

the Kilmainham Gaol Restoration Project, with the officers of the London sub-committee making a

plea for assistance.

The foreword was written by the London Chairman, Seamus O Maoilcearcaig, who noted the

presence of 63 registered hurling and football clubs in the city with well over 4,000 players. ‘We

have one sportsground at New Eltham, S.E. 9, purchased at a cost of some £25,000, where six games

are played every Sunday.’

That page was numbered 1, and 2 had a brief outline of the game of hurling and further

information on the organisation of the game in London, noting that pitches were also made available

by London County Council, Dagenham Borough Council, Hayes and Harlington Urban District Council,

Chertsey Urban District Council, Slough Urban District Council, Watford Borough Council and

Tottenham Borough Council.

There a full-page ad for Guinness on 3, followed by the complete roll of honour for the London

championships and leagues on 4. An Aer Lingus ad is on 5, with a drawing of the playing field on 6

and an ad for the National Bank Limited on 7. The centrespread contains the football line-outs, with

initials only for Christian names, and each player’s position printed above their name as opposed to

the usual ainm as Gaeilge.

There’s ads for the Sunday Review newspaper and Mooney’s Irish public houses on 10, with

uncaptioned photographs of Down and Kerry on 11. Next are the hurling line-outs on 12 and 13,

with ads for the Irish Press and Dublin Bespoke Clothing Co. Ltd. on 14, followed by the hurling team

photographs on 15. Page 16 contains the names and addresses of all club Secretaries in London at

the time, and as a matter of interest I’ll list those as they appeared given that so many are now

defunct:

Brian Boru’s, Bros. Pearse, Clann na Gael, Cuchulainn, Duhallow, Emeralds, Father Murphy’s, Fintan

Lalor’s, Galtimore, Garryowen, Geraldines, Moinndearg, Naomh Mhuire, Naomh Mícheál, Oliver

Plunkett’s, Pádraig O Meacair’s, Parnells, Phelim Brady’s, Robert Emmett’s, Round Towers, St.

Aiden’s, St. Anne’s, St. Brendan’s, St. Christopher’s, St. Finbarr’s, St. Gabriel’s, St. Jarlath’s, St.

Joseph’s, St. Martin’s, St. Mel’s, St. Monica’s, St. Patrick’s, St. Phillip’s, St. Stephen’s, St. Vincent’s,

Seán McDermott’s, Seán South & F. O’Hanlon’s, Seán Treacy’s, Shamrocks, Shannon Rovers, Tara, An

Riaghact, The Harps, Thomas McCurtain’s, Young Irelands.

The inside back cover carries ads for the Irish Tourist Office and M. Whitty Sports Trophies, with

two more on the back for Ward’s Irish House at Piccadilly Circus, and James Conway Building

Contractor. The programme was printed by Woodgrange Press Ltd., Forest Gate, E. 7. I’m sure

somebody out there has the full set of Wembley Games programmes, and if so it would be great to

hear from you for the next edition.

COUNTY COLOURS: Seán Creedon continues his look at county colours this month with another

three offerings.

CARLOW: ‘Up to 1910 Carlow used the colours of the county champions. In that year a set of green jerseys with red and yellow hoops were presented to the county teams. These colours with pattern changes have been used since.’ CLARE: ‘Tulla was the first club to be established and the Clare jersey reflects this connection. Originally the jersey was saffron with a blue sash, but around 1920 the present hoops replaced the sash.’

CORK: ‘Cork played in a saffron and blue jersey with a large ‘C’ on the chest up to 1919. These jerseys were confiscated by British authorities and the county committee borrowed a set of red and white jerseys. The red colours were then retained. To commemorate the Easter Rising, last March the Cork hurlers wore commemorative blue jerseys with a large ‘C’ in the National League game against Kilkenny at Pairc Uí Rinn.’

THE MODERN PROGRAMME - BY JAMES A. LUNDON (LIMERICK VIA GALWAY)

‘I will put my cards on the table early here: I am not a fan of the modern programme, and for a goodly number of reasons too. I will collect until I cannot do so any more but that doesn’t mean that I particularly like what I’m accumulating from the modern era though. ‘To a non-collector, this sounds faintly sacrilegious but it’s the truth, and it cannot be avoided! Collecting the modern stuff has become a chore in many ways. I will try to explain why below, if you want to keep on reading. I may be a lone voice in the East Galway wilderness and would be interested in others’ opinions as to whether my arguments have any merit or not. ‘I think most modern programmes are too big, have too many pages of adverts, are too expensive, but mainly, are just bland. God be with the days when a good programme cost less than one euro/punt/pound, was the uniform A5 (or smaller) in size, and was produced with real paper, not the shiny plastic-ky stuff that all modern programmes are printed on. ‘Worst of all, the vast majority of modern programmes are, to put it mildly: characterless, completely and utterly bland i.e. have no real character. Most programme producers have converged on a particular formula that makes their productions pretty much an <insert-the-blanks> production job. I have produced a handful of programmes/teamsheets myself in 2016 and do understand the reasons for this but it doesn’t have to be always like this. ‘We are almost in a post-programme era, especially with the “threat” that the programme may not be printed at all in the future, but simply pushed to your “smart” phone, upon payment of some non-trivial amount of e-currency, though hopefully not “Bitcoin”. This has many advantages for the producer of the programme but it would spell the death knell for our habit, in the modern era anyhow. ‘The backlash has already started with e-books though, so such visionaries have been warned. Many thought that the e-reader would revolutionise the book market but after a spirited start, the revolution has petered out, thankfully so. I read something whereby about 15 to 20 per cent of the entire book publishing industry has moved into e-books. Will the same happen with the programme production market? I shudder to think that it would, but am sure that it will not. ‘So, what makes a good programme, and why? It must be A5 (more or less) so that collectors like ourselves will be able to store them efficiently. It needs to be cheap, or of reasonable value. I am only waiting for the moment when the G.A.A. will try to extort over €5 from unwitting punters for an All-Ireland hurling or football final programme. Hopefully, we are still five years away from that eventuality but expect to see your final programme diminish in size, while we are being conditioned for the price increase! ‘It must not contain too many adverts, as otherwise it is difficult to find the wood (articles) from the trees (adverts). It must have the main game team pages in the centre, not always the case in some programmes I possess. I am not a fan of programmes which have more than 20 or 24 pages. I also

am not a massive fan of programmes produced with shiny paper as this material doesn’t deal with water that almighty well. On more than one occasion in recent years, I’ve ruined a just-bought programme by getting it even slightly damp. The pages tend to stick to each other and seem to warp out of shape when a minimal amount of moisture is applied. I am not a fan of too many images in a programme but it does seem to cover a demographic (marketing-speak!) which most programme producers are trying to hit. ‘As for the intrinsic value of the information contained on those sacrosanct middle pages, ever since Ger Loughnane fatally tinkered with the sanctity of the 1-to-15-and-subs concept many moons ago, the programme hasn’t ever been quite the same since. Some innocence was lost and never regained. With (dummy) teams now not being announced until the Friday evening or the Saturday morning before the Sunday, the value of the programme has been considerably lessened, if not the time window that printers have to produce such complex and print-heavy productions. ‘Which Mayo goalkeeper was named to start in the programme for the recent final replay? And we all know how that ended! We are only a very small step away from fundamentally moving away from the standard printed-team formation we have become accustomed to since the 1930s, to a more teamlist/teamsheet format, where panel members are assigned a number at the start of the season and then retain it through the campaign; that the games of hurling and Gaelic football have fundamentally changed in the last 10/15 years only strengthens the list/sheet format argument and the move away from the old system. ‘Who will be the first player to appear on the field with the number 99 on their back? When your top scorer can be your full-back, or when your full-forward can routinely be the player who is the last man back, it makes printed team formations more than a little moot, if less than useless. What real value does a programme have if the middle pages do not contain a reasonable approximation of what is going on in front of your eyes? We all know that answer. ‘I have already alluded to the blandness that seems to be prevalent in programme production these days: All-Ireland series, provincial, even at club level, championship and league - they all look much the same these days. There are many fewer producers of programme nowadays than previously. DBA churns out huge numbers of programmes for the G.A.A. every year but they are very much of the same generic form, followed closely by the provincial councils who all have their own dedicated people producing and printing material for games. ‘Again, they have become quite standard in their format and presentation, for many good reasons let it be said, but again it’s a race to the middle (of the field). This is difficult for collectors on a few different fronts: all programmes have morphed into one globulous mix where one programme looks very much like the next; like those which were produced last year, identical to those which will be produced next year. ‘I have no clear recollection of the last ten years’ All-Ireland final programmes but I’m fairly sure I can recall the previous 50 years’ programmes, especially their colours and sizes and quirks, both hurling and Gaelic football. Perhaps this is a function of my brain coming close to its natural capacity, or my increasing grumpiness with general “progress”. Sometimes, more is less, less is more! ‘In the old days, there were a few different innovative programme designs tried out. Why not these days? Are modern programme producers afraid to try something new any more? Recall the 1982 National Football League final draw and replay programmes? One was a large format super-A4 sized production while the replay was a tasty menu-card fold-out production. Ying and Yang? Billy M and Páidí O S? Hard to store, no doubt, but interesting and different nonetheless.

‘The cover of the 1986 Munster hurling championship programme between Clare and Limerick in Ennis was a simple coloured line drawing of two or three players going up for a ball. Very distinctive. Does anyone know the story behind any of these programmes? This year’s All-Ireland final programmes’ innovation seem to be to mimic the Gaelic font of an old-style programme, or other print production, with some sort of fuzzy and non-descript 1916 theme overlaid. Wow…not! ‘Many modern programmes are way too visually busy in ways too, which can detract from the content they contain. I blame modern technology for this, with increasingly powerful desktop publishing systems being employed to the detriment of good old-fashioned journalism and research. So much so that I don’t bother studying them very closely any more. There is nothing new to learn anyhow, only the requirement to tick said programme off my wants list, and move on to the next gap that is to be filled, modern or not. ‘Perhaps I’ve just fallen out of love with programmes, even just a little bit? Maybe the modern romance has died for me? I have even toyed with the idea of just stopping my accumulation of all the modern stuff, but is that a step too far? My wife wouldn’t disagree ;-).’ LABOURS OF LOVE: It’s proving to be a bumper month for the arrival of new club histories, with Co.

Tipperary leading the way. Kilruane MacDonaghs were first, with the following snippet by Seamus

O’Doherty appearing in the recent Thurles Sarsfields v. Ballygunner AIB Munster Club Senior hurling

championship programme:

‘Gilbert Williams has been a great servant to the club over the decades and apart from playing,

coaching and acting as PRO he recently updated the club’s history. The launch of “Kilruane

MacDonaghs 1970-2013 Heirs To A Proud Tradition” took place in the club house at Cloughjordan, on

Friday, October 14th. The publication is a magnum opus and well worth buying, even if you only want

to check out the 442 photographs.’

I have made contact with Gilbert, and he tells me that the book is available for sale in the Book

Shop, Friary Street, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. Alternatively, you may write to the author at Stoneyacre,

Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary to secure a copy. The book costs €30 and postage is €8 extra, given that

it’s a 560-page hardback. Gilbert may also be contacted via 087-2176452 or

gilbertwilliams09@gmail.com

Another book will be launched tomorrow (Saturday) in Clonmel, and my thanks to Joe Lonergan for

forwarding the following details which appeared first in the local ‘Nationalist’ newspaper:

ST. MARY’S HURLING AND CAMOGIE CLUB CLONMEL 1929-2015 (Seán O’Donnell)

‘The history of St. Mary’s Hurling and Camogie Club (1929-2015) will be launched at the G.A.A.

Centre, Western Road, Clonmel, on Saturday, November 12th, at 8 p.m. Michael Ryan, manager of the

Tipperary Senior hurling team which won this year’s All-Ireland title, will perform the official launch.

‘The history is an update of the book originally published 25 years ago, and is once again written by

Seán O’Donnell. That original book proved so popular that it was soon sold out and today is a

collector’s item. Back in 1989 the print run was 500 copies and again with the 2016 edition only 500

copies will be printed.

‘The re-launched book will include the former edition in its entirety together with an account of the

G.A.A. in Clonmel from the Association's foundation in Thurles in 1884 to the starting of St. Mary’s

hurling club in 1929. It will also include an outline of events up to November, 2015, when the club’s

Minor team won the county title for the very first time.

‘The new book will have a section on camogie and will include many photographs of players of all

ages, some as young as six. Most players over the generations who have donned the St. Mary’s

jersey, even at Juvenile level, are mentioned in this new publication. The beauty about the first

edition - and this one will be the same - is that it appreciates more as the years go by. Clonmel

people, and St. Mary’s people in particular at home and throughout the world, get an instant connect

with the club and with the town even with a ten-minute leisurely browse.

‘The great days of the club are recalled and the inside front and back covers carry pictures of the

great successes - the county Junior win in 1975; the South Senior title in 1981; and last year’s county

Minor success. The county Junior title in 1975 when St. Mary's defeated Clonmore by 1-9 to 1-6 at

famed Semple Stadium is one of the highlights. The team on that historic occasion was captained by

the late Seán Walsh, and the all-important goal scored by one of the club’s greatest-ever hurlers,

Tony Smith. St. Mary’s only South Senior success in 1981 has been forever frozen in history by Seán

O’Donnell’s beautiful recall of the great win.

‘The semi-final victory over the Davins in Clonmel by 3-11 to 0-6, arguably one of the club's greatest-

ever performances. And then the final in Kilsheelan against the Swans which was a titanic battle and

which the home team edged by 1-14 to 1-12. Tommy ‘Chipper’ Walsh got the goal that day with the

lead point from Willie Peters and the insurance point from 50 yards out on the sideline by captain

Mossy Carroll, of Tipperary and Limerick fame.

‘And then to The Ragg last year for the county Minor final in which ‘the Mary’s’ captured the Seán

Treacy Cup for the first time ever when defeating Kiladangan by 2-11 to 0-13 . After a few Minor final

defeats over the years, at last St. Mary’s and captain Matt Barlow got their hands on the up-to-then

elusive silverware. And as we now know the club’s Minors put back-to-back titles together a few

short weeks ago when they defeated JK Brackens Og in this year’s county final.

‘The many outstanding club players who have represented the county at every level feature

prominently and the club now has two Celtic Crosses in its possession, Seamus Kennedy’s part in this

year’s Liam MacCarthy success over Kilkenny adding to Donnacha Fahey’s medal won in the 2001

success over Galway.

‘Clearly the club’s profile has soared since the last edition was published in 1989. But the real beauty

of this book is that it is not just about championship-winning teams or star players, it is about the

club and all the people who have represented the club at every level at every age and now not just in

hurling but in under-age camogie also as the club continues to develop.

‘The book is a ‘Who’s Who’ from A to Z of club players from the first mentioned John Ahearne

(Baron Park, now living in London, a member of a 1965 Minor team), to the last in alphabetical order,

the late Mickey Wynne (James’ Street) who represented the club also at Minor in 1937 before he too

emigrated to London.

‘But that’s the kind of book this is. It is a proud people’s book. It is a treasure trove of hurling and

history all beautifully interwoven once again by Seán O’Donnell. At €25 it will sell out quickly. It will

make a very popular Christmas present to anyone directly or indirectly attached to St. Mary’s hurling

club.’

That certainly sounds like a must-have for all history book collectors, and there’s one more new

offering before we move away from Tipperary: ‘Betwixt the Arras and Logh Derg’, a History of Gaelic

Games in Portroe 1884-2015’, by Seamus J. King.

The Portroe club approached Seamus in 2014 to ask him to help them record their history. Two

years later the book is a comprehensive work that faithfully records the contributions of the

thousands of people who have represented the club over its many years of existence. The launch

was held in Portroe on Sunday, October 30th, and I imagine that copies will be available at the fair in

Thurles on Sunday fortnight given that Seamus is one of the organisers.

I move next from Tipperary to Roscommon, where the St. Michael’s club is celebrating its 75th

anniversary. The publication of a history book was an important aspect of the celebrations, and

copies are available from the Chairperson, Jenny Bruen, whose address is Cleen, Knockvicar, Boyle,

Co. Roscommon. Books cost €12 plus an additional €2.30 for postage.

I also read in a recent edition of ‘Gaelic Life’ that the Con Magee’s club in Glenravel, Co. Antrim,

was due to launch its history book last night (Thursday, November 10th), with Aogán O Fearghail

doing the honours. P.R.O. Ron McCann has put the publication charting one hundred years of the

club together, and I hope to have more information in the next issue.

Staying in Antrim, the O’Donovan Rossa club in Belfast also has plans to mark its centenary this year

with a book. Some of the information received thus far may be viewed on the following website:

http://rossabelfast2016.com/

One of Rossa’s near neighbours in west Belfast, St. Paul’s, celebrated its 75th anniversary recently

and also launched a book to mark the occasion. I haven’t seen one yet but hope to rectify that

before the next edition.

And I also have plans to source ‘Sand In Our Boots’, a history of the Beale G.A.A. club in Kerry, after

spotting a photograph of club greats ‘Ogie’ Moran and ‘Bomber’ Liston with Micheál O

Muircheartaigh at the recent launch which appeared in the ‘Irish Independent’. Speaking of the

‘Indo’, today’s has a photograph from the Portlaoise history launch, ‘Come On The Town’.

A COUPLE OF ‘BLOOPERS’: Well done to reader Noel Kelly who spotted a glaring omission from the

cover of the 1967 All-Ireland Senior hurling championship final programme between Kilkenny and

Tipperary which was re-produced in the last edition. The action photograph was undoubtedly an

eye-catcher, but where was the date? A conspicuous absence undoubtedly!

And then we fast forward all the way up to last Sunday when the local radio in the region had a bit

of fun at the expense of the programme for the St. Mullins v. Raharney AIB Leinster Club Senior

hurling championship quarter-final held in TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar. The line-out pages had the

teams numbered from 1 to 12, with 13 to 15 for both included among the substitutes! The

Westmeath County Board either needs to sack its proof-reader or, more to the point I’d say if truth

be told, engage the services of one in the first place!

ANNUAL THURLES FAIR: We are now just over a fortnight away from the third annual G.A.A.

memorabilia fair in Thurles, and it should be another great day. I know it’s not easy for everyone to

assemble in one place at the same time, but I would appeal to as many collectors as possible to

make the journey as they won’t be disappointed. This is our ‘All-Ireland’ so to speak, and we should

be making every effort to support the organisers who have done such a great job over the past two

years. Here’s the full details:

‘Lár na Páirce, the GAA Museum here in Thurles, will hold a GAA Memorabilia Fair in Thurles

Sarsfields Social Centre (beside Semple Stadium) on Sunday, November 27th, from 12 noon to 4 p.m.

‘At this Memorabilia Fair, patrons will be given the chance to browse, purchase and search a large selection of match programmes, club histories, hurling, football, camogie and handball publications, not to mention a host of other somewhat rare GAA material, and all in the pleasant and spacious surroundings of Thurles Sarsfields clubhouse.

‘Dealers, collectors, sellers and swappers are cordially invited to attend this event, where it is hoped they will find unusual and rare material aplenty to interest everyone in attendance.

‘Sales positions, free of charge, can be booked in advance and anyone interested should contact the organisers before November 24th next. Admission is €3, with accompanied children free.

‘For further information on this event, do contact Seamus J. King (087-2246245) or Liam Ó Donnchú (086-6036547), or e-mail larnapaircemuseum@gmail.com)

‘This is one upcoming event certainly not to be missed by all lovers of GAA sports.’

DIRECTORY OF COLLECTORS: The tenth edition of the directory of collectors is attached in a

Microsoft Word document and there is one addition: Michael O’Donohoe from Tuam who penned

his memories on that 1950 pitch opening earlier in this edition. Please note also that Michael

Anderson in Down has a new e-mail address. Thanks to all those who took the time out to forward

their details, and it’s not too late for others to follow suit. I intend to attach this directory every

month, so any additions or amendments will be accommodated. Hopefully it will help collectors in

their quest to establish new contacts or liaise with people with similar interests.

TALKING POINT: Is there some aspect of programme collecting that irritates you, that you feel could

be improved, or that you would just like to get off your chest? If there is, this ‘talking point’ section is

designed for you. I’d like to hear from collectors with any genuine grievances, and perhaps by

outlining the situation and getting reaction from readers we can come up with solutions. Any topic to

help us in pursuing the hobby we love will be considered, so don’t be shy!

SPECIAL REQUEST: Mary Foley, former Co. P.R.O. in Wexford and soon to end her five-year term as

Assistant Secretary, is appealing for assistance. The Leinster Club hurling final of 1992 was held in

Croke Park, and Mary’s husband, Matty, captained Buffers Alley to success against St. Rynagh’s from

Offaly. Unfortunately, photographs from that game are scarce, and Mary would love to find some

given the strong sentimental connection, especially any of the cup presentation. She has exhausted

all avenues in Wexford, so perhaps some of the Offaly contingent among our readership might be

able to help?

ADVERTISING THIS BULLETIN: If you know your local programme compiler, please cut and paste

the following and ask them if they would be kind enough to include it in their upcoming

programmes:

‘PROGRAMME PLUS’ INFORMATION BULLETIN

'Programme Plus' is a new monthly information bulletin for collectors of GAA match programmes,

histories, yearbooks, magazines, photographs, etc. It is distributed monthly via e-mail and is free of

charge, with its sole aim being to highlight all aspects of collecting for enthusiasts. In order to be

added to the mailing list, please forward your e-mail address to Alan Aherne who is compiling the

information bulletin (alanahernesars@gmail.com).

PAST EDITIONS: All past editions up to and including July are available via the following link, with

thanks to James Lundon for his efforts in making it happen: https://programmeplus.wordpress.com

FUTURE EDITIONS: The publication schedule for the remainder of the year is outlined below, and is

subject to change. However, please note that I do hope to get another edition out in a fortnight and

get the schedule back on course after a few months of blips, because I have enough left-over

material for another full bulletin already which is a good complaint to have! If anyone wishes to

contribute to the content, the deadline will be the Tuesday before the publication date.

Volume 1, Number 11: Friday, November 25th (deadline: Tuesday, November 22nd)

Volume 1, Number 12: Friday, December 30th (deadline: Tuesday, December 27th)

CONCLUSION: That brings an end to this latest offering, and many thanks for your patience as I

know it’s behind schedule. The more help I can get, the easier it will be, so please do your best to

assist in whatever way you can.

My e-mail address is alanahernesars@gmail.com, and I’d love to receive further correspondence on

all aspects of our hobby. Don’t forget to print and post the bulletin to any collectors you know

without e-mail access, and feel free to contact me with any information worth sharing in the next

edition!

Mise le meas,

ALAN AHERNE