Tramore-born Geary happy to cheer Nemo

TRAMORE-born and a Waterford footballer in all grades before he threw in his lot with Cork, Niall Geary will be re-visiting familiar territory when Nemo Rangers travel to Limerick champions Drumcollogher-Broadford in Drumcollogher for Sunday’s Munster SFC club semi-final.

His father Martin, winner of six senior hurling championship medals with Mount Sion and a member of the Waterford team which shocked Cork in the 1974 Munster championship in Walsh Park, comes from the neighbouring parish of Milford and played with both Drumcollogher and Broadford when they were separate entities.

“I know it’s all a bit confusing,’’ he says, explaining that a nephew of his plays hurling with Milford and his niece Anna (an All-Ireland medal winner with Cork) plays with the camogie team. “They are associated with the Cork side of the border,’’ he jokes.

“While we are in the parish of Milford and the diocese of Cloyne, we are in county Limerick.’’

In his younger days he played with Milford, winning north Cork medals at U14, U16 and minor in 1958 and finishing up with a county medal in the U14 grade. After that, he played with both Broadford and Drumcollogher, along with his brothers Dave and Jim. And together they won Limerick county championship medals with Western Gaels (a divisional combination subsequently disbanded) in 1961 and ‘62.

Two years earlier, when he won a county U16 medal with Broadford, the team included the father of current Drumcollogher-Broadford full-back Tommy Stack, who is also a cousin.

“After that, we won county junior championship medals with Drumcollogher in 1963 and the following year Cappamore beat us in the county senior final. At that time, it was all hurling in Drumcollogher, but my father told me that back in the 20s it was football they played. In later years, Broadford had a soccer team and they say that a lot of the footballers originated from that team. They started up the football, while Drumcollogher concentrated on hurling.’’

Still living and working in Waterford, Martin says he will have no difficulties in deciding where his loyalty lies on Sunday. “I’ll be cheering for Nemo, needless to say,’’ he remarked.

Pointing to the rivalry between Newtownshandrum and Dromina in the neighbouring parish — “they are like Celtic and Rangers’’— he recalled a story told by his father about Dromina in the old days. “When Milford use to play them back in the 20s, eight fellows would line up in the middle of the field for the throw-in. Then the forwards would all drop back into defence — and after that they’d work their way up the field. They were the first team in Cork to use the blanket defence.’’