Where blow-ins drop anchor

IT was 1984, centenary year of the GAA, and in Kilkenny, the land where hurling is the major religion, Ballyhale Shamrocks reigned supreme. Just once in the previous six years (1981), was their authority broken, beaten by The Village, the legendary James Stephens club in the city.

Now in 1984, after wins in 1978-80, they were again going for three-in-a-row. Then came the men from the mountains.

In 1982, just two years earlier, the club of St Martin’s was formed, a combination of the clubs of Coon and Muckalee/Ballyfoyle in the northern end of the county. That same year — pure coincidence, let it be said — internationally renowned horse-trainer Jim Bolger, Wexford native and hurling fanatic, moved into the area, set out his stall among the rolling hills, on the border with Carlow. And immediately, he found a new home. With hurling as the catalyst, he became embedded in his new parish.

“You’re 1,000 feet above sea level here,” he says. “There are three villages in the area, Coon, Muckalee and John’s Well. I’ll be here 27 years in December, and right from the beginning we got a great welcome, and still get it. My job is a bit like training a hurling team all year round, so I wouldn’t have enough time to drop into the neighbours, not enough hours in the day. But they’re just like my own people in Wexford, great neighbours, lovely people.

“When I took on an operation like this I had to make sure that first things came first, and with racing on a Sunday, it wasn’t easy to make games, but I was always aware of what was happening, I had a very big interest, and I was a club member from the word go. I hope I’ve always paid my subscription, and a little more.”

He has that, by all accounts, a more than generous club member, but, as is the way in every such community, St Martin’s has made its own contribution to the life and times enjoyed by Jim Bolger. It began just two years later, it continues to this day.

In that 1984 Kilkenny county final, backboned by a battalion of Morans — Jim at centre-back, John in midfield, Patsy on the 40, and Tom at full-forward — the newly-formed St Martin’s stormed the citadel and shocked the county, beat Ballyhale Shamrocks, 1-14 to 1-7. County senior hurling champions — even for the men from the mountains these were heady heights.

Next up was the Leinster club championship, and here, even inside their own county, the newly-crowned Kilkenny champions were given no chance. They had come from nowhere, went the wisdom, they would go nowhere, and down among the ancient elite, in Kilkenny city especially, they were dismissed almost as bushmen — wild, barely civilised.

Conor Brennan is from neighbouring Conahy, is son of former GAA president Nickey, teaches now in Muckalee NS. An inside outsider, so to speak, he has observed the psyche in the parish, and is struck by it: “They had a bit of a reputation in the 80s — they were an unfashionable team, but they created something of a shock when they beat the Shamrocks, beat James Stephens, beat all the traditional teams that had been dominating Kilkenny to then.

“The whole spirit that was there then still prevails — they like being the underdogs even still, they like to upset the apple cart, and only two years ago they nearly won the county again here, but a TJ Reid-inspired Ballyhale Shamrocks beat them.”

Let’s finish with 1984. Game by game St Martin’s progressed, beating Kinnity of Offaly in the Leinster final, then Ballycastle of Antrim in the All-Ireland semi-final. St Patrick’s Day 1985 then, Croke Park, against the hotly-fancied Castlegar of Galway. Again, St Martin’s prevailed, and the fairytale was complete — All-Ireland champions.

Today, the legacy of that win is there for all to see. Last year, in Thomas Breen and James Dowling respectively, the club provided the captain of the All-Ireland-winning minor and U21 Kilkenny teams; tomorrow Sunday, against Galway, they again have the Kilkenny minor captain in Canice Maher, with Eoin McGrath a sub on the senior team, while James Dowling, John Mulhall, Colin McGrath, Ollie Walsh, Roddy Nolan, Thomas Breen and Grace McCormack are all members of the panel to face Waterford in the U21 final in two weeks.

As ever, the love for the game begins at home, but it is nurtured in the local national school. Brennan plays his part, but the tone is set by the principal, Kevin Cummins. Coming from Mayo, was this all a bit intimidating?

“It’s a responsibility but it’s something you’d enjoy too. They have hurls in their hands from the age of two or three, all we’re doing as they come through the school is continuing what’s there anyway. We give a lot of time to it but so do the parents, the club; there’s plenty of support given.”

Kids like Aoife Dowling, younger sister of Kilkenny players James and Patrick, like Padraic Buggy, another blow-in to the parish but another who, like Jim Bolger and Kevin Cummins, has been welcomed with open arms.

“To play with Kilkenny, that would be my dream,” says Padraic. “My Dad is from town (Kilkenny), I was born in Dublin, lived in Lucan, but we came down here about seven years ago and I live in Ballyfoyle now, play U12 with St Martin’s. I liked Dublin but this is better; there were cars coming from everywhere, you weren’t able to play that much hurling, whereas now I can, I’d be out on the green with my Dad and the other lads.”

All those interviewed for this came in from outside, and were embraced; all, like Jim Bolger, have returned that embrace. “Oh, big-time,” he says. “This is now my club — though not my county! But, here is home.”