Mackey — not a man but a giant
By the end of the evening, Martin, author of the successful Unlimited Heartbreak, a history of hurling in Limerick, had signed up to write a biography of Mick Mackey.
“I hadn’t really thought of doing it, but there were people around who’d be willing to speak about Mackey, so I said I’d try to tell their story.
“It was interesting to get four or five different perspectives on a different incident, which I was able to do here. With Unlimited Heartbreak I was limited to one or two views, so that was an interesting change.”
Martin does justice to Mackey, a larger-than-life figure who led Limerick to All-Ireland success in the thirties (and 1940), a powerful attacker who pioneered the solo run.
“He was of a different era. He was a superstar, a celebrity in the thirties — people came from far and wide just to see him, and on several occasions in the thirties the attendance record at All-Ireland finals went up purely because people wanted to go to see Mackey play.
“He had that mystique around him — seeing him play was something worth talking about.”
That he was – there’s a terrific tale about a man from Abbeydorney making a pilgrimage of sorts to see Mackey, and being quizzed by his friends about the Limerick man when he returned home.
“It’s different now,” says Martin, “With lads in college together, with Facebook and so on, people meet ‘big name’ players all the time.
“In the thirties and forties people wouldn’t have met famous players, it would have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience to meet these players compared to nowadays, when it isn’t a surprise to meet them.
“It would have been an honour to meet Mackey himself but I was a baby in nappies when he passed away. To be honest I probably wouldn’t have appreciated it, either.
“It was only when I wrote the last book that I got an appreciation of these lads.”
It was certainly a different era. Martin gives a full and frank description of the Mick Herbert court case, described by many as a watershed moment in the history of hurling in Limerick. In 1949 Herbert was almost killed in a club hurling game and an ensuing court case drew huge publicity. Mackey was a witness in the case and it’s described in detail in the book.
“Hurling was a very different era, players had to be able to look after themselves: if they didn’t hit first they’d often be hit themselves. You have to contextualise it.
“Mackey was a witness in the trial, and it was a milestone in Limerick hurling, so I felt it deserved the coverage I gave it, though I stood off and was as neutral as I could be in my treatment of it.
“It was different with Unlimited Heartbreak — I’d have had my own views on certain incidents I covered because I lived through them and would have had my own views on what happened, but as I’m in my early thirties I wasn’t around for the Herbert trial.”
The question of who was greater, Mackey or Christy Ring, gets ample airplay in the book, with the expected leaning towards the Limerick man from his colleagues. It’s an outstanding read and a must for any hurling fan’s library.
Martin isn’t finished there, either.
“I remember Mike McNamara of Clare writing a book, To Hell And Back, and that’s what it’s felt like for the last eighteen months or so – I’ve been writing a history of my club as well, Galbally GAA club.
“It’s been a bit of a slog but it’s also a great honour to write a book about your club. There are a lot of people there who’d have helped me out over the years, the likes of Jack Dillon who would have trained me at eight, nine, ten years of age.
“Guys like that would have put in huge time and effort into the club and the work I put in over the last eighteen months or so would have been a fraction of what people like him have put in over the last twenty, thirty, even forty years.”
*Mick Mackey: Hurling Legend in a Troubled County, by Henry Martin, is published by Collins Press (€17.99) and will be launched in Ahane GAA club on Thursday Oct 6 at 7.30pm.
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