Danno’s hopes for new heroes

One of the many prized possessions in the well-known O’Brien’s hostelry in the centre of Charleville town is a photo of the local minor hurling team that won North Cork honours in 1945, pipped in the county final by Glen Rovers.

Dominating that photo in the centre of the back row is the massive figure of John ‘Danno’ Mahony, a powerful man even at 17, built in the likeness of the world heavyweight wrestling champion from Ballydehob, after whom he was nicknamed. To Danno’s right is the more slight figure of Mossie O’Brien, original owner of O’Brien’s pub. That year Charleville would also win the North Cork junior title, Danno again playing a major role.

Last year, 2011, Charleville again had an outstanding minor side, but they would go on to win countyhonours; as in 1945 the junior team would also win the North Cork title but they too added the Cork county title, then went on to win out in Munster and tomorrow in Croke Park, take on St Patrick’s of Ballyragget in Kilkenny in theAll-Ireland Club junior hurling final. As with Danno Mahony, central to both of those teams, minor and junior, is another young dynamo, James O’Brien, grandson of Mossie.

“Mossie was a fine player, a wing-back/corner-back,” Danno recalls, “But that was a fine minor team. Two of us were on the junior team that won the North Cork, Davy Murphy and myself. Davy was a great player, played minor hurling and minor football for Cork in the same year, no other Charleville player ever managed that!”

Without winning the county title that junior team then went up to intermediate, as was possible at the time – it would prove an inspireddecision. With the enforcement of the ‘parish rule’ Charleville was reinforced by several new and outstanding players, and consecutive intermediate county titles followed, in 1946 and 47.

Danno: “There wasn’t a weak link in that team – Cork won the All-Ireland intermediate in 1946 and we had four on the team, Mick Kearney, Michael ‘Stocky’ Cronin, Mick O’Toole and myself. If there had been an All-Ireland club championship that time I’d say no-one would have beaten us. We did well in the senior championship afterwards, shocked Blackrock one year in Buttevant, beat Seandun another year.

Coincidentally, going back to that team there’s a link between Ballyragget – Saturday’s opponents – and Charleville. “Mickey O’Connor played full-back for us from about 1948 to 1955 and he was from Ballyragget, he worked in the Golden Vale factory – he actually came up to see me a few days ago!”.

Danno went on to have a long career for Charleville but the highs of those early years were never to be repeated. In fact he was dogged with bad luck. “I never got the chance to play minor for Cork because the minor championship was suspended during the war years. I hurled senior with Avondhu for 12 years, but the two years they won the county, in 52 and 66, I missed out because we were senior ourselves!

Even as his beloved Charleville’s fortunes have soared in the last 12 months, however, Danno has again been hit by misfortune – back pain.

“I’ve been involved with Charleville all my life, as a player til I was nearly 40 and then as club secretary for years and years; I’ve been following Charleville all my life too, but I’ve missed all the big games last year, the first time ever — I’m off-duty at the moment with a bad back.

I can’t go to this one either and it’s breaking my heart. I can’t even follow it on radio or television but hopefully it will turn out alright.

” We have a nice team, they’re good, very good, but they’re not going to get it easy this Saturday. The fact that it’s a Kilkenny team — those fellas will have the right mentality. It’s a hurling county, a winning county, and that gives them something extra.”

But, if Charleville do manage to pull it off? “I’d give my two arms to see that happening — sure God is good.”