Blitzing in Castleisland: This is a community heartbeat, not a sideshow

The dream that became a reality in the Astor Ballroom is now a phenomenon. Fifty one years later, the basketball festival is still the centre of their universe.

Fri, 30 Dec, 2022 - 20:00

Maurice Brosnan

DONAL O’Connor often tells a story about the parish priest who visited Castleisland’s National School in the late 1970s. ‘What is Christmas about?’ he asked the wide-eyed children. There was only one answer. A hand shot up and an explanation came with conviction: “Canon, Christmas is about the Blitz.”

O’Connor - 'Duke' to his compatriots - is founder and organiser-in-chief of St Mary’s Christmas Basketball Blitz. Its golden jubilee has come and gone and the small town sensation glistens brighter than ever. For the 51st time, Castleisland hosted five days of storming sport in the powerful atmosphere of the Community Centre. 175 games featuring 130 teams took place between that venue and the nearby St John’s Hall, affectionately known as ‘The Shoebox.’

For a week locals sway to the rhythm of the ball’s bounce. Its return after a two-year absence ensures every eager leap on the court and in the arena reaches higher than ever. St Patrick’s deputy principal Tim Long recalls the cherished moment the return was confirmed and the cries that boomed through the school hallways: “The Blitz is back!”

“Back bigger and better this year,” says Mossie Casey, St Mary’s vice-chairman. “I suppose people were at nothing for two years. The Blitz isn’t all about basketball. It is about meeting each other. Even people locally who you mightn’t have seen in months. Then it was two years and you hadn’t seen them. From Killarney, Tralee, wherever. A man from Mallow was down this year with a team. He texted me last night delighted with it and to say they’d be back with even more next time.”

Damien Feenan St Mary's (Red) and Taghg O'Connor of Watervillie Warriors in action during the Division 2 Men's final at the 51st Castleisland annual basketball blitz.

It always would come back. They always do. Persistence and perseverance are not simply a luxury, but a requirement, in parts like this. How else could a parish that once shared one single basketball even dream of hosting a tournament? It was owned by the Presentation Sisters and a request for permission was always required. Sometimes they got to play and sometimes they got the road.

Castleisland is known for the exceptionally wide Main Street. Lesser known is that they once played basketball along that thoroughfare, with baskets outside the fountain and near Church street. That first indoor Blitz took place at the Astor Ballroom and Cinema in 1970. A spot that showed the tournament’s potential if they properly tapped into Castleisland’s sporting passion.

That they did. Always together. When the first event was facing cancelation due to an inability to erect a basket, local carpenter Mike Mitchell went to work. The same sponsors always step up. Familiar faces keep coming and carrying a wide load. Everyday chairman Eamon Egan sprints around covering every base. Referee, coach, administrator, shopkeeper. Once even plumber.

A few years ago on Christmas night Eamon and Donal went down to St John’s to check it out,” remembers Casey. “Only for them going down at 7 o’clock it would’ve been called off. There was a burst pipe that flooded the stage and it would’ve flowed down to the court. The national schools couldn’t have played and we’d never run it without them. It is for everyone.”

The Teahan Family -- Ronan, the former Tralee Tigers star John, and Sean prepare for the Division 2 final for Waterville.

That egalitarian law is part of the allure. Every day little or super league play on the same court allocated the same sized slots. Here All-Ireland-winning footballers David Moran and Gavin White present the medals while tiny tots receive the applause. The big blue-ribbon draw was Friday night, standing room only, as the Premier and Division 1 men’s finals brought down the curtain. Sandwiched in between was the equally competitive and ferociously contested senior national school boys' decider.

As much if not more entertainment is derived from Thursday night’s Division 4 and 5 finals. Most of the week is a test of basketballers and athletes - this is a test of survivors. The car park is full by dawn and overbrimming at dusk with cars stretching in both directions along Scartaglen road. Several visitors will soon learn they have fallen victim to a giddy cohort’s innocuous prank, as a sea of back wipers folded straight out waves late attendees in.

Before throw-up teams are already at each other’s throats after an extra player mysteriously appeared on the sideline. It is eventually determined that he is known to some bystanders and deemed to be of exorbitant ability for this particular contest. Shoes and bodies fly across the floorboards, screams sail towards Egan’s officiating assessments and in the end, a Cordal team featuring the father-son combination of Mossie and Kieran Enright and a Currow outfit containing three Ahern brothers and a son triumph.

In rural Ireland sporting events like this are a centrepiece rather than a sideshow. They charge and empower the festive period. Nearby their tailbacks are caused by coursing. Further east road hurling causes impasses. In the deep south it’s about seven aside football competitions. Not that the playing pursuit even matters.

The magic isn’t what they do but how they do it. Every strand united. With both my parents hailing from the town, we arrived to find numerous relatives playing, another coaching and several uncles listed as sponsors.

They all row in and that is why it lives on. No one would back against this community event reaching a century. The dream that became a reality in the Astor is now a phenomenon. Atop that venue was a sign in large letters, “The World in Motion”, emblazoned around a map of the globe.

Fifty one years later and the blitz still the centre of their universe.