The powerful family ties that bind Ballinagar and Raheen together
Pictured above: A fantastic picture that is a perfect example of the family ties that tie in Raheen and Ballinagar. This group is celebrating Ballinagar's win over Kilcormac-Killoughey in the junior football final two years ago. Most of them live in or grew up in Geashill. It includes the late Jim Dunne, a proud Ballinagar man who lived in Geashill for most of his life. His grandson Craig O'Halloran is a selector with Raheen on Sunday, another, Ryan Dunne was on the Ballinagar team that day and it also includes his children, Derek, Alan and Wayne in addition to Tosh Gorry, a Geashill man who was a Ballinagar chairman in the 1970s. Left to right are: Craig O'Halloran, Tosh Gorry, Alan Dunne, Ryan Dunne, Jim Dunne, Derek Dunne, Wayne Dunne, Aaron Dunne and Liam Hennessy (a Birr native, well known for his long service with Tullamore Harriers, and father in law of Alan Dunne).
THE successes Ballinagar and Raheen players enjoyed under the St Mary's, Na Fianna and Raheen banners over the decades only touches the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the shared connection between the clubs.
There are powerful connections and in classic GAA fashion, these are a compelling part of the intense, almost tribal rivalry between the two clubs. They know each other very well, they drink together, go to matches together and are the best of friends. They are also the worse of enemies at times, especially with the older generations, who can almost cite the date that someone did something and the tone of voice it was said in!
Sunday's Intermediate Football Championship final will demonstrate all the reasons that the GAA is Ireland's biggest organisation and why it has such a stranglehold on sporting allegiances in the rural villages, towns and townlands of the country.
The family ties between Ballinagar and Raheen are extraordinarily deep rooted. There are also huge connections through marriage and let no one be under any illusions about what this final means to the people of both communities – it will be a great game to win, a horrible one to lose and it adds an intriguing additional dimension to it all.
St Mary's win in the 1974 Minor Football Championship final is discussed in the accompanying article on the history of the playing side of their connections. It was a true parish success and the management team represented three of the four village corners of the parish: yet they show the way family ties can develop, branch out and evolve over the years.
A renowned Geashill gael, a man synonymous with St Mary's and Raheen GAA Clubs, Dinny Kelly was the manager. Known far and wide, Dinny won Senior Football Championship medals with St Mary's in 1947 and 1950 and served the club as chairman before they began to decline in the 1960s. He was a founder member of Raheen GAA Club in 1973, served on management teams and took infectious pride in their playing pitch, dubbed affectionately as the Lawn – as it was once the front lawn of the former Alderboro House.
A great promoter and activist with underage football, the late Dinny just wanted to see young players reach their potential and it didn't matter where they came from. He spent most of his life living just on the Tullamore side of Geashill but only people of a certain generation knew that he was a native of Ballyduff – a townland with a Geashill address and between Ballinagar and Geashill. Ballyduff is very much in the traditional Ballinagar catchment area and he played juvenile, minor and junior football with Ballinagar in his younger days days before moving to Geashill after getting property from the Land Commission and becoming a St Mary's and then Raheen stalwart.
He married Molly McHugh, from a mile or so further down the Tullamore road out of Geashill, and there are strong McHugh marital connections with Ballinagar. Molly's sister Nan married one of Offaly's great characters, the late Moss Buckley and their daughter Aine wed Mick Dunne, one of Ballinagar's best known personalties and goalkeeper on the Raheen side that lost the 1985 senior football final, captain of the Ballinagar team that won junior football in 1988.
Another sister off Molly, Biddy married a Killoughey native, Tony Malone who took over a farm in Ballinagar and their sons John and JJ were former players for years from the 1980s through to 2000s and served the club in a variety of other ways, with JJ doing a stint as chairman and John the manager – John was also a Raheen sub in '85, a key Ballinagar player in '88 and his son Brian has been in great form in the heart of the Ballinagar defence this year.
Dinny Kelly's fellow selectors in 1974 were Mick Cunningham from Ballinagar and Jim Dolan, Cloneygowan. Galway native Cunningham, was a long time principal of Ballinagar National School, a passionate promoter of football and GAA in his adopted home, the Irish language and history with “burn everything English bar their coal” among his favourite sayings to impressionable pupils while he also visibly bristled at being called “Master” or “Sir”, taking umbrage at those English titles – his son Dermot was corner back with Raheen in 1985, Damien was a sub and the duo starred with Ballinagar in '88 and after, while Donal was a sub then.
Jim Dolan may have been representing the Cloneygowan end – his son Ed was on the '74 squad along with first cousins Pat and James Dolan – but his family of origin are one of Ballinagar's most dedicated GAA families, with a third generation now putting their shoulder to the wheel – Jim was the brother of Paddy, Denis, Andy and John and they handed down their love of Ballinagar and GAA to their children.
The Dolan-Pierce connection
There are a myriad of family ties between Ballinagar and Raheen and one of the most intriguing is the Dolan-Pierce connection. Mary Dolan, a sister of Paddy, Denis, Andy, John and Jim, married Martin Pierce and set up their home in Ballykane, on the road to Walsh Island from Geashill.
Located very much in Raheen territory, the Dolan's had a very long reach and drew in her children to Ballinagar.
Mary Pierce was the only girl in the Dolan family. Their father, James came to Ballinagar from the wider Banagher area – he first lived in Knock, Daingean, on the Killeigh parish side of the border there, eventually setting up home in Ballyduff. Paddy and Andy remained in Ballinagar all their life, Denis went to Tipperary, Jim to Cloneygowan and John to Annagharvey – Jim's son Ed and John's son John Joe both played with Raheen while the sons of Paddy and Andy all played for Ballinagar – and Pat, a son of Paddy, also played for Raheen in the mid 1980s, when that was allowed under rule.
The Dolan link saw Padraig Pierce play for Ballinagar for years – Padraig's first cousins Pat and Dinny Dolan, sons of Paddy, were on the Ballinagar 1988 side while another brother, Jim was a sub. Pierce was corner forward on the Ballinagar side that lost to Doon in the 1989 Intermediate Football Championship final, alongside Pat Dolan, and played for them for a good portion of the 1990s, mostly at corner or wing back. He played his best football for Ballinagar before transferring to Raheen and he has given them great service since then.
Padraig Pierce is the current Raheen chairman, he has worked as secretary and other roles. He has been a referee and served the County Board as an officer, including assistant secretary and Bord na nOg chairman.
His brother Martin also played for Ballinagar for several years in the 1990s, mainly on their second team when they had one, while older brother Jim married a member of another of Ballinagar's great GAA families, Rosemary O'Meara, and set up home just outside Ballinagar village. He has served the club as treasurer, has been a long time activist on the committee and their sons Dean and Sean Martin are on the Ballinagar squad.
Their cousins, sons of Padraig, Aidan and Stephen Pierce are subs on the Raheen team – another son, Fintan is one of the top football referees in Offaly and will take charge of the junior football final on Saturday.
There is another Dolan connection with Sunday's final. Patricia Hickey from Geashill is the mother of Raheen sub Lee Mulpeter – she was the daughter of Ambrose Hickey and Josie Dolan, a daughter of Paddy Dolan. The late Ambrose Hickey played for Offaly in the 1969 All-Ireland senior football final defeat by Kerry. The Hickey's are synonymous with Daingean GAA – another brother of Ambrose, Noel just passed away recently – and Ambrose played with them throughout his peak but he ended up with Ballinagar. He played with them at the end of his career, lining out in the attack in the 1981 junior football final defeat by Kilcormac while he was a selector when Ballinagar won junior football in 1988. Ballinagar lost that 1981 final by 0-9 to 0-4 and Martin Darcy and Johnny Cooney did the damage for Kilcormac. Cooney, an Offaly hero on the 1971 and 1972 All-Ireland winning squads, had transferred from Erin Rovers to Kilcormac – he was living at Bunatern then – and he scored three points in the final while Darcy got four. Darcy ended up very indirectly connected with Ballinagar – he married Geraldine Bryant from Cloonagh and the Bryant connection with former Ballinagar footballers, the Rooney's is mentioned below. Darcy also transferred to Mucklagh and played with them in their 1988 junior football final loss to Ballinagar.
The Hyland-Gorry-Rooney connection
Two more first cousins will run into each other in Dylan Hyland and Jack Gorry – Offaly star Hyland is the single most important player in this final and the extent of his dominance will determine so much for Raheen. A brilliant attacker, he will be taking on Ballinagar defender, Gorry, though the task of marking him will be given elsewhere.
The connections between Dylan Hyland and Ballinagar are vast and profound – it is very much the nature of the GAA that his desire to win this game will be at its highest and he will be very wound up for this one.
His father Tommy is a native of Kilcavan, just across the county border in Laois, and is married to Ann Gorry, an aunt of Jack Gorry. Jack's father David is a great example of the connections with both clubs. He grew up in Geashill and played with Raheen but transferred to Ballinagar around the 1990 mark. David gave excellent, long service to Ballinagar in a variety of capacities. After marrying Veronica Hannon from Croghan, they set up their family home in Ballycue – another townland with a Geashill address but in the Ballinagar area and within walking distance of the village.
David Gorry was Ballinagar's outstanding performer during his long playing career with them in the 1990s, into the 2000s – he played U-21 and junior football for Offaly and was very close to senior county standard in the early to mid 1990s. He later served as an underage and adult manager and coach and was chairman of Ballinagar GAA Club for a few years in the past decade, where he did powerful work in helping turn the club around, developing new facilities and ensuring its current well-being..
The Ballinagar blood runs deep in the Gorry veins. Their father Tosh came from the Ballykane townland and spent most of his life living in Geashill village but he was also a member and chairman of Ballinagar GAA Club in the 1970s. His late wife Eileen was a Rooney from the Meelaghans and they created a powerful link with Ballinagar. Eileen's brothers, Liam, Greg and John Joe all gave great service to Ballinagar for years as they got back onto solid ground after being reformed in 1967 following a decade plus long spell out of existence. They were a tough part of a teak tough Ballinagar team in the 1970s, a side who gained a certain notoriety for their take no prisoners policy.
Liam Rooney later moved to Clonaslee and his sons were very good Laois footballers in the 1990s and 2000s – Darren won an All-Ireland minor football medal with Laois in 1997 and played senior for a few years for them as well as featuring on the Laois hurling panel for a spell. Mark Rooney also played for Laois footballers, managed their minor footballers and various club teams, including a spell with Shamrocks in Offaly.
While the Rooney men, Liam, Greg and John Joe, all moved out of the parish, they retained a lasting affection for Ballinagar and the family trees extends into areas you wouldn't expect – their mother Annie, fondly known as Nan, was a Bryant from Cloonagh, a sister of the late, great Jackie, which connects them to one of Mucklagh's and Shamrocks' great GAA families, and current county footballer Jack Bryant. On the Gorry side, David and siblings are a cousin of Olympian marathon runner, Pauline Curley, nee Gorman.
In Ballinagar and Raheen, there is even greater depth to the roots.
While there is one final, appetising connection between Dylan Hyland and Ballinagar that many people will have forgotten or not known about. His father Tommy Hyland is a very proud Kilcavan and Laois man – the wider Hyland family are passionate Laois people but Tommy transferred to Ballinagar towards the end of his career in the late 1990s. A member of a great footballing family, Tommy Hyland was an accurate, very honest forward with a sweet left foot, scoring regularly from play and frees and he played some very good football for Ballinagar, though the club was in the midst of a major recession at that time and struggling to stay afloat.
The Dunne-Kelly-O'Halloran-Rooney connection
The Rooney's are also powerfully connected to the Raheen squad and management. Maureen Rooney, a sister of Liam, Eileen, et-al, married the late Jim Dunne, from Cappyroe in Ballinagar, and a club stalwart in the 1960s, '70s and '80s. Jim Dunne was a selector on the Ballinagar team that won the Junior Football Championship in 1988 and lost the intermediate final a year later - while he spent far longer living in Geashill than Ballinagar, his loyalty to his home area never left him.
He was very much part of the scene in Geashill, had great friends in the area – him and the late Jim Mulrennan were very close friends and an endearing double act for many years, travelling far and wide to Offaly games – but he remained a Ballinagar man above anything else to the end. Jim and Maureen's daughter Doreen is the mother of Raheen players, Adam Kelly and Ian O'Halloran. Another son, Craig O'Halloran is a Raheen selector – he now lives in Ballinagar.
This connects Adam Kelly and the O'Halloran's to both Dylan Hyland and Jack Gorry while there is another tie in with the Gorry's. Adam's father and Doreen Dunne's husband, Camillus Kelly is a native of Kilclonfert – his sister Lucy Kelly is married to Joe Hannon from Croghan and their daughter Veronica is David's wife, mother of Jack.
While growing up in Geashill, the sons of Jim and Maureen Dunne attached to Ballinagar in various ways with Derek playing for them in 1990s while Alan's son, Ryan was on the Ballinagar side that won the junior football title in 2022 but is now working in Denmark.
Some of those relations are far out but it is all very fascinating when you begin digging deep into the various family trees and strands.
They also show the way ties have developed and evolved between the clubs. Dermot Guinan was Killeigh-Raheen's star forward during the 1990s, when he was also close to county standard, just in the tier below that, and continued this form on with Raheen when they reformed – he is married to Fiona Gorry, sister of David and Ann, and had a transfer application to join Ballinagar turned down by the County Board in the late 1990s.
There hasn't been huge transfer traffic between the clubs but there has been some over the years. There is no official border between them and while it was something both would have thought about instigating at different stages, it never grew legs or gathered momentum – for the very simple reason that it was in neither club's interest to have a border and it suited both to be able to select players from the wider area.
Other connections
There are a myriad of other connections, some close, others more tenuous but they all add to the mix in the area.
One of the players who did transfer from Raheen to Ballinagar was Aidan Sheil in the early 1990s and he played very consistent football for them for several years, mainly in defence. He grew up and still lives in Geashill and has since switched allegiance back to Raheen, serving on committee in recent years. He has a connection with the current Ballinagar team. Aidan's father, the late Bob Sheil was a brother of the late Paddy Sheil, and Paddy's grandson Jack has been been playing very well in the Ballinagar attack – Aidan's sister Martina is married to the star forward on the Ballinagar 1988/1989 team, Mickey O'Meara, a key part of the Raheen 1985 panel. Jack's father is Pauric, not to be confused with Aidan's brother of the same name, who also played for Ballinagar for years, in goals.
Brian Crombie has been in great form in the Raheen attack this year. He scored a sensational 2-6 from play in the quarter-final win over Erin Rovers and also went very well in the semi-final against Tullamore. He will come into contact with Ballinagar corner back Declan Crombie during Sunday's final and they are related – Brian's father, Seamus, Kilcappagh, Cloneygowan is a first cousin of Declan's father, Bernie, Knock, Daingean.
Mikey Buckley is playing well at wing back for Raheen this year and his grandfather Jack Nugent played for Ballinagar for a spell around the late 1960s. Now living in Cloneygowan, Nugent played in that brief window after Ballinagar was reformed in 1967 and before Raheen was formed in 1973, when he switched there.
When Ballinagar beat Raheen in the first round of the championship, the Raheen manager was Padraig Farrell, an uncle of Ballinagar's most important player, Morgan Tynan. Outstanding as Offaly won the All-Ireland U-20 football title in 2021, Morgan's parents, Tommy and Lily were part of the new influx of people who moved into Ballinagar during the house building boom in the area from the middle of the 1990s or so – Tommy came from O'Dempsey's in Laois, near Portarlington, and played for Ballinagar at the end of his footballing career. Lily was a Farrell from Tubber, a sister of Padraig – Raheen changed managers during the campaign as they went through a torrid time in the group, losing their three games, with former boss Richie Dalton (Edenderry) coming back for a second stint: It was also Padraig Farrell's second spell over Raheen.
One of Raheen's most experienced players is former county man, Conor Carroll and he has Ballinagar connections through marriage. From Cloneygowan, his brother Shane, a rock steady Raheen defender in the 2000s and with Killeigh-Raheen before that, is married to Jacinta Gallagher, a proud Ballinagar woman from Cappyroe – Jacinta's brothers, Joe and Emmet were Ballinagar regulars in the 1990s and 2000s and flame haired Joe is now on their back room team.
Then there has been the movement between the areas. Ballinagar back, Adam Joyce's father John comes from Kilclooney, deep in Raheen territory not far from Cloneygowan, and where Padraig Pierce now lives. Joyce moved to Ballinagar when he married Elaine Cuskelly, a native of Knock, and a member of one of Ballinagar's staunchest footballing families. Pascal, Declan and Brendan were all on the 1988 junior football team while Brendan and Dermot, a long serving midfielder in the 1990s and 2000s, are selectors under Benny O'Brien.
There so many connections like this and no doubt, a few of them have fallen under the radar for this article.
With the young people growing up together, Ballinagar people socialising in Geashill and vice versa, apart from the more active scene in Tullamore, there is also the inevitable quota of relationships between players and girls from the respective areas but that is a can of worms, we will steer well clear of opening.