It Occurs to Me: John Joe, Columba and Michael Murphy

Ten years ago in this newspaper, Martin Carney suggested that Glenties should erect a statue to Jim McGuinness.
My feeling at the time was that the town should first honour the great Columba McDyer, the first Donegal man to win an All-Ireland, with Cavan in 1947.
Jim always spoke of McDyer as his idol and mentor, about Columba handing him a blue-and white whistle when he was 18 and saying: “You’re going to be a coach and I want you to have this.” and as Donal Reid reminded us a few years ago, in a lovely interview with Peggy McDyer:
“After the National League of 1947, Cavan and Monaghan were vying for Columba McDyer’s services, especially Cavan who needed a strong and athletic midfielder.

The great Columba McDyer - the first Donegal man to win an All-Ireland

The respective GAA county board’s chairmen met to decide Columba’s fate. Cavan won the toss of the coin and that’s how Columba McDyer ended up playing with Cavan!”
I first heard of Columba McDyer in Micky Sophie’s pub in Downings more than 50 years ago, as my father regaled Micky, his late son Anton and others about the legendary 1947 Cavan team.
Some 14 years ago, I attended the funeral of John O’Reilly in Arva.
John was a first cousin of his namesake, The Gallant John Joe. As a youngster on holidays in Killeshandra, my father ‘ceilidhed’ in the O’Reilly household in The Derries and often took me with him.
I had no idea then of the significance of the legend that was John Joe, but anytime I visited McShane’s pub in Cornafean, Sean Masterson stood up and declared: “Ah, begod, the Donegal man is here, he’ll be wanting to hear this: ‘We bless and keep you in our prayers, may He count you with his own while Ulster mourns your passing from the Ards to Inishowen. God rest and keep you John Joe and we pray for you today. When Cavan lost their bravest man on a cold November day’.”
Like Martin McHugh, I always got a warm welcome there.

The statue of the legendary John Joe O’Reilly in Cavan

On the subject of statues, there’s talk of one to our own Michael Murphy, either in his beloved Glenswilly or in front of his sports store in Letterkenny. Amen to that!
I was reminded of all this last Sunday week when some 1,000 people turned up in Cavan town for the unveiling of a statue to the legendary John Joe O’Reilly, who died 70 years ago at the age of 34.
Also, in the wake of my feature on Garda Mick Galligan last week, my mother reminded me that my Auntie Kathleen from Killeshandra sang A Lament for John Joe at their wedding in Kilcar in 1953.
I loved her dearly and I can hear her ghost giving it lilty!
“God rest you John Joe O`Reilly, `neath the cold November air, as the grey dust falls so quickly round the plains of old Kildare.
“God rest and keep you John Joe may your memory last in Fame, throughout each hill in Ulster and your own loved Cornafean.”
John Joe is much revered in Kildare too where he was a commandant in the Irish Army and won a Kildare Senior Hurling Championship with the Curragh in 1940 and captained the Curragh to a Kildare Senior Football Championship and League double in 1948, the year after he captained Cavan in New York.
His 1947 colleague, Mick Higgins, a wonderful footballer, was on the Donegal backroom team when we won our first Ulster title in 1972.

A MELTED WELLINGTON
When my Auntie Kathleen’s sister Maggie passed away in London, myself and my cousin Mary stayed in London with John Joe’s cousin, Gerry O’Reilly, who – although Kilburn born and bred – was also a great Cavan footballer in his time.
He learned however, to keep his mouth shut while playing, as the London accent seemed to take the worst out of opponents, particularly during The Troubles.
He loved to tell stories about his dad’s legendary wit, and when he once asked his father about the state of the economy, he replied: “The wheel is still turning, but the hamster’s long gone!”
To compound that wonderful image, he added: “Bad enough the state of the economy but having to turn on the TV everyday and look at that hoor with a face like a melted Wellington!”
I can’t remember who the ‘hoor’ was but he wasn’t popular in Cavan or Kilburn!

VICTORY OVER TREACHERY!
Each year, I’m asked by Cavan County Library to do a storytelling session or, as was the case during Covid, I made a few videos. Naturally, football memories made up a big portion of them.
On my most recent video, I recalled visiting two elderly bewhiskered brothers, who wore waistcoats, and listening with fascination to their stories about Cornafean and Cavan where they had played back in the first decade of the 20th century.
Their names were Thomas and Dick McClean and between 1909 and 1920, Cornafean won the Cavan County Championship eight times.
They were also part of the Cavan teams who won four Ulster titles in this period. My visits were during the 1960s so the brothers were quite an age by then.
In any event, I was delighted to received this letter of late:
“Dear Frank, Hope you are doing well. My name is Patrick McClean, I'm 19 and from Drumgoa, Killeshandra. I really enjoyed the storytelling you did with the library. I especially enjoyed the part where you mentioned my great great uncles Thomas and Dick McClean.
“I was honoured with the praise you gave them and so was my father. The stories my father told me about Thomas and Dick have stayed with me. Enclosed in the email you’ll find one of their medals they received for winning the county championship in 1914.
“The story about the message on the back is an inspiring one. Back in the day the council wanted the main Cavan team, The Cavan Slashers, to win the county championship, but we know from the medals how that turned out!
“The local priest at the time, Fr Osborne, had this message engraved into the back of all the medals, ‘for victory over treachery’.”
I’ve spoken with Patrick on a number of occasions since and hope to see him when next I visit Killeshandra.

The message engraved on the back of the 1914 Cavan county championship medals by local priest Fr Osbourne

GIVE ME SUNSHINE
I thought I was hearing things as Minister Eamonn Ryan was being interviewed about his prophecy that we’d all have solar energy by 2025. Listening on a wet and windy November day didn’t help my confidence.
When he mentioned having solar panels in our gardens, I knew that Green Eddie had lost the plot (forgive the pun).
A bit like the Wicklow county councillor who wondered years ago… ‘Who’ll feed the gondolas?’ I wondered how we’re going to fertilise these solar panels?
If we could bottle the shite talk heard in the Dáil by Green Eddie and others, we may have a ready solution.
Time to get out the dung graips!