Jody Gunning and Jim Troy inducted into Offaly GAA hall of fame

THE highlight of the annual Offaly GAA/Bridge House awards on Saturday was the induction of football and hurling heroes, Jody Gunning and Jim Troy into the hall of of fame.

The following citations were read by chairman Michael Duignan before they received their awards.

Hall of Fame – football

Two of Offaly's best loved GAA personalties are being inducted into the hall of fame tonight and we can look forward to the exchanges with them in a few minutes time.

The football inductee comes from one of Offaly's most cherished clubs, Rhode and his contribution to the GAA went much deeper than the mere playing fields. He was a top class referee after his playing career ended and he ensured a lasting place in folklore in the county as the manager of the Offaly team that won the All-Ireland U-21 Football Championship in 1988.

He was there for the great ultimate breakthrough of Offaly football and was one of the players that prorgressed from the All-Ireland minor football champions of 1964 onto the senior team a few years later.

He was corner forward on that never to be forgotten day as Offaly won their first All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title, beating Galway in the final in Croke Park in 1971. He won a second All-Ireland senior football medal in 1972, coming on as a sub in the drawn All-Ireland final against Kerry and he has two Leinster senior football medals.

A terrier like forward, he was an important part of the great team of that era. He was a very young man when he made his debut for Offaly in a league win over Roscommon in 1966 and he played 28 competitive league and championship games between then and his last one in 1972, that drawn All-Ireland final with Kerry.

He could have been on the Offaly panel as they reached the All-Ireland final in 1969 but was suspended for a breach of the now infamous GAA ban rule on playing “foreign sports”. One of the last high profile victims of the controversial rule, his application for re-instatement was only approved by the County Board in October 1969 and he played a league game against Tipperary that December. He was an ever present on the panel from then until 1972 and had his place nailed down in 1970 and 1971. He also won two Ground Tournament medals with Offaly, two Player Wills Awards and two Goode Cp medals.

He gave great service to his club Rhode, winning Senior Football Championship medals in 1966, 1967, 1969 and 1975. His last appearance in a senior football final was in the 1978 defeat by an emerging Walsh Isalnd – he did not play as they lost to that great team in the 1979 and 1982 deciders. He won an All-Ireland 7-a-side medal on a star studded Rhode team in 1969, an All-Ireland free taking tournament in 1972, a senior “B” championship medal in 1968 and several tournaments with his club.

He also served them well as a team manager and mentor for many years, and he was an excellent trainer and manager.

He was a prolific trainer of Offaly teams, taking charge of groups from U-14 the whole way up to senior. The highlight was the 1988 All-Ireland and Lenster U-21 wins, a sensational roller coaster of a year as they saw off Wexford in a famous saga of games in the Leinster final and also required a replay to beat Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final before taking Cavan in an All-Ireland final at a thronged Pearse Park in Longford.

He brought Offaly minor footballers to two Leinster finals and the juniors to a provincial decider. He trained other clubs and his exploits with the U-21s resulted in his elevation to the senior manager's job for 1990.

He was a top class referee for years. He refereed three Offaly senior football finals, finals in all other grades from underage up and established himself at inter-county level. He took charge of senior county championship and league games, minor, U-21 and junior championship games. The highlight was taking charge of Dublin's win over Meath in the 1984 Leinster senior football final.

He has remained a passionate GAA supporter all his life and was a popular and very good commentator of games for Radio 3 in their early days.

The football hall of fame inductee is Jody Gunning.

Hall of fame - hurling

ONE of the great characters of Offaly GAA, our hall of fame inductee in hurling richly deserves this recognition.

He is one of Offaly hurling's great figures, a legendary goalkeeper whose spirit and strength of personality typified the great teams of the 1980s and the 1990s.

In 1994 when Offaly won their third All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, he was the oldest serving member on the team and once again he was rock solid, performing heroics in the goals.

He was just a young man when he was a sub on the team that made the big breakthrough by winning the 1981 Senior Hurling Championship.

With a man he knew well from nearby Banagher, Damien Martin in control of the number one jersey, he had to wait before establishing himself in the goals. He made his debut in the league against Galway in 1981 and apart from championship games against Wexford and Laois in 1982, all his appearances up to 1985 were in the second tier competition.

He has admitted himself that those championship matches in 1982 didn't work out for him but in '85 he was in sensational form, playing all the games as Offaly regained the Liam McCarthy Cup. He had clear ownership of the number one jersey from then until 1994. His last game for Offaly was in the 1994 All-Ireland final win over Limerick while he was sub goalkeeper as they returned to the final in '95, losing out to Clare.

He had some sensational games for Offaly, stopped penalties, saved bullets and showed incredible bravery. He played 111 league and championship games for Offaly from 1981 to 1994 and was a man for the big occasion. He won a Leinster U-21 hurling medal in 1978 and is the Offaly man with the most Leinster senior hurling medals: eight. He was in super form when Offaly won the National Hurling League in 1991 and he has five Walsh Cup medals.

One of his career highlights was when he captained Lusmagh to their only Senior Hurling Championship title win in 1989. A small club located close to the Tipperary and Galway borders, he was a very proud Lusmagh man and has retained that affection, even though he has lived in Durrow with his wife Mary and children for the past couple of decades plus. Hurling was his game but he has also cherished the football medals he won with Lusmagh.

After his playing career ended, his love affair with hurling continued. He served on Offaly senior and underage management teams, he worked hard in the underage club in Ballinamere-Durrow, he continued to answer Lusmagh's call occasionally. He remains one of Offaly's great supporters, travelling all over the country to games – he is also a regular at football matches.

His brilliant brother John gave a tantalising insight into his goalkeeping philolosophy in the Game of My Life book published last year, recalling Eamon Cregan asking him before the 1994 Leinster semi-final where he was going to puck the ball out to. Jim's reply was that the first one was going down the middle, the second one to the left, the third one to the right and that he would continue to puck the ball out to where it stayed the longest and wasn't coming back up the field. As John said: “There was no arguing with that”.

One of the great injustices in modern GAA is the fact that he does not have his collection crowned with an All-Star award. While a very sociable, engaging, personable character, he never courted media attention during his playing career and whatever the reasons, his omission was a scandal. He should have got one in 1991 when Offaly won the league and got no All-Star and there were plenty of other years when he deserved recognition.

However, in Offaly's eyes and hearts, he is an All-Star in every sense, a true hurling king. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the one and only Jim Troy.