The man behind the wire: Shannonbridge GAA Club to celebrate a great and engaging history

POWERFUL, evocative and emotional memories will resurface when Shannonbridge GAA Club celebrate the golden jubilee of their foundation later this month.

The 50th anniversary of Shannonbridge's 1973 formation is well worth celebrating and they will do so on Sunday, October 29 with a big dinner dance in Athlone's Shamrock Lodge Hotel.

The Shannonbridge story is one of glory, honour and achievement. It includes one of the greatest, most significant events witnessed in the Offaly GAA world in the past half century – their win in the Senior Football Championship in 1996.

Their back story includes trauma and controversy, well before Shannonbridge GAA Club came into existence but very much part of their story. And while there was an element of disgrace to those events in the 1940s, it was a very different era when violence was very much part and parcel of the wider GAA scene in Offaly and in its own way, they should be celebrated and acknowledged as well.

It is all part of who Shannonbridge are and their history is a real feelgood one of triumph and stunning success in the face of adversity.

Shannonbridge is a beautifully attractive west Offaly village straddling the Roscommon border with the Shannon and its huge bridge separating Leinster and Connacht. Like many border areas, they have had occasional border flare ups with players from the Shannonbridge area playing in Roscommon and vice versa - and as you will see below, this was a central part in that notorious 1942 saga that ended with no club existing in the Shannonbridge area for a few decades.

Pictured above: One of the first Shannonbridge GAA teams in 1973. Back row left to right Oliver Maloney, Brian Carroll, Dennis Loonam, Bill Hynes, Pat Corbett, John Joe Ryan, Willie Kelly, Kieran Norton. Front row left to right - Frank Coleman, Joe Anderson, Danny Farrelly, Phonsie Higgins, Tom Moore, Joe Mahon, Eamon Mahon Peter Guinan.

It is a small rural area, coming up close to Belmont on one side, Doon on the other. The ancient monastic settlement of Clonmacnoise is in the Shannonbridge area and is famous internationally while the parish has been closely associated with Bord na Mona and ESB. It was the home of a much cherished Power Station for decades and the employment that ESB and Bord na Mona provided was instrumental in the well-being of Shannonbridge for generations.

Like a lot of areas in west, north and east Offaly, Bord na Mona and ESB worked in tandem. The ESB owned peat fired Power Station was supplied by fuel produced from the near by Bord na Mona Blackwater works. Those two semi-state bodies were absolutely pivotal to Offaly's emergence as a force in football and hurling and it is very doubtful if they would have enjoyed such succss without them effectively generating full employment in the county.

The bogs adorn the Shannonbridge landscape and have a great emotional hold on many people. The closure of Shannonbridge Power Station and the cessation of peat production on the bogs has created tremendous new challenges for the area and keeping young people there – something that all GAA clubs are dependant on.

The bogs were instrumental in Shannonbridge's rise to fame and their decline has played a significant role in their descent – Shannobridge have gone from the high of winning the Dowling Cup in 1996 to relegation to Offaly football's fourth tier, junior this year – it is a numbers game and Shannonbridge are struggling but they will keep the flag flying and they can reflect with tremendous pride on what they have achieved.

Their tale is a hugely romantic one and they provide a great example of what a small rural club can achieve. It allows others to dream and what they did from 1989 to around the 2000 mark was absolutely breathtaking, phenomenal.

They were still a junior club in 1989 and they won the Junior Football Championship and Division 4 Football League that year – junior was also the fourth grade at that time. Those wins ignited a fire in Shannonbridge and they embarked on an incredible spree as they quickly raced up the grades.

They won the Division 3 Football League in 1990, Division 2 and the Intermediate Football Championship in 1991 to go senior. They made a rapid impact in senior, reaching the championship final in 1994 where a still strong Ferbane pipped them, 0-10 to 0-8.

Two years later, they returned to the final and this time, they reached the promised land with a Vinny Mooney goal instrumental in a surprise 1-11 to 0-12 win over a devastated Tullamore, who were then in the midst of a long famine – they hadn't won the Dowling Cup since 1977 and had to wait until 2000 before they took it again.

That 1996 win was the pinnacle for Shannonbridge and that was a fantastic team, full of guts and well able to play football.They had it everyway. They had an excellent forward line - silky, skilful players, real predators in Vinny Mooney and Donal Claffey, pace to burn from Anthony Kelly and what every successful team needs, a deadly accurate free taker in Fergal McEvoy. Mooney was one of the best forwards in Offaly in that era while Kelly played in the early rounds of the winning Leinster Senior Football Championship campaign in 1997, before losing his place. Pat Joe Kelly was also a flier at that time and the importance of Declan McEvoy to that team can't be understated – some of the Shannonbridge forwards were in demand from county selectors and McEvoy wasn't among those but he was a brilliant club man, linking play very effectively and doing the simple thing so well at centre half forward.

Managed by a local man and future Offaly senior football selector, Eamon Mahon, they had a powerful midfield combination in John Ryan and Mark Carty with Carty a high fielder who covered ground and a young Ryan a huge physical presence – Ryan went onto win National Football League and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals in 1998.

They had a very steady defence with a real tough spine there that halted many an attacker in their tracks. Vincent Darcy was one in this category, a real solid player who didn't suffer fools gladly and they had a defensive unit that didn't have any star names but did their job every time they went out. They had an excellent defender in Mick Devine, a county player in that era, who was injured during the campaign but came on as a sub in the final while the attacking forays of Jim Killeen up the wing was a great asset to them.

Shannonbridge remained a force to be reckoned with for a few years after that. Their second team won the Junior “B” Football Championship in 1998 and another high point was achieved when they won the Division 1 Football League in 1999. They were very hard to beat in the Senior Football Championship and lost to an emerging Tullamore in the 2000 semi-final and after this, they gradually went into reverse.

As elder statemen bowed out, others drifted over the hill and the same quality of young talent didn't emerge, Shannonbridge went into inevitable decline and it has gathered pace in the past decade. They went out of top flight football during the 2000s and have slipped back since then but their current plight is all for another day.

This occasion is about celebrating the past, not worrying about the future and all in Shannonbridge can be very proud of themselves.

While we are getting into intangibles here, Shannonbridge's emergence and success can be traced deep into history and every person who served as an officer, every man who pulled on a jersey played some sort of part in what happened.

Well before Shannonbridge's 1973 formation, the GAA operated under different flags in the parish and there was a Shannonbridge club in existence at one stage. Situated in St Kieran's parish, a club called Clonfanlough existed for a number of years and were defeated by Ferbane in the 1952 South Offaly junior football final. The Clonfanlough Club had existed prior to 1931 and then again from 1950 until 1952,. A parish club called St Kieran's flew the colours from 1931 on and they won a Junior Football Championship in 1936 – Clonfanlough and Shannonbridge were given permission to amalgamate as St Kieran's in 1931.

The St Kieran's story is a powerful one and their departure in 1942 rivited the area. They had went senior after that junior win in 1936 and in 1942 they had been well ahead of Walsh Island almost at the end in the SFC semi-final. However, a replay was ordered after Walsh Island objected to the eligibilty of Willie Kinlough who lived over the bridge in Roscommon,

Shannonbridge had counter objected to the legality of a Walsh Island player, Charles.Kelly, who lived in Ballinakill, across the parish border in Killeigh parish/. St Kieran's lost the replay by seven points and a ferocious row took place involving supporters after the game. St Kieran's were suspended for two years as a result of this and they disbanded at this stage. The match and the ferocity of the row was talked about for years in both Shannonbridge and Walsh Island, where younger people were enthalled by stories of what went on.

In the first game, St Kieran's had been heading for a famous victory, leading by 5-3 to 2-4 inside the last ten minutes, when the game was abandoned after a free for all in the goalmouth. Initially both clubs were thrown out of the championship with three Walsh Island and one St Kieran's player suspended – there had been objections by both sides over the legality of opponents.

Neither side had a leg to stand on when it came to the illegal player issue. Kinlough told a County Board meeting that it was a “mean and low objection” and as a college player he was within his rights to play with St Kieran's during his holidays. The chairman Sean Robbins ruled that the player resided in Roscommon and was illegal. He also ruled in favour of the St Kieran's counter-objection that a Walsh Island player, Charles Kelly lived in Ballinakill in Killeigh parish.

Walsh Island also objected on the basis that a proper and complete team list was not handed to the referee as Kieran Turley was not ncluded. Charles Kelly told the a County Board meeting that he lived with his uncle in Walsh Island parish but his home was in Ballinakill.

The row was a violent free for all with players and spectators using fists and boots and one County Board official, Rahan curate Fr McGahey described it as “was an absolute public scandal”. Eventually, a replay was ordered for Ballycumber and it was another shocking episode. This time St Kieran's were very much the main villains of the piece with the referee, Jimmy Flaherty, a man who took charge of All-Ireland finals (the Tullamore man was also the County Board chairman), sending in a damning report of it all. He described how a St Kieran's player ran the length of the field to box a Walsh Island player and then initially refused to go off when dismissed. Star Walsh Island player Bill Mulhall got attacked by a supporter during the match and after the final whistle, several St Kieran's supporters invaded the pitch and went for Walsh Island players. Some were “beaten up” and Walsh Island players had to escape through a ditch while gardai drew batons to “beat back the mob”. The referee did note that some St Kieran's players did all they could to protect theitr opponents and it all culminated with a two year suspension for St Kieran's and a five year ban for the man sent off. Incidentally, Walsh Island went on to win the Senior Football Championship in 1942, beating Daingean in the final.

The fallout was massive with St Kieran's disbanding and they never reformed. Between 1942 and 1972, when meetings took place for Shannonbridge to reform, players from the parish disintegrated. Depending on where they lived, players from the area played with either Belmont or Doon but the desire to have their own club always bubbled beneath the surface. During that 1942-1972 period, a number of challenges games took place bvetween players from the Shannonbridge and Clonmacnoise area and from the Moore Clonerin area across the Shannon in Roscommon.

This embellished the desire for their own club and in 1973 that crucial step was taken when Shannonbridge competed back in the football championship.

The rest was history and developing their own facilities also ensured their survival. They have a very impressive playing field, dressing rooms, stand and floodlights on the Cloghan road out of the village at Lecarrow. Once part of the old Burns Estate, they purchased that field in 1977, and brought additional land over the years, enabling future development and a big official opening in 2010.

Now Shannobridge can celebrate their golden jubilee and it will be a memorable night, full of great memories and stories. It all happens in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone on Sunday 29th October at 7 pm. Tickets are €40. Please call or text Paula Claffey on 087 689 1036 or Roger Ryan on 087 056 3987 to confirm your ticket order. Alternatively, tickets are available in Moran’s shop in the village.