Cavan football greats to feature in new book

GAA news

Three of the Cavan football stars of the 1950s and 1960s will feature in a new book which features stories shared a host of legendary Gaelic Football greats from across the 32 counties, stretching back over the decades.

Gabriel Kelly, Jim McDonnell and Ray Carolan feature in the book entitled ‘Our Field of Dreams’.

The book has been described as “laced with a rich mix of drama, passion, humour and indeed a touch of sadness, alongside archival material, other memorabilia and photographs, these icons of the sport – so well remembered and many known to us – tell their individual stories with immeasurable quality in the myriad of ways Gaelic football has shaped their lives.”

Gabriel Kelly reflects on his first foray into sport, being rugby while at the Marist Brothers College in Dundalk and reminds of how he enjoyed his time playing Gaelic football and later, managing teams in Cavan.

He stressed that people should continue to advance this great National game, help it thrive and to embrace its promotion at underage level. Also, that we should look more at the example being set by the ladies’ game – fast, pure and exciting football. The GAA, he believes is, and will continue to live in the fabric of Irish society.

Jim McDonnell (pictured above with the Railway Cup in 1963) clearly remembers his father bringing him to Croke Park for the All-Ireland final, 1945, between Cavan and Cork, missing the train to Dublin in Cootehill and catching a later one.

He reflects on his time in St Patrick’s College, where he was later to spend 40 years on staff and played all grades of football with the College and the Ulster Colleges, and as a minor putting on the blue of Cavan in 1952.

He played his first game for Cavan seniors in 1954, winning his first senior medal against Derry in the Ulster final of 1955, and was proud to be captain in 1962 and 1964, beating Down and bringing the Anglo Celt Cup back to Breffni.

He won four Railway Cup medals with Ulster and laments that this once great competition has declined and the privilege it was to have met hurling legends Christy Ring, John Doyle and many others on St. Patrick’s Day. He recalls at length his years playing in the Sigerson Cup which he describes the one competition he enjoyed most in which he won medals in 1955, 1956 and 1957, getting a special gold medal as captain in 1957.

He recalls with clarity his trips abroad to America and Australia, ‘the best trip of his life’ was to Australia with the Irish team in 1986. Jim reflects on his own club, Drung, which was founded in 1888 and won the Cavan junior championship final for the first time in 1947.

He fondly remembers the cup being displayed in the family pub in Bunnoe, festooned in the red and white colours. Cavan won the All-Ireland final in New York in 1947 – Drung were county junior champions that same year. The club was celebrating. He concludes his three and a half page article, reminiscing on his keen interest in fishing – and while he fished in many well known lakes, the Annalee river close to his home is his favourite stream. One of his proud possessions is the fly fishing award he won for Ulster on Lough Arrow in the early 1980s. Jim muses, football like fishing has its ups and downs too.

Ray Carolan’s football career also started in St. Patrick’s College, Cavan. He played in the Ranafast Cup at under- sixteen age and won the MacRory Cup with the college in 1960 and 1961.

He played his club football with local club, Cross, where he obtained the only Cavan county championship medal he ever won. Having played at college, club, county and provincial level, looking back now he reveals how football shaped his life.

The modern game, he asserts, has changed dramatically with far too many rules and regulations. Players have to fit into different patterns which severely restrict them from using their own natural talents. Demands put on players now have meant that the drop-out rate, particularly at an early age, has become a serious problem for the Association.

This book, compiled by Galway resident Tom Curley, makes for powerful reading across sport at all levels and all ages. It will be released shortly and will be available from SuperValu stores and selected book shops. An official launch, deferred due to pandemic restrictions, will take place when restrictions are eased.

For further details email legendarygaelicfootballers@gmail.com.