PROGRAMME PLUS – VOLUME 1, NUMBER 9, OCTOBER 13th, 2016

Welcome readers to the latest edition of ‘Programme Plus’, coming to you somewhat later than scheduled and hoped for due to various work-related matters; simply put, there’s not enough hours in the day right now!

However, I did manage to escape from the toil in order to attend Mealy’s Rare Book and Collectors’ Sale in the Ormonde Hotel, Kilkenny, on September 28th. This was the equivalent of letting children loose in a toy shop leading up to Christmas, as programme enthusiasts from all four provinces turned out in the hope of securing something new to adorn their respective collections.

It was a good social exercise for our small community as much as anything else, and I was delighted to put faces to names and meet the likes of John Nagle, Gerard O’Donnell, Joe Lonergan, Paddy Quill, Seamas O’Reilly and Bobby McIlhatton for the first time. Bobby had the longest journey of all, from Loughgiel in the Glens of Antrim, but he travelled with a smile on his face as the club had won back the Antrim Senior hurling title on the previous Sunday.

The attendance also included more familiar faces to me such as Dominic Williams, Liam Rabbitte and James Lundon, along with a few more collectors that I didn’t get a chance to meet. It was my first auction so I went with an open mind, interested in the dynamics of the event itself as much as adding to my collection.

Having said that, I didn’t want to return home empty-handed so I plunged for a box of mainly Tipperary-related items at the off. Later on when I sensed from the room that there wasn’t much interest in the 1961 and 1962 All-Ireland hurling final programmes, I grabbed them too as I needed a swap of the latter.

I found it encouraging to note the general camaraderie between collectors. For example, if someone wanted an item and made it known to the rest, he was usually given a free passage to secure it without having to enter into a bidding battle. Most people abided by these gentlemen’s agreements, but not all; however, isn’t that the way of the world anyway, and you all know the old saying about really having to fight for anything that’s worth having.

I was happy to sit back and let others bid for items they had set their hearts on; I’m not sure I’m cut-throat enough for these live auctions, but I more than made up for it the following week in Peter Geoffrey’s latest mail bid sale when 14 of my 18 bids were successful, and I also scooped up four of the unsold items for good measure!

Back to the events in Kilkenny: one keen observer and active participant in the auction was well- known journalist Enda McEvoy, and he penned a most interesting piece covering the back page of the following day’s ‘Irish Examiner’ sports supplement. Here’s the article in full in case you missed it:

BUYING INTO SPORTING HISTORY

BY ENDA McEVOY

‘Big news. I’m off to an auction of GAA memorabilia and I mean business. Serious business. I’ve studied the catalogue inside out and back to front. I have put on my best suit. I’m even wearing a dickie bow, although unfortunately it quickly comes loose and has to be discarded. Pity. I was determined to cut quite a dash in the photo.

‘The auction is part of a Rare Books and Collectors Sale organised by Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers, the venue the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel. Along with the usual selection of old match programmes, this particular event features the medal collections of Phil Shanahan (old Tipperary hurler) and Joe Barrett (even older Kerry footballer and the first man from the county to lift the Sam Maguire).

‘The room, then, shimmers with GAA history. It also contains its share of familiar faces. There’s Donie Shanahan, chairman of Toomevara GAA club, here to keep a proprietary eye on the fate of the Shanahan (no relation) collection. There’s Dominic Williams, the Wexford GAA historian. There’s Seamus O’Reilly from Clare, a familiar ponytailed photographic presence on big days at Semple Stadium and the Gaelic Grounds and a man who, having started collecting at the age of 10, has all but 11 of the Munster senior hurling championship programmes issued since 1946.

‘There’s also a charming couple up from Douglas, Pat and Bernadette O’Connell. Pat is the vendor of lot 711, the programme from some match or other played in Thomond Park on October 31 1978…Pat was there. Yes, really. One of the communion of saints who actually saw Munster beat the All Blacks, as opposed to one of the millions who claim, a la the GPO in 1916, to have been there. He appreciates it now more than he did at the time, he says. “Oh, I came home very happy afterwards. But now that the match has taken on such mythic proportions, I’m even happier I was there. I didn’t realise at the time it was one of the best days of my life.” His and Bernadette’s three sons live in Yorkshire, Australia, and San Francisco. No point in giving the programme to any of us, the lads told them. “We want to see it live on, and this is the way to do it,” says Bernadette. It realises €380. Very respectable.

‘Other items of interest include an eclectic collection of autographs that features the signatures of such luminaries as Jerry Lee Lewis, Gazza, Paul Newman and, um, Maxi. An Arsenal jersey signed by their 2015 FA Cup winners prompts Larry Ryan of this parish to maintain text communication with me until such time as it sells for €210, which is €190 more than Larry’s limit. Bidding for a hurley reputedly used by Nickey Rackard in the 1955 All-Ireland final starts at €400. It finishes at €1,200.

‘My riding orders are straightforward: Attend, observe and report. On no account bid for anything, which leads to horrible visions of me coughing or rubbing my head at the wrong juncture and ending up in some Mr Bean sketch as the unwitting, unwilling owner of a priceless artefact. The Examiner’s finance department would just love that, alright.

‘Guess what, though? After a while, the bug bites me and I completely forget my orders. A programme for the 1939 All-Ireland hurling final - World War Two, thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening, all that jazz - comes up, complete with ticket stub. Deadly. Anyway, I’m dying to wave that paddle thing they use at auctions.

‘In I duly plunge at €200. Up it goes, much too rapidly, in increments of €20. Three hundred, 320, 340, 360, 380. I am rapt in this Centre Court rally, the problem being I’m facing Rafa Nadal. The gent on the other side of the net has an irritatingly swift return for every one of my volleys. Bastard. At €400, common sense belatedly kicks in and I cry halt. Damn. On second thoughts, undamn. I can afford to eat this weekend. ‘The Shanahan collection, which includes his three All-Ireland medals (1949-51) and a raft of Munster, Railway Cup and Tipperary club honours with Toomevara, goes for €19,000.

‘Then, it’s time for what Fonsie describes as “the piece de resisténce of this sale - of any sale”: Joe Barrett’s collection, with its All-Ireland, provincial, club and War of Independence medals. It was withdrawn by Barrett’s son Jojo from the GAA museum in Croke Park as a mark of protest over the playing of God Save the Queen at the Ireland/England rugby international there in 2007. Sometimes, with the GAA, as William Faulkner might have said, the past is not dead. In fact, it’s not even past.

‘The bidding starts at €28,000. In a flash it hits €38,000, then €39,000 before a phone bidder offers €40,000.

‘Wow.

‘Afterwards Donie Shanahan says he hopes that the new owner of the Shanahan collection will see fit to make it available for special club occasions in Toomevara, while Seamas O’Reilly reveals he’s filled in two of the gaps in his collection. One that remains is a Kerry/Waterford clash of the 1950s. It’s his holy grail and he’s not optimistic about finding it.

‘”I doubt it even exists.”

‘As for me, I’m 500 quid better off than might have been the case. Auctions of GAA memorabilia are fascinating, but I’ll be giving them a wide berth in future. No more suits, no more dickie bows, no more temptation.’

Readers who weren’t in Kilkenny might be interested in the prices realised for the various G.A.A. lots, and I’ll start with the match programmes.

Lot 774 (€340): four Munster SHC programmes from 1944, 1945, 1946 and 1948.

Lot 775 (€300): ten Munster SHC programmes from 1950 to 1959.

Lot 776 (€150): 15 Munster SHC programmes from 1960 to 1969.

Lot 777 (€140): eight Munster SHC programmes from 1960 to 1973.

Lot 778 (€120): ten Munster SHC programmes from 1971 to 1975.

Lot 779 (€150): three Munster SHC programmes from 1948 and 1949.

Lot 780 (€280): twelve Munster SHC programmes from 1950 to 1959.

Lot 781 (€620): eleven Munster SHC final programmes from 1949 to 1959.

Lot 782 (€260): six Munster SHC final programmes from 1960 to 1965.

Lot 783 (€560): 13 NHL final programmes from 1952 to 1966.

Lot 784 (€420): ten NFL final programmes from 1952 to 1964.

Lot 785 (€160): four All-Ireland semi-final programmes from 1952 to 1958. Lot 786 (€90): four assorted programmes from 1950 to 1959.

Lot 787 (€340): 14 Railway Cup programmes from 1952 to 1965.

Lot 788 (€90): twelve assorted programmes from the 1960s and 1970s.

Lot 789 (€400): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1939, Kilkenny v. Cork.

Lot 790 (€500): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1943, Cork v. Antrim.

Lot 791 (€170): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1946, Cork v. Kilkenny.

Lot 792 (€520): All-Ireland SHC final and semi-final programmes 1947, Kilkenny v. Cork and Galway.

Lot 793 (€280): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1948, Waterford v. Dublin.

Lot 794 (€230): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1949, Tipperary v. Laois.

Lot 795 (€210): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1950, Tipperary v. Kilkenny.

Lot 796 (€110): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1951, Tipperary v. Wexford.

Lot 797 (€130): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1952, Cork v. Dublin.

Lot 798 (€110): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1953, Cork v. Galway.

Lot 799 (€110): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1954, Cork v. Wexford.

Lot 800 (€170): All-Ireland SHC final programmes 1955 and 1956, Wexford v. Galway and Cork.

Lot 801 (€230): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1957, Kilkenny v. Waterford.

Lot 802 (€190): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1958, Tipperary v. Galway.

Lot 803 (€260): All-Ireland SHC final programmes 1959 draw and replay, Waterford v. Kilkenny.

Lot 804 (€90): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1960, Wexford v. Tipperary.

Lot 805 (€90): All-Ireland SHC final programmes 1961 and 1962, Tipperary v. Dublin and Wexford.

Lot 806 (€190): All-Ireland SHC final programme 1963, Kilkenny v. Waterford.

Lot 816 (€210): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1945, Cork v. Cavan.

Lot 817 (€210): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1946 (draw), Kerry v. Roscommon.

Lot 818 (€420): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1946 (replay), Kerry v. Roscommon.

Lot 819 (€420): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1948, Cavan v. Mayo.

Lot 820 (€150): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1949, Meath v. Cavan.

Lot 821 (€130): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1950, Mayo v. Louth. Lot 821A (€320): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1951, Mayo v. Meath.

Lot 822 (€120): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1952 (draw), Cavan v. Meath.

Lot 823 (€200): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1952 (replay), Cavan v. Meath.

Lot 824 (€120): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1954, Meath v. Kerry.

Lot 825 (€160): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1955, Kerry v. Dublin.

Lot 826 (€110): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1956, Galway v. Cork.

Lot 827 (€400): All-Ireland SFC semi-final programmes 1957, Louth v. Tyrone and Cork v. Galway.

Lot 828 (€120): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1957, Louth v. Cork.

Lot 829 (€110): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1958, Dublin v. Derry.

Lot 830 (€90): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1959, Kerry v. Galway.

Lot 831 (€170): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1960, Down v. Kerry.

Lot 832 (€100): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1962, Kerry v. Roscommon.

Lot 833 (€90): All-Ireland SFC final programme 1963, Dublin v. Galway.

Lot 834 (€320): All-Ireland SFC final programmes 1964 to 1966, Galway v. Kerry (two) and Meath.

Lot 835 (€200): National League champions, Cork and Mayo, v. New York in Polo Grounds, 1954.

Lot 836 (€190): NHL final 1950 in Polo Grounds, Tipperary v. New York.

Apart from the above-listed programmes, I counted 31 other lots of G.A.A. interest, and this is how they fared:

Lot 463 (€50): Box of assorted yearbooks, magazines etc., mainly Tipperary-related.

Lot 464 (€70): Box of Offaly-related programmes from 1970s to 1990s.

Lot 465 (€80): Box of assorted programmes from 1970s to 2000s.

Lot 466 (€70): Box of Wexford yearbooks and club histories.

Lot 467 (€80): Box of assorted magazines and yearbooks from 1960s to 1990s.

Lot 468 (€320): Box of approximately 50 club and county histories, mainly for Cork and Tipperary.

Lot 470 (unsold): Box of assorted programmes mainly from 1980s and 1990s.

Lot 471 (unsold): Box of Louth-related programmes from 1980s to 2000s.

Lot 712 (unsold): six signed Cork hurls.

Lot 713 (unsold): four hurls signed by D.J. Carey, Fergal Hartley, Fergal Ryan and John Leahy. Lot 714 (€1,200): Hurl used by Nickey Rackard in 1955 All-Ireland final.

Lot 715 (unsold): match-worn shorts and socks, plus framed photograph of Roscommon 1943.

Lot 716 (€90): International Rules No. 14 jersey worn by J. Kavanagh.

Lot 717 (€60): six items of Cork playing gear signed by players.

Lot 718 (€160): signed Kilkenny 2015 jersey, for Aoibheann’s Pink Tie charity.

Lot 719 (€120): collection of cigarette cards including hurlers and footballers.

Lot 731A (€620): Munster SHC medal from 1929.

Lot 766 (€120): photograph of Tipperary All-Ireland champions 1930.

Lot 767 (€60): collection of five Cavan club history books.

Lot 768 (€130): collection of five county history books.

Lot 769 (€70): ‘Christy Ring’ first edition book by Val Dorgan from 1980 plus postcard.

Lot 770 (€40): ‘Hurling’ by Tony Wall from 1965 and Raymond Smith’s Book of Hurling from 1974.

Lot 771 (€160): Official Guide 1919-1920.

Lot 772 (€110): Official Guide 1930-1931.

Lot 807 (€19,000): the medal collection of Phil Shanahan (Tipperary).

Lot 808 (€340): a miniature silver replica of the Liam MacCarthy Cup.

Lot 809 (€140): a Kilkenny hurling league medal from 1904.

Lot 810 (€2,400): a medal from the Dr. Croke Cup competition in 1910.

Lot 811 (€850): a Railway Cup hurling medal from 1938-1939.

Lot 812 (€100): a medal from Roscommon, inscribed ‘Boyle - G.A.A. 1914’.

Lot 813 (€40): an Under-21 hurling medal from the Muskerry division in Cork from 1971.

Lot 814 (€40,000): the medal collection of Joe Barrett (Kerry).

One final observation on the auction, which attracted a lot of national interest because of those Shanahan and Barrett medal collections which went for a combined €59,000: I, and many of my fellow programme collectors, would love to know who the mysterious number 706 was! This internet bidder clearly has deep pockets as he mopped up a considerable number of available programmes. Maybe the answer will emerge on eBay in the not too distant future, if it hasn’t done so already! COUNTY FINAL TIME: We’re smack bang in the middle of county final time right now, and I will have numerous programmes to review next month as I’m working off a cut-off date of September 30th for this edition.

I have a special request from Jim Whelan in Graiguenamanagh: he’s attempting to secure each and every county final programme from all over the country as a one-off project to mark the 1916 centenary, and any help would be appreciated.

And don’t forget this writer either please if anyone can help! County finals are my main passion in the collecting game, and I try to get every programme on an annual basis. It’s a more difficult task than many might realise; I’ve been doing it since 1988 and, would you believe, that was my most successful year!

The uninitiated might think this is a simple matter of contacting every Co. P.R.O. and getting the programmes via the post. However, going down this route will rarely bring the satisfaction one desires, as it’s more likely to lead to pure and utter frustration.

This year so far, prior to every final, I’ve sent a standard e-mail to the P.R.O. explaining that I’d like to buy their programme. I’ve added that I’m editing ‘Programme Plus’, so if they would like to advertise left-over copies for sale, I’d be happy to publicise same. Sadly, but not surprisingly, I can count the responses I received on one hand.

I must give an honourable mention at this point to Noel Duffy in Monaghan who is always extremely helpful; however, all bar one of the remainder didn’t even have the courtesy to reply. What’s the reason for this blinding ignorance? I have a couple of theories.

Firstly, in some counties I believe the five-year rule, whereby officers must vacate their role after that period, has been a bad thing. Some of these people cannot bear to be out of the mix, so they simply move jobs and this leads to many P.R.O’s being completely unsuited to the role.

Secondly, many of our modern-day P.R.O’s are from an I.T. background and concentrate in their brief on Facebook, Twitter, websites and the like. That is all very fine, but the compilation of match programmes always should be an essential aspect of the function of a county P.R.O.

And one way or the other, they should reply to e-mails from the public, even if it’s just to say ‘sorry, the programmes you require are not available’, because there’s nothing more annoying than not knowing. I have kept records since 1988 on the responses I receive from P.R.O’s, and there has been a steady decline since the days when in order to make contact it was necessary to find the individual’s address and send them a hand-written letter. Nowadays they all have generic e-mail addresses and all it takes is a few keyboard strokes, but precious few of them have the personal touch and consider it worth their while to reply.

It’s a sad reflection not just on the calibre of people appointed to these roles, but on society in general. I was a Co. P.R.O. from 2001 to 2006 and always made sure to respond to every query from the public. To me it was part and parcel of the role, and of vital importance. My rant is over, but I do intend contacting people I know within G.A.A. officialdom with a P.R. background - such as Ed Donnelly who will be reading this anyway, Cian Murphy and Alan Milton - to make my views known. At the start of every year you can rest assured that various seminars will be held aimed at promoting efficiency amongst P.R.O’s at various levels of the association. It’s high time the requirement to respond to simple queries from the public is put on top of the agenda.

The best way to get a full set of county final programmes is to attend as many as possible, and then to contact reliable collectors for assistance with the remainder. Anyone depending on support from the network of Co. P.R.O’s sadly won’t get very far.

PROGRAMME OF THE MONTH: I was on holidays from work in the week between the All-Ireland Senior finals, so I made it my business to attend a county final in a new place on September 11th. I had a choice, and I must admit my decision to travel to Tralee for the Kerry hurling decider was partly motivated by the realisation that a fine programme would be produced for the occasion.

That is the norm in the Kingdom, and I wasn’t disappointed as the standard A4 64-page offering for €3 was a fitting souvenir of a very entertaining game between Kilmoyley and Ballyduff. It ended in a draw and I had actually made plans to go back down for the replay, but I had to abort that mission at the last minute when my old friend, work, got in the way.

The North Kerry Hurling Board produce this programme on an annual basis, and they obviously take great pride in their work. My only regret is that I still haven’t obtained their history book which won the most recent McNamee award in that category - I spotted it in two shop windows on a pre-match stroll, but unfortunately both were closed as it was a Sunday; and to rub salt in the wounds, the newsagent that was open didn’t stock it! That’s still on the ‘to-get’ list as a result, with another trip to Kerry required before the year is out.

The programme is everything a county final souvenir should be: colourful, informative, well laid- out, and full of facts and figures. The detailed Clár an Lae is followed by addresses from the County Board Chairman and sponsor, and then there’s a roll of honour and information on the Neilus Flynn Cup for the winners. County Hurling Officer Ger McCarthy outlines the ongoing progress of the sport in Kerry, and there’s a page devoted to the rival captains, Aiden McCabe (Kilmoyley) and Pádraig O’Grady (Ballyduff).

A page on the referees follows and, although all of the left-handers up to this point are ads, there’s no sense of the programme being cluttered and there’s a nice balance between readable material and the money-generating pages. Local reporter Sylvester Hennessy previews the game over two well laid-out pages with action cut-outs and an information box featuring paths to the final and top scorers.

There’s a page on the Ballyduff jubilee team of 1991 with colour photograph, and a page where the respective club chairmen get an opportunity to thank all those who contributed to their journey to the final. Page 21 carries a full list of man of the match award winners since 1979, plus an interesting piece on the new county championship medal along with a detailed explanation of the various items depicted on the Kerry crest.

The Senior results thus far feature on a colourful page adorned by flags of the eight contestants, and page 25 carries information on the Seán Lovett Cup and the roll of honour. I witnessed history in the making in the curtain-raiser as Crotta O’Neill’s won their first-ever Minor championship as a single parish unit with victory over Lixnaw, powered from centre-forward by Barry O’Mahony who gave a superb display when the Kerry Under-17 team lost a Celtic Challenge final to Wexford South in Nowlan Park last August - remember the name. The Minor line-outs are on 27, and then we have the Ballyduff team photograph on 28 and two pages of their player profiles complete with head and shoulder photographs.

The line-outs form the centrespread on 32 and 33, before the Kilmoyley profiles which run to two and a half pages, filled out by a list and photograph of their officers. Their team photograph on 37 is followed by a page on Michael Mulvihil of Ballyduff who was killed in action in Dublin during the 1916 Rising. John Lucid of Ballyheigue has an interesting piece on page 41, giving a detailed explanation of the role of statistics within an inter-county management structure. The days of telling the rest of the players to simply drive the ball into the full-forward and hoping for the best are long gone!

Page 43 concentrates on the last final meeting, back in 1988, and includes a photograph of the winning Ballyduff team. The Kerry county final winning captains from 1889 to 2015 are listed on 44 and 45, with only a handful of gaps, and Luke Keane writes about his memories of the 1955 final on 47. There’s two pages of Allianz Cumann na mBunscol news, followed by a piece by John Martin Brick on the recently-deceased Flanagan brothers of Tipperary and later Kilmoyley, Brendan and John.

The development of the Centre of Excellence at Currans gets a page, and the 1916 county championship is recalled complete with a photograph of the Tullig Gamecocks - they don’t name them like they used to! The North Kerry Hurling Board activities are outlined on 57, followed by the South Kerry equivalent on 59. Kerry camogie gets a page on 61, and the last piece of readable matter highlights the fifth successive All-Ireland Minor ‘B’ hurling win before programme editor Tomás O Conchubhair records his thanks on the inside back cover. My only criticism is that the Minor finalists are not highlighted in any way, apart from that line-out page, which is unusual.

If every county final programme was as good as this one though, I’d be a very happy reviewer indeed! Overall it’s another excellent effort, and proof positive that we still have a lot of talented, imaginative people producing fine material all over the country.

Thanks to Leo McGough for confirming for me that the Philip Brooks I mentioned in last month’s Monaghan Senior hurling final programme review in this section is indeed a Carlow man - formerly of Mount Leinster Rangers whom he captained to a county Under-21 title ten years ago.

THE MONTH IN PROGRAMMES: September was, of course, dominated by the All-Ireland finals along with a smattering of county finals, with plenty more of the latter to come throughout October. This section is not particularly comprehensive in terms of the number of programmes covered, but some interesting material is reviewed nonetheless.

September 4th, Croke Park - All-Ireland Senior hurling championship final, Tipperary v. Kilkenny: A couple of surprises greeted programme purchasers on hurling’s biggest day of the year, one of the pleasant variety and another likely to divide opinion. We’ll start with the positive, and that was the full re-production of ‘Seachtar Fear: Seacht Lá’, the programme for the G.A.A’s official 50th anniversary commemoration of the 1916 Rising in 1966. Page 6 of the actual match programme explained that a limited number of copies were to be distributed free, so I don’t know if they ran out at a certain stage on the day. I was through the turnstiles bright and early anyway so the added extra was part of all the programmes I purchased.

The pageant, which was written by Bryan MacMahon, was staged in Croke Park from March 17- 19th, 1966, and featured the lives of the signatories of the Proclamation. I wonder does any reader have a copy of the original programme? Unlikely I would say, given that it’s not a souvenir from an actual match. The 16-page re-production includes a welcome from President Eamon de Valera, profiles of Connolly, Ceannt, Clarke and Mac Diarmada, and poems written by Pearse, Plunkett and MacDonagh.

The commemoration was moving on to be staged in Casement Park, Belfast, on March 27th, and the cast included Niall Tóibín as Pearse, Derek Young as Clarke, Gerry Sullivan as Plunkett, Séamus O hEilí as Ceannt, Edward Byrne as Mac Diarmada, Ivan Hanley as MacDonagh, and Ronnie Walsh as Connolly.

This was a nice and unexpected added souvenir to obtain from All-Ireland final day, and it would be wonderful if more follow, even if it might only be on the bigger occasions. Many of the soccer clubs in England re-produce full programmes from bygone days for league games, either perfect-bound within the body of the current programme, included as a separate insert as was the case in this instance, or in some cases both programmes will even be sold inside a protective bag. Imagine buying a programme at next year’s All-Irelands and also getting a re-production of those produced for the finals of 50 years earlier, for example…DBA would have friends for life among the collecting fraternity!

That was the unexpected positive from hurling final day, but what did you think of the most notable change in the actual programme itself? I’m referring to the break with tradition as the line-outs didn’t appear as per usual either across the centrespread or very close to the middle. I certainly wasn’t expecting to see the Kilkenny and Tipperary teams somewhat randomly listed on pages 8 and 9, with the Minors on 10 and 11.

Perhaps the reasoning behind it was that it would save patrons the bother of flicking through page after page before getting to the teams in the middle. It came as a surprise to me though, and I think it will take a while to catch on. I won’t reveal the identity of the friend who sat beside me at Saturday week’s football final replay and, after habit dictated that he searched around the centre pages first, he eventually turned to me with a frustrated air and asked: ‘are the f***ing teams in this yoke at all?!’

Otherwise, the hurling final programme was standard fare and in keeping with the template used extensively in recent years. It was perfect-bound, 80 pages plus cover, and retailed at €5. Naturally enough the journalist in me enjoyed an article by Seán Moran of ‘The Irish Times’ from pages 16 to 18 headlined ‘Watching, Observing…Still Part Of It’. It relayed the changes Seán has experienced in 25 years of attending All-Ireland final press nights, and I particularly enjoyed his recollection of events in 1996 when he joined the Wexford throngs and headed for the hurling decider from his holiday home in Curracloe. Special memories, and who knows if and when we will ever get to experience them again. Enda McEvoy looked back at the 2010 to 2012 trilogy between Kilkenny and Tipperary with two departed heroes, Tommy Walsh and Eoin Kelly, while Alan Milton profiles Shane Prendergast and Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher respectively over two-page spreads. John Harrington looks at the records of the respective managers, and there is the obligatory article from Christy O’Connor who tends to write about the tactical side of the game.

Journalists Damian Lawlor, John Harrington, Pat Nolan, Enda McEvoy (he’s all over this issue) and Denis Walsh are asked to name their key players, key trend, key match-up, highlight and, of course, verdict. Elsewhere there’s a successful attempt to render some statistics in as interesting a manner as possible in the ‘Hurling By Numbers’ feature.

The respective Senior teams’ scoring statistics are presented in a rather bland photograph-free spread with too much grey background for my liking, although the feature is ‘saved’ somewhat with a timeline looking back at how they fared in 1986, 1996 and 2006.

The circle of champions on pages 48 and 49 may be an alternative means of presenting the roll of honour, but anyone who has seen the FA Cup final programmes of recent years will know the idea is lifted directly from there. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course, and perhaps the next step will be to list the final results around the circle rather than just the names of the winners. There is a full breakdown of champions and runners-up on the left-hand column, with photographs of Henry Shefflin and John Doyle on the right with the years of their All-Ireland wins listed.

The player profiles start with Kilkenny on page 50, and I realise it must be a challenge to come up with fresh designs for this particular feature. They revert from my preferred dates of birth to ages by year this time, but I really like the use of each player’s individual club crest beside their photograph. This year has seen extensive use of club crests and it’s a move to be warmly welcomed in my view. Each team has five pages of profiles, with a short feature on the Tipperary jubilee team of 1991 in between. Many counties go to great lengths in their club final programmes to do ‘where are they now?’ pieces on the old team being honoured - it’s something I’d like to see in the All-Ireland final programmes too.

The Minor final coverage starts on page 63 and comprises a sponsor’s message, previews in Irish and English, two-page profiles with head and shoulders photographs for both teams, a page of results and the roll of honour. The line-outs, as mentioned above, appear much earlier in the programme, and I think it would be better if they were part of the rest of the Minor pages instead.

One last gripe that I will repeat, having mentioned it after reviewing a semi-final programme last month: the scoreboard page for both Senior and Minor merely lists results, without dates or venues. Therefore, it’s an incomplete factual record in my view and that shouldn’t be the case, especially on the biggest day of the year. On the whole though, it’s a comprehensive programme, and the unexpected extra re-production was an added bonus.

September 11th, Croke Park - All-Ireland camogie finals, Carlow v. Armagh (Premier Junior), Kilkenny v. Cork (Intermediate and Senior): A €5 production comprising 64 pages plus cover, the consistency of recent final programmes is maintained in this bright and breezy production. That shouldn’t surprise collectors, because its designed and lay-out as always is the work of Kilkenny man Tom Beirne, a pleasure to deal with in my past experience. The Clár an Lae is listed on the page numbered 1 rather than 3, with Catherine Neary’s President’s address on a spread accompanied by crests of the competing counties. The referees are profiled on 4, with a welcome from Liberty Insurance on 5. There’s an advertorial for the National Development Plan for camogie on 7, with the Junior final previewed on 9.

The Armagh team photograph is on 10 alongside a Q&A with one of their players, Eimear Hayes. The Armagh player profiles, with head and shoulder photographs, are on 12 and 13, with the line- outs on 14 and 15. An interesting aspect to this is that those pics are also re-produced above the players listed 1 to 15 which is a nice touch and brightens up these pages.

Carlow receive the same treatment then, with team photograph, Q&A (Gráinne Nolan) and player profiles. A piece announcing Government support for camogie and ladies’ football is on 20, beside the paths to the Premier Junior final. The Senior final is previewed on 22 and 23, before the Cork Senior player profiles on 24 and 25. Next up are the paths to the Senior final, the Kilkenny Senior player profiles, the Cork team photograph and Q&A with goalkeeper Aoife Murray.

The Senior line-outs fill the centrespread, followed by the Kilkenny Senior team photograph and a Q&A with Julie Ann Malone. The GAA Healthy Club Project is outlined on 37, with the Intermediate final preview on 39. The Cork Intermediate team photograph is on 41, followed by their player profiles, the paths to the final, and a Q&A with Leah Weste.

The Intermediate line-outs feature on 46 and 47, with the Kilkenny Intermediate team photograph on 48 and a Q&A with Edel Frisby on 49. The Kilkenny Intermediate player profiles are on 50 and 51, before a colourful two-page spread on various coaching initiatives undertaken during the year. An interesting spread is carried on 54 and 55 under the headline ‘Camogie/Hurling - Some Key Differences’ - I’m sure our resident referee James Lundon has encountered several know-it-alls quoting hurling rules at him during camogie games and vice versa!

The mini-game participants are listed on 57, with a photo montage of the eight player of the match recipients from earlier in the championship on 59. The top scorers are outlined on 61 beside a large action shot of the leader, Kate Kelly (Wexford), and then the full list of All-Ireland final venues, results and referees are on pages 62 and 63. I was involved in compiling this information when I served on a national camogie communications committee, so I take pride in seeing it updated on an annual basis. The sport still has a lot of ground to make up in various ways, but when it comes to the All-Ireland final programme their work gets a thumbs-up from me.

Incidentally, Cian Nelson, the new Communications Manager with An Cumann Camógaíochta, produced two excellent media packs during the year. The first ran to 20 pages and marked the launch of the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland championships. It contained competition rules, fixtures, rolls of honour, and a county guide listing each team’s manager, captain, website, Twitter, league 2016 and championship 2015 record, brief synopsis of their prospects and titles won, concluding with fixtures.

The pre All-Ireland finals pack comprised twelve pages with a preview penned by Therese O’Callaghan, amended county guides to includes results en route to the final, championship facts and figures, and a repeat of the rolls of honour with the successful Senior captains down through the years added. September 18th, Croke Park - All-Ireland Senior football championship final, Dublin v. Mayo (draw): There was no added extra in the football final programme two weeks after the hurling, but it was a good deal bigger at 96 pages in total, on sale once again for €5. The team line-outs were again located near the front, and the two pages of referees’ profiles repeated a snippet and photograph from a fortnight earlier on Wicklow’s Jimmy Hatton, the last man to take charge of both finals in the same year in 1966 - a feat that will never be repeated.

Similar themes are explored after featuring in the hurling programme. For example, Dermot Crowe looks at the trilogy of Dublin v. Mayo games in 2013 and 2015 (draw and replay) with two more key figures from those games who are no longer involved, namely Alan Brogan and James Horan. Alan Milton talks to Philly McMahon and Brendan Harrison, while the media-related mantle is passed on from Seán Moran to Darragh Maloney who gives an insight into his commentating role.

John Harrington’s brief is to look at the managers once again, and he’s also one of four journalists asked to share their innermost thoughts on the game along with Michael Foley, Dermot Crowe and Malachy Clerkin. The player profiles for both Senior teams are just four pages apiece rather than five this time, and there is new material to the rear where seven pages are devoted to giving a comprehensive rundown on the various activities staged by the G.A.A. to mark the 1916 commemorations.

Assorted club programmes: I was sitting in Wexford Park last Sunday week watching our county Senior hurling championship semi-finals when my phone pinged and I read the following text from Patrick Donegan: ‘An A4 sheet for the Offaly SHC semi final double header a big disappointment.’

And Patrick wasn’t the only collector expecting more, because patrons at the games I was attending also had to make do with a black and white offering comprising a cover, back page ad, and teams in the middle. To add insult to injury, they were charged €1 for it. Whatever happened to the days when semi-finals were regarded as major occasions, and at the very least a programme was produced containing some reading material? They were doing this in Wexford 30 years ago, so we seem to be regressing rather than progressing.

The policy here of including all team line-outs from the weekend in one programme stopped abruptly at the quarter-final stage. Since then all double-headers regardless of grade have been marked with one of these single-sheet offerings with no information apart from the line-outs.

There was a slightly better effort made for both Under-21 hurling county finals, played at separate venues on August 30th. For €2 there was a cover, line-outs, three pages of ads, and then each participating team had a page for a message and/or team photograph. There was also an eight-pager produced by Coiste na nOg for the showpiece Minor hurling Premier final featuring cover, Chairman’s welcome plus line-outs from an Under-12 game, line-outs from the Under-16 final, two pages of line-outs for the Minor, a picture page, a message from myself as People Newspapers are competition sponsors, and our ad on the back page.

Some counties clearly make a bigger effort for semi-finals, and this is to be welcomed. For example, James Lundon combines collecting with refereeing as stated earlier, and he sent me on a pdf of the programme for the Galway Intermediate and Minor ‘A’ hurling semi-finals, having taken charge of a game in the latter grade featuring Clarinbridge and Liam Mellows in Pearse Stadium. That comprised twelve full-colour pages for €2 and featured full factual details on paths to the final and a preview page by Hurling P.R.O. Joe Keane among other things. I’d have been very happy with something similar in Wexford Park, and no doubt Patrick Donegan would have felt likewise in Tullamore. I’ve praised Joe Keane on these pages before, and perhaps that’s simply what it boils down to: having a programme editor with a bit of pride in what they’re doing, and a desire to ensure that supporters are entertained to a degree off the field as well as on it.

GAELIC FIELDS: Last month we encouraged readers to support Paul Carroll’s ‘Kickstarter’ project to fund his forthcoming book, ‘Gaelic Fields’. And the good news that the target had been reached came in the form of a thank you e-mail from Paul on September 2nd which went as follows:

‘It’s been a crazy and amazing 4 weeks. Thanks to everyone who backed Gaelic Fields, shared it, encouraged people to pledge and for your stories. I seem to have cornered the dad Christmas market! The amount raised is amazing. The support from friend and unknown has matched that.’

I understand that 277 people in all pledged financial support for the project which realised over €14,000, ensuring the target was reached. And even though the Kickstarter campaign has ended, it’s still possible to pre-order a copy of ‘Gaelic Fields’ here: http://gaelicfields.com/overview/

Paul received wonderful publicity for his project in a full-page feature in the ‘Irish Times’ news review section on Saturday, August 27th. The top half was taken up with a magnificent image of the playing field in Inishturk, Co. Mayo, and there’s six smaller pics below of the pitches in Inis Oírr, Co. Galway; Portarlington, Co. Laois; Bofeenaun, Co. Mayo; Monksland, Co. Louth; Grange, Co. Sligo; and Springfield Road, Belfast, home of Gort na Móna.

The written piece on the bottom third of the page was penned by Paul Fitzpatrick, and there’s also a photograph of Paul Carroll, the man behind the project. Here’s that article re-printed in full:

PITCH PERFECT – By Paul Fitzpatrick

A crowdfunded book captures the GAA fields of Ireland in a series of glorious photographs

‘It started with a cycle. Paul Carroll toured the island with a friend and, arriving home, brain buzzing from the raw splendour of it all, the thought struck him. “I had never seen Ireland in that way before,” says the 36-year-old author of an ambitious new book of photographs of Ireland’s GAA pitches, “and it blew me away. I was in my late 20s, whiling away my time, living for the weekend sort of thing, and I decided I wanted to take on something.”

‘So, inspired by a Dutch book that chronicled soccer games across mainland Europe, he bought a car, threw his camera on the seat and hit the road, giving himself 10 years to complete a project he called Gaelic Fields.

‘Carroll, a native of Murroe, Co Limerick, but based in Cork, managed it in seven. His journey took him 50,000km - greater than the circumference of the globe.

‘The book took him to new places, showed him new things. In west Cork a team were down a man; he was cajoled into togging out. Twenty years after he last kicked an O’Neill’s in anger he scored a point. “I had to leave at half-time. What was funny was that there was another guy of the same name, Paul Carroll, playing with the team I played for. It’s just a small world.” ‘In Bailieborough, Co Cavan, he heard the whirr of pistons and the grunt of valves in the factory that leans over the pitch.

‘In Leenane, in deepest Connemara, near where the film The Field was filmed, he found himself in a field when his car toppled over. Still, he kept on, juggling his duties, routinely driving for six or seven hours at a time in the hope of getting that shot.

‘Through the narrative and flow of the club season I wanted to highlight the identity of the communities at the grassroots of the game,” he says.

‘Recognising the same community spirit that moved the islanders of Inishturk - home of his favourite pitch - to “carve their field out of rock on an island of 54 people”, to “put their stamp on the land”, was important.

‘Carroll is not a GAA diehard. Although he played Gaelic football as a child, soccer is more his thing; his day job as a care worker in Cork city has taught him the power of sport, and he organises an annual soccer league there for homeless people.

‘But in Gaelic games he saw Irish community life at its best, and he was determined to record it. “It’s a documentary work. The photos, individually, can be enjoyed, but I wanted the work to flow. The whole idea of the book is that it moves from really dark, gloomy days in February, at the start of the league, all the way through the season to the bright evenings, and on to the club championship in August.

‘”I’ve tried to mirror that within the pages of the book. It starts with the first throw-in of the season in Co Louth - dark photos, grim weather - before it starts brightening up into long, light evenings. I hope it captures that seasonal transition. There is no point sanitising it. You’re trying to capture Ireland, so there’s no point taking photos in high light all the time, because that’s not what Ireland is about. We have bad weather, we have muddy pitches at the start and end of the year, and then we have some brighter days, too.”

‘Carroll kept the idea a secret, fearing it would get out - “a fleet of photographers could do what I did in a weekend” - and be ripped from his grasp. That would have broken his heart, he says.

‘”How do I feel now? I’m kind of relieved, to be honest. I was doing something for so long, and I could only tell a select few people. It’s great to be able to open up about it.”

‘The book has, fittingly, been crowdfunded, and that has brought its own unexpected benefits. “It’s been nice, because a lot of people who order it tell me the reasons why. Maybe it’s for a dad, or because they’ve travelled around Ireland, or maybe it’s because of how much Gaelic games means to them, how much they’re vested in it.” Just, as his labour of love shows, he now is himself.’

FROM THE ARCHIVES: I’m staying in the province of Connacht and the recent theme of pitch openings for this month’s trawl back through the archives. The latest selection is the match programme for the official opening of St. Jarlath’s Park in Tuam, Co. Galway, on Sunday, May 21st, 1950.

The 104-page programme was printed by Galway Printing Co. Ltd., and my copy is in remarkably good condition. In fact, there’s scarcely a blemish and I imagine it’s a rare enough souvenir at this stage. Mayo were about to embark on a glorious two-in-a-row later that year, and they played Cavan in a football challenge while Galway took on a selection wearing the blue of Dublin but featuring players from Louth, Kerry, Tipperary, Wexford, Meath, Roscommon, Dublin, Cork and Carlow to make it very much an All-Ireland occasion.

The teams are listed in the centrespread but in an unusual manner: Mayo are top left, Galway are top right, but Cavan and Dublin are upside down directly underneath them. It’s possible to read their teams without turning the page around, although the latter option is still advisable if you don’t want to end up with a headache!

The cover features text printed in green inside a Celtic design in orange which is credited to a ‘D Comerford’. It’s ads all the way on the first 29 pages, including one exhorting Gaels of the country to read the ‘G.A.A. Digest’. ‘Outstanding articles, beautifully illustrated’ was the promise. It retailed for 6d. monthly, and the advice was to ‘order from your newsagent’.

A full-page photograph of Rev. Dr. Walsh, the Archbishop of Tuam, leads us into the readable content in the programme. There’s another photograph of some of the committee members overleaf alongside a list of their names on the facing page. A three-and-a-half page article as Gaeilge follows, headlined ‘Buaid’ and written by S. O Maoldomnaig.

‘Some Notes on Tuam Town’ is the headline on 37, and the piece continues on 39, with a photograph of the bustling town centre on 38. There’s a photograph of Tuam Stars, Galway county champions for 1947, on 40, followed by nearly eight pages by J. Nohilly headlined ‘Tuam G.A.A. from the Cradle Days’. This is an excellent potted history of the games in the town, and the page it concludes on (48) is filled out with a profile from ‘Famous Captains’ by Carbery of Charlie Connolly of Galway, born in Tuam in 1915.

The Cavan v. Mayo game is previewed on 49 and part of 50, above an ad for Jacob’s Biscuits, ‘The Best You Can Buy’. This was written by Patrick J. Mahon, and it’s followed by ‘Football in Co. Galway’ by J.P. Burke on 51, continued after the centrespread on 54 and the top of 56. There’s a photograph of the Galway county team for 1948 on 55. Next up is a piece headlined ‘Hurling in Co. Galway’ on 57 and 58, written by Ignatius Harney. ‘St. Jarlath’s and Football’, by P.V. O’Brien, runs from 59 to 62 and includes a full-page photograph of their Hogan Cup-winning team from 1947. The bottom of 62 also carries another profile from ‘Famous Captains’, with Mick Donnellan of Dunmore the subject this time.

W.P. Wrafter writes about Tuam C.B.S. from 63 to 66, and there’s also a photograph of their 1950 team. ‘Twenty Years A-Growing’ by Michael I. Mooney takes a trip back in time to some memorable matches played in Parkmore, the previous Tuam venue, while there’s an article on ‘Camogie in New York’ on 70. The facing page contains a plea for our ‘spirited youths’ or ‘bashful maidens’ to get involved in the game of rounders, particularly ‘those young folk, too timid to dare the more thrilling experiences of camogie and hurling’!

A long list of acknowledgements, written by Michael I. Mooney, covers page 72 and 73 and the top of 74, and then it’s back to ads for the rest of this fine programme. I’m not sure what I’ll come up with for next month’s ‘From The Archives’, but please note that the subject matter doesn’t necessarily have to be from my collection. Feel free to participate in this section if you would like to share something from a long-gone era with the rest of our readers.

COUNTY COLOURS: In last month’s ‘From The Archives’ I noted that the Sligo colours were listed as blue and gold in the programme for the official opening of Markievicz Park in 1955. That prompted a regular reader, Seán Creedon from Dublin, to offer to share the contents of an old chart on G.A.A. colours sponsored by Dairyland, manufacturers of Yoplait, which is part of his collection, and which he thinks was compiled by the late Mick Dunne.

Those of you who subscribe to the ‘Ireland’s Own’ magazine will no doubt recognise Seán’s name as he has submitted various sports-related pieces to them down through the years. We agreed to run the information on three county colours per month in alphabetical order, but we’ll also throw in Sligo this month given that the new feature has its origins in that information from 1955:

‘At one time the Sligo jersey was all black. A white band was introduced around 1925. Sligo was the only county to have an all-black jersey. Since 1970 the county teams have been using a white jersey with black trim, black shorts and white socks.’

The remainder will follow in A-Z format, three per month:

ANTRIM: ‘The Antrim colours were adopted from the famous Shauns club and have been worn since inter-county football began, except for a short period. Black shorts are worn on occasion.’

ARMAGH: ‘Up to 1926 Armagh wore the same colours as Kilkenny. In 1926 they played Dublin in the All-Ireland Junior football final and wore jerseys knit especially for them by the nuns in Omeath in the colours which they still use.’

CAVAN: ‘Royal blue has been used by Cavan since 1910. The white trim was introduced for the 1947 All-Ireland football final against Kerry which was played in the Polo Grounds, New York.’

THE COLLECTIBLES (PART TWO OF TWO) - BY JAMES A. LUNDON (LIMERICK VIA GALWAY)

‘We continue onto the less accumulated aspects of the G.A.A. collectibles’ world with part two below. I apologise for not mentioning the very-much-still-alive weekly ‘Gaelic Life’ newspaper in Part One! ‘It is almost ten years old and still going strong. That any publication has survived this long - in a very difficult time for all print media - is ample testament to its publishers, editors and contributors. Much kudos! Its coverage is primarily Ulster Gaelic football-centric and thus it does not have the penetration down south that it otherwise deserves. It is very collectible nonetheless. ‘All good types of G.A.A. medals are very collectible. Be it All-Ireland (Celtic Cross) medals, right down to juvenile divisional or county trinkets. All medals have a value if they are properly hallmarked i.e. are made from gold or silver. Many modern medals are ‘hallmarked’ but are made of brass , which only devalues the championships they are won for. ‘All-Ireland medals are the most desirable, the more recent the better surprisingly enough. If the medals belonged to a well-known player, it can increase their value many fold. Two large collections of medals were sold in Mealy’s last week, but the estimated prices moved well beyond even the best G.A.A. collectors and into the realm of the “investor” with a lot of disposable cash, hoping to make a big profit eventually. That is not collecting, in my opinion. ‘This is a financially dangerous ploy, which was exposed in G.A.A. programmes during the latter days of the Celtic Tiger. The G.A.A. collecting market is small and specialised and we will not pay over certain well-established norms for anything, no matter how rare. ‘Other inter-county winning medals are not nearly as desirable but the market for them is still good. County medals can be very reasonably priced but have a much smaller market! Nice medals will always sell; uglier medals not so much so! ‘A number of G.A.A. trading card sets have been produced over the years. It started with a set of PJ Carroll Louth All-Ireland Champions 1912 cards (extremely rare), then Wills’ Hurlers in 1927 (scarce), progressing onto Wills’ Irish Sportmen in 1935 (rare). Liam Devlin’s Gaelic Sportstars cards of the early-1960s are nice, but very rare as a complete set in good condition. ‘There were various smaller sets produced by breakfast cereal producers in the 1990s. Three yearly sets were produced as The Official GAA Sticker collection between 2004-2006. The most successful recent incarnation to capture the collector’s imagination, especially the Match Attax generation, is Cúl Heroes, which is a well-produced county-by-county (except the Galway hurlers it seems) year-on- year card set with its own collector album. These cards look and feel very professional and seem to have a decent marketing budget behind them. They are now in their third year too. ‘There have been many VHS & DVDs produced on Gaelic games over the last 35 years. Right from the advent of the video recorder, people have both been recording and buying game highlights etc. The first review of the Gaelic games year was done by RTE in 1986 and they have produced one every year since then, in one form/format or another. These are collectible; as to whether the media is still playable is a whole other matter! ‘DVDs likewise, with the advent of TG4's GAA Gold series, has meant that there is quite a market for vintage games, not that RTE have a full archive of them from which to choose. Many All-Ireland finals before 1973 are no longer in their archives, which is a grave shame! ‘Many collect G.A.A.-related posters of one sort or another, mainly the All-Star variety. The All-Star awards have been in existence since 1971. For the duration of the PJ Carroll (cough, cough!) sponsorship, two different types of the emblematic poster were produced, the large and the smaller format. I didn’t know of the existence of the large format (almost A2 in size) until a short few years ago. ‘The posters have gone through a lot of ups and down since the late ’70s and are still produced - albeit with no great enthusiasm - by Croke Park after each year’s All-Star awards. Anyone who has a full set of posters has real history on their hands. I still vividly remember any time I went into a pub in the 1970s/1980s perusing with great interest these posters which were inevitably hanging in most lounge bars of this era. Where have they all gone? ‘There were/are many other types of posters produced by the G.A.A., or related sponsoring organisations, since the 1960s. Guinness, in particular, added a substantial amount of collectible material during their sponsorship of the hurling championships. The ‘Irish Independent’ did a series of 'signed' team images from the previous days' All-Ireland finals for about 20 years from 1953 to 1972. All are very nice but extremely rare. ‘Jerseys, hurl(ey)s, footballs and sliothars are all collectible too, by some collectors more than by others. I still regret not bidding more for a replica of the first hurling final ball years ago at auction. It was the size of a small volleyball! No wonder the score was only 1-1 to 0-0! ‘The problem with much of this memorabilia is proving adequate provenance. This was the case at a recent auction where a selection of big-game sliothars was offered for sale. One of them was purportedly used in a 1950s All-Ireland hurling final. It felt like a size 4 and it weighed more like a golf ball; it didn’t really look like a ’50s hurling ball either. It may well have been kosher but I had no interest, as it was impossible to prove either way. ‘Footballs and hurl(ey)s are no different either: both almost impossible to prove that they were used when they were claimed to be. We are on slightly more stable ground with jerseys but they rarely come up. I have a great personal interest in old composite sticks and one of my biggest wants is to acquire a Rivdal stick, like the one that offered for sale in an early-1970s All-Ireland hurling final programme. ‘Does anyone know anything about them as I would love to find out more about their history? Many of us remember Wavin (of pipe manufacturing fame) sticks from our youth. I still recall the sting from them. These are remarkably hard to source these days. So much for them being completely indestructible! ‘Some collectors love original photos of teams and action shots etc. These are very hard come by and rarely appear at auction either! They always find a market and can make surprisingly good prices. I know at least one collector who is interested in G.A.A. badges. There are not so many to choose from, unlike soccer where there seems to be badges produced for every game played by many English teams etc. ‘A number of different types of player figurines have been produced since the 1960s. 'Players Please' did a really nice hurler and football set and it always goes for very good money when it pops up at auction. There were individual players - both hurling and Gaelic football - done at that time and again in the 1990s. I have both from Limerick but regret not trying to get the full set of counties at the time in either code. ‘Other Irish producers produced similar figurines in plastic or other resilient material, and I have a good set from a crowd called Jameson Handcrafts in Kerry, only missing Carlow for a full set of the 32 counties. They are my Chinese Terracotta warriors! ‘I also collect a bit of shinty for my sins, but the amount of material to be collected in this area is much smaller than the equivalent Gaelic games output. ‘Other items of collectible interest in the G.A.A. world include the following:

 jewellery (vintage and recent);  art (paintings and sculpture of players and action shots);  playing cards (1950s Players and 2000s Top Trumps);  postcards (very old team pictures were sometimes printed as postcards);  fridge magnets (county emblems and star players);  postage stamps (a small number of Irish stamps have been produced since the G.A.A’s golden jubilee in 1934);  coins (a handful of commemorative medallions have been produced since 1984);  mugs (county related and novelty);  glass and plate-ware (mostly to do with 1984).

‘Am I missing anything, please let me know?’

LABOURS OF LOVE: Well, I finally got my hands on the St. Patrick’s (Lisburn) history book that I’d mentioned in the last two editions! And the good news is that you can secure a copy too if interested. Peter Burns is the man to talk to, so drop him an e-mail first at [email protected] or give him a call on +447774694107. The price of the book is £12.99 and £3 postage, or €15 and €3 postage, and Peter will be happy to send you a copy.

It’s titled ‘The GAA in Lisburn - The Origins of Gaelic Games’, with the following wording also included on the bottom right: ‘The story of Naomh Pádraig CLG 1965-2015’. The 216-page book was compiled and edited by Pearse Lawlor, with considerable guidance and assistance from Dónal McAnallen along with members of the club. Dónal’s expertise on the historical side of things was of crucial importance in framing a thorough record.

Chapter one is on the early days of the G.A.A. in Lisburn, and chapter two concentrates on Teeling’s Hurling and Football Club which operated there in 1904. Chapter three is most interesting, given that the subject matter is ‘The Long Silence: Lisburn’s absence from the G.A.A., 1904-1964’. The background to the establishment of St. Patrick’s in the mid-sixties follows, and then there’s a chapter apiece on every decade since. Printed black and white in the main, there is a colour section in the centre mainly comprised of team photographs. I haven’t had an opportunity to read this book in full yet, but I’m looking forward to it.

The annual raft of books for the Christmas market are starting to come on stream, and I’ve read and reviewed the first two already for my newspaper. Here’s a re-production of those two pieces:

THE BEST IS YET TO COME - ALAN O’MARA

‘A lot of important conversations in the area of mental health are taking place in sporting circles all over the country these days due to the honesty and bravery of Alan O’Mara.

‘The one-time regular Cavan Senior football goalkeeper was among the first of his generation to have the courage to highlight his own struggles, in the hope that it would help others with similar difficulties.

‘And given his background in journalism, it was perhaps only natural that O’Mara would put his innermost thoughts in book form.

‘The end result is “The Best Is Yet To Come” which, as another mental health advocate from the world of sport, ex-Cork hurler Conor Cusack, states, is a “compelling, honest, raw” account.

‘O’Mara doesn’t believe in sugar-coating his experiences and that’s precisely the way it should be if a book of this nature is to have any value.

‘Therefore, we read vivid descriptions of what was going through his mind on the two occasions when he seriously contemplated taking his own life.

‘In the first instance he was tempted to walk out in front of an approaching car while heading home after a festive night out.

‘The second occurrence came on the motorway when he was behind the wheel and got an urge to drive into the nearest wall.

‘Thankfully he didn’t succumb to these most negative thoughts, with the second incident ending on a positive note as it gave him the strength he needed to open up to his mother about his problems.

‘This marked the start of a long, difficult journey which is an ongoing process, but one gets the impression by the end of this book that O’Mara is in a far better place now than he was then.

‘Given the high profile he has gained since his decision to speak out, many of the stories he recounts in the book will have been heard already either on television or radio.

‘Therefore, I was interested to learn a little more about his background, so it was news to me to find out he was born and bred in Donaghmede, the son of Dublin parents who decided to move to Cavan when their son was twelve years old.

‘As a child he loved reading and tended to isolate himself from his peers, but he was well able to look after himself too when the need arose as two incidents of bullying were put to bed quickly. ‘O’Mara did his Leaving Cert. at the age of 16 and responsibility was quickly thrust upon his shoulders when he became sports editor of the ‘Cavan Post’ newspaper when he was 17.

‘He went on to study journalism in D.C.U. but didn’t give the course the attention it deserved as his depression was really kicking in and it was often the preferred option to stay in bed all day.

‘On the sporting side of things, football went from meaning absolutely everything to becoming a chore, something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

‘However, there is no doubt that his involvement as goalkeeper with the Cavan team which reached the All-Ireland Under-21 final in 2011 was a special achievement.

‘The publication of this book is well-timed, coming before the autobiographies of Ken McGrath and Kieran Donaghy which will be more likely to attract casual punters in the lead-up to Christmas.

‘Three years after speaking out about his battle, O’Mara’s open and honest memoir is well worth the investment of time and money.’

THE HEART & SOUL OF KERRY FOOTBALL - WEESHIE FOGARTY

‘Nowadays one would risk being frowned upon if “tradition” was used as a reason to explain why the likes of Kerry and Kilkenny are so consistently successful in their respective codes.

‘A lot of rubbish talk permeates the airwaves and national newspapers in my view, and many of the worst culprits are the former players turned pundits rather than the journalists.

‘It’s all about defensive systems and how teams are expected to “transition” on the field. They simply mean moving the ball from A to B, but that doesn’t sound trendy enough so it’s consigned to dim and distant memory.

‘And while I’m not suggesting for a moment that tradition is the main reason for the triumphs of certain counties, it’s an incredible help at the same time.

‘That point comes shining through in ‘The Heart & Soul of Kerry Football’ by Weeshie Fogarty which was recently released by O’Brien Press.

‘The examples are everywhere; take, for instance, the tale of the proud Kerry father who placed a football on the pillow next to his son, because he wanted it to be the first thing he saw and smelled when he woke up every morning.

‘The author doesn’t reveal the identity of the child in question, but does say that he went on to wear the green and gold at Minor and Under-21 level.

‘Meanwhile, the first present for Weeshie’s only son, left carefully at the end of his cot, was a football.

‘And then we read about the elderly man whose dying wish was granted: he wanted an ex-Kerry footballer to read a poem about the county’s obsession with the game to the exclusion of the prayers of the faithful at his funeral.

‘Weeshie’s own love of the game was fuelled by the visit of the three Killarney players on the team to his school with the Sam Maguire Cup after the All-Ireland final victory of 1953.

‘All of the above examples underline why tradition is, in fact, so important. These counties win so often, and the children are visited with such regularity, that every generation grows up with dreams of wearing the jersey.

‘Contrast this with our own situtation in Wexford where no teenager has a living experience of what an All-Ireland victory means.

‘The author of this book charts his own experiences of Kerry football since he attended his first final in 1955.

‘A retired psychiatric nurse, he’s built up quite the cult following over the years after developing a very successful career in local radio and presenting the popular ‘Terrace Talk’ programme.

‘And unlike many bluffers on the airwaves, he knows what he’s talking about after a distinguished club career, involvement with the All-Ireland winning Kerry panel of 1969 as substitute goalkeeper, and a number of years as an inter-county referee.

‘The book is written in the same conversational style as the author deploys on radio, and he’s adept at recalling the many interesting stories that have shaped the success of Kerry football down through the years.

‘A lot has been written about the game in the Kingdom, and my own personal favourite is “Princes of the Pigskin” which was penned by my former college classmate Joe O Muircheartaigh, and T.J. Flynn.

‘I enjoyed this book too, as it’s an easy to read potted history of the last 60 years of a truly great football county, with the narrative flitting from topic to topic and moving along at a brisk pace.’

HIGH PRAISE FOR JIM: An excellent profile of one of our own, Jim Fogarty, written by his fellow Tipperary native Jackie Cahill, was the most eye-catching aspect of the All-Ireland Under-21 hurling final preview in the ‘Irish Examiner’ dated Saturday, Septmber 10th. Here is the full version reproduced below for those of you who didn’t see it at the time:

THE TIPP EXILE WHO’S AN U21 HURLING ENCYCLOPEDIA

BY JACKIE CAHILL

‘It hasn’t been the worst of weeks to be a Tipperary man living in Kilkenny.

‘Jim Fogarty lives in Meadow Way on the Castlecomer Road, a small housing estate close to the Newpark Hotel. It wouldn’t be hard to spot his house, with a large blue and gold flag fluttering proudly outside.

‘He’s been living there now for over 30 years and for 28 of those, he was the county librarian in Kilkenny. A fountain of GAA knowledge, you’ll often see Jim’s name referenced in various match programmes, while he’s also written two books. ‘The first, a history of the Tipperary championship entitled “The Dan Breen Cup senior hurling finals 1931-2011” sold out.

‘Last year, he released “The Cross of Cashel - All-Ireland Hurling Under 21 finals 1964-2014”. Given that it’s Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland U21 hurling final weekend, it’s an apt time to revisit Fogarty’s tome.

‘Covering half-a-century of the competition, there’s plenty of “did you know” trivia for those wishing to stockpile possible table quiz questions.

‘”Like Cork’s Mick Malone - the only hurler to have won four All-Ireland U21 medals,” Fogarty says.

‘”Like Michael Doyle (Tipperary), who captained and managed All-Ireland winning teams. He was captain in 1979 and manager in 1995.

‘”In 1974 and 1975, Ger and Kevin Fennelly captained Kilkenny to successive final wins and Clare played in and lost 12 Munster finals before winning in 2009.

‘”What about U21 finalists who later became priests? Seánie Barry from Cork, Martin Casey (Wexford), Iggy Clarke (Galway), Fergus Farrell (Kilkenny) and Peter Brennan (Tipperary).

‘”The biggest winning margin in a final was Tipperary in 2010 when they beat Galway by 25 points, and only two GAA Presidents won U21 medals, Galway’s Joe McDonagh and Nicky Brennan from Kilkenny.

‘”Tipperary won the first final in 1964, beating Wexford, but Wexford came back and won it in ’65, with ten of the starting 15 from the previous year’s heavy loss back on duty.”

‘In the book, you’ll find the obligatory photographs of winning teams and more recent listings of teams of the year and the U21 hurlers of the year, since the individual award was introduced in 2009.

‘”We start with Darach Honan before the man who was a huge loss to us on the playing field, (Tipperary’s) Seamus Hennessy in 2010.

‘”Aidan Walsh 2011, Seadna Morey, David McInerney, Colm Galvin…” Fogarty lists the award winners up until 2014 without drawing breath, before going on to explain the genesis of the book itself.

‘”I suppose I had done one on the Dan Breen Cup and I was just thinking of something else to do,” he explains.

‘”I figured the U21 finals would be a good one in that there’s so many counties covered and so forth.

‘”I was able to research them and it’s pretty accurate. I got a lot of colour photos for later years and while it’s called “The Cross of Cashel”, the new trophy is called the James Nowlan Cup, named after the longest-serving President of the GAA.”

‘In 2008, Fogarty took early retirement, which allowed him time to research the two books he’s had published. ‘He has cabinets in the garage jammed with old match programmes and on Thursday, Gerry O’Neill, who helps to compile the Kilkenny yearbook, stopped by with a copy of the 1951 Munster final programme.

‘”People know me generally as a bit of a nutter where programmes are concerned,” Fogarty smiles. “I collect them from every county, not just Tipp and Kilkenny. I only started it seriously in the 1970s and, for instance, I have a copy of the 1913 All-Ireland hurling final programme.

‘”One of the girls at work copied it for me and it turned out the very same as if it was the original.

‘”A man from Ballyragget was clearing out his house and gave me a loan of the programme to copy. He sold it on afterwards for about €5,000. I think it’s the first ever programme produced for an All- Ireland final. Although I couldn’t be 100 per cent sure of that, I’ve never heard of an earlier one.”

‘Fogarty, now in his late 60s, was born in Nenagh but his father died young and he was reared in Roscrea.

‘He hurled for a bit at minor and U21 levels, alongside such luminaries as Tadhg O’Connor and Francis Loughnane, but lost interest in hurling when he went to college in Dublin to study arts.

‘”I was going to study teaching but I decided that wouldn’t suit me,” says Fogarty.

‘Having gained some early hands-on experience in librarianship in Limerick, he went back to Dublin to study for a diploma in the field. It was a one-year course and after returning to Limerick for a spell, the Kilkenny vacancy arose in 1979.

‘During his time in Kilkenny, at least four new libraries were opened in the county and two vehicles placed on the road - a mobile library and a schools van.

‘”You always felt you were achieving something rather than just going through the motions,” says Fogarty.

‘”I worked with some great people, including a county manager at the time, a man called Paddy Donnelly. He was a gentleman to work with but I often think back that I didn’t have a cross word with anyone. If it was, it was about hurling!

‘”It was tough there for a few years, still flying the flag. I would say this - like every county, you have a few who would get your back up but they’ve been very gracious this week.

‘”I’ll just give you this instance. I’m involved in the Newpark Close Family Resource Centre, in what we used to call a working class area.

‘”Brian Cody was up to do something with us there not too long ago. They were all introducing me as “the Tipp man”. Cody said: “sure I know that!”

‘”The Comerfords are neighbours of mine - Martin and Andy - and I’d know James McGarry very well.

‘”Some of the supporters, like in every county, you’re better off avoiding them but not this week!” To obtain a copy of ‘The Cross of Cashel - All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Finals 1964-2014’, contact Jim Fogarty at [email protected] (please note this is a new address since the above piece was published, as Jim’s previous address was hacked last month).

MEDIA WATCH: It’s quite common for pre-All-Ireland final newspaper coverage to feature pieces with keen supporters who have built up a collection of memorabilia over the years, and this September was no exception. I’m always drawn to the photographs which often accompany these articles, straining my eyes to catch sight of the various programmes laid out on the table by their proud owner.

One such piece appeared in the ‘Irish Times’ on Saturday, September 3rd, written by Fiona Gartland, and with an accompanying photograph taken by Jimmy Weldon of Michael Byrne from Louth with some of his collection. Here’s a re-production of the story in full:

KILKENNY FAN TO ATTEND HIS 70th ALL-IRELAND HURLING FINAL IN 71 YEARS

BY FIONA GARTLAND

‘Among the thousands of Kilkenny fans in Croke Park for the All-Ireland final tomorrow, few will have been to as many as Michael Byrne.

‘Mr Byrne will be at his 70thhurling final in 71 years, and the day will be a double celebration: he will be 53 years married to his wife, Maura.

‘Although the 87-year-old lives in Drogheda, Co Louth, he was born in Callan and is still loyal to his home county.

‘He has been attending finals since 1945. He missed out the following year due to illness, but has been to every hurling final since 1947. He started attending football finals in 1950.

‘Speaking from his home yesterday, Mr Byrne recalled his first Croke Park visit.

‘”It was Tipperary and Kilkenny and it was 5-6 to 3-6 in favour of Tipperary; we used not to be able to beat Tipperary in them years,” he said.

‘His late brother-in-law, from Kilkenny, had brought him. It cost a shilling to get in and the programme was three pence. “I have it somewhere; I have programmes for all of those years, all those All-Irelands, over 100.”

‘He was 16 when he made it to the capital for that first final, because he had no way of getting there until his brother-in-law offered. They stayed with an aunt in Leixlip.

‘He didn’t have to miss the match for his wedding either, on September 4th, 1963, to Maura Allen from Claregalway, Co Galway.

‘”When we decided the date, we didn’t know Kilkenny were going to be playing Waterford,” he said. “I went to the match on the Sunday and I was married on the following Wednesday; I had a lot on my mind that time.” ‘Asked for a scoreline prediction for tomorrow’s match, he said he would rather not give one. “I’d say there won’t be much in it anyway. There will probably be a couple of goals for both sides,” he said.

For the record, the photograph of Michael featured him in an autographed Kilkenny jersey, standing in front of a bookcase and behind a table laden with programmes and his well-thumbed copy of the late Tom Ryall’s ‘Kilkenny GAA Story 1884-1984’.

Another item that caught my eye was in the ‘Irish Independent’ on Friday, September 2nd, a piece by Nicola Anderson headlined ‘Hurleys at the ready - Tipp and Cats armies prepare to battle it out’. The first two paragraphs are quoted below:

‘Kilkenny publican Seamus Delaney still holds a tattered copy of the first colour match programme printed by the GAA.

‘It was for the 1967 All-Ireland final between Kilkenny and Tipperary - the first time the Cats beat the Premier county since 1922, ending a drought of 45 years.’

Seamus is photographed with the programme in question, and a hurley made in 1890, and I’m also re-producing its cover in the images accompanying this bulletin. However, I beg to differ with the claim made in Nicola’s piece, and I’m sure any other reader with a programme collection stretching back to the 1960s will do likewise. By my reckoning, 1965 was the first year for a colour photograph to feature on the All-Ireland final front covers, and 1964 marked the last of the pocket-size programmes with the common covers which had endured since the early 1950s.

It was certainly the first colour photograph on a Kilkenny v. Tipperary cover though, and perhaps this is the message Seamus conveyed and it got lost in translation. Whatever the background, it’s always good to see a photograph of an old programme appearing in a daily newspaper.

ANNUAL THURLES FAIR: Liam O Donnchú has made contact with some great news for collectors: the details of the third annual G.A.A. memorabilia fair in Thurles which will be staged late next month. This should be pencilled into every collector’s diary, and it would be great to see a big attendance as the organisers deserve our full support. Here’s the full press release issued by Liam on behalf of the organisers:

‘Lár na Páirce, the GAA Museum here in Thurles, will hold a GAA Memorabilia Fair in Thurles Sarsfields Social Centre (beside Semple Stadium) on Sunday, November 27th, from 12 noon to 4 p.m.

‘At this Memorabilia Fair, patrons will be given the chance to browse, purchase and search a large selection of match programmes, club histories, hurling, football, camogie and handball publications, not to mention a host of other somewhat rare GAA material, and all in the pleasant and spacious surroundings of Thurles Sarsfields clubhouse.

‘Dealers, collectors, sellers and swappers are cordially invited to attend this event, where it is hoped they will find unusual and rare material aplenty to interest everyone in attendance.

‘Sales positions, free of charge, can be booked in advance and anyone interested should contact the organisers before November 24th next. Admission is €3, with accompanied children free. ‘For further information on this event, do contact Seamus J. King (087-2246245) or Liam Ó Donnchú (086-6036547), or e-mail [email protected])

‘This is one upcoming event certainly not to be missed by all lovers of GAA sports.’

DIRECTORY OF COLLECTORS: The ninth edition of the directory of collectors is attached in a Microsoft Word document and there is one addition: Barry Masterson from Mayo who, at 23 years old, has done a great job in bringing down the average age! Thanks to all those who took the time out to forward their details, and it’s not too late for others to follow suit. I intend to attach this directory every month, so any additions or amendments will be accommodated. Hopefully it will help collectors in their quest to establish new contacts or liaise with people with similar interests.

TALKING POINT: Surely some reader out there has a topic they would like aired in this section? I’ve exhausted all possibilities from my side at the moment, so I’d like to hear from someone, anyone, with something to say! Please read the description below and get your thinking caps on:

Is there some aspect of programme collecting that irritates you, that you feel could be improved, or that you would just like to get off your chest? If there is, this ‘talking point’ section is designed for you. I’d like to hear from collectors with any genuine grievances, and perhaps by outlining the situation and getting reaction from readers we can come up with solutions. Any topic to help us in pursuing the hobby we love will be considered, so don’t be shy!

SPECIAL REQUEST: Seamus O’Doherty has passed on a request he received in August, and if anyone can help it will surely be one of our readers! The All-Ireland Club hurling final replay of 1985 was played in Thurles on March 24th, with St. Martin’s of Kilkenny beating Castlegar from Galway by 1-13 to 1-10.

Danny Coonan scored 1-1 in that game, and his daughter, Danielle, is looking for help in locating a video of the greatest day in the club’s history. The personal archives of Seamus produced the match programme and the ‘Irish Independent’ match report, but does anybody know of the whereabouts of a video? Perhaps one of our Galway readers could check with Castlegar. As a matter of interest, in that era before inter-county referees were appointed to the role, Seamus was one of the linesmen for that game, and the other was Eamon Buckley who went on to serve as Tipperary Co. Treasurer.

ADVERTISING THIS BULLETIN: If you know your local programme compiler, please cut and paste the following and ask them if they would be kind enough to include it in their upcoming programmes:

‘PROGRAMME PLUS’ INFORMATION BULLETIN

'Programme Plus' is a new monthly information bulletin for collectors of GAA match programmes, histories, yearbooks, magazines, photographs, etc. It is distributed monthly via e-mail and is free of charge, with its sole aim being to highlight all aspects of collecting for enthusiasts. In order to be added to the mailing list, please forward your e-mail address to Alan Aherne who is compiling the information bulletin ([email protected]). My sincere thanks to Martin Birt in Maghera who sent the above information to ‘Gaelic Life’ in Omagh, and it was duly re-produced on page 3. The 500th edition of the newspaper was recently published, and I intend to look back at this in the next edition if time and space allows.

I was also delighted to note that Peter Geoffroy mentioned ‘Programme Plus’ on the inside back cover of the catalogue for his most recent mail bid sale.

NIAMH CLEARY R.I.P.: Sincere sympathy is extended to Wexford collector Tony Furlong, his wife Angela, and extended family on the sad death of Tony and Angela’s daughter, Niamh Cleary, last month. Niamh, a native of Ballycogley and living in Ballymitty since her marriage, passed away after a brave battle with cancer at the age of 30. She is also survived by her husband and a four-year-old son. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis.

PAST EDITIONS: All past editions are available via the following link, with thanks to James Lundon for his efforts in making it happen: https://programmeplus.wordpress.com

FUTURE EDITIONS: The publication schedule for the remainder of the year is outlined below, and is subject to change. If anyone wishes to contribute to the content, the deadline will be the Tuesday before the publication date. As always, I still have some contributions put on hold, but I will get to them in due course.

 Volume 1, Number 10: Friday, October 28th (deadline: Tuesday, October 25th)  Volume 1, Number 11: Friday, November 25th (deadline: Tuesday, November 22nd)  Volume 1, Number 12: Friday, December 30th (deadline: Tuesday, December 27th)

CONCLUSION: Thanks for reading this latest offering, and many thanks for your patience as I know it’s behind schedule. The more help I can get, the easier it will be, so please do your best to assist in whatever way you can.

My e-mail address is [email protected], and I’d love to receive further correspondence on all aspects of our hobby. Don’t forget to print and post the bulletin to any collectors you know without e-mail access, and feel free to contact me with any information worth sharing in next month’s edition!

Mise le meas,

ALAN AHERNE