PROGRAMME PLUS – VOL. 2, NUMBER 3, APRIL 7 th , 2017

Hello readers, and welcome to the third edition of ‘Programme Plus’ so far this year, and the 15th in total. This information bulletin received another welcome boost in the programme for that classic Allianz NHL game between Tipperary and in recently when avid reader and collector Seamus O’Doherty devoted three very interesting pages to our hobby.

The piece was embellished by the stylish layout deployed by Tom Beirne, with the use of various images bringing the text to life. Thanks to the initiative shown by Seamus, the spotlight was shone on programme collecting at one of the biggest games of the year thus far, and I received numerous e- mails in the days that followed from additional personnel requesting inclusion on the mailing list.

There was a crowd in excess of 14,000 for the game, and the programme was a sell-out. Now, there’s an endorsement for the worth of the ‘Pick Up A Programme’ scheme if ever I saw one. A couple of collectors had offered their services for the match, and if you made contact and asked for assistance you have no worries as regards procuring the programme. On the other hand, if you didn’t bother, and didn’t attend the game in person, then you might find it difficult to get the programme now!

The moral of the story? When help is offered, take it at every opportunity!

Regular readers will recall the journey I took before Christmas, covering hundreds of miles all over the country primarily in my desire to procure the numerous club histories published in 2016. Well, I’ve been embarking on a very different type of journey since the last edition, and it’s an ongoing process.

In terms of travel, it’s the complete opposite of what I undertook towards the end of 2016; I have been confined to my own home this time, treading a well-worn path from one room to the next as I undergo the onerous task of cataloguing my entire collection from top to bottom. I finally took the plunge on March 1st, deciding that I would devote some time every single night, even if I can only spare 20 minutes, to putting my programmes into some sort of manageable order.

I know I have exasperated fellow collectors down through the years owing to my inability to provide a swaps and wants list. And to be quite honest, in the past four weeks I’ve come across various items that I didn’t know I had in the first place, or had forgotten about completely.

How did this come about? The sheer size of my collection made it very difficult to manage over the years. At one stage, when I was an officer of Wexford Board, I had to move some of it to storage space under the main stand in because it couldn’t be accommodated in my original homeplace (some of it was exposed to damp conditions when it was moved therein without my knowledge, but that’s an entirely different, and very traumatic, story for another day! Suffice to say that the sight of rust marks on the staples of a programme is enough to bring tears to my eye!).

When I moved into my current abode in 2009, all of that Wexford Park material along with everything from my former home was finally under one roof, but in various piles and bundles scattered around several rooms. In 2011 I got some decent shelving along with reinforced sliding doors in one room, and that at least helped to make the collection, not to mention the house itself, look a bit tidier. However, the material still wasn’t in any kind of order, either year- or competition-related. All that I is finally starting to change. Since March 1st I have been opening plastic bags and envelopes, in several instances for the first time in many years, and unearthing a succession of real gems. I have set myself a target of completing the project by next Christmas, and I believe it will take that long because there’s so much material to get through; I’m concentrating on programmes first, and the books and magazines will follow.

The memories that one associates with programme collecting are easily triggered by undertaking a project of this nature. For example, most of my material from 1981 to 1983 is ruined, I believe, by my own handwriting. My nine- to eleven-year-old self clearly thought it was the done thing to scribble in scores and team changes on these precious items of sporting history; my 44-year-old self looked at these in the past month and thought: ‘you bloody fool, what were you thinking?’

Some collectors mightn’t be too bothered by writing on programmes, and of course if you’re determined to procure some of the older material it’s hard to avoid. I don’t mind buying something from the pre-1970 era if it’s been marked by a human hand, but if had my childhood back I would definitely be keeping the pen away from my stuff from that era!

It’s interesting to note how collecting can take a back seat, but never quite go away, during certain periods of one’s life, something I’m sure most readers will readily identify with. For example, I was pre-occupied with my Leaving Cert. in 1989, a reality brought forcibly home when I opened various envelopes full of programmes from that period and realised that many of them had been obtained at the time but left to one side; literally untouched for more than one quarter of a century!

That gave rise to the presence of various swaps in mint condition, looking as good as if they were only printed yesterday. While the more ardent collectors among us will no doubt have all they need from that late-’80s era, I have possibly unearthed a little goldmine of programmes for the more recent converts to our hobby who may be keen to work back in terms of building up a collection.

Moving forward considerably, 2007 was another year when collecting took a back seat for me. I was assistant manager of the Wexford Senior team, and we utilised every spare hour in the day in our efforts to win the All-Ireland for the first time since 1975. Thankfully it paid off, and I wouldn’t change it for the world, but it meant that a pile of material from that year looks like it was hardly touched, let alone read!

Why spend so much money on a hobby like ours and then not even bother to read the material accumulated? I know, I know, it’s a question I’ve asked so many times over the years, although clearly I’m talking to myself since I also posed it last month in this bulletin but none of the esteemed readers deemed it important enough to share their own thoughts on the topic!

Anyway, my project will continue, and by the end I will have an absolutely huge list of swaps; so far, there’s a rough ratio of two swaps for every one programme catalogued, because I always bought in bulk at matches, even in those days in the by now dim and distant past. It’s time consuming, but it’s extremely enjoyable at the same time.

John English from Mitchelstown is one of my great friends in the programme collecting world, an absolute gentleman and a passionate and loyal Limerick supporter. Every time we meet he tells me about the hours he spends going through his collection, often losing track of time and staying up until 4 a.m. after becoming engrossed in some programme from the past. I’ve only managed 2 a.m. a couple of times so far, but I understand exactly what he means.

I shall keep you updated on my project as the months progress; and for those of you who thought that pigs might fly before I produced a swaps and wants list, the aim is to prove you wrong before 2017 is done and dusted!

Now for the rest of this month’s material, and there’s a slightly different, more retro, theme. Last month I appealed for more contributions from subscribers, and I’m happy to say that three people stepped up to the mark. John Kelly and Liam Rabbitte had written an article apiece for earlier editions, and they kindly did the needful once more, while I also have a report from a special correspondent who was there in person to watch the Lynes and Lynes auction unfold in Carrigtwohill.

For that reason, I have held over the regular ‘month in programmes’ and ‘programme of the month’ features, and I will double up on those in the next edition instead, covering all of March and April. We’ll get straight into it so, without further ado!

MY FAVOURITE THINGS (BY JOHN KELLY, CARLOW)

‘My programme collecting habit began as a result of going to matches as a young fella with my father. The programme seemed to be a nice way of remembering that you were at the game. My collection is based on games that I have been to, but as with all collections it has developed and expanded over the years and now has many programmes from games that took place before I was born. As a young lad I was always on the look-out for autographs at matches and as a result some of my earlier programmes have been signed by players and even the odd RTE sports reporter.

‘I have been wondering lately whether a signed programme is more valuable than one that hasn’t been touched by pen. Have collectors any thoughts on this? There are the purists among you who will want a programme in as near to mint condition as possible. On the other hand I like to see a player’s name written on the programme.

‘When thinking of my three favourite programmes for Programme Plus, the first one that springs to mind is the 1982 All-Ireland football final. For obvious reasons it is an iconic game in the history of the G.A.A. I was lucky enough to be in the Hogan Stand to see Seamus Darby’s goal. In time- honoured tradition I had been lifted over the turnstile by my father and sat on his knee for the duration of the match. Sitting four rows in front of us was who obliged me by signing the cover of the programme. A few years ago I was lucky enough to get Matt Connor to put his signature under his name in the centre of the programme. It remains my favourite programme for these reasons.

‘Another programme in my collection that has been autographed is the 1987 Leinster final between Meath and Dublin. Liam Hayes’ sister was one of my teachers in Irish college in Galway and she kindly agreed to send me on a programme of the game. When it arrived in the post, I opened it to discover it had been autographed by the entire Meath panel that was so dominant in the mid-’80s. That Meath team of the ‘80s remain one of my favourite teams.

‘The last of my three favourite programmes is actually a set of four programmes from 1991. Again it involved Dublin and Meath in a Leinster championship encounter. It is another famous saga in the annals of as it was only a first round match, but as we all know, it took four meetings to produce a winner. As a recently graduated student who had yet to take up employment, I paid cash at the gate to get on to the Canal End for the first three matches. However, I only bought a programme for the first game. I missed the last game as by now I was on my way to Galway to take up a teaching post of my own. Only lately have I added the programmes for the second, third and fourth games to my collection courtesy of eBay. I have also upgraded them at the Thurles Fair so that now they are all mint condition copies.

‘I have older and more valuable programmes than these in my collection but these will always be favourites because of a personal connection to them or because of being at the match in question.

‘Like every other collector I have a list of wants and high up on that list are programmes that involve my native Carlow. I have previously written for Programme Plus on the tribulations of the collector attending Carlow matches, where the “programme” is invariably an A4 teamsheet. The only surprise in store being the colour of the paper used! However, there are three programmes that I would dearly love to have.

‘In 1944 Carlow won their one and only Leinster SFC. The final was played in Athy and I have never seen or heard of a programme from that game. Neither has my good friend Leo McGough and he would have a fair idea about these matters. There is, however, a programme for the 1944 All-Ireland semi-final between Carlow and Kerry in Croke Park and this is top of my list. I am aware I will need deep pockets for this. Don’t tell the wife!

‘The second programme involving Carlow which I would dearly love to have is the 1954 NFL final between Carlow and Mayo. It was Carlow’s only outing in a NFL final and the Carlow team was captained on that occasion by a clubmate and neighbour of mine, Billy ‘Skinner’ McGuill. It came up for auction on Collectibles Corner recently but unfortunately I lost out.

‘The third programme which I am on the hunt for is the 1970 Carlow SFC final programme. Again, neither myself nor Leo have seen a copy but a good friend of mine claims that one was printed. The final, unusually, was played in Br. Leo Park in Tullow rather than in Dr. Cullen Park in Carlow and that is why programmes for the game may be in short supply. Again, there is a personal interest for me in this programme as my father played in the match.

‘If any Programme Plus readers can help me in my search for any of these programmes, I would be very grateful!

‘Lastly, Alan asked us to talk about G.A.A. books that we have read and while I am a sports addict, I often find that sports biographies are timid exercises in public relations, where nothing of any interest is divulged for fear of upsetting someone. One notable exception to this is “I Crossed the Line” by Liam Dunne of Wexford…a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting account of his life and career.

‘I thought that Liam Hayes did a very good job in his biography of Kevin Heffernan, “Heffo, A Brilliant Mind”. As well as giving an insight into the man, it also gave a great account of the origins of the St. Vincent’s club. Finally, ”Kings of September” by Michael Foley is a fantastic account of the aforementioned 1982 All-Ireland football final between Kerry and Offaly. I realise that any selection such as this is completely subjective and that one man’s meat is another man’s poison, so they may not all be to your liking!’

EDITOR’S NOTE: Many thanks to John for setting the template for how the ‘My Favourite Things’ section should be compiled, so hopefully others will follow suit. Incidentally, I reckon John must be the programme collector with the most TV appearances made, as he is a regular umpire for Carlow’s Wexford-born hurling referee, Paud O’Dwyer!

As for his question posed about writing on the programme, I’m in the mint condition category but I can understand why others like to have a few autographs. It all depends on context too; for example, one of my programmes for the All-Ireland Senior hurling semi-final of 1989 between Tipperary and Galway is signed by the referee John Denton, a good friend of mine. Anyone who recalls that game will know exactly why that’s a particularly interesting autograph to have!

YEARBOOKS, BOOKS, PIRATES AND FAIRS! (BY LIAM RABBITTE, GALWAY)

‘COUNTY YEARBOOKS: I would estimate that Galway would probably be in the top five for numbers of yearbooks published, along with Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny. I will outline a brief synopsis of the yearbooks in Galway.

‘Galway started in the mid-1960s with four yearbooks, from 1963-’64 to 1967. This was co- ordinated by a company called MD Publications. One of the drivers of this company was Jack Mahon. Jack was a prolific writer and contributer to magazines and Galway’s centre half-back on the 1956 All -Ireland winning team. Interestingly for you quizzers, golfer Pádraig Harrington’s father played for Cork that year. Unfortunately, Jack was before my time as a G.A.A. fan and programme/book enthuasist. I hope to write about Jack in the next magazine if time permits.

‘Fast forward from the 1960s to 1978 and the yearbooks started again and have run up to the current day, so that’s 43 yearbooks in total. I am currently four short to have the complete set. Which brings me to my request: if anyone has a spare 1967, 1978, 1996 and/or 2003. I would be interested in hearing from you. I have a few swaps if anyone is interested, please contact me.

‘The production has changed over the years. The four issues in the 1960s were heavy on statistics, while 1978 to approximately 2000 were 100-plus pages. In the last ten years we have seen a more slimmed down version with more colour and less writing. Previously clubs would outline what they achieved during the year. With the busy times we are in there is less on the clubs in the county.

‘The annual usually retails at €10 around Christmas and gives a good summary of winning teams, former greats and milestones. One interesting note for collectors: the covers for 2008 and 2009 are the same. There was a printing error and the same cover was used for both years, but you have to actually look inside the cover to cop this. I seem to remember a Railway Cup hurling and football programme of 1987, I think, having the same cover but different middle pages.

‘GALWAY BOOKS: As per Tony Sheehan’s suggestion last time I am working on a list of Galway publications. I have scanned approximately 75 book titles and am working on tidying this document up to possibly send to any collectors that are interested. I am currently missing scans on Athenry and Pearses Camogie Club publications if anyone can help. The majority of these publications are club histories. ‘You also have three Galway histories, the first two by Fr. Pádraic O Laoi, i.e. “The Annals of GAA in Galway”, and the third by Gerry Cloherty. Autobiographies include Sylvie Linnane’s “True Grit”, Cyril Farrell’s “The Right to Win”, and “In Our Father’s Time”, written by Maeve O’Neill about Cork man Billy O’Neill who trained and played with Galway in hurling and football in the mid-1950s.

‘Another publication to note is the “Into the West” magazine which is currently on Volume 8 and is an excellent publication. For copies the following e-mail should be contacted: [email protected] , or alternativly contact the Connaught Centre of Excellence in Bekan at 094-9630335.

‘IS IT A PIRATE OR NOT? I have been collecting for a number of years now but one thing puzzles me, “pirate programmes”. Personally they don’t bother me. I have approximately 50 of them ranging from the mid-1960s to 1994. It appears that they mainly originated around Dublin. I also have some from Thurles and Clones.

‘I have a few that I am not sure are the real deal or not. I think that the 1968 Cork versus Wexford camogie is a pirate but I am not sure about the 1966 NFL semi-final between Galway and Kildare. I have attached some and hope to get some feedback from collectors. I can be e-mailed at [email protected] Maybe some of our more learned collectors could write a few lines or give a background on their origins?

‘PROGRAMME FAIR, APRIL 29th, 2017: Following in the footsteps of Armagh, Thurles, Belmont and Clonmel, I have decided to try to replicate the Programme Fair. The venue is Turloughmore G.A.A. Centre, Co. Galway, on the N63 (Roscommon road). We are eight miles from Athenry and four miles from Claregalway.

‘The event will take place from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on April 29th. All are welcome to attend. Tables for sellers are €10, and there will be a small cover charge for members of the public. Refreshments will be provided for sellers on the day. If anyone is interested in reserving a table please contact me via e- mail or mobile (see directory).

‘It’s a chance for collectors to mingle, and maybe pick up a few bargains or meet with fellow collectors between the end of the league and the start of the championship. Further details will be sent out in the coming weeks.’

EDITOR’S NOTE: Many thanks to Liam for the above, his second written contribution to Programme Plus. I can confirm that the 1968 camogie programme between Wexford and Cork is indeed a pirate as I have the ‘real thing’. I hope all of you took note of the date and location for his Programme Fair, and I shall look forward to seeing as many as possible there on April 29th. This will be the first-ever such event to take place in Connacht to the best of my knowledge, so hopefully the location will make it more accessible for collectors from that neck of the woods. I will be sending regular reminders to collectors about this event as the date draws closer.

PICK UP A PROGRAMME: The ‘Pick Up A Programme’ scheme is established at this stage, with some weeks better than others. I appreciate that some collectors simply forget to notify me before I send the e-mail, but as a general rule I wait until after 12 noon every Friday before sharing the information. Similarly, some of you might find it a bit of a drag notifying me every single week, especially if you’re normally in the habit of attending all of your county’s games in a particular code. With the above in mind, Danny Beary from Limerick has made a suggestion, passed on to me by P.J. Maxwell. Danny offers that as he goes to all Limerick matches in both codes, he is willing to buy extra programmes for collectors. He suggests that he will retain all the programmes until the particular competition is over and then post a person’s order in one lot. Rather than payment, Danny would prefer to receive an equal amount of programmes back from the other collector.

While the leagues are almost over, he would be willing to do the same for the forthcoming Munster championships or any other matches he attends. If you wish to make an arrangement with Danny, contact him on 086-3403258 or drop an e-mail to [email protected]

THE GREEN & WHITE: Staying in Limerick for a moment, the latest edition of ‘The Green & White’ magazine has been issued. This excellent publication is chiefly geared towards primary school children in the county, but it’s also eagerly awaited by several collectors. Check out www.thegreenandwhite.com to get a flavour of what the magazine covers, and it’s possible to download every issue from the summer of 2006 if you click on the links on the right-hand side of the page.

ERRORS NOTED: One eagle-eyed Tipperary reader noted an error in the DBA programme issued for the recent double-header in Tullamore: the NHL quarter-final between Tipperary and Offaly, and the NFL clash between the home side and arch-rivals Laois. Page 9 carries an incomplete list of previous meetings between Tipperary and Offaly; just 39 of the 41 matches played were listed, with two omitted.

I pointed this out to an Offaly collector who had a closer look and duly concurred. He said the 1951-’52 and 1962-’63 results are left out, and went one step further by adding that the scores from the 1969-’70 group and play-off games are mixed up. Furthermore, a NFL result between Offaly and Laois from 1945-’46 isn’t listed either.

You will recall the big error in the Ballyea v. St. Thomas programme where Toomevara, and not Thurles Sarsfields, were listed as being Kilcormac-Killoughey’s opponents in the 2013 semi-final. Well, that mistake was compounded in the programme for the other semi-final between Cuala and Slaughtneil. It correctly stated that referee Colm Lyons had taken charge of Kilcormac-Killoughey v. Thurles Sarsfields four years ago, but still managed to list Toomevara as being the Offaly side’s opponents in the same game on the semi-final results page.

BIG GAME, NO PROGRAMME: It pains me to report that a prestigious second level schools game took place recently, and no programme was available at the venue. St. Peter’s (Wexford) and St. Mary’s (Magherafelt) met in the All-Ireland Senior football ‘A’ championship semi-final on Wednesday, March 22nd, with the match moved at short notice from Drogheda to Grattan Park in Inniskeen.

There was a big crowd at this very impressive venue in the heart of the Monaghan countryside which had hosted the home county’s Allianz Football League clash with Roscommon just three days earlier. Alas, there was no programme, and I wondered was it because of the late venue change, or was it never the intention to produce something?

DBA produced the programme for the final, but Lynn informed me earlier this week that they didn’t have responsibility for the semi-finals. However, it would appear that both schools submitted teams because Peter’s started with a number 18 while Mary’s had a number 17 in the first 15, I assume to conform to their official team lists and programme submissions.

Was anyone at the other semi-final between St. Brendan’s (Killarney) and St. Colman’s (Claremorris)? If so, you might tell me if a programme was issued as it could help to clarify the situation in relation to the game in Inniskeen.

DBA EXPANSION: News has reached me that the franchise for all Leinster Senior championship programmes has been awarded to DBA. I was aware that the provincial council was exploring various options, and now it has emerged that they have gone down the same road as Connacht by deciding to utilise the services of the company based on Carysfort Avenue in Blackrock.

There had been agreement on a couple of matters: firstly, Leinster accepted that some of the programmes produced by certain counties last year weren’t up to the required standard; equally though, they felt that they didn’t have enough resources from within to take charge of producing all of them. It should be remembered that Leinster has more Senior championship matches than any other province, due to having the largest number of counties and also staging a round robin series in hurling.

I sincerely hope that some of the items unique to the programmes previously produced by the Leinster Council are retained, such as Leo McGough’s wonderful trips down memory lane. One obvious bonus is that it will now be a lot easier to obtain these programmes through the DBA mail order service, as it was often difficult to pick them up when they were ‘home-produced’ by counties.

SPECIAL REQUEST: I’ve published a few special requests from readers in the past, and now it’s time to jump on the bandwagon with one of my own! I try to collect every Senior county final programme on an annual basis, and I’m just three short for 2016. And I need to move on shortly as already one of the finalists for 2017 is known (Mullinavat will meet Railyard or James Stephens in the Kilkenny football decider!).

The three I’m missing are: Kildare football; Laois hurling draw; Longford hurling. In the case of Laois and Longford, I’ve exhausted all avenues in terms of contacting the County Board. Both told me that they no longer have copies of the programme, but they were kind enough to send me on pdfs from the printers so at least I have something. However, I’d much prefer to have the ‘real thing’, so if you can oblige I would be very grateful.

Kildare weren’t nearly as forthcoming in terms of following up on e-mails, so I’ve nothing at all to show for my scavenging on that front. Any help collectors can offer would be very much appreciated!

FACEBOOK PAGE: Those of you on Facebook may not be aware of the ‘GAA Programme Collectors’ page administered by Keith Heffernan, a Laoisman living across enemy lines in Kildare. Keith posts regular items of interest that will appeal to readers of this bulletin, so make sure to like and follow his page if you haven’t done so already.

CLUB HISTORY DIRECTORY: My thanks to those of you who have assisted thus far by providing lists of the club histories produced in your respective counties. At this stage I have information at my disposal from Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Offaly, Tipperary and Wexford. No doubt those of you who were good enough to compile that information cannot wait to see the end results. I’m holding off for one more month in the hope that a few more collectors will lend a hand. It will be an invaluable reference source for everyone, so please do what you can to assist, particularly if your county isn’t among the seven listed above.

GIVEAWAY OFFER: I was contacted by a new subscriber, Paddy Witherow, who has 21 Allianz Hurling League programmes from 2012 to 2016 that he wants to give away to a genuine collector or collectors. All of the games are from the top flight, with a particular emphasis on Tipperary and Kilkenny but also covering Galway, Cork, Clare, Waterford and Dublin. Please contact [email protected] if interested.

PROGRAMMES TO SWAP: Another new subscriber, Paddy Callanan, has programmes of an older vintage to swap, and plenty of gaps to fill regarding his own wants. Drop him an e-mail at [email protected] if you’d like to get more details.

SOUTH TIPPERARY FAIR: The latest South Tipperary Fair was held in Clonmel on March 18th and the crowd was disappointing to be honest, but hopefully it won’t discourage the organisers as the few people who were there all picked up items they were looking for. Two collectors - Tony Sheehan and yours truly - had sales positions along with the South Tipperary Board, and the one advantage of the leisurely pace of arrivals was that we had plenty of time for a good chat about all aspects of our hobby.

THE E-PROGRAMME: It was destined to happen sooner rather than later; I heard the dreaded words no self-respecting collector wants to hear at a recent game.

I couldn’t see any sellers around, so I asked a person manning a Supporters’ Club table if he knew where I could buy a programme. His answer chilled me to the bone: ‘oh, they’ve stopped doing actual programmes, they only do e-programmes now’.

In fairness, he appeared to be slightly embarrassed by the situation, and also shared my pain to a degree, as he added: ‘I’ve been on to them to go back to the way it was and to do an actual programme, so hopefully they will’.

The e-programme: I hate the mere mention of it, let alone the void it creates. Some readers may differ, but the idea of printing off material via one’s smartphone or computer as opposed to buying an actual programme, properly bound and presentable, leaves me cold. It’s simply not the same, but I fear that as time goes on we will be faced with this e-programme scenario more and more.

Where did this incident happen? Fear not, for the moment at least, G.A.A. fans, because it was in Stradbrook in south Dublin, the home of Blackrock Rugby Football Club, where Cabinteely F.C. were playing Wexford F.C. in the SSE Airtricity League of Ireland First Division. I was there in my capacity as a reporter, and that in itself led to an interesting situation whereby a G.A.A. fanatic found himself in a rugby ground to cover a soccer game...I guess that could only happen in Ireland!

Cabinteely did produce actual programmes in their first season at this level (2015), and, for the record, I have been to every single League of Ireland club ground at least once since the start of last year and this was the first instance where a programme was not available. The best on offer here was a four-page teamsheet which later appeared from the clubhouse, available to buy for €2 along with a ticket for the half-time raffle. Given the ever-increasing emphasis on social media, and the relative ease associated with posting material in various forms online compared to the age-old arduous task of lovingly compiling a match programme from start to finish, I fear that the merits of e-programmes will be mooted more and more. And when county Treasurers consider the potential savings to be made without printing costs, it could be another hammer blow for the humble match programme. Don’t say you weren’t warned!

THE PROGRAMME THAT WASN’T SOLD: Many of you will have the programme from the games played in Semple Stadium on April 1st, 1984, in your collections. To refresh the memories, it was a double-header of National Hurling League semi-finals, with Limerick beating Tipperary before Wexford accounted for Cork. There’s green spot colour on the cover along with photographs of George O’Connor under pressure from Kilkenny’s , and after striking the ball.

It’s a common enough item, but how many of you have the programme for the game that was supposed to take place at the same venue one week earlier, but was postponed? The Wexford v. Cork game was originally a stand-alone fixture, due to be played in Thurles on March 25th. However, it was called off at short notice due to a bereavement, but the programme had been printed at that stage.

It had the same two action photographs on the cover, but the colour used was orange. I don’t know if this programme is readily available in collecting circles, given that it never saw the light of day and wasn’t sold to the public. I secured my copy shortly afterwards from Dermot McCarthy, a native of Clonakilty in Co. Cork and long-time resident of Bath in England who was one of my regular and most helpful contacts during that era.

In fact, I opened my copy during my recent trawl as outlined earlier to discover that it still contained the original note sent by Dermot at the time. That note explained how Dermot obtained the unsold programme: he had written a piece on journalist and broadcaster Paddy Mehigan in a London programme, and Liam O Donnchú had contacted him for permission to re-produce it as it coincided with the publication of a book called ‘Vintage Carbery’ on Mehigan’s writing.

Liam had sent Dermot some copies of the programme and, as he’s a subscriber to this bulletin, I wonder if he still has any all of 33 years later? The March 25th publication comprised twelve pages, with an ad on 2 opposite a welcome from Liam who was programme editor in Thurles at the time. Underneath that was a list of thanks and a photograph of the referee, George Ryan of Tipperary.

Page 4 had the Cork and Wexford scoring statistics thus far above a half-page ad, while 5 carried a report on the counties’ meeting at the same stage of the league in 1964 along with a photograph which asked ‘can you name these players?’ in the caption. The line-outs were on the centrespread, with Cork on 6 and Wexford on 7, while 8 featured a table of the league’s overall top scorers above an ad for the Thurles Sarsfields social centre. For the record, Tipperary’s John Grogan was leading the way on 10-39.

That page on Paddy Mehigan by Dermot McCarthy was on 9 along with an interesting little table which carried the full list of counties relegated from Division 1, and promoted from Division 2, in the National Hurling League from 1970-’71 to 1983-’84. The roll of honour for the league was carried on 10, with each county’s overall number of titles in brackets after the county name before a full list of the years of their victories, the teams they beat, and the results. The inside back cover re-produced extracts from the speech made by G.A.A. President at a ceremony in , Ennis, to mark the opening of centenary year, while the back page had full details of how Cork and Wexford qualified: dates, venues, results and scorers. Recent meetings of the counties between 1980 and 1983 were also listed underneath, including the results of four challenge games played in Carrigaline, Dunhill, Wexford Park and Cloyne respectively as well as league games held in New Ross, Thurles, Wexford Park and Midleton.

The programme for the double bill is slightly larger at 16 pages, and it’s interesting to note that there’s no reference to the postponement. George Ryan’s photograph on 3 is replaced by a box listing the times and referees for the two games, and it’s interesting to note that George didn’t take charge of the Wexford v. Cork game afterwards. Perhaps he simply wasn’t available, or maybe he was taken off it given that Tipperary had a direct involvement in the other semi-final. Noel O’Donoghue of Dublin was due to man the whistle instead, with Kilkenny’s Paschal Long handling Limerick v. Tipperary.

Pages 4 and 5 are exactly similar contents-wise, although some spot colour has been dropped from the match report on 5. The Limerick and Tipperary line-outs come next, with their scoring statistics listed underneath. The Cork and Wexford teams are still on the centrespread, with new material on 10 in the shape of the paths to the semi-finals and scorers for Limerick and Tipperary, above an ad.

Page 12 of the postponed programme is now page 11 in this publication, and that’s followed overleaf by a report on the semi-final meeting of the Munster neighbours in 1973. Paddy Mehigan, the roll of honour, and Paddy Buggy’s comments are repeated from 13 to 15, while page 8 of the postponed programme is on the back this time around. Don’t dismiss that orange-fronted effort from March 25th, 1984, if you do come across it, because I’m guessing that not too many copies survived.

WHEN THE WESTMEATH HURLERS WERE MISTAKEN FOR FOOTBALLERS: The was a novel straight knockout open draw tournament in both codes held in 1984 to mark the one hundred- year celebrations, and it produced two unusual final pairings as Cork beat Laois in hurling while Meath saw off Monaghan in football. It was repeated as the ‘Ford Open Draw’ in 1985, with Tipperary and Kerry beating Galway and Cork respectively in the finals in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. However, it didn’t return in 1986, as some counties had refused to participate in 1985: notably Dublin, Down, Kildare and Offaly in football, and Limerick in hurling.

Reverting back to the Centenary Cup, many collectors in that era made determined efforts to secure all of the programmes in both codes. Westmeath were involved in two games on April 29th, 1984, and I have the programmes for both. They met Offaly in hurling in , and Wexford in football in Wexford Park, and I uncovered a major blooper in the latter.

The hurling programme is an eight-pager printed by the Westmeath Examiner in the exact same style as the Leinster championship efforts of that era. The football runs to 16 pages and was part of a double bill as Wexford met Dublin in a Junior hurling curtain-raiser. I learned from the words of welcome of Co. Chairman Jim Berry on page 3 that it was produced by Wexford C.B.S., my own alma mater. I was in sixth class in the primary school at the time, not far away from heading down the steps to the secondary in September. It’s a basic, home-produced programme, although some attempt is made to provide reading material as there’s a page on Wexford’s shock win over Armagh in the previous round in Lurgan, and another on Westmeath’s equally unexpected success against Dublin. The Leinster championship fixtures are re-produced directly from another publication, while there’s a full page on the first round results as well as a page of Leinster football final results which is somewhat out of place.

However, the problem is on the centrespread, and more accurately the Westmeath line-out. You see, instead of listing their football team, the hurling side that was taking on Offaly 200 kilometres up the road is listed! It’s the exact same 1 to 26, although with less detail, starting with ‘S. Greville’ as opposed to Mullingar where the netminder’s full name of Seán Greville is printed along with his Raharney club.

How did a mistake like this occur? I’m guessing now, but I reckon the compilers might have seen the Westmeath squad printed in a national newspaper during the week, assumed they were looking at the football side rather than the hurling, and used it in the programme rather than checking with the County Board. Remember, that was an era long before county websites and social media when the daily paper was the main source of team news. That’s only a guess of course, and I’m still surprised that nobody spotted it beforehand given that Greville, the Kilcoynes, Willie Shanley and Dinny McCormack were all well-known hurling names at the time. Have you come across any similar-type mistakes among your collection? Please let me know if the answer is yes!

A DAY AT THE AUCTION (BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT WHO ATTENDED)

Lynes and Lynes of Carrigtwohill had an interesting auction on Saturday afternoon, March 25th. It was well advertised for what is otherwise a low-key auction house. Denis Lynes, the principal of this firm, had gotten some mentions in a number of well-read Irish antique websites, as well as the Irish Examiner, Irish Independent and, I think, Irish Times in the week leading up to the auction.

There would be an old-time G.A.A. collector's accumulation for sale, along with other smaller lots of G.A.A. programmes from other sources, he said. Images of Denis with a number of ’40s and ’50s All- Ireland final programmes in hand whetted some appetites. The real action was in the job lots, something that the auctioneer had no inkling of before viewing started, and which only really sunk in once bidding started in earnest.

Viewing was for three full days beforehand. Denis reported a steady stream of people in and out of his premises in a modern business park outside the village of Carrigtwohill, especially the day before the auction, with the G.A.A. material being of particular interest throughout. The 60+ G.A.A. lots were placed in plastic folders (All-Ireland finals), with the job lots (ten to 150 programmes each) only getting their own hard plastic containers.

All the All-Ireland finals were to be sold individually while the rest of the material would be sold in approximately ten job lots, grouped by competition and/or era. Multiple Munster hurling, Munster football, Wembley Games, Ulster finals, league, Under-21 and a number of smaller lots were on offer. These lots “guided” between €20 and €100 each.

Known collectors arrived early on the morning of the auction, most having done their homework during the week. The G.A.A. lots did not start until 3.35 p.m., on a very sunny afternoon in the east Cork village, situated midways between Cork city and Midleton on the old Cork/Waterford main road. Things started very slowly, much to the chagrin of the auctioneer, who seemingly expected sparks to fly early and often. Many of the early lots did not sell at all!

The first good price was made for Lot 412, the '39 All-Ireland hurling final, which made €500. Lot 413, the '37 All-Ireland football final draw, made a very reasonable €290. Lot 414, the '38 All-Ireland football final draw, made €320. Each lot to a different bidder!

Things proceeded on as before - some sold, many passed - right up to Lot 424, the Wembley Games lot. An almost full run from '58 to '76 with only '67 and '70 missing. €1,160 was the final damage, with the winner in the room but with a lot of competition from the phone.

Lot 426 was the Ulster finals - a good run from '56 to '76 inclusive plus two late ‘40s finals and other miscellaneous stuff. This made €1,120, again to the room but with strong competition from the aforementioned phone. There were four different people manning the phones during the G.A.A. lots, around the corner and pretty much out of sight from the main rump of collectors who remained near the front door of Lynes' premises. Though it was sunny, it was cold outside and most had jackets on to keep warm, while the action inside was distinctly warmer. Denis Lynes was certainly warming to the task at hand too. His optimism was not as misplaced as he feared a short while before.

Lot 428 was a very serious Munster hurling lot that contained ~110 programmes, most before '70. Many finals but a very deep collection of non-final championship games, right back to '39, but mainly ‘50s and ‘60s. There were some other later programmes but it was a super lot that attracted a lot of interest. Bidding went straight in at €500 as there were multiple commission bids, and went up in €20 increments right up to €1,000. It then jumped in €10 or €100 bids from there, finishing up in the room at €2,800, with the aforementioned "phone" causing all the damage to the two bidders in the room.

Lot 429 was an excellent Munster football lot that contained ~130 programmes, most before '75. There was an almost full run of finals from '47 right through to '73, missing only four finals in between. There were other scarce late-’60s/early-’70s programmes in this lot, mostly hurling (remember, these were job lots and were probably prepared by an inexperienced eye, i.e. non- collector). Bidding started at €100 and finished up at €2,500 (plus fees of 24.6%) in the room. Total cost to the buyer was €3,115.

Lot 430 was a tasty National League lot that contained ~150 programmes, '50 to late-’70s. A lot of different Gaelic football and hurling stuff, some very good, some not good at all - there were some pirates in all the lots so collectors had to be beware of the final number of really collectible items in each lot, so viewing was essential when making educated guesses as to the value of all job lots. Finals, semi-finals and other stuff too that had nothing to do with National Leagues! Bidding started at €100 and finished up at €1,630, in the room, with multiple under-bidders on the phone.

There were a number of other job lots between there and the last good job lot at Lot 462, including a small Munster hurling lot at Lot 436, which was nine or ten '40s or '50s large-format Munster hurling championship games, including the finals of '45, '50, '55 and '64, plus six non-final games. €760, to the phone.

Lot 462 was an Under-21 lot that contained ~50 programmes. It started at €20 and finished up at €1,220, to the phone. Some really nice early Under-21 hurling and football finals (’64 was included) were therein, as well as a dozen scarce finals from the late-’70s and early-’80s. A great run of finals for a medium collector who was getting into collecting these competitions.

The G.A.A. lots finished about 65 minutes after they started. Most of the G.A.A. collectors could breathe again and then survey the damage of the day’s proceedings outside as the auction had not finished, a once-in-a-decade opportunity to add to their collections courtesy of an old-time collector.

It would seem that this collection was mostly put together by Pat Ryan (R.I.P.), born in Oola, Co. Limerick, in the ’30s. He spent much of his adult life in the U.K. but finished up back in the mid-west for the last 30+ years. He was known to and very well liked by many older collectors in the ‘60s and '70s, from his various NW10 addresses in London. He collected mostly G.A.A. but also dabbled in soccer and possibly rugby. He was a great writer of letters in his prime, many of which were still in the programmes sold in Lynes and Lynes. He would regularly write to the Munster Council or programme editor looking for programmes after the fact and usually got them for the price of a stamp-addressed envelope, if not sold out. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

BADGE QUERY: My thanks to John Clarke and James Rocke who responded to Francis Heaney’s badge query in the last edition. It related to a Seán MacNeela from Ballycroy, a volunteer who died in 1940 while on hunger strike. A commemoration was held in June, 1952, in Ballycroy, and James enlisted the help of his local library to unearth the report on the event from the ‘Connaught Telegraph’. It doesn’t appear that this medal was G.A.A. related.

LABOURS OF LOVE: Tipperary is the county that simply keeps on giving in terms of producing club histories. The metaphorical ink was scarcely dry on the last edition when Joe Lonergan made contact to inform me that Seán Treacys were the latest to put pen to paper.

Lo and behold, the very next day (Saturday, March 4th) Larry Ryan devoted his column in the ‘Irish Examiner’ to a full review of the book in question, in an entertaining piece headlined ‘County ices the club cake’. For those of you who didn’t see it, here’s his thoughts on another book which many will add to their ‘wanted’ list:

‘There appears to be a furious agitation brewing in the GAA. A sense, as county imperils club, and players square up to administrators, and football threatens hurling, that we may be on the cusp of a great apocalypse.

‘Or at least another team walking in a parade with their socks down.

‘Rattled by the air of flux, on World Book Day, I stayed local.

‘Cuttin’ or Atein’ the Bushes just landed, the story of GAA in Kilcommon, Rearcross, and Hollyford, a mountainous parish in west Tipperary, operating since 1962 as Seán Treacys GAA Club.

‘Story of one club, story of every club.

‘George Bernard Shaw reminded us that we learn from history that we learn nothing from history. But in this tireless body of research, there is comfort too in finding that certain things were always so.

‘The book’s early match reports confirm that we had, by 1887, already settled on the modern wide- eyed template for hurling reporting. ‘”The music of the camáns was delightful, and the rolling and shouldering were simply perfect. What a beautiful spectacle to see the manly sons of the soil strain every muscle and sinew to outrival each other in this noble art”.

‘If anything, a touch restrained alongside the lyricism of today’s hurling writers and pundits. The ‘Celtic Times’ had nailed the tone too when it came to the big ball:

‘”The second match on the programme was a football game between Donohill and Rossmore...a dour struggle”.

‘Echoes rumble through the pages.

‘By 1966, the case was being made by TJ Caplis, Seán Treacys rep, that it was unfair to club hurlers to have no match all summer if they were beaten in the first round of the championship.

‘The county board turned a deaf ear to that plea to fix the fixtures, though there was unusual failure to grasp commercial opportunity in the verdict that it would be “a farce and a fraud” to charge two shillings entry to a match “where teams did not try an inch knowing they would come back through the losers’ group”.

‘The GAA’s complex relationship with amateurism is explored in accounts of the Gold Watch Tournament that drew droves to Doon in east Limerick in 1967. “Very few, if any, of the Treacys had a watch, not to mind a gold watch”.

‘The rich tradition of colour-blindness that has blighted many a meeting of Tipp and Clare and recently saw Wexford and Galway stubbornly tog out in neighbouring pantones of purple is powerfully evoked in the great battle for colours ahead of the ’66 county junior final between Treacys and Kiladangan.

‘Rule decreed that, as the older club, Kiladangan got first call on both sides’ favourite blue and gold. Naturally, Treacys historians stepped up to counter that theory so the county board organised a toss. Upon losing, Kiladangan claimed their man had not been an authorised club tosser and the matter went back to the board, who, showing uncommon vision, instructed both to change rather than let them all wear the same gear.

‘The same final brings evidence that the fancy for psychological warfare and “mind games” is not a recent phenomenon.

‘As men from the hills, Treacys carried a certain reputation. Legend had it they used poitín as a muscle rub, which, if a first half didn’t go to plan, could be repurposed as oral lubricant to send them out fighting in the second.

‘Playing up to notoriety, a mentor strode the field before throw-in with a mystery bottle, massaging some players and inviting others to sup.

‘There is hardship and disappointment and emigration. There are stories of faction fights and melees and controversy and suspensions and withdrawals in protest, reminders that the GAA has always thrived on a certain furious agitation and that there is no form of GAA justice that isn’t worth appealing via every possible avenue. ‘The age-old fondness for a little vigilante justice is expressed in the possibly apocryphal tale of Foxy Jim Nolan.

‘A pair of Treacys opponents arrive in casualty for stitching following a torrid encounter with the same complaint: “Foxy Jim hit me.” When a third landed, the inquiry was brusque: “Did Foxy Jim hit you too?”

“No nurse, sure I’m Foxy Jim.”

‘We hear so much about The Sacrifices and The Demands put upon the modern player, but author Paddy Ryan puts that in perspective with memories of travelling to minor matches with brothers Dinny and Phil and one “bad bicycle” between them.

‘”The plan was for one to cycle so far and then leave the bike for the next one and so on.”

‘However, even the Ryan relay is overshadowed by the voyage made by a parish team to Youghalarra in 1909 - a 40-mile, 26-hour round trip via jinnet and cart and an ambush of bricks and stones in Nenagh.

‘Just like in any small rural club where success is hard earned, what drives young men and women to great lengths is those precious days that will endure through the ages. That junior county title. The first west Tipp senior in 1968.

‘Bonfires and cavalcades and open lorries and bishops’ speeches that reverberate still. Glory drives supporters the extra mile too and “the milking bus” didn’t always bring the farmers back in time.

‘Sometimes, there is a different swell of pride. Every Treacys man who wore Tipp colours at any grade is listed. And a book crammed with club details has a county match on the cover. The Treacys’ most famous hour: Dinny Ryan slipping the winning goal past Kilkenny’s in the 1971 All- Ireland final.

‘Perfect symbol of a complicated relationship. County the icing on club’s cake.

‘But there are heroes beyond the field. As rancour rises and insults are hurled in the coming months, we will often hear it said that the game should be all about the players.

‘But there are those who give their all on the field and then give a lot more back.

‘People like Paddy Ryan - player, mentor, administrator, historian - build and trace the bonds that glue the GAA together.

‘In books like this, GAA people will find a lot more to unite than divide them.’

(Cuttin’ or Atein’ the Bushes by Paddy Ryan (Coole) was launched on Sunday, March 5th, at the Seán Treacys clubhouse at Kilcommon Cross).

COUNTY COLOURS: Seán Creedon’s look at the origin of county colours concludes with the last eight entries here - ROSCOMMON: Prior to 1938 the Roscommon jersey was either black and amber or black and white. Blue with a yellow band was also used. The present colour scheme was adopted for the 1943 All-Ireland football final. In recent years the Rossies have included a map of the county on the back of the jersey.

SLIGO: 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.

TIPPERARY: Up to around 1925 the Tipperary team usually wore the colour of the county champions. In 1925 the present gold hoop on a blue jersey was introduced. These colours reflected the influence of Tubberadora and other great Tipp champions.

TYRONE: The present Tyrone jersey, which has had a few minor tweaks in recent years, has been used since around 1927. The crest is the Red Hand of the O’Neill clan, whose family seat was in Dungannon.

WATERFORD: Waterford first took the royal blue of Munster with collar and cuffs for its county jersey. In 1938 the jersey was changed to white with royal blue trim and in 1945 the Decies crest was added.

WESTMEATH: Up to 1912 Westmeath wore a green jersey with a white hoop. This was later changed to a maroon jersey with a saffron sash. The sash was dropped in 1936 and the present jersey has been used since then. Green is now Westmeath’s change strip.

WEXFORD: In the 1891 All-Ireland hurling final Wexford, who were represented by Crossabeg, wore green and amber. In 1899 Blackwater represented the county wearing black and amber. Purple and amber was introduced in 1913 and the placing of the colours has alternated over the years. Wexford are supposed to have earned their ‘yellow bellies’ nickname when the Colcloughs of Tintern Abbey brought a team of hurlers to Cornwall to play another landlord team. The Wexford team wore yellow sashes around their waists and King James, who was at the game, expressed his admiration for the ‘yellow bellies’.

WICKLOW: Wicklow was the last of the 32 counties to be formed and they wore green until the early 1930s. Blue with a gold hoop was then used until the changeover to the present style in 1970.

DIRECTORY OF COLLECTORS: The 15th edition of the directory of collectors is attached in a Microsoft Word document, with no new additions. 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.

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 monthly information bulletin for collectors of GAA match programmes, histories, yearbooks, magazines, photographs, etc. It is distributed 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]).

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

CONCLUSION: Thanks for reading the 15th edition collectors, and please keep me informed of any items of interest that would be worth sharing in the coming months.

Mise le meas,

ALAN AHERNE