PROGRAMME PLUS – VOLUME 1, NUMBER 3, MARCH 25 th , 2016

It seems the time has flown by since the last edition of Programme Plus, and you are all very welcome to the third issue. In particular I want to say a special hello to eight-year-old Jerry O’Connor who plays with the Clooney-Quin club in Clare and who loves his G.A.A. facts and stats according to his mother, Niamh.

Jerry has brought the average age of subscribers tumbling down, and it’s great to see one of the younger brigade showing such an interest. Make sure to keep all of your match programmes safe Jerry, and I hope you will enjoy a lifetime of collecting!

The constant highlighting of this bulletin in Allianz League programmes is paying off, with new addresses being added to the list of subscribers week after week. At this stage the number of recipients has more than doubled since the first issue, and that’s a fantastic boost.

It’s important to note that there’s no right or wrong way to be a collector; all of us have our quirks, and it’s rare to find two collectors with the exact same approach. Some like to operate under the radar, while others are more vocal and ‘out there’. Whatever your modus operandi, never forget that it’s a hobby first and foremost, to be enjoyed in whatever way you see fit; and whether you’re a long-established collector or a newcomer, this information bulletin is for everyone and all are welcome.

I’m delighted to say that I have received three guest contributions this month, so I will proceed without delay. First up is Liam Rabbitte from whom I thank for this interesting piece:

WHY DO I COLLECT? A FEW THOUGHTS BY LIAM RABBITTE

‘Following on from James’s article last month, I decided to put a few thoughts together on why I collect G.A.A. memorabilia. Like James I was always collecting something. It started with books, beermats, coins, stamps, callcards (that didn’t last too long with the arrival of mobile phones); history books, for which I still have a passion. Unfortunately, 1916 is putting serious dent in the discretionary spending budget. Finally I settled on G.A.A., becoming a more serious collector in the last ten years.

‘Why do people collect? Maybe it’s partial OCD but I don’t think this is the answer in my case. As Sheldon in the ‘Big Bang Theory’ said: ‘My momma had me tested’. Or maybe it is a follow on from an average playing career in the G.A.A. to replacing it with something you could be middling good at? My career in lasted until I was 14, something I regret giving up on. I dabbled in hurling in college and Junior football in Leitrim to some degree but it was never the same. My golden years were past.

‘I think one of the core reasons why I collect is the urge to complete a task. Something drives me to keep collecting until, for example, a set of programmes is complete. Last week a fellow collector sent me the first Galway hurling game in Leinster, versus Laois in 2009. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to that game due to family commitments. This programme completes the 20-plus programmes from Galway’s adventures in Leinster. It came out of the blue but I was blown away by Tom’s efforts in tracking down this programme. Of greater significance was the front cover which featured my neighbour Michael Joe Badger (a great Turloughmore Gael) who played for Galway in the 1949 semi- final against Laois. Sadly he is now deceased and it only came to my attention recently that he played for the . Interestingly, his grandson, Ronan Badger, played Minor for Galway a few years ago and made his way onto the cover of the Hogan Stand annual for the hurling final.

‘One passion I currently have is attempting to collect Galway’s games in Munster between 1959 and 1969. Eleven years and amazingly only one win against Clare in 1961.So that makes twelve programmes to collect. I picked up the first programme from Peter Geoffroy a few years ago. I currently have seven from that set of twelve. Thanks to a fellow collector I received three programmes recently. You might wonder of the significance of this collection to me. My father’s first cousin, Seamus Murphy, played in some games in the latter stages of the failed Munster experiment. Furthermore my local club, Turloughmore, were county champions for six years from 1961 to 1966 in Galway, which is still a record that they hold to this day. Some of the names on the Galway team of that era are familiar to me.

‘As G.A.A. memorabilia is so broad, one has to have boundaries and limits as space and family dictate how much collecting one can carry out. Currently space is limited. However, I look forward to the day when my man cave is set up with appropriate shelving ready to neatly arrange all the collected books and programmes that I have so carefully collected. I keep the majority of programmes and G.A.A. reference books close to hand as they lend themselves to my other passion - that of quizzes.

‘I regularly set table quizzes for people and in particular for Scór. Scór possibly unbeknownst to a lot of collectors is the cultural wing of the G.A.A. There are eight events and one of these is the quiz. It might resonate with some collectors as the event where you stood out on the stage in a small country hall with 200 people staring up at you, awaiting the dreaded question. Knees knocking, you prayed not to make a fool of yourself in answering the given question. Before the format changed to the current table quiz, I was lucky enough to get to six Senior All- and win two, in 2010 and 2012. Although they were for a club in Co. Leitrim, this club is still close to my heart and I regularly go back there at weekends. Under the new format of table quiz, I had the honour of being Máistir na gCeist for the Senior quiz in 2014. Following on from that I have a small collection of Scór programmes in my collection of G.A.A. memorabilia.

‘First and foremost I am a Galway man, so it’s Galway programmes and books that are my main passion. One little side project is collecting club histories from Co. Galway. The editor recently praised Tipperary for their club histories. I would throw Galway into the mix there. Like the hurling last Sunday week between the Galway and Tipperary teams, there is nothing between the two counties. I have approximately 40 club histories from Co. Galway. Maybe they aren’t as sought out and voluminous as the Tipperary ones but, picking three off the top of my head such as Ardrahan (co- authored by collector Tom Greene), Meelick-Eyrecourt (sold out to my knowledge) and Portumna’s (author - local historian John Joe Colwell), they would rival any club histories published. At some stage I will have all the covers scanned and will be able to send them to any other collector if needs be. There will be some gaps such as Killimor and Athenry’s two efforts. This leads me on nicely to talk of recent publications in Galway/Roscommon:

• Barna , an A4 book of 116 pages costing €10. Barna is a club just out the west side of Galway city. It was published around December, 2015, as part of 50-year celebrations. Despite being a young club they have a good under-age set-up and could be a team to be reckoned with in the future of Galway football. • Glinsk , a small club on the Roscommon border, this A5 book of 169 pages costing €10 was authored by Lawrence Cunningham. It is the second club history produced after ‘The Monks Field’. The author has also written a few other books. • Creggs, cheating a bit here - a Roscommon club on the Galway border, an A4 book of 168 pages costing €15. It appears to have been put together by the committee. Interestingly enough they won the county cup in 1960 as United Stars and had Mattie McDonagh playing with them in the late 1970s. • Galway Juvenile Hurling Board published a book in 2015 entitled ‘Caoga Bliain ag Imirt 1965 -2015. Costing €15 and 292 pages, it has everything - statistics, colour photos, information on officers and musings from most clubs. It is an update on the 2005 publication entitled ‘Coiste Iomána na nÓg ag Fás’ which came in at 263 pages. • Pádraig Pearses , formed in 1966 in the Gurteen/Ballymacward area, plan to launch this book later in the year as part of the celebrations for 50 years on the go. The club has a full schedule of events for the year tying in with 1916 and 1966, the year of their founding. I will revert with further details in later newsletters when I have more details. ‘The editor (Alan) mentioned Bonniconlon in a previous issue. I know they published a book approximately two years ago. It would be similar to the Glinsk book, A5 and priced at €10. I do know that two clubs in Mayo have recently published books: Tourmakeady and Lacken Sarsfields. If time permits I hope to provide details about them for the next magazine.

‘In conclusion, I suppose what drew me to collecting was the friendships/camaraderie of swapping with others. The craic and banter is second to none. I have friends all over the country that I speak to on a weekly basis, and can argue the merits of the game to like-minded individuals.

‘Finally, similar to councillors and politicians I welcome this publication. I hope that all collectors will row in behind Alan and from time to time write up some articles/updates regarding club histories and bring them to the attention of others who may wish to get a copy of same. Rather than leaving it all to Alan to write up articles, could I suggest we take up different topics, say Gaelsport magazines or county histories or Connacht football finals, how many were printed/published, released as per one of previous issues, the Buffers Alley 1989 programme - on most of our lists but never existed. In the meantime - happy collecting!’

LABOURS OF LOVE: Liam’s focus on histories in his area leads us nicely into a few other mentions of books to collect. Anthony McMullan has drawn my attention to ‘Down The Lane’, the story of in the parish of Rasharkin, Co. Antrim, from 1909 to 2013 which he co-authored. The book runs to 270 pages and chronicles the highs and lows of the games in Anthony’s parish, from the St. Olcan’s club which preceded the present St. Mary’s which dates back to St. Patrick’s Day, 1943. The book costs £25 plus postage and may be obtained through the Rasharkin club website: http://www.rasharkingac.ie/

Joe Lonergan let me know about ‘Kiladangan GAA Club: A Centenary History’ by Danny Grace and Seamus Hogan. This book on a thriving Tipperary club contains 400 pages, and Joe bought his copy for €20 in Bookworm, Thurles. YEARBOOK WATCH: The 2014 version of the G.A.A. Yearbook has been added to the ‘Resources’ section on the County Board’s website: www.kilkennygaa.ie . This now ensures that the full collection of Yearbooks from 1972 to 2014 is available online for enthuasists, and no doubt 2015 will follow in due course. This is an invaluable collection and charts the story of Kilkenny G.A.A. over almost half a century.

While collectors will always prefer to have these Yearbooks in their hands so to speak, the online presence is very helpful if anyone wants to check out an item they have yet to acquire. The man responsible for making the Kilkenny Yearbooks available online is Gerry O’Neill who is also the author of the county’s fantastic G.A.A. Bible.

SOUTH TIPPERARY REVIEW: Many thanks to the organisers of the South Tipperary fair in Clonmel on Saturday. While it wasn’t very well attended, both from the point of view of sellers’ tables and purchasing collectors, I still managed to acquire a number of new items and I’m sure others did likewise.

Indeed, I was interested to learn that, even though the numbers were low, over €900 was still taken in on the South Tipperary table. This shows the worth of these fairs, and I hope they will continue. I don’t think there’s a perfect date to hold a fair; even the last Thurles one in December clashed with the Leinster Club football final.

No matter what date is chosen, it won’t be suitable for everyone. And to be fair to the South Tipperary organisers, they gave everyone the best possible notice as they distributed flyers for March 19 th at that December gathering. I firmly believe collaborative efforts where G.A.A. and soccer/rugby sellers come together are the way to go for future fairs. All of us share a hobby we love, regardless of the sport, and we can learn a lot from soccer in particular. This is an area I will return to with my thoughts in a future edition.

DIRECTORY OF COLLECTORS: The third edition of the directory of collectors is attached in another Microsoft Word document, with a couple of additional entries. 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.

PROGRAMME OF THE MONTH: The choice for ‘programme of the month’ is a purely personal one; it’s restricted to the publications I see myself for a start, and I’m also keen to spread it around the country when warranted.

So, after praising programmes from Tipperary and Galway in the first two editions, this time I’m giving the accolade to Kerry P.R.O. John O’Leary for the 36-pager produced for the double-header of Allianz League games on March 6 th , versus in hurling and Donegal in football.

It was a special occasion for the Kingdom as Park in was re-opened after development work. And the programme was a bright and busy mix of current news and history, with a very attractive front cover making good use of cut-outs and drawing heavily on the green and gold Kerry colours. I also liked the showreel-style thumbnail photographs on the top right, combining black and white with colour and linking past and present. The 36 pages (€3) include six and a third of advertisements plus another three of a promotional nature. If anybody is wondering what the difference is, I categorise promotional as anything highlighting County Board initiatives such as summer camps, race days, merchandising, Féile promotions and the like.

There’s an eye-catching typeface and widespread use of good photographs, while the standard of printing is top notch. Page 3 features the standard Chairman’s address with a list of match officials and brief thanks from the P.R.O.; 4 and 5 is a spread entitled ‘The Sportsfield/ - A Little Bit Of History’, with 17 facts in thumbnail format along with four excellent black and white pictures and one more in colour of more recent vintage.

There’s a separate page devoted to the full details of what the park development entails, before a page of Division 1B Hurling League facts featuring the table, scorers and campaigns to date for both counties, and the fixtures to come. The top of that page is adorned with the crests of the six competing counties which adds to the attractiveness of the lay-out. Beside that on page 9 is a hurling preview by Damian Stack of ‘The Kerryman’.

Next up is a player profile of Kerry’s Michael O’Leary and a report on the Wexford v. Kerry game played in Ardfert in 1979. This is embellished by a photograph of the home team which includes none other than Dick Spring of Crotta O’Neill’s and Labour fame. He played in the middle of the field but was substituted in a 2-7 to 0-2 defeat. The Wexford team included Fr. Martin Casey whose nephew, Tommy, was Kerry’s centre-back in this latest meeting of the counties.

Pages 12 and 13 feature the hurling line-outs before Sylvester Hennessy of ‘Kerry’s Eye’ explains how he spent the first 13 years of his life in Wexford, and his cousin, Tom Foley, is a current selector. That page also features a profile piece on Kerry coach Mark Foley, complete with a nice photograph of him sharing a joke with team manager and former Limerick playing colleague Ciarán Carey.

Lee Chin is the Wexford hurler profiled, telling us that in ten years’ time he hopes to be ‘successful and happily married with 15 children!’ Tom Morrison, one of the foremost collectors in the country and a regular contributor to programmes, has a piece on the famous Wexford comeback versus Tipperary in the 1956 National League final, recovering from a 2-10 to 0-1 half-time deficit to win by 5-9 to 2-14; unfortunately, they’re not making hurlers like that around these parts any more!

The football line-outs form the centrespread on pages 18 and 19, before a similar page of results, scorers, fixtures, table and crests alongside a football preview by Jason O’Connor.

There’s a look back on the Kerry v. Donegal clash of 2001 beside a page profile on new Kerry captain Bryan Sheehan, complete with portrait photograph and factfile. The tribute to the recently departed Din Joe Crowley, written by Micheál O Gliasáin, features an iconic photograph by Kevin Coleman, formerly of ‘The Kerryman’, of the Rathmore’s man famous goal in the 1970 All- final versus Meath. The ball has just left his boot, with Meath’s Jack Quinn arriving a fraction too late to block the kick. The ‘Sunday Mirror’ carried a double page spread on the score one week later and dubbed it ‘The Goal of the Century’.

Next up is a profile of Donegal’s Leo McLoone before a page reflecting on the visitors’strong bench, written by Michael Clifford of the ‘Irish Daily Mail’, a Kerryman now living in Donegal. The All-Ireland Club successes of St. Mary’s and Templenoe are marked in a page of photographs, and Tim Slattery has compiled the full list of previous Kerry v. Donegal league meetings. This should be an essential component of any programme in my view, but only counties with a dedicated unofficial statistician tend to provide this valuable information. The Wexford v. Kerry hurling details weren’t supplied, but that’s my only quibble with this programme.

Kerry’s full fixtures plan for the year is outlined in a two-page spread, and there’s a word search for the younger readers. A programme of this quality may be par for the course for our Kerry readers but, trust me, it was a breath of fresh air for a Wexford visitor unaccustomed to such a high quality for the Allianz Leagues!

It was full of relevant information, had plenty of feature pieces, and, while neither the printer nor the designer were credited, both were on top of their game with this offering and deserve nothing but plaudits.

THE MONTH IN PROGRAMMES: Happily, there’s a lot of programmes to get through since the last edition on February 26 th , so I’ll proceed without delay.

First of all, two contrasting programme experiences on February 27 th ; I travelled to for the Top Oil Leinster Schools Senior hurling ‘A’ final between St. Kieran’s and Kilkenny C.B.S., while on the same day in Mallow, St. Brendan’s (Killarney) brushed High School (Clonmel) aside in the Corn Uí Mhuirí decider.

I’ll start on the more positive note with Ed Donnelly’s Munster football final programme which maintained the high standards he set for the Harty Cup showpiece. Just eight and a half of the 36 pages feature advertisements, with two promotional pages for the All-Ireland Féile competitions and the remainder devoted to all the facts, figures and history pertaining to both schools; a lovely souvenir for any of the protagonists to look back on in years to come, and full value for the €3 cover charge.

In contrast, the Leinster hurling final (€2) was an eight-pager in colour consisting of a cover, welcomes from the Leinster Chairman and his Schools counterpart, the line-outs, a Top Oil ad, a promotional page on the Kilkenny race day, and two pieces by Brendan Minnock on the finalists on pages 3 and 6 respectively. The programme is adequate in one sense, but the Munster offering on the same day would put it to shame.

As a follow-on, I received the following comment from a collector: ‘I was at the Ardscoil Rís v. Kilkenny C.B.S. Croke Cup quarter-final yesterday in Templemore and we did well to get a teamsheet. There was a decent crowd and even a small programme could have gone down well and broke even at least.’

February 27 th , Croke Park - Allianz FL Division 1, Dublin v. Monaghan: A slimmed-down version of the programme for the first Spring Series game at home to Kerry and, in fairness to the compilers and the County Board, that is reflected in the reduced cover charge from €4 to €3.

The Kerry programme had 48 pages as it also featured a curtain-raiser, whereas this stand-alone ran to 32 pages. It had seven pages of ads, two promotional pages, one with the obligatory stadium information, plus welcomes from the Co. Chairman and Allianz CEO. Add in the cover plus the line-out pages, and that leaves another 17 pages. Dublin programmes always use the press releases issued by Allianz which give the up-to-date information on the current league standings in a preview piece, and this runs to three pages with photographs.

There’s also a separate picture page and the updated Dublin statistics over three pages before the fold. A page of results and fixtures is followed by a feature on a young referees’ course, while the four divisional tables fill another page with the Dublin squad photograph. Two pages are devoted to a preview of the following Wednesday’s Leinster Under-21 football clash of the Dubs and Meath, with a handball page before the usual strong emphasis on Cumann na mBunscol activity over four pages. We know what to expect at this stage from Dublin’s home programmes, and this one follows the standard template.

February 28 th , Ballybofey - Allianz FL Division 1, Donegal v. Mayo: My thanks to Anthony McMullan for supplying this programme for review; readers will have noticed a strong concentration on games in Leinster and Munster thus far, but that’s purely because the majority of games I attend myself are in those provinces. I would love to get more programmes from Ulster for review, and if anyone wants to make submissions to me, I will send them something in return.

This programme retailed at €3 and ran to 28 pages, with the Donegal 15 from the previous outing lined up for the national anthem on the cover. No fewer than 16 of the pages, including all of the left-handers bar the centrespread, are devoted to ads.

Nonetheless, there is interesting, topical content in the remainder for the most part. The league table is underneath the Chairman’s welcome, before the page nobody reads in any programme - the words of Amhrán na bhFiann and the ground regulations. Chris McNulty of the ‘Donegal News’ has a piece on his county’s home record, with the remaining fixtures underneath.

Peter Campbell, Sports Editor of the ‘Donegal Democrat’, has a profile on promising newcomer Eoin McHugh, while it’s back to Chris McNulty for a nice piece on Eugene Gallagher who has been Treasurer of the local Seán Mac Cumhaills club since 1975. The man himself, Seán Mac Cumhaill that is, features in a page profile which gives the complete rundown of his life both inside and outside the G.A.A. This may be common knowledge to Ulster folk but I found it a particularly interesting piece.

There’s a questionnaire from the Donegal Health and Wellbeing committee before the line-out pages are followed by three excellent pages dealing with past meetings by the county’s statistician, An tAthair Seán O Gallchóir. I love this type of factual, informative detail in programmes, with every angle of the Donegal/Mayo rivalry covered.

Tom Comack of the ‘Donegal Democrat/People’s Press’ stays on that topic too in a piece outlining how Michael Murphy isn’t the only Donegal player with a Mayo father; Martin O’Reilly and Eamonn Doherty fall into that category too. Chris McNulty isn’t finished yet with his programme contribution as he pens a piece on Seán Mac Cumhaills President Jack Hannigan who has just celebrated his 102 nd birthday. The last piece of reading comes from Ryan Perry of the ‘Donegal News’ so, while the ads page count is high, there’s still enough reading material elsewhere to make this an interesting programme.

February 28 th , Innovate - Allianz FL Division 4, Wexford v. London: It gives me no pleasure to state it once again, but the Wexford programmes are nothing to write home about right now. While allowances have to be made for the presence of the footballers in Division 4, therefore attracting small crowds, there was still scope for doing a good job with this programme but it wasn’t taken on board.

It was 12 pages for €2 in black and white, including five pages of ads. and one promotional page. All that was left was the cover, the line-outs, two pages on ‘The Ruislip Years 1978-2016’ supplied by London, and four paragraphs plus a photograph of visiting boss Ciarán Deely with the league table underneath.

The box was ticked in terms of giving recognition to Deely, a Wexford native and former player, but his presence deserved more coverage. It was also the first-ever league meeting of the teams but this wasn’t deemed worthy enough of a mention (I imagine the programme compiler wasn’t even aware of that fact). A feature on the Wexford club in London, Fr. Murphy’s, would have been appropriate too and appreciated by our exiles whom I have had the pleasure of visiting on a couple of occasions, but again it was neglected.

March 2 nd , two EirGrid Leinster Under-21 football championship quarter-finals, Wexford v. Westmeath in St. Patrick’s Park, Enniscorthy, and Dublin v. Meath in : Two black and white four-pagers comprising cover, line-outs and back page ad., but the Wexford version was the more professional effort as it was printed by C&R Print. In contrast, the Dublin effort was photocopied so didn’t have the same quality. Their substitute goalkeeper has an interesting sporting history: Mikey Quinn, son of Niall and grandson of the late Billy, who plays his club football with Eadestown in Kildare.

March 5 th , Croke Park - Allianz Hurling League and Allianz Football League Division 1, Dublin v. Cor: Standard fare in terms of content from this Spring Series double-header, although with two games rather than one it meant that the price, and the number of pages, increased from the Monaghan football tie, back up to €4 and 40 pages. All the facts you need are contained therein, although a few feature pieces - like the Alan Brogan tribute in the Kerry programme in late January - wouldn’t have gone astray.

March 6 th , Aughrim - Allianz Hurling League Division 2B, Wicklow v. Armagh, and Allianz Football League Division 4, Wicklow v. Carlow: Wicklow isn’t a county noted for the high quality of its programmes, and this offering does nothing to alter that opinion. It has twelve black and white pages for €3, with ads. on the inside back and back. Oddly, the line-outs are on pages 4 and 5 rather than the centrespread. Otherwise there’s no fewer than six picture pages plus a one-page tribute to County Board President Peter Keogh who died in late February.

March 13 th , - Allianz Hurling League Division 1A, Galway v. Tipperary: The praise continues for the new Galway Hurling Board P.R.O., Joe Keane, who followed up his programme of the month-winning Cork production with 36 equally vibrant, informative pages for the visit of Tipperary. Galway played Offaly in a curtain-raiser, with six pages devoted to that tie. It has five pages of ads. and three of promotions, and the remaining pages are full of colour photographs and information without being cluttered. Excellent work once again from Joe and the designers.

March 13 th , Innovate Wexford Park - Allianz Hurling League Division 1B, Wexford v. Offaly, and Allianz Football League Division 4, Wexford v. Wicklow: I contributed three items myself to this effort - a tribute to my late work colleague Peter Keogh, a piece on my company’s renewal of our Coiste na nOg sponsorship, and a story on P.J. Banville’s addition to the list of Wexford players passing the one hundred appearances mark.

However, I was taken aback to discover that the editor decided that no more content was necessary in this 20-pager which retailed for €3, had colour on the four outside pages only, and included seven pages of ads. plus one promoting Cúl Camps. Otherwise there was four pages of line- outs and one with the tables divided by two uncaptioned action photographs.

Two Laois home Allianz HL programmes in Portlaoise (v. Clare, March 5 th ; v. Wexford, March 20 th ): Seamus O’Doherty put forward the Clare programme as a candidate for the worst rather than the best offering, and it was easy to see why. The 16 pages weren’t numbered, and there was no readable content for €3, apart from a promotional piece on the Laois Centre of Excellence. Otherwise purchasers were left with the line-outs, a half-page Chairman’s welcome, and an array of ads. and promotional pieces. The same template was used for the Wexford game, including ugly side-by-side full-page ads on 4 and 5. Charging €3 for such rubbish is an insult to spectators.

March 17 th , Croke Park - AIB All-Ireland Club finals): Most collectors will have acquired this programme, so I won’t dwell on it for long. DBA opted for the larger format as per the All-Ireland Senior quarter-finals and semi-finals of recent years, 64 pages for €5. The cover of the 2001 final programme is re-produced on page 55, and I think this design trait should be encouraged more in all publications. Collectors know what to expect from DBA at this stage, so there’s no surprises in this offering.

Mayo’s home Allianz FL programmes in Castlebar (v. Dublin, February 6 th ; v. Kerry, March 13 th - with Division 2B hurling v. Wicklow): Collector James Rocke has a big input into the Mayo programmes and therefore interesting content is always guaranteed. The Dublin game ran to 28 pages including ten with ads., one promoting the county lotto, and one with ground regulations, and it was similar for Kerry. I particularly liked the one-page feature looking back at an old league campaign - 1989-’90 and 2008 in these cases - giving general competition details and then the specifics of Mayo’s results, scorers and appearances. Over time that will build up into an invaluable record. Similarly, the pieces on Mayo footballing families - P.J. Loftus Snr. and Jnr., followed by the McGraths of Kilmaine - are well researched and presented. The club focus is also worthy of mention, with Ballina Stephenites followed by none other than Al Ain in Abu Dhabi whose members include James Rocke’s son, Michael. The full list of players with their home clubs is very interesting.

Three Mayo Allianz HL Division 2B programmes (v. Donegal in Castlebar, February 14 th ; v. Meath in Trim, February 21 st ; v. Down in Ballycran, March 6 th ): An idea of how the other half lives for those of you from Division 1 counties accustomed to quality programmes. All three were four-pagers with back page ads; the Donegal one was free of charge and I presume the others were too, although it isn’t stated on either cover. Full black and white for the Donegal game, only colour crests and logos on the Meath programme, but colour on all four pages in the Down offering which is the most professional-looking of the three.

Tipperary’s home Allianz HL programmes in Thurles (v. Dublin, February 13 th ; v. Waterford, March 6th - with football v. Offaly which was moved to Tipperary town; v. Cork, March 20 th ): The consistent excellence of the programmes produced by Ger Corbett and his team has to be admired. To be honest, I could give the ‘programme of the month’ award to them every time and it wouldn’t be out of place; indeed, it is long overdue, but their recognition will undoubtedly come.

All three comprised 32 pages and cost €3, with the striking design and clever use of colour as eye- catching as ever. The layout skills of Tom Beirne in Kilkenny have adorned many hundreds of programmes over the years, firstly during his time with the ‘Kilkenny People’, and happily he is still in demand on a freelance basis since he retired from the day job. It’s a name most programme collectors won’t recognise, but those of us who have been involved in the compilation and production side of things over the years will readily testify that Tom is the best in the business.

With just five pages of ads, four of promotions, and one on stadium information in the Dublin programme (reduced to four, four and one for Waterford, and back to five, four and one for Cork), there’s lots of interesting features and snippets to enjoy. I was also delighted with the positive publicity Ger gave to this information bulletin in the Dublin and Waterford programmes.

Seamus O’Doherty of this parish is the most prolific contributor to the Thurles publications, and his thirst for unearthing items of interest knows no bounds. There’s no better man to look at a set of past meeting details and dissect them from every possible angle. It makes for a very informative programme always.

Local journalists Noel Dundon and Shane Brophy are also regular contributors, and I was particularly taken by another contribution from Seamus in the Waterford programme entitled ‘Paper Power’, looking at the role the local paper plays in research and in providing the inside story on what is happening in every county - a subject close to my own heart!

Any programme collection will be adorned by this full set from , so well done to Ger, Seamus and colleagues, and keep up the excellent work.

Offaly’s home Allianz HL Division 1B programmes (v. Laois, February 21 st , in Tullamore; v. Limerick, March 6 th , in Tullamore; v. Kerry, March 20 th , in Birr): Offaly provide clear evidence that a smaller programme can still be informative. They follow a set template: twelve pages, black and white, costing €2, with no more than three pages of ads and/or promotions. However, they make the most of the pages left for content, with player profiles, reports of previous clashes, the full list of previous meetings, plus interesting fact-based features. For instance, the Limerick programme lists the 19 players who have lined out one hundred times or more for Offaly, while the Kerry programme highlights James Dempsey’s 50 th appearance for the county in the previous round.

TALKING POINT: Welcome to another new contributor, John Kelly from Carlow, who has contributed the following interesting piece which I deem suitable for the ‘Talking Point’ section. John is kept very busy on hurling weekends as he is a regular umpire for Wexford native and Carlow referee Paud O’Dwyer who earned widespread praise for his handling of last year’s All-Ireland Minor final mere hours after the death of his mother following a long illness.

WEAKER COUNTY ISSUES! – BY JOHN KELLY

‘Apart from the obvious drawbacks of coming from a 'weaker' G.A.A. county, i.e. the lack of success, the demoralisation etc., the most annoying thing is the lack of a decent programme on the day of a match. A typical Carlow programme for O'Byrne/ and NFL/NHL consists of a photocopied A4 page back and front, with cover, team lists and back page advert/fixture list. They generally come free with admission.

‘God forbid you arrive late to the match to find that the initial print-run has 'sold out' and in their haste to get extra copies out, the County Board has photocopied the team lists only, thereby depriving you of the cover! When looking for a contender for 'programme of the month', the early Carlow offerings usually won't be high up on the list.

‘Consequently, any collection of Carlow county programmes appears small, but when you consider that most of the collection consists of A4 sheets, the amount of programmes in the collection may be deceptively large. A recent conversation with a County Board official was informative – “those bloody programmes are a waste of money”!

‘It's only when I take the odd journey to a Division 1 National League game that I see what I am missing in terms of programme production. Championship programmes are a different matter and those involving Carlow (and other counties in Leinster) will generally have the added attraction of a quiz or in-depth statistical analysis from our own Leo McGough. In fairness to the County Board, they have recently taken to producing teamsheets for all local championship matches which is a welcome development.’

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!

THE GAMES THAT NEVER WERE: I’m sticking with John for the next contribution this month, relating to the unplayed inter-provincial games last December.

THE GAMES THAT NEVER WERE – BY JOHN KELLY

‘As a programme collector, I am always looking out for the rarity, the unusual. Being a collector of soccer programmes also, I am aware of the very rare 1968 European Cup final programme. A replay wasn't needed but a programme was printed as a contingency for “the game that never was”.

‘With this in mind, I went in search of the inter-provincial hurling and football semi-final/final programmes which were due to be played on December 5th/6 th , 2015. If you recall, the weather at the time was woeful. Poor Teresa Mannion was nearly blown away when reporting on Storm Desmond from Galway.

‘The games were due to be played in Pearse Stadium , Páirc Esler in Newry, and the in Armagh, but all were called off due to the weather. None of the games were played in 2015 and it is highly unlikely that the 2015 and 2016 inter-provincial championships will be played this year. To me this makes the programmes worthwhile collectors' items.

‘The covers of both programmes are done in a colourful art style. Looking inside the covers, it seems that the programmes were going to serve for the finals also, which were due to be played the following day. Both programmes follow a similar format - 16 colour A5 pages. All four teams are listed.

‘The centrefold in the football version contains an article by Dermot Crowe on the merits of the inter-provincial series, while the hurling version contains an article by Enda McEvoy on the hurling inter-provincial series and the exotic locations where it has been played.

‘The final few pages will be of interest to the statisticians among you. The results of the semi-finals and finals since 1975 are listed as well as details of most recent meetings between the provinces. Both programmes are still available from DBA Publishing and, as was mentioned in issue one, Lynn at DBA is extremely helpful when trying to locate these programmes.

‘It is a pity that the old Railway Cup which was once so popular has been reduced to being shoe- horned in at the end of the year, increasing the likelihood of a postponement due to poor weather. However, in years to come, these programmes may be interesting souvenirs of the games that never were.’

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Jim Whelan has unearthed a newspaper report about a National League match between Wexford and Kilkenny played in O’Kennedy Park, New Ross, on April 30 th , 1979. The end of the report contains the following interesting footnote: ‘The ground in New Ross was in excellent shape and the interval refreshments much appreciated. A pity therefore, that the people responsible for the official programme should charge 20p for a single sheet production hardly worth half the price’ .

Does anyone have this programme as a matter of interest? It’s not in Jim’s collection, and I don’t have it either. I also asked fellow Wexford collector Dominic Williams who is also missing this sheet. He had this to say: ‘Seems to be a general price of 20p from the few I have from that era. Quality generally very poor. From what I can remember the seventies witnessed a significant decline in G.A.A. attendances with lesser crowds meaning fewer programmes published. Easily my worst decade from a collecting point of view’ .

THE WANTS LIST – BY JAMES A. LUNDON (LIMERICK VIA GALWAY)

‘ Question: What is something that not every collector has, but every collector should? What is something that not every collector wants to expose to his (or her!) fellow collector, but every collector should throw around like confetti at a wedding? What is something that not every collector updates more than once a year, but every collector should update every time something is added to or taken off it?

Answer: The Wants List!

‘I have obtained wants lists from a good many collectors in my time but have failed to snag one from too many others, for many and varied reasons. You know who you are! I believe one isn’t a proper collector without a wants list, simple as that. Without one, you are simply an accumulator of programmes and memorabilia, not a collector. Repeat, accumulator not collector!

‘If you don't know what you are missing, how can you possibly expect anyone else to help you, unless they are a mind-reader, that is? A wants list is equally important to the person who is constructing it, as it clarifies what the person does and doesn't have, whether it is programme, magazine, book, annual, even large-format All-Star poster or Wavin hurley in my case.

‘My wants list is updated on my computer at least twice a month, with more additions than subtractions in recent times as I added my missing Limerick club histories and NHL group games since 1970 in the past few months.

‘A good wants list must have the follow characteristics:

* Brevity - only list those programmes you are interested in acquiring and with as little information as possible that will uniquely identify them, i.e. ‘NHLSF - 73r’ (1973 National Hurling League Semi- Final REPLAY between Limerick and Tipperary - whether this programme actually exists, or not, is a scéal for another day!) I don't care who played in the 1941 All-Ireland Hurling Final, only whether you want it, or have it to swop. Do not include teams, venue, score, or anything else, unless it uniquely identifies a required programme. Remember, the list should be as concise and compact as possible. A one page list is better than a ten page catch-all! A wants list is not a swops list, or a list of what you already have in your collection. Your swops list should be constructed in the same way as your wants list but isn’t nearly as important in most other ways.

* Contact Points - include all your contact details at the top (or bottom) of your wants list: name, address, phone numbers, e-mail address, Facebook and Twitter IDs (the latter two are completely optional for anyone over the age of 50). Also date the wants list so that people will know how much out of date it is at the time they are reviewing it, which could be years in the future. I have some people's lists which are now eleven-plus years old, with no updates being received in the interim.

* File Format - store the wants list as a text file so that it can be easily printed or sent as an e-mail attachment which everyone with an e-mail account can read with the minimum of effort. Microsoft's Excel (XLS or XLSX) format is fine but not everyone has Excel to open such files with. Think about the person who is receiving the list before sending it. A hand-written list is perfectly acceptable as long as it can be scanned or photocopied as required.

* Organisation - split your wants list into hurling and sections. It makes it much easier to digest by other collectors. I have an additional section called ‘General’ where I dump my general wants that are neither. Sub-divide the hurling into All-Ireland finals, league finals, provincial finals etc. If you are missing 1954 to 1964 in a particular competition, ‘54-64’ will suffice. See point one on brevity.

‘A wants list should clarify a collector's thoughts and may open new avenues of collecting, which otherwise might never have been ventilated. A wants list is a must when you are talking to other collectors, and is a necessity if you are to be taken seriously by other like-minded individuals. A wants list is a window into a collector's soul: don't be shy in letting other people peek in and rummage around. You never know how they might be able to help, and in ways you may never have thought possible. Just do it!’

SWAPS AND WANTS LISTS: The collectors listed below have swaps and wants lists currently available and would be happy to hear from you. If you are in the same boat, let me know and I will list your name in next month’s edition. After that, it will be up to the rest of the collectors to decide if they want to make contact in order to obtain a copy. • Joe Lonergan ([email protected]) • P.J. Maxwell ([email protected]) • David Nolan ( [email protected] ) • Neville O’Donoghue ( [email protected] ) • Seamas O’Reilly ([email protected])

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 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] ).

FUTURE EDITIONS: The publication schedule for the remainder of the year is outlined below. If anyone wishes to contribute to the content, the deadline will be the Tuesday before the publication date. Once again, I have been forced to hold over some contributions until next month which is a good complaint to have, so don’t despair if you sent me something and it hasn’t been published yet.

Here is a full list of publication and deadline dates for the rest of the year:

• Volume 1, Number 4: Friday, April 29 th (deadline: Tuesday, April 26 th ) • Volume 1, Number 5: Friday, May 27 th (deadline: Tuesday, May 24 th ) • Volume 1, Number 6: Friday, June 24 th (deadline: Tuesday, June 21 st ) • Volume 1, Number 7: Friday, July 29 th (deadline: Tuesday, July 26 th ) • Volume 1, Number 8: Friday, August 26 th (deadline: Tuesday, August 23 rd ) • Volume 1, Number 9: Friday, September 30 th (deadline: Tuesday, September 27 th ) • Volume 1, Number 10: Friday, October 28 th (deadline: Tuesday, October 25 th ) • Volume 1, Number 11: Friday, November 25 th (deadline: Tuesday, November 22 nd ) • Volume 1, Number 12: Friday, December 30 th (deadline: Tuesday, December 27 th )

CONCLUSION: Thanks for reading a jam-packed third edition, and happy Easter everyone! I hope that more and more collectors put pen to paper as it were and submit articles for next month. My thanks to James who is our first regular contributor, and to Liam and John who have followed suit this month.

My e-mail address is [email protected] , and I’d love to hear from you to discuss all aspects of our hobby. Don’t forget to print and post the bulletin to any collectors you know without e-mail access, and happy collecting!

Mise le meas,

ALAN AHERNE