REFERENCE NO. AR/1/57
GAA Oral History Project Interview Report Form
Name of Joe Jordan Interviewer
Date of Interview 15th Feb 2011
Location N/A
Name of Bernie Myers Interviewee (Maiden name / Nickname)
Biographical Summary of Interviewee
Gender Female
Born Year Born: N/A
Home County: Armagh
Education N/A
Family N/A
Club(s) Middletown
Occupation N/A
Parents’ N/A Occupation
Religion N/A
Political Affiliation / N/A Membership
Other Club/Society N/A Membership(s)
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Date of Report 15 July 2012
Period Covered 1930s - 2011
Counties/Countries Armagh Covered Key Themes Supporting, Playing, Training, Coaching, Officials, Covered Administration, Material Culture, Emigration, Role of Women, Role of the Club in the Community, Volunteers, Club History, Earliest Memories, Family Involvement, Challenges, Sacrifices, Relationships, Economy / Economics
Interview Summary This interview focuses on the fortunes of Camogie in Middletown, Co. Armagh and the role played by Bernie Myers in shaping it. It opens with Myers, formerly Bernie McCann, discussing her reasons for helping revive Camogie in Middletown – the influence of hurling in the area and the need to provide something for girls. Myers acknowledges the assistance by Anne Keenan in Madden and reflects on the immediate success they enjoyed in the early 1970s, winning the ‘beginner’s championship’ and also a 7-a-side tournament. The names of many of this group of Camogie players are mentioned as are the names of those of the younger generation who came after them. As well as playing with the county, Myers also talks about becoming secretary of a newly established Camogie section in the Middletown club and also attending meetings of the county board. Myers discusses the geography of Camogie in Armagh in the 1970s and comments on the difficulties that the game began to experience in Middletown in the early 1980s – by 1982, girls were ‘scarce’. As the interviews moves to a conclusion, Myers reflects on how ‘lovely’ it has been to see Camogie revived and to have been ‘young enough to enjoy playing a good game’. She recalls a reunion of the team of 1971 in the mid 2000s and the loss of one of that group. She also reflects on the current state of Camogie in the Middletown and the reasons for its relative vibrancy, most especially the growth in the local population.
00:00:05 Introduction to Bernie Myers, formerly Bernie McCann. Mentions that Camogie had ended in the early 1950s and didn’t revive until Bernie came along.
00:00:31 Discusses what encouraged herself and Anne Casey to start Camogie: mentions the influence of having brothers involved and the need to provide something for the
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girls of the parish – ‘there was really nothing for the girls at that stage’.
00:00:55 Gathered up available girls, the decision to stick with black and white colours and entering beginners championship.
00:01:20 Acknowledges the assistance of the girls in Madden, in particular Anne Keenan, now Anne Grimley.
00:01:30 Winning the beginners championship and entering a team for 7 a side. Names the players: Regina and Roisin O’Hare, Martina and Marie McCardle, Anne Casey, Bernie Myers, Margaret McKiernan. Refers also to Sadie and Gerdie, Phylis Gilmore, Jenny Gilmore, Margaret and Susan McCardle. Mentions that Susan and herself played a bit with the county.
00:02:25 Comments that none of the original Middletown Camogie were still about when they set about reviving the game.
00:02:42 Reflects on the success of her Camogie team and the influence of the hurling – says ‘you would have got the shins cut out of ya’ playing with the boys on the road.
00:03:05 Talks about the numbers being bolstered by younger generation – ‘Tom “the Gun’s” children’, Joan Carville, Helen and, later, Sheila. Mentions also Margaret Daniels.
00:03:40 Interviewer recalls occasion when Joan Carville knocked her knee out. Tells of lifting her and putting her in the mini.
00:03:55 Bernie mentions taking almost a full team in the mini to play in Tullysaran on one occasion.
00:04:03 Talks about being secretary of the Camogie section. Says it was only after winning championship that a Camogie committee was set up. Herself and Helen Carville would have attended county board meetings. Mentions also the involvement of Pat Toner and Sheila McBride on the board.
00:05:10 Interviewer and interviewee mention teams that would have been strong at the time: Blackwatertown and Madden, Tullysaran, the ‘Maghery teams’, Derrytransna, Oliver Plunkett’s near Mullaghbawn.
00:05:45 Interviewee mentions that Keady ‘started up shortly after our time.’ Also mentions that Derrynoose started later.
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00:05:50 Interviewee reflects on Camogie history in the county and how clubs came and went in phases – like Derrynoose, who came prominence in the 1960s, faded in the 1970s and came back in the ‘80s.
00:06:10 Discusses the Middletown situations. Says that by 1982 girls were ‘scarce’. Recalls playing Sharon Mullan on a team when she was 10 years old.
00:06:30 Interviewer and interviewee discuss possible reasons for the fall off in the girls participating in Camogie: marriage and moving away, going to university etc.
00:06:50 Says it was ‘lovely to see it revived’.
00:06:55 Interviewer mentions that there was a Camogie tradition in Middletown from the 1930s.
00:07:00 Interviewer mentions that the Camogie players were drawn from the same families as the footballers and hurlers.
00:07:25 Bernie says she was ‘probably’ one of the footballers best supporters over the years.
00:07:30 Comments on Francie Joe McCardle taking them to Ballymena to buy uniforms. Says that his two girls, Rose and Patricia, would have played.
00:07:50 Recalls a reunion of the Camogie team in the 2000s and playing Derrynoose. Reference is made to the fact that Susan McCardle, since deceased, played.
00:08:20 Mention is made that the majority of the 1971 team were all there for the reunion.
00:08:35 Concludes that the revival was ‘something lovely to happen’ and recalls that they were ‘young enough to enjoy playing a good game’. Says it was a ‘pity’ it folded when it did, but that it has come back to be bigger than it ever was. Mentions that Middletown is now a ‘bigger parish’ with a lot more people.
00:09:15 Interviewer mentions that from 1972 onwards a lot of the people who got married stayed at home, building their own houses. Refers to the church being rebuilt and the new houses built in the countryside.
00:09:30 Interviewer remarks that the club fielded 4 team’s the previous year, from senior to juvenile.
00:09:45 Bernie remarks on winning beginners championship and 7 a side and that they had no one training them.
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Eventually Will McCallum came into train them.
Involvement in Supporter Player □ Manager □ Coach □ Steward GAA
□ Chairperson Committee Member □ Grounds-person
□ Caterer □ Jersey Washer □ Referee □ None
□ Other (please specify): ______
Record as a Player Winner of a ‘beginner’s championship’. (Titles won; Length of time played) Record as an N/A Administrator (Positions held; how long for)
Format □ Audio Audio-Visual
Duration Length of Interview: 00:10:44
Language English
To be filled in by Interviewer:
I hereby assign the copyright of the content of the above to the GAA Oral History Project on the understanding that the content will not be used in a derogatory manner. I understand that I am giving the GAA Oral History Project the right to use and make available to the public the content of this interview.
Signed: Regina Fitzpatrick
Date: 15th Feb 2011
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