What is probably close to thirty years ago now, a word manufacturing machine being propelled by yours truly produced a piece headlined exactly as above. Back then, it mostly centred on how the All Ireland successes carved out by Down (twice), Derry and Donegal could be – and as it happened, was – ground breaking for so many teams who, up to that point, wouldn’t have considered themselves good enough to be even competing at the highest level.
I recall Ger Canning’s prophetic line as Declan Bonner curled over what was the insurance point in the All Ireland SFC Final of 1992 “Is this to be it for Donegal, it would be a victory that would give hope to an awful lot of counties around the country”. Boy did it, and then some.
Perhaps even more so, though, were the unparalleled successes woven by Crossmaglen Rangers in the mid to late 1990s. In light of and in spite of the environment in which they played their football. Quite literally. For those who may not have been around in that turbulent, troubled, grief-stricken world, it was not uncommon for the parasitic RUC to land helicopters in the middle of Cross’ pitch whilst training and/or games as their disgusting headquarters hung over Oliver Plunkett Park like a bad smell. And remember, elsewhere, they murdered Aidan McAnespie on his way to the Gaelic Ground.
Also in that piece long ago, mention was made of the fact that yours truly could name at least one hurler and footballer from each of the 32 counties from the age of about 10. That might not seem such a big deal in terms of the more mainstream counties. But when you factor in the likes of Waterford footballer Gary Hurney or Limerick’s John Quane or hurlers such as Ollie McShea of Fermanagh and Gareth Ghee from Longford and people raise eyebrows.
Also in that piece of yore, special mention was given to the late, great Jim Nelson of Antrim.
Specifically, that gentleman Jim and his wonderful hurlers of the 1980s and early 90s did the same for hurling as did the Cross’ and Donegal footballers.
Thus, players such Niall Patterson and Terence ‘Sambo’ McNaughten and Ciaran Barr and Olcan McFetridge became household names of that era.
In terms of the bigger picture in Ulster hurling at the time, each county had at least one standout player who would stand comparison with any of the top hurlers in the country.
For example, Down had Noel Keith and Noel Sands and Ger McGrattan, in Derry, there was Oliver Collins, Geoffrey McGonigle and Brian McGilligan – yes, the footballer. Monaghan fielded with former Tipperary star Joe Hayes as player/manager for a time. Meanwhile, Eamon Devlin and the late Damien Casey put Tyrone on the hurling map.
At my own expense it will be admitted that I’ve drawn a complete blank in terms of Donegal hurlers, but, you might also have copped that was no mention of Armagh.
That was quite deliberate. A case of leaving the best until last. Not just the best Armagh hurler of all time, but one of the greatest devotees the small ball game has ever had, anywhere.
The great Mattie Lennon. The Orchard County’s greatest artist of the ash was laid to rest last weekend after a typically spirited, determined battle illness.
Now, whatever about being his county’s most recognisable hurling ambassador, one need only look at the hundreds, maybe thousands, of messages from hurling folk around the country and the world to realise how many lives this particular boy from the county Armagh touched.
Listed among them, in no particular order, were Martin Comerford of Kilkenny, Cork’s Ronan Curran, Joe Canning, Antrim’s Neil McManus and representatives from every hurling club everywhere there is one.
As was the case with any of these great somewhat under appreciated gifted stickmen, part of doing the Monday morning sweep of the match reports from around the country would be to see how much they scored for their respective teams.
Whether that be Meath’s Pat Potterton or Paul Seevers of Sligo or David Dunne from Louth or Roscommon’s Mickey Conniffe.
Always front and centre among them would be M. Lennon (Armagh) and yours truly would have a bit of craic guessing what Mattie or Paul Seevers or Gareth Ghee or Ollie McShea notched up on a given weekend.
Moreover, like the most devoted of hurling men, once his many years of playing service eventually came to an end, he turned his devotion to spreading the hurling gospel to anybody who would listen, and plenty who didn’t want to. Not only in his own territory, but much further afield too, as evidenced by the volume and breadth of messages of sympathy which followed his passing.
“Though he may be gone, memories linger on”, hurling will miss him. Rest in peace Mattie.
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