MacRory 1961
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Back Row: (Left - Right) Charlie Kavanagh (Convoy), Alfie Ladley (Letterkenny), J. McFadden
Middle Row: (Left - Right) John Dan McMenamin (Brockagh), Barry Cunningham (Carrick), Mick McLaughlin (Gleneely), E. Gallagher, Brendan McBride (Portnoo), F. McAteer, Michael Cullen (Manager)
Front Row: (Left - Right) Tony McDevitt (Letterkenny), D. McMenamin, J. Harvey, Jim Quigley (Malin), Ian Hegarty (Kilcar, Capt.), Ted McLaughlin (Gleneely), Tommy Patton (Rathmullan), James Doherty (Fanad, RIP)
In 1961 a juvenile Michael Cullen took his charges all the way to the final in Molaise Park Irvinestown, where they faced the Ulster Kingpins of St. Pat's Cavan.
The Mac Rory Cup Campaign of 1960/61
Following in the footsteps of the great teams of 1956 and 1959 was a daunting task, but the team of '61 had been weaned and brought up on the achievements of the teams who had reached two Mac Rory Cup Finals in a four year period. Indeed were inspired by the great names like Ferriter, Kelly, McClafferty, O'Donnell, Ward, McGettigan, Campbell, McGinley, Halpin, McEntee and Strain.
At the beginning of the year the usual training routine was commenced under the expert eye of the great Cavan half back of 1947 Polo Grounds fame John Wilson. "Big Johnny" as he was affectionately known to all in St. Eunan's was a hard taskmaster and never allowed anyone to shirk their responsibilities on the football field. He loved to see good hard physical contact and would laugh with glee when a player was "buried" in one of the many huge water filled holes on the front pitch, which today looks so good with its beautiful green sward, white lines and level playing surface.
Training and playing proceeded in the early stages without any hitches until the death of the College President Fr. S. Finnegan (RIP) at the beginning of December 1960. After a break of a week the first really big game of the year was played against St. Patrick's Cavan in Irvinestown on the 8th December. St. Pats had a very big reputation and were managed by the former Cavan star Jim McDonnell.
On the day a fresh and eager St. Eunan's played very well and led through out the game until the last couple of minutes, when after an altercation on the sideline about 50 yards out, the St. Eunan's defenders lost their concentration and "went to see what was happening". A quickly taken free kick caught out the defence and St.Pat's grabbed a goal and ran out winners by a single point. The late P. J. Ryan of Wolfe Tone Place, Letterkenny, refereed the game. The result that day meant that St. Pat's Cavan was back in the competition and qualified for the knockout stage! A victory that day for St. Eunan's would have meant different opposition in the Mac Rory Cup Final and perhaps a different outcome?
St. Eunan's had to beat the might of St. Pats Armagh in the semi-final, a game played in Omagh, in order to book a berth in the Mac Rory Cup Final after the Christmas break. When the final was reached preparations for the big day began in earnest.
This meant extra training sessions in the mornings before class for the boarders led by Ian Hegarty. I was one of the few "day boys" on the team and only observed them as I approached the College. The lunch time break was used for indoor wok in the gym, while after class the usual outdoor training continued on the quagmire of the main pitch.
As part of the build up to the final, Staff and students spent many hours-learning songs, etc for the final.
After the Christmas break the tem got a new manager - Michael Cullen arrived fresh faced and innocent from Maynooth to be thrown in at the deep end and found himself in charge of a team heading for a third Mac Rory Cup Final in the history of the college. If John Wilson - who had gone to teach in Gonzaga in Dublin - was a loud, boisterous, flamboyant and funny man, his successor was a complete opposite, a quiet person who looked as young as the senior students in the College. This really was a baptism of fire in his first stint as trainer of the Senior Team in the College.
The big day finally dawned on the Sunday 12th March 1961. All roads from Letterkenny led to St. Molaise's Park in Irvinestown for a repeat of our 8th December clash with St. Patrick's College Cavan. It was a dull overcast but dry day and I will always remember when the bus picked me up in Convoy en route. How quiet the boys were as I boarded the bus. There was no banter or spark that you would expect from a group of 4th and 5th year students fit and ready for a football final in which expectations were high because of the close nature of the preliminary round clash three months previously.
In the match St. Eunan's never played with the spirit, conviction and tenacity required for such a big occasion, before a very big crowd and were overwhelmed by 1 - 13 to 0-05.
The team under performed on the big stage and did not do themselves or their College justice. Maybe it was the tension or the hype, but the best displays were left behind in the preliminary rounds and on the training field. The College again failed for a third time to win the Mac Rory Cup and indeed the 1961 team was the last St. Eunan's College team to compete in the Final of the Ulster Colleges blue ribbon event and we are still waiting. This is a new millennium; maybe in the years ahead that elusive Mac Rory can at last be captured to rest for a while in the cabinet of the College in the Cathedral Town!
Charlie Kavanagh.
Gaelic Football