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Friday evenings sports programme ‘Injury Time’. Tonight Paul Gannon is again talking to Daniel Flaherty. Broadcast Friday the 27th Of December 2024 https://www.connemarafm.com/audio-page/
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Friday evenings sports programme ‘Injury Time’. Tonight Paul Gannon is again talking to Daniel Flaherty. Broadcast Friday the 27th Of December 2024 https://www.connemarafm.com/audio-page/
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Friday evenings sports programme ‘Injury Time’. Tonight Paul Gannon is again talking to Daniel Flaherty. Broadcast Friday the 27th Of December 2024 https://www.connemarafm.com/audio-page/
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In 1973, a newly formed club called Rinneville Athletic Club hosted a Highland games in Calmore, which included a tug-of-war competition. A local team named Derry Inver won the tournament and decided to stay together as a unit. They started competing at sports days and events around Connemara, developing a strong reputation. Eventually, the team became an affiliated club to the Tug of War Association. They trained regularly and had specific weight divisions for competitions. Des Wallace and Peter Keneally were key members of the team. The club had a tough training schedule that included outdoor work with a gantry setup. Jack Lydon and Michael Owen Haney oversaw the training. The club also trained at Connemara West during the winter. The team had a close bond and enjoyed the camaraderie. Tug of war attracted them because of the friendship and the opportunity to compete. The club participated in various competitions and won several titles, including the Fela Ondoline This program is kindly sponsored by Calmore Abbey and Gardens, 095 52 001. Good evening listeners and you're all welcome to Injury Time, the final Injury Time of 2024 Paul Gannon here joined in studio for the sequel by Daniel Flaherty with Lindo Nelly on technical. Daniel you're welcome back for part two. Thank you. And we will crack on because we have a lot to get in as the man says. So in 1973 Daniel, Rinneville Athletic Club, the newly formed club in the area, decided to run a Highlands game over in Calmore and one of the novelty events that they had on that day was a tug-of-war competition and a local team that named themselves Derry Inver. You probably remember some of the men that were that were on that team. Do you want to give them a mention? Some of the early guys that was there would be Des Wallace, Jack Lydon, Peter Lydon, Jimmy Fairclay, John Francis, Oliver Heeney, Martin Heeney, I don't know if John was in it as well. Martin Jokine was in it. Danny Flaherty. That'd be John Francis Flaherty wouldn't it? I suppose there was probably a strong enough Derry Inver influence on the team so they called themselves Derry Inver and they won that tournament. And then they decided to stay together as a unit and must have started doing bits and pieces of training and they started to compete then at sports days and events around Connemara. This would be from about 73 I suppose up to 76, 77. They went to Carrow Row and down in, it would be Fala Ondolion down in Letcher Moor and the Octoward show was a big one every year and they developed a bit of a reputation. They were kind of nearly unbeatable for a few years. Now these events then, you were later to become a club was duly formed. The name then was subsequently changed from Derry Inver to Rhinvae. Do you remember the maroon jerseys then, the club jerseys? So eventually they became an affiliated club to the Tug of War Association and you were to eventually come on board about seven years after that initial games in Kyle Moor. Those tournaments that I spoke about around Connemara that they participated in and sometimes beyond, they weren't under the association. There was a phrase coined at the time called Black Pulling. What did that mean? Well not associated, they wouldn't be covered with insurance or anything like that. And then there would be specific weight divisions within Tug of War. Yes, I think there was three or four different weight divisions. It just suited everyone of every weight. There were 640s, 720s and 8s, the real heavyweights. Then there was a weight called catchweight. There was a catchweight. How was it different about catchweight? Was it kind of open? You wouldn't need to weigh for it. You had to weigh in on the day. There was a team of weights that had to be in a certain weight. We trained and every night we trained. We weighed ourselves because this was with the room where it used to happen. We had a gym and we did the pulling and the hard work outside and then we came in and relaxed ourselves doing lifting and weighting and strengthening the legs and all that kind of thing. I remember the old Ellis Hall back at that time because I would have been playing a bit of badminton in the Ellis Hall and the weights room then was awful. When we'd go in on the day we'd know exactly that if you weren't in the weight you'd have to make the weights or you'd have to drop somebody. So you had to be right. So it really was collective responsibility in terms of you had to hold up your end. Oh yeah, you had to have the right weight. You were probably watching the diet a bit and stuff like that. You would, you would. It wasn't that much because everybody was kind of working. We were working fellas and there were very few of us overweight for our size, our height and everything. A few lads would miss out. I know I have a small bit of research done on the tug of war and a few bits written up. So I know that over a 10 to 15 year period there was a lot of turnover of members in the club and lots of different guys and that would be reflected in different photographs that I'd had and so on. But there was one man that seemed to be in every single photograph that I had and that man was Des Wallace. Des Wallace, yeah. He was really the anchorman of the club then. He was, yeah, he was. And he had all the stuff, I'd say everything in the house. I have them somewhere but I can't find them. There's too many people to move things around. He was the driving force really and he was good, he was good at it. Another man that was very important was a man called Peter Keneally, your brother-in-law, because Peter was involved in official tug of war competitions with an official club up in Neath, wasn't he? Yeah, Devlin, Dave Rook they were called. Yes, that's right. I think he gave you a lot of, the club a lot of help when they went to Australia. Yeah, because Linston was very competitive, like, you know, he was a great ambassador for us, like, and for the latter way because he would be the original, where they started off in London, like, you know, with Des and Jack Lydon and all them lads, you know what I mean, so. Just going back a bit further, going back as far as 1966, there was a Rinneville sports club and they organised two massive days on the White Strand. Yeah. And tug of war was one of those events and there was a team from Brennan's, Noel Tierney, the legendary Galway footballer, was on that team and they won it one year. Were you at those events? No, I was, I was in England and then, times out, it was 11 years later I arrived back, I'd say. Yeah, yeah. Coming back, I suppose, again now to the late 70s and the club has affiliated, I know you had a really tough training schedule. You spoke about the indoor weights work there, but the outdoor work. Yeah. Some of the listeners might be familiar with what a gantry is, so you might tell them what a gantry is and the whole setup, it was down near Thranamon, probably called Tully Beach. Yeah, yeah. And it wasn't for the faint-hearted, no, this training. You might talk about it for a minute. It was a barrel, the weight of a team and it was on a steel rope, a wire rope, it's a steel rope and it was on pulleys, so you, that was on the bottom of the pole, so you pulled it up the length of a tug of war, you know what I mean? I think it was eight meters. You had to pull that, you know what I mean? A certain weight and then you could add weights to it, you could add weights to it, so that you would be pulling quite a lot over your weight, your opposition weight, like, you know what I mean? So who was the man that oversaw training? Who was the man in charge? The man in charge was Jack Lydon, there was Peter Lydon, there was, you know, there was, because they were the most experienced fellas and, but they would be a change, there were changes, Michael Owen did a lot of... That's Michael Owen Haney. Yeah, yeah. I heard he was quite a good coach. He did, he was a good coach, like. And of course, here we are in Connemara Community Radio Station and just outside, a few meters down, is the green, the front green of Connemara West and you had the gantry set up there too in the wintertime, didn't you? Yeah. Why did you have it in Connemara West in the wintertime? Was it that you had light? Because of the gymnasium here. Oh yes, yeah. That was why we had it, because then you would do your exercises on the pulling and the pulling on the rope and then you came in here and did more exercises, more or less to warm down really. Yeah. But then you would do your weights how we was, so if there was any, if it was a pound over or whatever, you would stay away from the grub for the table, you know. So there was a few years, late 70s into early 80s, when you were a well-conditioned athlete, I think it's fair to say, like you were training steady, like. Oh, steady, yeah, steady, yeah. And then, of course, there was also the running on the sand dunes, in the beach, in the hobnail boots. Yeah, hobnail boots, yeah, yeah. Sounds excruciating, that. I would fill up the legs, like, you know, or so, so, so tall. Maybe that's now why we have asterisers to wear, the pants and the ankles and things. I'm sure a very close band developed among all the Tug of War men. Oh, there was, yeah, there was. We were great. There'd be no real arguments with us, you know what I mean. We would do what we want, you know. Okay, it mightn't work out sometimes, but to the courts with the boss and that, like, you know, there was always an argument with them, because you knew yourself if you weren't right, like, you know what I mean. And what was it that attracted you to Tug of War? As was the camaraderie, the lads, like, you know what I mean. We were good friends with most of the men, so it was nice to go away, a day away from them and, you know, okay, you'll be killed after a day's pulling, like, you know, enjoy a few pints and relax and go home and go to bed and get up to work in the morning and go off again, like, you know what I mean, so. And assuming you were scouted by Dez Wallace, were you? Dez was the man to ask you? Yeah, yeah. Well, Dez and my brother worked together, Michael worked together in England for years together. I don't know if Michael did any pulling or not. I think he did a bit, like, you know what I mean, but he was hijacked onto it, like, you know what I mean. Yeah, I have some of the photographs I have. You're in some of them. There's one really nice one from 1983, Fela Ondoline, he's the Letcher Moore. Yeah. And you were after winning it for the sixth time in a row, and you're duly being presented with the cup, you know, and there's another one taken down at the gantry on the peninsula between the White Strand and Trondheim on, and 1984, and you're after winning the, you won the Comórtas Pell na Gaeilte, sometimes they'd have a Tug of War competition. But I suppose the biggest event that you ever participated in within Tug of War were the World Championships in Dundalk in 1983. Yeah, yeah. What are your memories of that event? I remember how slick the other countries that was in, there was a national and international thing, and the way their gear was, and the beautiful boots they had, and you know, I mean, the Swedish was absolutely, they were pristine, they were just like the Balmauk Airmen, the way they were all tugged out, the boots special on them, up past their ankles and them, they were, you know, high and tight and knotted. We had half-nail boots, you know, with, you know, high heels on them, you know, but they were, the Dutch were good as well, they were very, they were very professional, like, you know, I mean. Did it have a big psychological impact on you when you saw the way these fellas were turned out, in terms of making you feel like we're really up against it? You're up against it, but like, you know, it shouldn't get the Irish psychics to be psyched out by something you say, we give them a turn anyhow, you know. Did you ever incur any serious injury yourself? No, I never did, no. But I'd imagine that it was an extremely technical sport, so when you were training, you had to be training in a technically correct way. Exactly, exactly, there was no messing around, you had to do exactly as you do, you know, in the fall, like, you know, I mean, you'd slow down and do the stepping, you know, I mean, because that was the most important, when you did get the heave, the coach was the most important man, really, because he was watching the other coach, so both coaches were watching another, and you had to be, to see when the heave had come and you could block it, then it was your turn to go, and if you could stop, you could get the movement on the legs, like, you know, I mean, because you were, you know, sideways like that, she was pulling, you know, in your feet in, so, like, and if you didn't go, if you didn't go together, you see, you, the fellas at the back, protector, the anchorman and the next man behind them, if they didn't get the signal or take it as early as they could possibly take it, like, they'd be out of position, like, you have to be propped into position and ready to plop down with your whole weight on the rope, I had to watch for that, I had to watch for the signals, like, you know, then you go, because if you couldn't move back, if I couldn't move backward, the fella in front of me couldn't move backward, so it was just kind of like the tyres on a JCD, like, you know, I mean, the track, if it's, you know, if the first one don't go, the other one won't go, like, you know, I mean, so it's... Complex enough job for a coach, trying to coordinate all these men. You have to get the coaches, they're watching one another, like, you know, I mean, but we had kind of, we kind of signalled different kind of things, we had to watch out, like, because you wouldn't give away your hand, like, you know, what you are doing, like, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, so that was... You were telling me before we came on air that your favourite position on the team was anchorman, what was the reason for that? Well, I expect, my hands, well, I didn't feel my hands were good enough, like, you know, I mean, a lot of the lads were fishing and drawing nets all their life, you know, I mean, I was 10 or 12 years old, kind of, not heavy work, but, you know, I mean, but not that kind of work, so I managed to get into the anchorman fairly, fairly good, fairly good, you know, I mean, because the upper body was fairly strong, you know, I mean, so... Yes, and the legs... And the legs were good, and I was quick on my feet, so, yeah. Was there any specific type of job that you had to do on the team that only the anchorman could do? What was the most thing you'd be looking out for as the anchorman, in a pull? In a pull, we were looking out for any man, if there was somebody wasn't getting his feet in, you wouldn't, you'd hold, or you'd hold like that, so you wouldn't, you wouldn't let go what you had, like, you know, if there was somebody that went down, you would try to put the pressure on it, that he could get up, like, you know, because it's very easy to slide over the track, so... And, of course, you were conic champions, you went to Balmullis in the early 80s, and you came away with it, I think it was at 640, and it was great times then, and I know you were a hugely respected club, both locally and beyond, at the time, like, very happy memories, I presume? Oh, it was great, it was great times, no, it was hard work, because you was, you was working yourself, you know, I mean, for your, for your own, but then you had to go, and you had to do that maybe an hour, like, you know, to be late in the afternoon, in the evening, when we do it, like, you know, I mean, yeah, but you could relax, maybe, we wouldn't, you wouldn't be drinking much at that time either, like, you know, I mean, it's really no good for your health, you know what I mean? So we'll bring it on to about 1984 now, coming into the mid-80s, and you've a few years to go off, put in, but I suppose the passion for soccer never diminished, and in 1984, a bunch of guys got together in the Bairds Din and took the plunge and founded West Coast United, and here we are, just one week away from a big deal in the Abbey Glen Hotel, where West Coast United celebrate 40 years, we're just going to bring it right back here now, this evening. Before we talk about West Coast United, can we talk about another United, probably as important as West Coast United to yourselves, that'd be Manchester United, the Red Devils, as they're known. You are a long-time Man United fan, and I suppose I'd have been wondering, why didn't you become a Brighton and Hove Albion fan, having spent so many years? So I was asking you before, you know, why did you become a Man United fan, when my recollection is that you didn't actually live in Manchester at all, while you were in England, but it's a really good story, and lots of connectivity within it, so you might just tell the listeners. Well, an uncle of mine worked in Manchester during the war, he got in contact with Jackie Kelly, I think he was the only Irishman that ever captained a world team, or a European team or something, and they were good friends, so he was always on about Manchester United, you know, so it was kind of in the head. You must have met Jackie Kelly on more than one occasion. I did, yeah, I met him, he was such a guy, Peaky Cain played with him, actually, with Leighton Orient, so I did meet him. What kind of a man was he? Oh, a gentleman, he was a gentleman, a cork man, he was a gentleman really, you know what I mean, so just listen to what you're, you know, I only seen him for a couple of minutes, when he was there, like, when you got to know where he was, you know what I mean, you'd go to see him, go to see the team, like, you know what I mean, so. Another cork man was coming down the tracks with me, we'll talk about him later. Yeah, yeah. And what was it like, you know, first time in Old Trafford? Oh, it was a huge, a huge stadium, like, you know, it wasn't pristine like they are now, like, you know what I mean, it was, there wasn't a lot of development on stadiums after the war in England, you know what I mean, so, but it was nice to go in and there was a different kind of atmosphere in it, when you go in, I felt there was a lovely atmosphere in it, maybe it was only my, you know, imagination or whatever it was, but I went a lot of times, and yeah. Of course, you never saw the Bullsby Babes, because, you know, no, no, no, but I, I, Bobby Charlton and wife would see them, you know, the fellas, you know, lovely players, it was, you know what I mean. Did you get to Wembley in 1968, when Man United's defeat had been seated? I didn't, no, no, I didn't get to Wembley, no, no, 1968, I think, my first lad was born, I think, or something, so I think it was. So, you, you saw George Best in the flesh? Oh, I did, yeah. And what was it like? It was, his activity in life was a thing, but he was, he was brilliant, he was absolutely, like, he wasn't, he wasn't tin stone soaking wet kind of thing, you know what I mean, but he was light and he was fast, he was, you know, he was just, he was magic, you know what I mean, absolutely great, you know what I mean, but there was, the only team that, Paddy Craven and some of them lads were unbelievable kind of players, you know what I mean, Bobby Charlton was like, he was a Rolls Royce kind of thing, you know, he never, he never seemed to bother on himself, he was, you know what I mean, but there were, there were a lot of good players around at the time, you know what I mean, so. You were saying to me as well that you were able to get tickets a bit cheaper because of your line of work, there was a, there was a gang of you who used to, you were based in Brighton? Yeah, yeah, there was a gang of us together, yeah, we used to, we used to go up and we kind of had a, I don't know, when they were selling the tickets, we used to get a kind of a deal from, like, you know, the railway fare and the tickets all was billed in one, like. How long was the journey from Brighton? It was about, I think it was three and a half, four hours, to Brighton, anyhow, it would be about two hours to London, like. You were telling me it took you a while longer to get home one particular day when you got back to London. Yes, it did, yeah, we had to get a police escort across from one platform to the next, there was airstrikes at last and they were throwing stuff on at kicking length and, you know what I mean, a bit of brutality, you know. Yes, so you got the escort. So we got the escort across, we had to get an escort across to Victoria Station, you know what I mean, so once we got going down south it was okay. There was about 20 of us in the gang, like. The 70s were tough times on the terraces in England. Oh, they were, yeah, they were. I suppose the grounds then were, you know, the health and safety element was so precarious at the time. It was kind of a thing that, I don't know why it developed, like, you know what I mean, I remember the worst one I've ever had was at Chelsea and I think I was just back after my honeymoon actually and myself and my brother-in-law went up, the two women brothers, they'd never been to a match before, so we parked about two stations away on the ground, away from the station, so we walked up, but when we came down, the first thing they did, they ran from the home crowd, they ran up through the away crowd, they didn't hit anybody, you know, but they knocked their hats off and, you know, they knocked what they had, you know, just went through them, were pure badness, like, you know what I mean, so the girls were frightened, they didn't know what to do, but we walked down to where the cars were anyhow and we went away home. But it was frightening, I'd never seen anything like it, you know, neither my brother and brother-in-law. What was the last Man United match that you saw, like, were you at a Man United match, we'll say, with your son and your grandsons in recent years? No, I wasn't. The last we went over to Manchester, first year I was home, I went over and Tom Flaherty in Tully Cross. Oh yes, big Man United man. Was a big Man United man, so we went over there, a whole crowd of us, and we stayed in the hotel near Manchester, so he brought us across to a big fancy restaurant from the whole lot of Paris from... No better man than Tom, yeah. And there were some of them, it wasn't, shouldn't, we're newly afterwards, we shouldn't have let them out at all, but there were some of us, it was, the waiters was all over us because Tom was a bit, you know, he built, he was on the staff of the rebuilding Manchester United after the thing, you know what I mean, but we had a great day at the Bar Chautel, and the new Tom, because he was, when Busby couldn't get anyone to build it, he had to go over and build it. I suppose from 1992 to, what would we say, 2008, there was, I suppose the best part of 20 years there when it was an absolute joy to be a Man United fan, I suppose, the level of success, I mean, where is Roy Keane in the greater scheme of things as a player? Ah, he would be one of them, he'd have to be one of the best of them. Would he be on your best team of all time then? He would, yeah, he would, you know, because there was a lot of times you could hit him but you couldn't find anything hard enough to hit him with, you know what I mean, but he, no, he was a, he was an absolute fury, like, you know what I mean, a dynamo, like, you know what I mean, and like, he's a cork man, and that's just, that's it. No need to say any more. No need to say any more, you know what I mean, but he was a brilliant player, like, you know, there was, in the middle of the field there was very, very thing like, you know what I mean, always, you know, the Saipan episode, like, you know what I mean. It was only that he was so mad that there was so little done, and the kind of nonsense that went on to an Ireland, you know, that there wasn't a football or anything, you know what I mean, he not, he not like, he not built like that, you know what I'm saying. There was sound rationale behind why he took the position he did. I suppose, lean pickings in recent years, Dan, did you ever think you'd see so many different managers coming and going in Man United after the Alex Ferguson era, but it's often the case, isn't it? It's often the case, yeah, it's often the case, yeah, you know what I mean, but like, it's all dependent on who's holding the purse strings now, like, you know what I mean, so it's, it's kind of diminished a bit, I think, you know what I mean, maybe we've read too much about it in the press or something, I don't know what it is, but maybe I'm just getting cynical in my old age. Well, listen, we're going to take a, we'll take a break at this point, Dan, and our next song is a song, it's an iconic Man United song, and we'll, I suppose, you'll always have the glory years, whatever happens going forward, so this is glory, glory Man United for all those Man United fans out there. Glory, glory Man United, glory, glory Man United, glory, glory Man United, and the rest goes marching on, on, on. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, Glory, glory Man United, glory, glory Man United, glory, glory Man United, and the rest goes marching on, on, on. With Ashford and Latakia and the Magic and the Kinks, there's no competition in the English There's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, there's no competition in the English, You're welcome back listeners, Paul Gannon here, Injury Time, and I'm in studio with Daniel Clarity. Daniel, we're back 40 years ago, 1984, and a bunch of guys get together in the Barrett's Den, and you were one of those guys, and you had a very specific reason for getting together that particular night. Yeah, the founding of West Coast United, a great bunch of lads, really. We kind of knew what we had, we had a couple of parish leagues, the team were in it, you know what I mean? And there was a lot of young fellas that played parish leagues and things like that, that didn't play anything, but they decided they might have a go at soccer and things like that. There was a lot of lads there, we had a big panel in the first year, you know what I mean, really. Great excitement and anticipation I'd say, wasn't there? Yeah, to get it up and running, I went into the Galway Association, the Soccer Association in Galway, and met Art Freel, he was the chairperson. He was the chairperson. So I talked with him, and they weren't too worried, the team had to be kind of right, and that's what he wanted to know. Basically, we were going to be a flash in the pan, in a way, you know, he didn't, that's what he said. Well, he was a very straight man. He was a straight man, absolutely, it was a pleasure to deal with, and I never had any falling out because I did everything, I knew how to do things by the book. But he was... You were probably two very like-minded men, I'd say. Well, maybe, yeah, but if there was anything... I used to go to the meetings and other things like that, which is very important to go in, you know what's happening, and if your name is called and you aren't there, like, and there's something involving your club or the division you're in, like... How did you find those meetings? I enjoy meetings, to be honest with you, no matter what it is, I can... nothing fazes me, that kind of thing. There definitely was a bit of a divide though, I mean, you had the city clubs who... Basically expected to have everything their way all the time. All the time, yeah, all the time, yeah. The country clubs coming in... They respect me because I knew a small bit about running the club, and I was too far out, in a lot of ways, that was their objection, not too far out to go for games, like, you know, that was a major objection. And the cost as well, you know what I mean, there were grand tours all playing in and around Galway, you know what I mean, so there we were, 50 miles out the road, we were going for, like, splints on them, and that thing, that big splint, it was going to be a no-slick, you know what I mean. But it worked out. We nearly had our own referee in Galway, you know, he used to come on the bike, but he was a gentleman and a good referee, like, you know what I mean, yeah. We was... He looked after us first, really. We always... We always got fair treatment by the committee, I suppose. We always had, yeah, I don't know, the thing was to be, not to be waiting for somebody else to tell you something happened at the meeting, be there, no matter, it's important, no matter what you're doing, you have to be, you have to be where it's organised from, like, you know what I mean, so you can put your speak in there if you want to change something, you know what I mean, so. A couple of very important men, you know, in the early days, our first sponsor, James Somerville. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he was a great man for organising and, you know what I mean, he had a few Bob and, you know, sponsored the jerseys and all that kind of thing. He liked, he liked the game himself, like, you know what I mean, he was always helpful and, you know, running discos or whatever it was, you got a good, a good quota of it, you know what I mean. And then I suppose on the logistical side, Frank Reimer? Frank Reimer, yeah, a lot to be thankful for Frank Reimer, like, he put a lot of money into it, and then driving us, there weren't too many cars, the lads had too many cars, you know, at the time. And, you know what I mean, we couldn't, we wouldn't have, but Frank was a great fella, like, you know what I mean, he'd bring three or four lads, like, you know, some of their cars and we'd go, we'd go, but, like, he was always there if there was something, you were short of money, Frank was always there. Humble beginnings, but lovely beginnings, like, they're lovely memories. Oh yeah, because it was, you know, you won't be able to do it like in, you know, the rugby club had been going for 20 years, like, you know, or maybe more, and you know, the competition, there was that kind of talk, but it never materialised like that, because there were fellas that wouldn't, you know, there was a few fellas that were playing rugby, playing rugby at a high level, that would have loved to be, you know, because they were committed to the rugby, like, you know, and I knew they would have played together, you know, and they were good players, like, you know, they'd have played soccer, you know what I mean. And I suppose, you know, we had the hotel pitch in the beginning, that you, you know, the first ever official competitive match was a cup match against Kiltona Pioneers and it was played on the Renfri House Hotel pitch. That's right, yeah, yeah. I'm assuming you were the man that probably made the approach, were you? Well, I did make the approach, because it was built, Jo Coyle, God be good to him, he built that for rugby, because Lansdowne used to come down there, you know what I mean, for their summer holidays, like... Oh, I didn't know that, sir. Oh, yeah, oh yeah, all the big fellas was down there, oh yeah, and they'd have, Willie John McBride used to come there and play with the, all of us, a lot of the fellas came, and that's, I just, I'm sure he was delighted, delighted, you know what I mean, because that's more use for it now, he said, the old fellas used to be giving out about the rugby, you know, and now there was more use on it, like, you know what I mean, so he was delighted, he was delighted in a way, you know what I mean. There was no right way into it, that was the only thing, we used to have to come down across the hill, look. But like, it started it off, like, you know what I mean. It did indeed, it did indeed, well didn't it? I remember getting into fierce trouble with the president, there was a training session there, and Michael Joe Welch and Carhartt was in it, you know, they were only young lads at the time, you know what I mean, but there was a big blast of thunder and lightning came, like, and the mother was fierce, protects from after, and she attacked me. And, like, what could you, you know what I mean. They didn't need any protection then, they were too tough lads, you know. They wouldn't be hundreds of thousands if you think to me, you know, the lads out in the thunder and lightning, you know, we were all out in the thunder and lightning. Well, if it's any consummation, Dan, the still pair that's given out within sporting organisations, that process will never come to an end. And then, of course, we got Al Braak, were you involved in the negotiations that led to us getting Al Braak? I was, yeah, I was. Because I definitely wasn't, I was filming. Who did you meet? I went to the golf club first. I didn't know that, I didn't know. Yeah, yeah. You had to do a lot of queer things, but I was put in touch with the shareholders of the thing. And every one of them, I have to thank them very much, at the time we had no fields. Not a problem with us. And the golf club, as you know, we had to take down, we had to put the posts up before we put the game on, and we had to put them back into the golf course for protection. That's right. I'm very thankful for the golf course and the people, the shareholders, that let us, we bide the time, and we got our own local place in the end. And we got to know the lake very well as well, Dan, just below the pitch. You had to be lining the pitch with the buckets and all of that. Yeah, that was the thing, you had to go out in the mornings, you had to be out, Joachim Leiden, fair play to him now, he was a great man, we was out there Leiden, with a bag of lime and water and god knows what, and putting the posts up, and you know, going out and playing a game afterwards, you know what I mean? So, it wasn't easy. I had to take down the posts afterwards and put them back. I think we had a running account with the first co-op here, you know, buying bags of lime and putting it out to sea. Yeah, but like, that was hard work, but like, when we had a home game, we knew that people would be there, there was no saying, I won't, or yes, we'll be there, and they'll be there. I suppose we went through those few years and we took great pride in the fact that we were probably the club, one club in Galway who had, you know, we were commuting for our home fixtures, effectively. Lads driving from Renby over to Albrach, and different, you know, cladded off in different parts going over. We committed to that, and we did that well, and you know, we felt that we were showing this greater level of commitment, and it kind of bonded us a bit, didn't it, at the time? Yeah, it did, yeah. But the referees were a great friend to us as well, the referees that came out there, and they seen what we had done, and liked it. There was one man came out there in particular, he said, delighted to come here, he says, the field is right all the time, he says, I don't, you know what I mean, I don't have to complain about anything. We did a lot of things right, you know what I mean, you know what I mean. But it's interesting, you know, you're just giving the listeners an insight into what goes on behind the scenes, you know. Yeah. And, so you were very much in a senior leadership role within the club at the time, and of course you were the first manager, and you were the manager that had the first big success with the club, which didn't get us a Silver Cup, but it got us out of Division 2 and up to Division 1, and that was the team of the 89-90 season. And that was a tight squad, there was only 16 lads, and I think 12 of the 16 lads played, 9 of the 16 lads played every match that season. But then I do recall of when you were manager, there was an expectation that you would be in attendance at training, and you would be in attendance for matches. Yes, yes. You weren't getting any messages on mobile phones telling you that that's... No, no, no mobile phones at that time. No, no. I suppose I'm just trying to say Dan, in my own way, there was massive respect for you as a manager, and the players, none of us ever wanted to cross you in any way, or disrespect you, and we just wanted to get on with things, but there was very good commitment among the lads as well at the time. There was a group of fellas that was outstanding, you know what I mean, really, you know what I mean. We all have our quirks, and the game was the game, and that was it, that's what you were there for, you know what I mean. We duly went into Division 1, and in the first appearance we ever made in Terry Lynn Park was under your manager. That first season, Division 1, we had over 40 lads played, and I think there was only one player that played every game. It just went a bit pear-shaped in terms of big number of lads coming in, but couldn't get a settle team the first year. Ended up in relegation trouble, but managed to win our last three games, and earned ourselves a relegation final, which was played against MacDara in Terry Lynn, and we came through that one 4-2. And I can still remember us talking in queues coming home after that, I remember talking to yourself about the massive amount of lads we had. We kind of had too many lads. We probably should have had two teams that season. And how we just couldn't find a settled team. I just couldn't put them to rest. But I remember us being just incredibly happy like this. We were staring relegation in the face, and we had managed to survive. We went on from there. Joachim Leid and Julie took the team over into the late 90s and so on, and it's all been discussed in a recent programme and so on. You took a year out then to take over an underage team, and you were the first ever manager of a West Coast underage team. That was an under-18 team. Can I talk about them for a minute? There were some good lads on that, yeah. There were some good lads on that, yeah. It was an interesting time to get young lads into the game. A lot of them stayed in the game for a while. Some of them went on to be part of Joachim's squad in 1997. Was it much different taking an under-18 bunch to having managed an adult bunch prior to that? You have to learn the ways of the lads. It's a kind of ... everybody in the same. You see their ... not their weak points, but their attitudes kind of thing. There were a while to take off. Did you find it more difficult than managing an adult team? Was it more challenging? Not really. It was more enjoyable in a way because the adults, they'd know you'd be just fine showing them, but the young fella, you'd be trying to get him to do something a bit different than what he was doing. To go this way or that way instead of ... Were they very open to advice? They were very good. Some of them had played rugby in their day. They were used to coaching. They didn't ask for coaching. I remember refereeing one of that team's matches. That refereeing problem again. I wasn't an official referee, but I think you got the green light. There was no referee available and you were playing Salt Hill Devon and that was their A team. I remember refereeing it. You lost 1-0, but it was a quacker of a match. You gave as good as you got. Salt Hill were very happy to get out of there. Yeah, they were. They were a good underage team that time. I suppose I just highlighted in this interview in a way because we're supposed to have done such wonderful things in the last 15 years in underage, but there was definitely the same potential back in the 90s to develop the kind of underage infrastructure that has come maybe 20 years later. It could have happened that the youth were in it at the time, but I suppose there just wasn't the personnel, the coaching personnel. I suppose some of the guys who've gone on to be very like Joachim and so on, who've gone on to be very involved, were in the full throes of playing at the time. It had to wait. I do remember that particular team and I remember one very special weekend when you knocked Mirview United out of the FAI Junior Cup. Beat them 2-0 in Galway and the same weekend you knocked Hibs out of the Connacht Under-18 Cup on penalties after extra time. That pitch there beside the shopping centre where Hibs play, it was a one-all draw. I just remember it being a wonderful weekend for the club to take out the top two teams in Galway at the time. I know they're very dominant now and Salt Hill Devon have come good as well in recent years but at that time Mirview and Hibs were... They're great memories to treasure, aren't they? Some of them are hazy now. I've met some of the lads sometimes, some of the younger lads. There were a couple of lads there from Ballyconeghy. I was in on the Amlas one day and one of them was he was a dentist on the Amlas. He's a grown man. It seems that he was. He's a different job now. He was on about how he enjoyed his time as number 18. It says it all, the fact that he can still recall so vividly and with very fond memories. You moved on after that then, the following year when a bunch of women came calling. Were you at the foundation meeting of Connemara Coasters? I think I was. I'm not sure now. I was cajoled into it or whatever it was. I suppose I can be forgiven for making the assumption that your daughter probably had a leading role in that. Your daughter Georgina, she was a really good player. They were all there. She was into football, yeah. What was it like trying to get to grips with managing a bunch of female soccer players? It was a journey into the unknown for you, was it, at the time? Well, I'd never done ladies by the same criteria. But you'd have to approach the girls in a different way. You wouldn't be as brutal as your coaching methods. But they were enthusiastic. They didn't need Jean up. They wanted to do it. And that was it. They were really some good players. Did you find that they were every bit as driven to succeed as the ladies? Yeah, they were. Like everything, there's only so long and everything. While they were fishing, they were winning. They wanted a goal. But it was a different approach. I remember you had a good structure on the team. You had Debbie Ruddy in goal. Oh, sure. She was a top keeper. She had played with that Lona in third level as well. And then you had Georgina and Margaret Moroney on the wing. She'd work hard. She had great pace as well. And then you had a very solid defensive partnership. Lucy was in central defence and you had Cronio Malley was in there too. They were defensively very good. And then you had players like Tracy Kearney, very hard working. You had Roz Salmon as well. She was a very talented player. Roz Salmon, yeah. You didn't have to dread them up. Like lads, they were going out there and they wanted to win. They wanted to work hard. There were different mentalities. They weren't lazy. I enjoyed them really because their enthusiasm was what they were doing with their fellas. They could switch off but the girls keep that drive in them. Did you find the coaching of girls to be a more difficult process then? No, not at all. And why was that? I didn't treat them any different. Maybe it's vulgar in my expressions. Stuff I would say to lads or something. They didn't need that much because they were always up for the match. The training was done and we got on the bus. There were fairs. There were fairs at every game. And you had your marquee player for a number of years, Lisa Cole. She was good. I know she played under 19 for Ireland so maybe it's a silly question. How good was Lisa? How far could Lisa have gone? She could have gone all the way if she wanted to. I don't know what happened but she was flying. She was by far the best player that we had met in Galway. It changed her. I suppose she fell in love with Gaelic football That was no harem. I thought she would have gone on to some club. Women's club. She probably could have done the same journey as Niamh Fahey if she had wanted to. She was fit and she was bright and intelligent in her ways. You didn't have to teach her that much. She was a very quick learner. Happy memories again. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it with the girls because they were great company to be with. You get a lot of slagging and blagging but that's part of the game. And then we had Jack Tamlinson. Our driver. He drove the lads and he drove the thing. I have to say he was a fantastic fellow. Absolutely. Everybody had a laugh with him and a joke with him. Johnny Kane used to rib one or something. Johnny would be complaining about his driver and Jackie would be complaining about Johnny's football. There used to be a circus with the two of them. It's lovely to go back Daniel. Jack was a lovely fellow. He was. Much loved within the club. Cunnamara Coasters and West Coast United equally. We have very little time left Dan but your last great sporting passion I suppose and maybe one of your longest was your chairpersonship of Rhinveil Sports and Social which commenced as far back as 1986 and ran all the way up to 2022 then. Do you want to talk about Rhinveil Sports and Social for a few minutes? Why was it formed in the first place and what were the objectives? It was a great come together of a group of people that came together like you know me. We had small beginnings and we invested our time and we raised a lot of money to develop the field and to redo the hall. There was a lot of work put in and some of them had passed away and they put a lot of time and a lot of work you know me because it was every Monday. You launched a lotto in probably the late 1990s which probably ran for about 25 years and every Monday night, every year for 25 successive years you met religiously. We raised a lot of money and thanks to the community that funded us and kept it going like that we have it in today like we have a good parish hall. And the crowning achievement of Rhinelight Sports and Social probably was the dressing room project at the time. Was it difficult, the whole process of planning and did you run into much turbulence shall we say? Quite a bit. We had several meetings with county councils and TDs whether they did any good or well you wouldn't know if they didn't send sums of people obviously the development on it but this was a big project to take because it was an awful lot of money at the time to have to raise and get it done and come out at the end of the day we owe nothing to nobody like you know me. I don't want to personalise it for me because I would have recalled prior to that, Rhinveil playing matches and maybe against Nevanna Letcher Moore or Karen Acasio and you'd be togging out in the hall and you'd be going to play them away and they'd have proper dressing rooms and all of that and I remember having that sense of kind of feeling a bit embarrassed and feeling a bit inferior and then we had these brand new dressing rooms and these teams would come be it soccer clubs or be it GAA clubs and I felt a great sense of pride which I'm sure all the other Rhinveil and West Coast United players felt as well at the time. Now we were the equal of all these other clubs and teams, we had our own and there was definitely a five or six year period there from about 1996 up to 2001, 2002 when it was nearly the best soccer pitch in Galway and we had so many great days there and there was a great following for both the Gaelic team and the soccer team and officialdom were very very happy with it and a great sense of community pride you know when you had Valdachill Community Games and Royal New Wales LGSA and you had Connemara Coasters SA and West Coast United and Rhinveil GA, you had all these clubs sharing this wonderful magical place and it was in good nick and I suppose, I just want to highlight that tonight from me to you on behalf of anyone that ever knows you and you know the people who were these people do you want to mention some of the names of the people that every Monday night came and gave incredible dedication to this? There was a lot of people who came every night, like you know, the Tickets and your father, Jenny Cunningboys and Ann Welch and there was other people, Cameron Markham came in with tickets Paddy George Joyce yeah there was a lot and all the pubs they were all yeah you used to rotate from night to night we used to rotate around here it was a great fundraiser and we did a lot of work and the hall is there and the dressers are there whenever somebody is going to use them so it's a shame that the field isn't available or whatever is the and how do you feel now Dan, when you pass by maybe heading down the north side when you see they're full of rushes and it was the goalposts are still up and the GAA goalposts are still up but like there's no one there to play anymore I don't know what the law or where it's bogged down because we should have our own place we had our own place and whatever does it make you feel a bit sad? it wouldn't make me sad because I feel for the older people that put the work in when they really couldn't afford to do the work they did every I think I said it before they did it every weekend there was horse and carts and they dug to put in the stones and you know that's kind of all forgotten that's what the work did and the Lansdowne Road isn't forgotten or Crow Park isn't forgotten it's the same thing it's our Lansdowne Road or Crow Park so it was done by the people the people are they're always first you know what I mean no matter what you do no matter what political persuasion you want you've got to have the people first community at the end of the day yeah and Dan you were one of the greatest men that we ever had in terms of having a community vision that's just my opinion but I'm sure I don't know about that it has been wonderful to share a couple of hours with you in the lovely surroundings of Connemara Community Radio here under the watchful eye of Linda our technician it's been great to go back Dan and just thank you for everything for all the years there's just so much to thank you for and it's great to have it now for future generations hopefully to listen into and to learn from I think more than anything else best of luck going forward Dan with whatever else is laid out for you on your life's journey God only knows thank you so much Dan for giving up your time and coming in, we'll talk again I'm sure you've been listening to Paul Gannon in the company of Daniel and Connemara Community Radio Injury Time we'll talk to you again in a month's time This program was kindly sponsored by Kylemore Abbey & Gardens 095 52001
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