TOM LYONS pays tribute to Castlehaven football legend Niall Cahalane after his induction into the West Cork Sports Star Hall of Fame
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THE ‘hard man’ expression has almost disappeared from Gaelic football. Some might rejoice as a result, but some regret it. It all depends on what you meant by ‘hard man’?
I go back to my young days in football-mad Dunmanway, when the local Doheny junior team was winning all round it in the late 1950s and early 1960s. We had heroes on that team. Johnny Carroll, small of stature but tough as nails, a born leader and superb footballer. John Crowley, a rock-hard wing back whose philosophy always was that the shortest way to the goal was through an opponent, not around him. Then there was centre back Johnny Young, who played senior hurling with the Glen and Cork. The tougher the game got, the harder Johnny got; he was unbendable and unbreakable. Of the three, Young would be recognised as the ‘hard man’ of the team. Truth to tell, most of the hard men seemed to operate in the back line and I still have the mark over my eye from the belt I got from Cork full back Humphrey Kelleher in a league game against Millstreet. Now, there was a real, true hard man.
What was the common denominator between those four great players? They were all leaders on the pitch. Their teams would follow them through hell and back for the honour and glory of the parish. Some supporters would equate hard with being dirty on the pitch but the above four proved that belief to be a fallacy.
In 1963, the birth of a baby boy in the Cahalane household in Castlehaven didn’t make the headlines and we don’t know how tough that baby was as a young lad growing up in an area that was just beginning to blossom as a force on the football field. What we do know is that the young lad grew up to become the ‘hard man’ of the Castlehaven team that swept the football world off its feet.
Niall Cahalane captained Cork to the Munster SFC title in 1995.We in West Cork, especially those of us involved in Bórd na nÓg in the 1970s and 80s, were privileged to watch young Cahalane coming up through the underage ranks. Nobody was surprised when he made the Cork minor team and then captained the Cork U21s to All-Ireland glory. Hadn’t we watched him performing with the Haven through four U21 titles in a row here in West Cork. The young man was becoming a young leader and was good enough to make the Cork senior team while still in the U21 grade. As he grew into the Haven senior shirt, which he graced for 25 years, and then the red shirt of Cork, for 14 years, he seemed to grow ever more fearless.
When the going got tough, then Cahalane got going. He never went round a man if he could go through him. He never shirked a challenge of any kind. The harder you hit him, the more he seemed to thrive. Of course he suffered, especially in later years as the body reacted to many a hard belt, but the pain barrier held no fear for him and stories are legend of injuries he played through, of extreme measures he took to be back quickly from serious injury. The Haven needed him, Cork needed him, the supporters needed them.
We watched, with a record 25,000, as he captained the Haven in the never-to-be-forgotten county final in 1994 against O’Donovan Rossa. A draw, a replay and strong rumours that John Cleary and Larry Tompkins would miss the replay through injury. Cleary did, but Tompkins, with an injured shoulder, lined out at full forward. That placed a double onus on Cahalane to perform at midfield and how he responded. For me, it was his greatest ever performance in a Haven jersey as he led his side to a memorable victory. When needed most, Cahalane delivered most. That was the story of his majestic career, in blue and white, in red and in the blue of Munster.
We thrilled to his performances in the Cork jersey, the main man in Billy Morgan’s great team as he was the player always earmarked to quieten the opposition’s star player. Yes, he played it hard and tough, but how else would you play against Sean Boylan’s Meath team in those years, and we loved him for standing up to them. Yes, he stepped over the line at times, but that never took from the fact that he was one of the most skilful and talented hard men in Gaelic football in those years. His kicked, long passing was admired and feared. As a leader on the pitch, we have never seen better.
Niall Cahalane captained Castlehaven to Cork senior football glory in 1994.Of course, when it came to club football, the traits we admired most in his game were the very ones we hated most against our own team. When he turned on his fearsome power, we knew we hadn’t a chance. In fact, in almost 50 years of trying, Clonakilty have never beaten Castlehaven in senior championship football, Cahalane was responsible for much of that. When he formed a union with the Cleary clan, he ensured the Haven supremacy would last long after he had retired as all seven members of his family now wear the red of Cork and his sons backbone the present Haven county champions, alongside the Hurleys and the Collinses.
With the highlights of his career, All-Ireland medals at senior, U21 and minor, county and Munster medals at club level, All-Star awards, fearless Irish footballer against the Aussies, there had to be lowlights and his suspension for 48 weeks for his altercation with the referee following the 1997 county final replay was the lowest of all. It finished his inter-county career on a sour note but he still gave his all to his beloved Haven.
Just as he fought many memorable battles on the playing pitches, Cahalane recently fought a battle against ill health that threatened to lay him low. That same stubborn, never-give-in, fighting spirit has stood him in good stead and he has the support of all who greatly admired him in his playing days. Yes, there were bad ‘hard men’ as well as good ‘hard men’ on the playing pitches all down the years but in Niall Cahalane, Castlehaven, and Cork, had a real good one. He will always be on the list of greatest footballers we have ever seen. Long may he prosper.
