Kilmeen/Kilbree heroes reflect on unique county double triumph
‘IT was an amazing and unique achievement, winning the county double and to do it in the inaugural year of the competition, especially in the centenary year, but to really appreciate it, we have to look at the years preceding it,’ said Michael O’Mahony, chairman of the Kilmeen/Kilbree club in historic 1984.
Now living in Clonakilty, local historian O’Mahony gave the key address at the reunion of the 1984 Kilmeen/Kilbree junior B teams and the 1985 U21 team in Tot’s Bar on Friday night. A large crowd packed the venue, some of the players meeting for the first time in many years. O’Mahony outlined the historic achievements of the club in 1984 when the adult teams captured a marvellous six championships and two league titles, including the inaugural county B football and hurling titles in the centenary year of 1984.
‘Not only hadn’t we won the South West junior B football title for nine years or the hurling for 19, but we hadn’t won a single championship football game for seven years,’ O’Mahony recalled.
‘Things were so bad that a special meeting of players was held in early 1984 but of the players notified, only half turned up. We were starting at a very low ebb as the season began but that all changed when the club officers decided to ask Kerry and Clonakilty legend Pat Griffin, a Garda in Clon, to take charge of the team.’
The organising committee of the 1984 Kilmeen-Kilbree reunion in Tot's Pub, Ballygurteen on Friday night were, seated, from left, Michael O'Mahony, Sean O'Donovan and Christy Daly. Back, from left, Ger Collins, John O'Sullivan and Michael Dullea.(Photo: Paddy Feen)
Captain of the football team was a young John Dullea, still in U21 ranks at the time, and he takes up the story of a glorious year.
‘I was seriously thinking of emigrating to the United States at the time. Ireland wasn’t in a very good state economically and a lot of lads were leaving but the late Paddy Keohane offered me a job and I decided to stay on,’ Dullea said.
‘We had played a few league games without a captain when the selectors asked me to take the job. I was very young to be taking it but it never bothered me. When you’re young, you’re fearless. Pat Griffin coming in changed everything. We had never really had proper coaching but he brought in new ideas, new drills and training and changed the way we played. He had the experience to do that.
‘Now, our first championship game, against Mathúnas, when we scraped a draw, was so bad that he must have been regretting his decision to take us on. But then the selectors took the brave decision to bring in the successful young lads and made numerous changes to the team. We won the replay and that was the start of a memorable journey.’
The 1984 junior B Kilmeen-Kilbree team captains, Christy Daly (football) and John Dullea (hurling).
The selectors who operated with Pat Griffin were the late Paddy Keohane, DJ Daly and Pat Joe Connolly.
Hurling captain in 1984 was Christy Daly and he was a busy man that year, as he explains: ‘I was one of the experienced fellas on the hurling team, so I was asked to captain the side. We hadn’t won the South West title since 1965 but had been up in A grade for a while. We had some very good games against strong teams like Clonakilty and Barryroe but as the 1980s dawned we were at a fairly low ebb.
‘When we saw how well the coaching was going in the football, we decided to look for a hurling coach as well. Padraig Crowley of Bandon agreed to take on the job and he had the late Denis O’Hea, DJ Daly and Connie O’Donovan as selectors. I was also persuaded to take on the job of secretary that year and I certainly had my hands full. It was Sunday after Sunday, match after match, busloads leaving the parish each day, an amazing atmosphere.
‘On the morning of the county hurling final against Kilshannig, I got a phonecall from the chairman of the county Board, Denis Conroy, saying the match was off because the Cloughduv pitch was unplayable. Now, there were no mobile phones, no emails, no social media in those days to get the message to the players and supporters in time to stop them travelling. So, Gerard Finn and myself came up with the idea of putting a big poster up on the church gate before Mass as most people went to Mass in those days. It worked very well but a few still travelled and we knew then the people who weren’t going to Mass at the time.
‘We did meet Randal Óg in the first round of the hurling that season, Paudie’s first game in charge, and we were haunted to win it. After the game, Paudie came into the dressing room and asked us, ‘Lads, when ye’re sweeping the floor at home how many hands do ye have on the brush?’ That put an end to the one-handed hurling we were going on with at the start.’
Enjoying the reunion were James Coakley, Michael O'Mahony, Connie Murphy and Liam O'Donovan.
Of all the games played that year, there was no argument that the county football semi-final against Whitechurch in Macroom was the pick of the whole lot. John Dullea will never forget it.
‘Winning the football final in Páirc Uí Chaoimh against Awbeg Rovers was a wonderful occasion. Playing in Páirc Uí Chaoimh was the realisation of a dream for all of us, as good as playing in Croke Park. Denis Conroy presenting the cup was also very special as he has connections to the Kilmeen area. I’ll never forget the journey home, the bonfires, the stop in Rossmore and then onto the home place. Unforgettable,’ Dullea said.
‘There was a two-week gap between winning the hurling final and the football final, so the celebrations following the hurling had to be put on hold. We more than made up for it after winning the football but if I had to pick one memory from the season, it was the semi-final against Whitechurch. What a game. It was level at half time and both teams were applauded off the pitch at the break. It got even better in the second half and we had to hang on for dear life to win by a point. The county was won that day.’
It certainly was a marvellous year for the Kilmeen/Kilbree supporters, unaccustomed as they were to winning titles and they definitely made the most of it. As Michael O’Mahony put it, ‘We made millionaires out of every publican in the area that year and then we made millionaires out of Galvin’s Coaches as we won six championship finals and two league finals. And the following year we had possibly the greatest win the club ever had when the U21 footballers, who had won the South West B title in 1983 and 1984, upgraded to A and beat Castlehaven in the championship before beating hot favourites, the reigning county champions, O’Donovan Rossa in the final. They had the legendary Tony Davis and the late, great ‘Small’ Mick McCarthy on their team.’
These great days that were fondly remembered on Friday night last as the club celebrated the 1984 achievement of winning the double South West junior B, the inaugural county junior B double and the South West U21 B double.
