The Daily Weather Report of the Meteorological Office in London informs us that April 12th 1925 -Easter Sunday- was a dull grey and mainly dry day, with temperatures in the low teens in the west of Ireland- at least that was the case at the nearest recording station in Cahirciveen. A typical west of Ireland April day. Unremarkable!
The traditional Easter ceremonies in Corofin and the new church in Belclare had taken place earlier in the day. Other ceremonies to commemorate the 1916 Easter rising, still fresh in the memory, took place with after-mass processions, and wreath - laying in nearby towns. Even on a dull day like this there was a stretch in the evenings. Spring and the optimism it carries was in the air. Lent and its’ privations were over for another year and fortified with good hearty breakfasts and midday dinners at least some local people were feeling a little bit more upbeat than of late.
The traditional Easter ceremonies in Corofin and the new church in Belclare had taken place earlier in the day. Other ceremonies to commemorate the 1916 Easter rising, still fresh in the memory, took place with after-mass processions, and wreath - laying in nearby towns. Even on a dull day like this there was a stretch in the evenings. Spring and the optimism it carries was in the air. Lent and its’ privations were over for another year and fortified with good hearty breakfasts and midday dinners at least some local people were feeling a little bit more upbeat than of late.
In the early afternoon at the playing field at Anbally just south of what was then Vardens’s shop and public house (modern day Anbally inn) a group of mostly young men from both sides of the parish had started to gather. Footballers, would-be footballers, a scatter of kids and a handful of curious onlookers. They arrived mostly on foot or by bicycle, an occasional group in sidecars and the odd obligatory ass and cart. The numbers quickly swelled until there was enough of able-bodied men for a game of football. For the most part the men were familiar with each other. The mood was jovial and the banter upbeat as they separated into two groups – one from Corofin and the other Belclare. There was an unusual prize at stake. Over the course of several months discussions had taken place between representatives of both sides concerning the revival of Gaelic football in the parish. It was in a parlous state. Finally there was agreement that best way forward was to pool their fairly threadbare resources and merge the teams who had heretofore represented Belclare and Corofin into one new club. There was now just one matter left open and it would be decided today, in Anbally, in this match. The winners of this match would earn the honour to be the name of the new club. The joviality stopped.
Game - face! Showtime!
Background
Football had gained a strong foothold in North Galway and the parish of Corofin at the turn of the 20th century. However the county senior championship was dominated by ‘town teams’ who could organize and assemble much more easily and who were less encumbered than their rural cousins by the cyclical agricultural demands of planting and harvesting. Up until 1930 only Caherlistrane in 1890 had interrupted the monopoly of Dunmore, Tuam, Athenry, Loughrea and Ballinasloe. Belclare did contest senior county finals in in 1891 and 1900 but lost on both occasions to Dunmore. A new county junior championship, started in 1907 seemed to offer better prospects for honours but teams competing separately at various times from both Corofin and Belclare still fell short.
Despite the lack of silverware , the parish continued to produce some outstanding footballers, notably Irish champion and Olympic medalist John J Daly who was captain of the Corofin Rebels for a number of years at the start of the 20th century. Christy Ryan and Martin Melia from the Corofin side and Robert Canavan, Mike O’Dea and William Hardiman from Belclare, were amongst the first to represent the parish at intercounty level. Between 1902 and 1905 it was the Corofin Rebels who looked most likely to make a breakthrough but by the end of the decade it was the Belclare end that was clearly the strongest of the parish teams from 1914 up until 1925 war overshadowed life to varying degrees throughout Ireland. World War 1, the Easter rebellion, the War of Independence and the Civil War scarred civil society and opened wounds that would take years to heal. The football heartlands of North Galway endured its share of upheaval and terror. Reports of ambushes, reprisals, robberies , intimidation, arrests, imprisonment and even executions are recorded in the local press. An IRA ambush in Gallagh in July 1920 in which two RIC officers were killed and the immediate sacking of Tuam in reprisal by the Black & Tans are two of the more infamous events that weighed heavily on communities.
Belclare and Corofin suffered its own share of intimidation and terror particularly at the hands of Black & Tan and Auxilliary forces during the war of independence. In October 1920 the Tuam Herald recorded a night of terror perpetrated on families in Corofin and Corrandrum where men were taken from their homes and seriously physically assaulted by uniformed men. On the following day – a Sunday – two lorries full of Black & Tans surrounded a group of about 20 men who had been playing football and hurling in the Anbally sports field. They were stripped one by one, flogged with ash plants, belts and rifle butts and sent home without their clothes. Local man Michael Welby was trying to escape when shot in the back. He still managed to get home and was tended by a doctor and priest. He barely survived. During the war of independence there were attacks on RIC huts in Cummer and Casltehackett and Castlehackett house was burned down in 1922. In September 1922 during the civil war an attempt was made by National troops to capture Colonel Commandant Duggan a prominent leader of the Irregulars during a well-attended tournament at the handball alley in Corofin. Shots were fired and crowd scattered , jumping over walls to seek cover. Such were the tensions that pervaded the parish in the early twenties. In the light of such intimidation and fear it was much safer to stay at home.
Against this backdrop, football in the parish of Corofin was very much of secondary importance. The playing fields in the parish were often used as assembly places for members of Sylane and Corofin Companies of the I.R.A. Playing Gaelic Games placed participants under suspicion as being a rebel with consequent harassment.
Combined, the terror, fear and harassment cast a long shadow over civic society diminishing community spirit and supplanting it with anxiety and distrust. Some men took to the fields and hillsides to actively participate in the fight for freedom, some emigrated whilst others simply shied away. Organizational skills previously honed to manage Gaelic football and hurling clubs were now often re -directed to other causes.
A sense of community and community spirit was and remains the lifeblood of the GAA and its erosion during that decade placed the GAA in a precarious position. Some of the best administrators and players were on the run, arrested or had emigrated . Travel was difficult. It was almost impossible to organize and complete championships. Whatever football that was played tended to be local friendlies or tournaments or fundraisers. A repeated refrain from the few documented games was the lamentation for the drop -off in skill and fitness standards in comparison with ‘the good old days’. This was put down to lack of practice.
The Parish of Corofin in the 1920’s
Writing in Irelands Own magazine in summer 1928 – Una Tracey a girl just 15 years of age from Claretuam gives some interesting insights into the parish. She observes that most of the parishioners are now ‘peasant proprietors’ with the old Bodkin, Bernard, Botterhill, Brown, Clark, Cullinane and Smyth estates having been purchased by the tenants. She notes that on the banks of the river Clare there are four ancient castles - fortalices of De Burg – at Ballinderry, Corofin, Tavanaghmore and Anbally. She remarks (rather surprisingly!) that they are still standing and ‘in a good state of preservation with doors, windows, rooms and stairs still extant’. She informs that the beautiful mansion at Castlehackett which was burned in 1922, was now being rebuilt at a cost of £40,000.00. A new church in Belclare had been completed in1924 and the one in Corofin had been given an external roughcast make-over.
Anbally - Easter – 1925
Anbally - Easter – 1925
Although the civil war officially ended on May 24th 1923 the convulsions of a decade of troubles and violence took several more years to fully abate. Violence remained on the doorstep, sometimes literally . In the week before Easter the Connacht Tribune was consumed with the harrowing details of the murder of local farmer’s wife in the candle-lit hallway of her home at Knockdoe, about three miles away. She was shot in front of two of her teenage children as they struggled to prevent two armed raiders from entering the house in a dispute over land. Two local men were arrested.
A few miles further up the road a young man was charged with being in control of an arms dump in a barn, that comprised rifles, a revolver, gelignite and Mills bombs. Mail cars and post-offices were being robbed. There was genuine unease in the locality that the civil war could reignite. Such was life in North Galway. Many fields throughout the parish were improvised for sports days and G.A.A events but the spongy turlough in Belclare , opposite Canavan’s and the field in Anbally adjacent to Varden’s were the two most utilized. Dominic Lynch of Carrobeg house introduced a football into the turlough whilst John Varden and Mike Nolan nurtured the fledgling GAA on the Corofin side. Located at the southern end of the parish on the main Galway -Tuam road the sports field in Anbally was a popular venue for football, hurling and camogie games. On the edge of 3 parishes it was a hub for games between local villages, club teams and occasionally as a half-way house for games between clubs in Tuam and Galway. Hurling was regularly played in Anbally and local area fielded a junior hurling team under the banner of Anbally for several years.
A few miles further up the road a young man was charged with being in control of an arms dump in a barn, that comprised rifles, a revolver, gelignite and Mills bombs. Mail cars and post-offices were being robbed. There was genuine unease in the locality that the civil war could reignite. Such was life in North Galway. Many fields throughout the parish were improvised for sports days and G.A.A events but the spongy turlough in Belclare , opposite Canavan’s and the field in Anbally adjacent to Varden’s were the two most utilized. Dominic Lynch of Carrobeg house introduced a football into the turlough whilst John Varden and Mike Nolan nurtured the fledgling GAA on the Corofin side. Located at the southern end of the parish on the main Galway -Tuam road the sports field in Anbally was a popular venue for football, hurling and camogie games. On the edge of 3 parishes it was a hub for games between local villages, club teams and occasionally as a half-way house for games between clubs in Tuam and Galway. Hurling was regularly played in Anbally and local area fielded a junior hurling team under the banner of Anbally for several years.
The field was no more than a good puck of a sliothar across the road from the birthplace of the revered Dr Duggan, parish priest in Corofin during the famine, and a champion of the people for his activism during the land wars. He is s recorded as having played hurling as a schoolboy and it was he, who as then Bishop of Clonfert, was said to be Michael Cusack’s first choice to be patron of the GAA.
The Main Drivers of the New Club
No team from the parish was affiliated for county games between 1914 and 1925 and it was tournament games and games between the Corofin and Belclare ends that kept a declining interest alive. Football had essentially by-passed a generation. Apart from a hand-full of young men, enthusiasm for the game had petered away. However as the convulsions of this decade of war and turmoil slowly abated a new generation also hankered for the ‘good old days’.
Paddy Stephens was one of them. He was seventeen years old in 1925 and he had football lineage. His father John ‘Staff’ Stephens was a well-known footballer and committee member of a relatively strong Corofin Rebels team at the turn of century. It was an era where physical strength was a prized asset in a game that was much more closely related to rugby or American football than our current game . John Stephens was a big muscular man. Writing in the Tuam Herald in February 1908, the correspondent ‘Liam’ recalled his own brush with ‘big’ John Stephens whom he labelled as the chief ‘knocker down’ of The Corofin Rebels and who had the reputation of ‘being never laid upon his back by any man’. Renowned for his physical strength on the pitch ‘Staff’ was not averse to the odd spat off the pitch with the County Board. On August 24th 1903 he is recorded as attending a meeting of the Galway County Committee in Athenry to vehemently object to the referee’s decision not to award a goal to Corofin Rebels in a closely fought county semi -final v Galway Sarsfields at Turloughmore the previous afternoon.
Paddy Stephens was one of them. He was seventeen years old in 1925 and he had football lineage. His father John ‘Staff’ Stephens was a well-known footballer and committee member of a relatively strong Corofin Rebels team at the turn of century. It was an era where physical strength was a prized asset in a game that was much more closely related to rugby or American football than our current game . John Stephens was a big muscular man. Writing in the Tuam Herald in February 1908, the correspondent ‘Liam’ recalled his own brush with ‘big’ John Stephens whom he labelled as the chief ‘knocker down’ of The Corofin Rebels and who had the reputation of ‘being never laid upon his back by any man’. Renowned for his physical strength on the pitch ‘Staff’ was not averse to the odd spat off the pitch with the County Board. On August 24th 1903 he is recorded as attending a meeting of the Galway County Committee in Athenry to vehemently object to the referee’s decision not to award a goal to Corofin Rebels in a closely fought county semi -final v Galway Sarsfields at Turloughmore the previous afternoon.
Paddy Stephens grew up obsessed with football, his passion fueled by tales of the ’old days’. Together with his friend and neighbour - Gerard Mitchell (who would later become President Of Maynooth) he set about reorganizing football with a series of local village games and friendlies with neighbouring teams including Belclare. It was difficult to get people to re-engage and it soon became apparent that the best way forward was the obvious merger of what remained of the two clubs in the parish. The natural leader of the Belclare men was Patrick McHugh - captain of the Sylane Company IRA. This fusion of youthful exuberance, scholarship and tested and decisive leadership soon got things moving. After a couple of discussions it was agreed to form a new club with the name of the new club left open. Would it be Corofin or Belclare? It was agreed that the two sides would play a football match to decide that honour.
There is no record of the game but equally no dispute that Corofin emerged victorious and the new club took black and amber as its colours.
One of the first Teams to represent the newly minted club included: Martin Ryan, Pat Coen, Martin ‘Catty’ O Brien, Harry Hussey, Gerard Mitchell, Pat Loughlin, Patrick McHugh, Paddy Stephens, Michael Melia, Joe Mitchell, Matt Flaherty, Tommy Niland and Frank Morris (Tuam Herald - December 1959).
One of the first Teams to represent the newly minted club included: Martin Ryan, Pat Coen, Martin ‘Catty’ O Brien, Harry Hussey, Gerard Mitchell, Pat Loughlin, Patrick McHugh, Paddy Stephens, Michael Melia, Joe Mitchell, Matt Flaherty, Tommy Niland and Frank Morris (Tuam Herald - December 1959).
1925 and beyond
Galway won their first All- Ireland final Football final on October 18th 1925 when, bizarrely, they beat Mayo in a game which doubled as the much delayed Connacht final and All -Ireland final. After an unprecedented series of draws in the Connacht championship - Galway had drawn with Leitrim twice and Roscommon drew with Sligo – Mayo the 1924 Connacht champions were nominated by the Connacht Council to represent Connacht in the All-Ireland semi -final against Leinster champions Wexford which they duly won. In the other semi-final Kerry defeated Cavan by a point but after a series of objections and counter-objections both teams were disqualified. So Mayo were the only team left standing, while yet to contest the Connacht final which was fixed for Parkmore in Tuam on October 18th 1925. Galway won the game in Tuam by 1-5 to 1-3 and Central Council declared them to be All-Ireland Champions for 1925. Tom Molloy from the townland of Pollinore (beside Cummer school), now playing with the all-powerful Ballinasloe club was captain that day, thus becoming the first man from the parish to raise an All-Ireland cup and win an All-Ireland medal. The Galway colours interestingly, were blue and yellow. Due to the unsatisfactory nature of this Championship, Central Council arranged an inter-provincial tournament for a set of gold medals in Croke Park on December 6th for the provincial winners. Galway defeated both Wexford and Cavan to legitimize their All-Ireland champion status.
Michael Walsh of Ballinasloe was the captain for this tournament.
But despite this gloss at the end of the year, 1925 was a very testing time for GAA in the County. Local championships in Galway and beyond continued to be organized in a fragmented way. The civil war had left Irish society embittered and divided. Many club and county officials had become targets of security forces during the war of Independence and bitter enemies during the civil war. The GAA, conscious of the opportunity to be an agent for healing, made a concerted effort to stay outside politics. However, this did not prevent some of its officials bringing personal animosity and bitterness to county and divisional board meetings and decision making.
But despite this gloss at the end of the year, 1925 was a very testing time for GAA in the County. Local championships in Galway and beyond continued to be organized in a fragmented way. The civil war had left Irish society embittered and divided. Many club and county officials had become targets of security forces during the war of Independence and bitter enemies during the civil war. The GAA, conscious of the opportunity to be an agent for healing, made a concerted effort to stay outside politics. However, this did not prevent some of its officials bringing personal animosity and bitterness to county and divisional board meetings and decision making.
A certain amount of civil war division was evident at County Board level which led to some bitter disputes with divisional boards, and consequent disruption of fixtures and championships. One deep source of bitterness stemmed from the County Board choosing the County hurling team without any player from the county finalists. With many of the more experienced administrators interned or emigrated there was an inevitable lowering of standards. Elections were followed by resignations followed by more elections, suspensions and resignations. Symptomatic of the poor state of affairs was the County Board decision to abandon the 1924 county hurling final when at a third attempt, the finalists - Tynagh and Ardrahan walked off the pitch in Loughrea as the pitch had not been laid out and there were no crossbars.
There was very little reported activity in the North board and meetings were poorly attended and few fixtures made. This pattern continued into 1926 where the AGM in January had to be reconvened because so few clubs were represented. All was not lost however, and the County Convention in February 1926 reported that 67 clubs were represented an increase of 16 on the previous year. The structure of local county championships began to improve. Revival was on the way but problems persisted. At the North AGM in Mountbellew on February 10th it was reported there were 19 clubs affiliated to the North Board in 1927 but most competitions were not yet finished. Of 92 matches arranged only 43 took place. On 26 occasions one or both teams did not travel and 20 cancelled due to weather, fixture clashes or venue issues.
These were typical of the challenges facing the association and it was taking time for the new Corofin club to find its feet, but they were not discouraged. The first record of attendance by club representatives was at the 1927 County Convention which was held in Athenry on January 29th . It was the largest convention ever held in the County with167 delegates and reported that 91 clubs were affiliated in 1926 an increase of 24 on the previous year. Only 3 parishes had no club in the North. The Corofin delegates were Paddy Stephens (captain) and club secretary Tommy Niland.
In the two years of 1927 and 1928 Corofin won two County junior championships. They defeated Kilconnell in May 1928 for the delayed 1927 championship. This was the first football silverware ever won by a team from the parish. Later that year they defeated Menlough to win the1928 junior championship. In 1927/28 Corofin played twelve matches and remained unbeaten, graduating to senior football for 1929.
Corofin’s first game as a senior club came in the 1929 senior football championship against Ahascragh – a game they won by 3-6 to 2-1. We were on our way!
The team was Paddy Stephens (Captain). Joe Mitchell, Tommy Niland, Pat Loughlin, Martin Ryan, J Glynn, Dermot Mitchell, Pat Coen, Harry Hussey, Martin ‘Catty’ O Brien, Luke O Brien, Eddie Morris, Frank Morris and Paddy Joe Morris.
Tommy Niland who played in the forwards in these games was the first secretary of the club and held that position until 1935. Having returned from England in 1921 he was employed as assistant Station master at Ballyglunin railway station where he flagged many a train on its way. In an analogy for the nascent Corofin Gaelic Football club, one might say that on:
April 12th 1925 the train left the station – Destination – Unknown!
