Fond Memories

Recently I had the privilege to speak to one of our senior citizens concerning football in Kerry and particularly in our own parish, Ballymacelligott. The man was non other than John Sugrue.

With pride and admiration I listened to John ramble down memory lane and recall with clarity the great days of Ballymacelligott football. One felt one was present at many of the matches described by John. Many of the matches were not Co. Championship games, nor indeed inter-county games, but matches played in various fields in the parish. Very often between the 'Upper Road' and the 'Lower Road'.

John recalls his father and neighbours talking of the heroes of old - the men who played football before the founding of the G.A.A. in 1884. Organised football as we know it today did not exist. There was no limit to the number playing on a team. John remembers being told of a match played between Ballymac and Carrig, in Carrig. Ballymac won by virtue of the fact that a

Ballymac man grabbed the ball, ran for home, and having crossed the parish boundary intact, complete with ball, was declared victorious. Physical strength and stamina very often was more important than footballing skills in those early days.

A notable feature of those early footballers was that many of them were also great athletes. Local men Dick Gohrm (long jump) and Jack Hussey (weight throwing) were famous all over the country. Little wonder then that these and many more like them brought three Co. Championships to Ballymac in the 1890's - 1891, 1894, 1895. The stalwarts of that golden era along with the two mentioned were Jer Clifford, Den Costello, the Erraught Brothers, John O'Neill, the McQuinn brothers, Patcheen Sugrue (sidecar), the Sweeneys and Hickeys of Flemby, John Corcoran and the Lacey's, J.D. McMahon, J.Galvin, and T. Lynch of Ballyseedy, Bryan Connor, Bill Erwin, Sonny Groves, Tim Reidy, Tom Lacey, and Pa Reidy of the forge.
The venue for the matches varied from Sunday to Sunday. Many fields around the parish were used, depending on the generosity of the owners. John recalls a match played between Farmersbridge and 0'Brennan in Dick Godley's field in 1915. As you can imagine conditions were primitive and the players wore ordinary clothes and shoes. They may not have looked very elegant, but they had tremendous interest.

'Those days of fun and pleasure
Were spent among neighbours kind,
The football field on Sundays,
Was crowded for the game.'

Ni bheidh a leithéidí ann aris.

The local G.A.A. club was founded in 1917 by D.J. Baily and Jerry McEllistrim. Jerry was also a great cyclist. The following year Ballymac won the Co. Championship. The crunch game in that championship came in the semi-final against Listowel. Ballymac, who were the kingpins of Kerry football at that time, were cruising to an effortless victory, having scored two goals early on, but the second - half saw a renewed effort from the North Kerry men and Ballymac hung onto win by 3 goals to Listowel's 1 goal 1 point. The heroes of the 1918 championship were: Patie Baily, Phil Sullivan, Peter O'Sullivan, Dan O'Connor, Bat Culloty, Mick McCarthy, Patcheen Clifford, D.J. Baily (capt), Tom O'Connor, Matt O'Sullivan, Pat Gal Slattery, Bill Diggins, Jim Baily, Moss Galvin, John Baily. 'The Kerryman' report after the Listowel game described the Ballymac team as playing their usual brilliant best, with outstanding performances from the Baily Brothers, Moss Galvin, Phil O'Sullivan and Tom O'Connor.

Many of the 1918 team won All - Ireland medals with Kerry in subsequent years. In 1924 Phil O'Sullivan, John and Jim Baily were on the team which beat Dublin. The medal winners in 1926 were Pat Clifford, John Slattery and Jim Baily, when Kerry beat Kildare, and in 1929 Jim Baily collected his third when Kerry again beat Kildare. But these were not the first Ballymac men to win the supreme accolade in gaelic football. D. Curran won medals in 1903 and 1904 and Con. Clifford played with the victorious Kerry team of 1913 and 1914.

Sports and athletics were always very popular in the parish. The year of the Truce - 1921 - ( the year of the long hot Summer) saw a great crowd at Ballymacelligott field. Phil O'Sullivan, Jackeen Herlihy and Denny Breen put on a great display for the big attendance, while the boys and girls of the parish had a great day in the adjacent orchard.