Offaly football champions

[Fargo Boyle]

Offaly County Champions

Ye have probably covered this before numerous times but i was wondering about some of the winners of football county titles that are no longer in existence or have changed name etc.

Looking through the senior champions there are a couple that i don't recognise but maybe some of ye knowledgable folks might be able to put a town, parish or village name to these teams.

St Marys

St Patricks

Quarrymount

Are there any other football champions at other grades that now don't exist? Can't think of any myself but there could be a few.

Another thing i was wondering is when the likes of Killeigh, Durrow, Daingean, Cloghan, Geashill won their senior titles were they parish teams? What about the Walsh Island and Rhode teams of the past were they also parish teams and when did the great parish divides take place in Offaly.

Its strange that we have so many teams in each parish in Offaly (Daingean must be the worse with 4 teams) because when you cross the border into east Galway two or three parishs are actually combining to form a team e.g. TAD, Killimor, Eyrecourt and many more have a couple of parishes in each team

[Plain of the Herbs]

St Mary’s was the name of the Geashill/Killeigh parish team for many years up to the late 1970s, when they started to play under the title of Raheen.

St Patrick’s were an amalgamation of Gracefield and Killeigh parishes, who won a Senior title in 1959. Note Donie O’Hanlon captained Offaly in 1960, representing the county champions.

Quarrymount were from Killeigh parish. Perhaps there’s a townland in the parish with that name? Their county title in 1901 was prior to the introduction of the Parish rule, which was around 1909 or thereabouts. Prior to that, teams were drawn from an area, not necessarily a parish. For instance, Fortal, who are on the Senior hurling roll of honour, drew players from Birr, Clareen and thereabouts.

To ascertain what areas were represented on those title-winning teams could perhaps best be ascertained by looking at the lineouts of those teams, referencing the players’ surnames. Certain surnames are synonymous with particular areas – for instance if a Berry or two featured on a St Mary’s lineout then you could safely say Killeigh were included. You’d really need someone with more local knowledge than I have.

Alot of those arrangements would have varied every few years anyway. For instance, over half the Tullamore team who won the 1959 Senior hurling final were from Ballinamere or Durrow! Ballinamere won the Junior title that year and Tullamore & Ballinamere were drawn together in the first round the next year, Tullamore winning it well.

The comparison with Galway is different because there is a rule in Galway hurling that there can only be one club per parish. Parishes are smaller there too, which is why Fahy hurl with Killimor; Kilnadeema and Leitrim are joined though they are separate parishes. Ditto Abbey-Duniry are joined with Tynagh as you pointed out, though Tynagh are a different parish.

Compare that to Killeigh, Rhode, Edenderry & Daingean parishes which are geographically big and there are separate communities within those parishes. On the other hand, many of the parishes in the Southern end of the county are considerably smaller. I’m thinking Lusmagh, Clareen, Kinnitty, Drumcullen and the like – not to mind areas like Ballyskenagh, Killavilla, Riverstown etc.

Fargo, if you could get your hands on the 1996 County finals programmes (hurling and football) , each contain a concise history of the respective county championship, that year being the Centenary of the County Board.

[townman]

frank higgns also won title with st.marys and gracefield who he captain in 1961 and was on the 60's team also i think
he won two titles with rhode as well so he has won 3 county titles with 3 different clubs .

[bracknaghboy]

St. Columbas won the Junior title in 2000. The name is no longer in existance.

[Offaly2010]

Indeed Frank Higgins was a member of the St.Patrick's team which won the 1959 County Final. Two years later he was Captain of the first Gracefield team to win the title and he completed the treble when he helped Rhode take the title in 1966.

[townman]

was ciran higgins a son of franks that played again cork in the under 21 final in thurles in 1986

[Plain of the Herbs]

Yea, but it's stil the same Durrow club. Belmont would have been St Saran's for a good few years before reverting to Belmont.

Actually now that I think of it, Ballinamere & Durrow (St Columba's) used to be seperate entities though they are united now in a way, in that the same players play as Ballinamere in hurling and Durrow in football. Ballinamere were known as Ballinamere-Kilbride for a while about ten years ago. These things are always changing.

St. Columbas won the Junior title in 2000. The name is no longer in existance.

[Fargo Boyle]

very interesting. Thanks for the replies. It seems that the three amalgamation teams were all from around the Killeigh, Raheen, Geashill and Gracefield areas.

What geographical area does Raheen have - presumably just Geashill and Raheen.

Coming back to the issue of parish teams - i presume alot of Rhodes teams were parish teams. What about Walsh Island when they were winning - had they a contingent from Clonbulloge (is Bracknagh in that parish too)?

Was the Daingean team of the 60s a parish team

[Heshs Umpire]

You'll have to do some searching of a map of Offaly to find the 1901 football champions, Quarrymount.

That's because it's a tiny little townland tucked inside the Laois border just south of Killeigh village. It now forms part of the catchment area of the Kilcavan club, who play intermediate football in Laois.

[Bord na Mona man]

You'll have to do some searching of a map of Offaly to find the 1901 football champions, Quarrymount.

That's because it's a tiny little townland tucked inside the Laois border just south of Killeigh village. It now forms part of the catchment area of the Kilcavan club, who play intermediate football in Laois.

Quarrymount mapped:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Quarrymou ... 13&iwloc=A

[Plain of the Herbs]

Howya Umpire! I googled Quarrymount and I see one can become a property owner at Quarrymount, Killeigh, Co. Offaly for a mere €650k. The desirability of an Offaly address.

You'll have to do some searching of a map of Offaly to find the 1901 football champions, Quarrymount.

That's because it's a tiny little townland tucked inside the Laois border just south of Killeigh village. It now forms part of the catchment area of the Kilcavan club, who play intermediate football in Laois.

[Plain of the Herbs]

To my knowledge Walsh Island were solo when they win their titles in the 30s/40s, and also in the 70s/80s. There was a parish team called Éire Óg in the early 70s (Murt Connor's club is listed as Éire Óg in '71, '72 & '73) but after they realised they had sufficient numbers they went it alone with remarkable success. See the Walsh Island website which has a good history section.

As for Rhode, Mick Casey was a Croghan native 'the blacksmith from Croghan', as was Paddy McCormack. Both played with and won county titles with Rhode. Both Rhode and St Brigid's have good history sections in their websites.

Coming back to the issue of parish teams - i presume alot of Rhodes teams were parish teams. What about Walsh Island when they were winning - had they a contingent from Clonbulloge (is Bracknagh in that parish too)?

Was the Daingean team of the 60s a parish team

[Plain of the Herbs]

Now I've a question. There was a club called St John's who played in the Senior football championship in the early 80s. Where were they from?

[theman]

To my knowledge Walsh Island were solo when they win their titles in the 30s/40s, and also in the 70s/80s. There was a parish team called Éire Óg in the early 70s (Murt Connor's club is listed as Éire Óg in '71, '72 & '73) but after they realised they had sufficient numbers they went it alone with remarkable success. See the Walsh Island website which has a good history section.

As for Rhode, Mick Casey was a Croghan native 'the blacksmith from Croghan', as was Paddy McCormack. Both played with and won county titles with Rhode. Both Rhode and St Brigid's have good history sections in their websites.

Coming back to the issue of parish teams - i presume alot of Rhodes teams were parish teams. What about Walsh Island when they were winning - had they a contingent from Clonbulloge (is Bracknagh in that parish too)?

Was the Daingean team of the 60s a parish team

As far as i know no Clonbullogue players lined out with walsh island, nearly sure neither did bracknagh. The 3 clubs joined up again in 1994 under St.Broughans and Knocked out the County champions that year in the first round but was disbanded the following year when only players from one club turned up for a relegation match and won but the result was overturned by county board because Tubber objected. Bit mad when you think of it. County board realy need to start a parish tournament. For the benefit of the county!

[townman]

There was no contingent from anywhere when the Island won the six-in-a-row the team was the same most of them years
you had 5 connors 2 o'connors 2 Bryans willie played the first few years in 78,79, pat Bryan was the goalman also played outfield
in a county final, you had the Mulhalls it was some team to come from such a small area back then they were the back bone of
offaly all ireland wins in 71,72,82.