Brothers in Sport

by Donal Keenan

  The celebrations in their home parish lasted for months. The sweet taste of All-Ireland glory had barely worn off when the 1994 All Star selection was announced. There was huge controversy nationally, and in Offaly, that Brian Whelahan had failed to earn a selection, as he should have been an automatic choice. In Seir Kieran there were three reasons for immense satisfaction. Kevin Kinahan and Johnny and Billy Dooley were honoured at full back, right half forward and right full forward, joining Eugene Coughlan (1984 and 1985) on the All Stars roll of honour.

  Joe, Billy and Johnny Dooley scored two goals and eleven points of Offaly’s total in the 1994 All-Ireland final victory against Limerick. © Ray McManus/SPORTSFILE

  Johnny and Billy each picked up a second All Star award in 1995, Joe would join the list in 1998 and Johnny brought the Dooley collection to a total of six in 2000. This reflected Offaly’s central role during a period of extraordinary change, colour and drama in the hurling Championship. Offaly’s sensational triumph of 1994 was the catalyst for a series of events that altered hurling’s landscape for a brief but unforgettable period.

  When Offaly retained their Leinster title in 1995 by inflicting an eleven-point defeat on Kilkenny, 2–16 to 2–5, they were installed as hot favourites to go on and win the All-Ireland title again. ‘The quality of hurling played in that game was as good as you could get,’ Joe says. ‘Conditions were bad but the game was played at great speed and there was a lot of skill as well. Looking back now you would have to say that it was one of the highlights of my career with Offaly.’

  The All-Ireland final would not fit into such a category. Offaly were expected to win, but the hype surrounding Clare’s first appearance in the final since 1914 overshadowed everything. Johnny believes that the Offaly players may have become a little complacent in the build-up to the game. It was a subconscious thing but it mattered. ‘We beat Kilkenny well in the [Leinster] final and expectations were very high. There was a lot being said about us being favourites and that can get into the minds of the players and they don’t perform the way they would normally.’

  Offaly led by two points entering the final five minutes, but a goal by Clare substitute Éamon Taaffe and points from Anthony Daly and James O’Connor, with just a solitary reply from Johnny, snatched the title. ‘Definitely the most disappointing day of my life,’ was Billy’s post-match summing up of the day.

  Three years later, in 1998, the two teams would meet again in what turned out to be an epic and controversial series of games during a Championship full of twists and turns that the Dooley brothers agree was probably the best of them all. The GAA had introduced new Championship structures that allowed the beaten provincial finalists in Leinster and Munster re-entry to the competition at a quarter-final stage, through which Offaly became beneficiaries. Injuries, illness, the loss of a manager in the middle of the summer, an unfinished game and the first All-Ireland final involving two teams from the one province contributed to the package.

  A broken thumb and a broken cheekbone were just some of the trials faced by Johnny during that eventful season. But Offaly had good reason to be grateful that he was fit for the Leinster semi-final against Wexford, as his late goal rescued Offaly from elimination. Fortunately, that guaranteed them a place in the All-Ireland series because they played poorly in the Leinster final and lost to Kilkenny. The final score read Kilkenny 3–10, Offaly 1–11. D.J. Carey had scored two goals from frees. Kilkenny had not been particularly impressive in victory, but Offaly had given a lacklustre display. ‘Physically we were in good shape going into that game, but for some reason our heads weren’t right,’ says Johnny. The fun was only just beginning.

  Immediately after the game Offaly’s manager, Babs Keating, was critical of the players when speaking to the media. The headlines the following morning were far from complimentary and the Offaly players were upset with their manager. The row became public. Newspaper headlines exposed the rift between some senior players and the manager. After three days of wrangling, Keating announced his resignation. It seemed that the Championship would end in ignominy. Offaly had to find a new manager quickly and all the obvious candidates were already in positions. County officials were advised to examine the credentials of Michael Bond, a school teacher in Galway who had not been involved at such a high level before. Bond was actually in the United States on the weekend of the Leinster final and unaware of what had happened in the game. The officials met Bond and were impressed, and he was appointed to take charge of the team for the All-Ireland quarter-final against Antrim. ‘We certainly became focused after that,’ explains Johnny. ‘A bit of stubbornness crept in because we had a point to prove, we needed to show a few people that they were wrong in what they had said about us. It helped us develop an even stronger team spirit.’

  They beat Antrim by nine points to qualify for the semi-final in which their opponents would be the defending champions, Clare. Offaly produced what the Clare manager Ger Loughnane described afterwards as ‘a superb display, absolutely outstanding all the way through’. It took a late James O’Connor point to force a replay. On Saturday 22 August the two teams engaged in another memorable contest. Clare led by 1–16 to 2–10 when the referee, Jimmy Cooney, blew the final whistle. Players on both sides were surprised and many in the stands began questioning the timing. Almost immediately Cooney – who had won an All-Ireland with Galway in 1980 and was on the team beaten by Offaly in 1981 – realised his mistake, but he was shepherded off the field by officials while irate players tried to intervene. Thousands of Offaly supporters held a protest on the field and an inquiry was announced. A day later, another replay was fixed for Semple Stadium, Thurles.

  ‘We got three great games against Clare, the sort of games Kilkenny were not getting, and it really set us up for the final,’ recalls Johnny. ‘You could feel the momentum building over those few weeks. There was no way you could get that sort of preparation on the training ground. As well, the supporters were really getting behind us. The protest in Croke Park started something with the supporters. There was something different going on that we hadn’t experienced before. There was a buzz around the place. At our first training session in O’Connor Park after the replay there was a big crowd and they really got behind us.’

  In the committee rooms the Offaly officials noticed a change too as they prepared for the third replay. Never before had there been such demand for tickets. Joe remembers the atmosphere. ‘It wasn’t just in the ground, it was on the road to Thurles and in the town itself. I don’t remember an atmosphere as good in all the years I played with Offaly.’ Clearly he was inspired, as he scored five points from play to help Offaly finally squeeze past the champions by 0–16 to 0–13. Facing them in the final was Kilkenny, their conquerors just a few weeks previously.

  Johnny lined out at midfield alongside Johnny Pilkington. Joe and Billy flanked Joe Errity in the full forward line. It was a hard, fast, entertaining final, far different to their previous meeting in the campaign. The result was different as well: Offaly 2–16, Kilkenny 1–13. The change in fortunes was extraordinary. Offaly had won the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship for the fourth time and Joe Dooley found himself in the unique position of being the only Offaly hurler to win three All-Ireland senior medals.

  ‘I think what made 1998 more special was that it was a much harder Championship to win,’ is Billy’s view. ‘Also, to win a second medal meant a great deal because it showed that we were a reasonably good team. Any team that wins back to back titles must be a good team, but to come back after four years to win an All-Ireland proved that we were a fairly dedicated bunch of players. We were able to enjoy ourselves but there was a discipline about us as well that made us a hard team to beat in the Championship.’

  Johnny wonders if the supporters enjoyed the semi-final victory in Thurles even more than the final itself. ‘So much had happened before that game; losing a manager, the early finish of the game in Croke Park and the fact that we had to go to Munster and beat a Mu
nster team that were the All-Ireland champions. It was an adventure for them.’

  The adventure would have one more twist on the day of the final. The charismatic Brian Whelahan woke up feeling unwell. Johnny explains: ‘The rest of us were unaware that he was sick until we were getting on the bus to go to the game. He had the ’flu but wanted to try and start and the management decided he would. But it wasn’t going well for him in the backs and he was moved to full forward and went on to score a goal and six points. It was incredible what he did and showed you the hurler he was. We also had great guys to depend on at the back like Martin Hanamy and Kevin Kinahan because you would never have known there was a problem.’

  While Offaly remained a major force in hurling over the next two Championships and Johnny had the honour of captaining the team to the 2000 All-Ireland final, the players themselves began to see signs of the end coming for that team after the 1998 final. ‘We were beginning to slip,’ admits Johnny. ‘We were getting a few new players coming through but not enough. Every successful team needs at least two new players every year. We did get the likes of Colm Cassidy and Gary Hanniffy coming through, but to keep everything working you needed people pushing for places and we hadn’t enough of that happening.’

  Joe, Billy and Johnny Dooley played together for the final time in Championship hurling in the 1999 All-Ireland semi-final when Offaly lost to Cork. Joe and Johnny were part of the team for the All-Ireland final of 2000 when Offaly again played Kilkenny. Few could have foretold at the time just how dominant that Kilkenny team would become. The Offaly players had an inkling as they lost by 1–14 to 5–15, Carey scoring 2–4 and a young Henry Shefflin contributing 1–3. That game marked the end of Joe’s remarkably lengthy spell in the Offaly squad that had begun in the autumn of 1982 and during which he played in thirteen Leinster finals. It had been a magnificent career. Johnny began to suffer from a series of injuries, particularly to his left knee, and in March 2003 decided it was time to stop.

  All three immediately immersed themselves in coaching. Johnny had a stint with Kildare and then moved to Westmeath where he guided them to two Christy Ring Cup triumphs and a League Division Two title. Currently he is involved with under-age coaching with Tullamore where his young son Jack is following the family tradition. Billy continued playing senior hurling with Seir Kieran until 2009 and has coached club under-21 teams. Joe has returned to the Offaly camp as team manager and is in the process of re-building a team in which his son, Shane, is an integral part.

  They agree that the demands on inter-county hurlers today are excessive, and Joe is not convinced that the heavy workload now being placed on young shoulders is improving the game. ‘If you look back on some of the games of the 1990s they were every bit as good as games today. The game was just as fast then and there was a lot of skill. There is too much emphasis on weights today.’ However, he is enjoying the challenge of team management. Offaly have slipped from the highs of the 1990s and he is anxious that he plays his part in helping them to once again challenge Kilkenny, Tipperary, Galway and Cork at the highest level.

  For the moment, Johnny is concentrating on coaching the young boys in Tullamore and takes a keen interest in the game generally. He has strong views about the modern trend of county panels taking action against team managements. ‘This management thing is gone a bit ridiculous. I get tired of reading day after day about disputes between players and managements. Players need a bit of a reality check and to start looking at themselves. It can’t be the fault of the manager all the time. The whole manager thing is over-emphasised. His job is to direct operations. It is up to the players themselves to make sure that they are putting in the effort, making the commitment and performing on the field. When you are a player you must realise that you are only there for a short time and you just put your head down and get on with it. Sometimes a manager might not be the best, but as a player you know, or you should know, what needs to be done. Players need to take responsibility for themselves.’

  He looks back on his time with Offaly with great fondness. ‘I had thirteen or fourteen really good years. I played with and against some great players. Every year we togged out we knew we had a chance of winning something, that we were competitive and we could put ourselves in a position where we could win a Leinster or All-Ireland title. We were able to enjoy ourselves but we also knew how to work hard. You look back not just at winning All-Irelands or Leinster Championships, but the team holidays we had, the All Stars tours. There was no financial gain for us but there were other things to enjoy. I wouldn’t change a thing.’

  He is a great admirer of Kilkenny manager Brian Cody and his ability to keep a group of players performing to such a high level over such a long period. ‘It’s not easy to maintain that sort of dedication and to keep your feet on the ground. A player can get carried away with himself and not realise he is just passing through. Things might go well for one year but you must never forget you’re only a short distance away from the bottom of the pile. Cody has done a brilliant job keeping this group going at such a high level.’

  Billy decided to move back to junior hurling this year. There were twelve under-21 players on the Seir Kieran senior team with him in 2009. His own three sons are showing a keen interest in the game. Another generation of Dooleys is ready to serve Offaly hurling.

  The Lyons Brothers

  A study in concentration: Mick Lyons keeps his eye on the ball in the 1987 All-Ireland final. © Ray McManus/SPORTSFILE

  Just seven kilometres north of the rattle and hum of the M4 motorway lies an oasis of peace and tranquillity. Rathcore Golf Club has a natural beauty set among the drumlins of Meath that provides an escape from the pressures of everyday life for golfers from all over the Irish midlands and the eastern seaboard. There is a good chance that on a visit at any time of the year some familiar faces from the world of GAA past and present can be spotted, drawn to the course by its strong connection with football.

  It is a bright spring morning when Mick Lyons strides purposefully into the clubhouse, the powerful gait unchanged from the days when he ruled Croke Park. There might be a few flecks of silver in the hair but this man has carried the years better than most. The big smile is as warm and engaging as ever, the handshake firm and welcoming. This is his lair now. For the last eight years Mick and his cousin Austin have created this course, far from the hustle and bustle of the football cauldrons Mick occupied for a decade and a half spanning the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

  From the day he put away his boots as a footballer with Summerhill and Meath, Mick dreamed of mixing his enduring love of sport with his business life. Rathcore is the result. These are not the easiest times for business or golf, but the majesty of the place which is apparent when you drive through the gates and up the sweeping drive towards the first tee, allied to the determination of the man, suggests they will ride out the storm.

  Mick endured many stormy days in an immaculate career with Meath during the glory years of the 1980s. More often than not he had an able lieutenant alongside him, his younger brother Pádraig. They survived the hard days together when the Meath football team existed in a nether world, far from the land of silver and gold. And when Meath rediscovered their pride and place among the giants of the game, the Lyons brothers were central to the rejuvenation. They played together for their country as well and tamed the Australians in International Rules football.

  Proudly Mick recalls that on one occasion around 1985, when Meath was emerging from football obscurity, the full back line was made up of the three Lyons brothers, Pádraig, Mick and Terry. For three seasons between 1984 and 1986 Terry was on the margins of the team, always waiting for the breakthrough but never quite managing to make it. His glory days would be with Summerhill.

  The Lyons boys, and their sisters Mary and Brenda, were brought up in the parish of Oldtown, near Summerhill, on the border with Kildare where Paddy and Mairéad Lyons had set up their home. Paddy, with Mayo blood coursing through his veins, loved footbal
l and played with Kilcock, making the Kildare senior team. ‘In those days,’ explains Mick, ‘Kilcock was the major centre of activity. People shopped there, went to church there and many of the people went to school there. My father played for Kilcock, but he also played for Summerhill and there was a time he played for Cappagh.’

  The boys’ football destiny was decided when they were sent to Coole National School in the parish of Summerhill. Their schooling coincided with the emergence of a very talented Summerhill group of players who would go on and have a major influence within the county and would produce a number of very talented players for Meath. Mattie Kerrigan, a member of Meath’s All-Ireland-winning team in 1967, was a major figure in the club and would have a huge influence on the footballing careers of the Lyons brothers. Mick’s secondary schooling brought him to Trim, but he was a fully fledged Summerhill player by then.

  Football was their first love but they played other sports when the mood, or the influence of television, struck them. The front garden of their home was the playground, where boys from all around gathered to play whatever the chosen sport of the day might have been. ‘That’s where you learned to look after yourself,’ remembers Mick. ‘It was a good training ground for the years ahead.’

  Mick was attracting notice from an early stage. He was Summerhill’s Young Player of the Year in 1974 and the following year played corner back on the club’s junior team that won the Meath Championship. A year later he had joined the senior team alongside his cousin Austin, Mattie Kerrigan and the Gibbons brothers, John and Tom. They won two County Championships and the Leinster Championship in 1977, although Mick’s participation was interrupted by injury.