Brothers in Sport

by Donal Keenan

  That final was also the start of a rivalry with Cork that would become bitter over the next four years, resulting in players being sent off and off-the-field problems between the two groups. ‘I don’t know to this day why it became so bitter. Maybe it was that it was so tense. If we hadn’t been around they might have won four All-Irelands and vice versa. Also, they had just come out of the long shadow of Kerry and we had come out from behind Dublin. There was an awful lot at stake. You had two groups of very determined people and we were in each other’s way. It was a pity. But we are all friends now.’

  Mick had a reputation for being a tough full back and he took as much punishment as he gave. ‘Was I a hard man? I don’t think so,’ he says quietly. ‘God, there were some very hard men around at the time, much harder than me. I would give a belt and take one, that’s the way football is. It’s a tough game but there’s a line you don’t cross. A lad might do something wrong from time to time but there’s rarely anything malicious about it.’

  He had a good relationship with referees, even if he incurred their displeasure from time to time. ‘I always reckoned you’d know what line not to cross with a referee. He has a very hard job to do on such a big pitch. I never argued with a referee because there’s no point. They’re not going to change their mind. Have you ever seen a decision changed because a player argued with the referee? And if you accept his decision you might get a break later on.’

  The rivalry with Dublin was different. ‘When Seán was putting us through torture on the hills or on the beaches on wet, cold and windy winter evenings, the one thing that kept you going, that made all that pain worthwhile, was the thought of a Sunday in July playing Dublin in front of 70,000 people in Croke Park. The build-up to those games was fantastic. The supporters in both counties loved it and there was always a very special atmosphere around the place. Beating Dublin in a Leinster final was just as big as winning an All-Ireland. For lots of supporters it was more important.’

  Pádraig agrees: ‘There was always a great buzz about the place when you were getting ready to play Dublin in those big games. They were just as special as the All-Ireland finals. There was a different atmosphere about them. We would knock lumps out of each other for seventy minutes and then go off and have a few drinks together. I always thought that side of football was important.’

  The 1988 All-Ireland triumph was bittersweet. Following a draw against Cork, Pádraig was dropped for the replay. ‘I always felt he was hard done by,’ says Mick now. ‘He was very quick, very tenacious as a corner back and I thought he deserved a break. His performance in the first half of the drawn game was fantastic.’ Despite that disappointment, Pádraig stuck with the squad and played in the next three Championships, lining out in his customary left full back position in the third game of the famous four-match series against Dublin in 1991. ‘I wouldn’t change a thing about my time with Meath,’ he says happily.

  ‘That season was the most enjoyable of all,’ says Mick of 1991, ‘but losing the All-Ireland final to Down was probably the biggest disappointment of my football life. The Championship was enjoyable because we were playing football all the time and the training was more a case of resting and getting tired bodies back into shape. People still talk about the four games against Dublin because it was so unusual. But some of the football in those games was terrible.’ Boylan’s management was put to the test that summer and he came through with honours. ‘He took us to Scotland for a two-night break before the last game. We did a bit of training and then he sent us off for the night to let our hair down. The only stipulation was that you turned up for training the following morning. He didn’t care what shape we were in. It didn’t matter if you came straight from whatever establishment that you had been in for the night as long as you were there. Most of us were sick, dying from the effects of the night, but everyone turned up. He knew we needed that break. It had a big effect.’

  Pádraig’s inter-county career ended with that series of games. Early in the final game, he suffered a hamstring injury. ‘I ruined it,’ he says. ‘There was talk about surgery but I was over thirty, had a lot of miles done and I decided not to go there. I knew it was the end with Meath. I tried to play on with the club for a couple of years, but the hamstring was always a problem.’

  Mick and Pádraig Lyons settled for two All-Ireland tri-

  umphs. By the time their careers ended they had faced Dublin ten times. They lost only twice. On both occasions, 1984 and 1989, Mick was absent through injury.

  The brothers, who had gone into business together in Summerhill straight from school, returned to the club and served loyally as players and administrators, coaching various teams up to today. Pádraig’s hamstring problems prompted him to try out as a goalkeeper. It prolonged his career until 2001. ‘I loved it,’ he says. ‘I always said that the two most important positions on a team were goalkeeper and free-taker.’ For the past five years Pádraig and Mattie Kerrigan have coached the Summerhill senior team. ‘We’re very lucky. So much great work has been done since the mid-1990s at under-age level in the club that we have a lot of talent to work with.’

  Their own children are involved with Summerhill. Mick and Helen have three sons and one daughter, Alan, Kevin, Conor and Michelle. Pádraig and Louise have three daughters and one son, Linda, Sarah, Declan and Joanne. Declan played with the Meath minors in 2009. ‘Without support from Louise and Helen we would never have been able to devote so much time to football,’ says Pádraig.

  The Carr Brothers

  Sports Carrs: Brothers Tommy and Declan Carr watch the action from the stands. Tommy captained Dublin in the 1992 All-Ireland football final; Declan went one better a year earlier when leading Tipperary to the hurling title. © Damien Eagers/ SPORTSFILE *EDI*

  Nestling within eighty acres of lush landscape on the banks of the River Liffey in Palmerstown, west Dublin, The King’s Hospital is one of Ireland’s oldest secondary schools. It has a proud sporting tradition in rugby, cricket and hockey that reflects the Church of Ireland ethos that has been maintained since its foundation more than 300 years ago. From that description, it is easy to deduce that the school is anything but a hotbed of Gaelic football and hurling. Yet from its halls emerged two brothers in the 1980s, who would enjoy long and successful careers with two different counties in two different codes and would captain those counties in All-Ireland finals with contrasting fortunes.

  The King’s Hospital was not just a school for the Carr brothers, Tommy and Declan, it was also home. Paddy and Kathleen Carr had moved to west Dublin from Tipperary at the beginning of the 1960s in search of employment and Paddy got a job as works manager at the site which became the location for the expanding school in the mid-1960s. Their five children – Rose, Ronnie, Tommy, Declan and Kieran – attended the school and took a full part in all activities.

  Tommy was two years older than Declan but they shared the same interests. They participated enthusiastically in both rugby and hockey during the school week. Then, after rugby training on Saturday morning, they would change gear and head off to either Palmerstown or Lucan Sarsfields GAA clubs to engage in their other passion, Gaelic football, with a little hurling thrown in.

  They were both athletic and from an early age were deter-mined to be the best they could at whatever sport they played. With encouragement from their father, football and hurling became their priority. Those who nurtured their talents in the GAA clubs recognised their potential but none could have predicted the careers ahead. Tommy went on to play football for Dublin in three All-Ireland finals, including one as captain, while Declan led Tipperary’s hurlers to glory in 1991 when he won his second All-Ireland Championship.

  So how did two brothers brought up in west Dublin end up becoming two of the most prominent sportsmen in Ireland with two different teams and in two different codes? At first glance Declan’s path looks direct, dictated by the family’s return to Holycross in 1980, just after he had completed his Intermediate (now Junior) Certificate.
The complex part for him was that in his new school, Thurles CBS, hurling was the only sporting pursuit available and he hadn’t played a lot of that in Dublin.

  Tommy’s route was circuitous, to say the least. He could have played for Galway but turned down the chance. He did play for Tipperary with some interesting team-mates including Nicky English and against some very famous opponents. And by 1985 he had settled back in the county of his birth and played in an All-Ireland final in his first season with Dublin.

  It is best to let Tommy explain in his own words how it all happened. ‘My father was a man of the land and there wasn’t much happening on the land in the late 1950s, so he moved the family to Dublin in 1960 where myself, Declan and Kieran were born. By the time I had sat my Leaving Cert in 1980 my father and mother decided it was time to move back to Tipperary. I left school and joined the Army Cadet School. Declan went back to Tipperary to complete his schooling.’

  While training with the army, Tommy attended Univer-sity College Galway (UCG), where he played both rugby and football. He won two Sigerson Cup titles on a team that included Val Daly, Richie Lee, Peter Lee, Kevin McStay, John Maughan, Gay McManus and Mick Brennan. It was while in UCG that the suggestion he should play for Galway was first made. But summertime visits to the family’s new home in Holycross meant that he would play under-age football for Tipperary and eventually graduate to senior level for two seasons, 1983 and 1984. One of his midfield partners during those years with Tipperary was Nicky English, who went on to fame and glory as a hurler. Among their opponents were the famed Kerry midfielders Jack O’Shea and Ambrose O’Donovan.

  By 1985 Tommy was posted to Dublin. His plan was clear. He wanted to join a Dublin club and his initial choice was St Vincent’s. An army colleague suggested it might not be the best choice because at the time the club did not accept players from outside Dublin. ‘I wanted to tell him that I was actually born in Dublin but refrained.’ A number of other clubs were mentioned to him. Then another officer intervened and within days Tommy Carr had become a member of Ballymun Kickhams. It was a good choice. Ballymun won the Dublin Championship that year and the legendary Dublin manager Kevin Heffernan spotted the potential of the youngster and invited him onto the panel.

  This was a squad full of All-Ireland winners, among them John O’Leary, Mick Kennedy, Gerry Hargan, Mick Holden, Ray Hazley, Pat Canavan, Jim Ronayne, the multi-award-winning Brian Mullins, Barney Rock, Kieran Duff and Joe McNally. A lesser personality might have felt intimidated coming into such company, but Tommy Carr was already displaying the sort of drive and determination that would become his hallmark in a career that would last ten years.

  Heffernan would leave a mark. ‘Just his name and reputation were an influence,’ he recalls. ‘With someone like that you knew you would never have to question what he was telling you, the advice he was giving and the way he was coaching. I was very lucky because in Galway Tony Regan had been a massive influence as well. Tony had a massive impact on my career in terms of showing the dedication and commitment needed to play at the highest level. He was an extraordinary character who immersed himself in football. It wasn’t easy with Tony and some guys couldn’t stick it. But it was worth it for those of us who did stick around. I was fortunate to have two such influential people around me at the start of my career.’

  On his Championship debut in 1985, starting at centre half forward, he scored a goal and three points in a rout of Wexford. He was on the score sheet again when Dublin beat Offaly in the Leinster semi-final and Laois in the provincial final. He played in the drawn All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo, but lost his starting place for the final. An injury to Charlie Redmond led to an early introduction, however, and although he did get on the score sheet, the Páidí Ó Sé-led Kerry proved too strong.

  It all seemed to happen in a blur. ‘It was a hugely exciting time,’ he recalls. ‘I remember thinking at the time how many All-Irelands we would win. That is where Dublin football was at the time, right at the top. I had grown up with the team of the 1970s and we expected Dublin to win All-Ireland titles every year.’

  Back in the Carr homestead Declan’s life was much different. Having enrolled in Thurles CBS in September 1980, he discovered that the sporting prowess he had developed with the big ball, round and oval, would not be much use to him. ‘I was an average hurler back in Lucan, a better footballer. But in Thurles CBS it was hurling or nothing. If you wanted to be involved in sport you had no choice but to play hurling. They played in the morning, at break, at lunch and again after school. And when you went home in the evening you played hurling again.’

  While he was naturally fit and well built, Declan knew his skill levels were not sufficient. ‘I didn’t have the basic skills because I hadn’t played enough hurling in Lucan,’ he admits. So he resolved to work harder than anyone else. He travelled to school by bus, which arrived an hour before classes began. That hour was spent in the handball alley, striking the sliotar against the wall relentlessly, working on his right side and left side in a bid to make up for lost time. He used every spare minute of the day working on his skills. ‘I loved sport. It meant so much to me to be part of the school team so I really did apply myself.’

  Within twelve months he had made a huge impression. When preparations for the Harty Cup (Munster Senior Colleges) campaign for the 1981–2 season began, Declan was named captain of the CBS team. Though they lost to North Mon from Cork, Declan Carr had achieved his ambition. Success followed with the Holycross-Ballycahill minor team and by 1985, when Tommy was making his senior debut for Dublin, Declan was a member of the Tipperary under-21 squad that won the All-Ireland title.

  Outside hurling Declan did not have a definite career plan and you couldn’t live life just as a hurler. He decided to spend a few years working in England where he kept himself in good physical shape, continued to work on his touch with the hurley and sliotar, and kept in contact with family and friends back home, including his older brother. He watched with interest the revolution that began in Tipperary hurling when Michael ‘Babs’ Keating returned like a whirlwind to the county in 1986, and was back in Ireland, standing on Hill 16, when Tipperary lost the 1988 All-Ireland final to Galway.

  ‘Standing there that day I thought to myself that there must be a place on that team for me,’ he says. ‘I knew some of the lads from having played under-age with them and I felt with some hard work and with a bit of luck I could make the team. It was well known that Babs was looking for players and willing to give lads a chance. My chance came in a game against Clare towards the end of the year. I can’t remember what status it had. Probably not much because some of the lads were taking it easy. I went ballistic. I knew this might be my only chance and I wanted to make an impression. That’s what happened. I was selected for the National League of 1988–89 and played in every game, including the final where we lost to Galway.’

  On Monday 5 June 1989, Tommy Carr lined out at centre half back on the Dublin football team in the opening round of the Leinster Championship against Kildare. Six days later Declan Carr made his first Championship start at midfield for Tipperary in the opening round of the Munster hurling campaign against Limerick. It was the beginning of six years of high drama for the Carr family that would include triumph and despair, controversy, anguish and days of great pride.

  Dublin won the Leinster Championship and then endured what Tommy describes as ‘one of our near misses’ when they lost to Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final. They had started in blistering fashion and led by 1–4 to 0–0 after fifteen minutes. But John Cleary quickly netted two penalties for Cork and Dublin were reduced to fourteen men when Keith Barr was sent off. Cork won by four points.

  Tipperary won their third consecutive Munster title. ‘I valued it because it was my first,’ recalls Declan, ‘but there was unfinished business for Tipperary. Winning the Munster title in 1987 was huge for Tipperary, so losing the All-Ireland the following year was not seen as a disaster. But we knew and the supporters knew
that it was important in 1989 that we would go on and win the All-Ireland. Nothing else would satisfy us. As a Championship it was like a soap opera, there was a different drama everywhere you looked that year. The Munster final against Waterford was a filthy game; then we had the suspension of Galway’s Tony Keady for playing illegally in New York (he had not received an official club transfer). We beat them after a very tough game. Then there were reports that Paul Delaney had played illegally in England, so he wasn’t able to play in the final. It was incredible stuff.’

  They did win the All-Ireland title, but Declan feels the achievement was tainted in some eyes by the fact that it was Antrim they defeated in the final. Antrim had been unexpected finalists having surprised Offaly in the semi-final. ‘We couldn’t afford to lose that final,’ he says. ‘It didn’t matter to us who we played; at that stage in the development of the team it was crucial that we became champions and we went out to beat them as well as we could. It was said in some places that winning was made easier because it was Antrim we played, but all that concerned us was that we took the next step and became champions. Tipperary hadn’t won an All-Ireland for nearly twenty years. That had to be bridged.’

  Although neither county managed to retain their titles in 1990, there was little respite for the Carrs. Tommy’s profile increased when he was named the new Dublin captain. Declan had different worries. He picked up a leg wound in the Munster semi-final which led to blood poisoning and an extended stay in hospital. He had barely returned to training when he was selected to play in the Munster final against Cork. ‘I wasn’t fit to play,’ he says candidly. It reflected the general preparations for that game which were not as sharp as they should have been. Cork’s Mark Foley scored two goals and six points. Tipperary surrendered their Munster and All-Ireland titles. ‘We just weren’t right that day,’ says Declan. ‘I felt we were a better team than Cork that year but we didn’t prepare right. Beating them the following year proved that I was right.’ Declan did recover fully from injury to help Holycross win the Tipperary county title. With the county champions given the right to nominate the captain of the county team, in 1991 Declan was handed the honour.