Down Legends Roll Back the Years
Nearly 50 years after their historic first Sam Maguire success, the heroes of Down’s 1960 All Ireland winning team and management have been reliving the glory days in the Cardinal O Fiaich Library and Archive in Armagh.
James McCartan, Paddy Doherty, Sean O’Neill, Maurice Hayes and Barney Carr were among a large crowd attending the special night of nostalgia on Monday, June 15.
They were treated to a series of extended cinema newsreel and television footage of major Down games between 1959 and 1968. Some of the excerpts have not been shown on television in the subsequent five decades. The highlights included the 1959 All Ireland Semi-final against Galway, the three All Ireland winning Finals, and the 1961 Wembley Tournament Final with Kerry.
In a series of interviews specially for the Ulster GAA website, the Down stars rolled back the years with stories and anecdotes.
Barney Carr explains how he came to be the first Down manager and he has strong opinions about modern football. “Teams hold onto the ball for five minutes, they’re too afraid to lose. Our Down team lived on the edge”.
Sean O’Neill told the captive audience at the event how he had come onto the team in the late ’50s as it’s youngest member.
“I was fortunate because I got on the end of a rocket that took off”, says Sean, who went on to win three All Ireland medals and was named on the GAA Team of the Century.
O’Neill paid tribute to the ‘tremendous back-up’ in the Down set-up and in particular the role of Maurice Hayes in bringing the Sam Maguire cup over the border for the first time. “We were streets ahead of any other county in Ireland”.
Hayes regaled the crowd with tales of yesteryear and he listed the merits of Down’s three All Ireland winning captains from 1960,1961 and 1968 – Kevin Mussen, Paddy Doherty and Joe Lennon. The master organiser compares Doherty with hurling great Christy Ring. “Paddy was an instinctive, natural footballer, a bit like Ring in hurling”.
Doherty himself thoroughly enjoyed the reunion and reminded everyone that Down won all of their All Irelands in ’60s through the ‘Front Door’, unlike the current Tyrone team!
Like the others, James McCartan preferred football in the ’60s. “It was more honest back then. I enjoyed the physical challenges, it was all part of the game”. McCartan talks about fatherly pride in Sam Maguire victories by Down in 1960s and the 1990s, and he offers reasons for the esteem with which the Down teams are held throughout the land.
The occasion marked the opening of the second phase of the O Fiaich Library’s Ulster GAA 125 Years history exhibition, from the 1960 to the present day. The exhibition contains many items relating to the Down teams of the ’60s, including photographs, newspaper reports, awards and playing gear.
It is hoped that anyone with other footage from the era will come forward with it and contribute to the production of a 50th anniversary documentary DVD in 2010.
Related:
– Video: Maurice Hayes praises Down’s All Ireland winning captains from the ’60s – Kevin Mussen, Paddy Doherty and Joe Lennon
– Video: The mastermind behind Down’s historic successes isn’t a fan of modern day Gaelic Football
– Video: Triple All Ireland winner Sean O’Neill pays tribute to Down’s management set-up
– Video: Barney Carr – Down’s first Gaelic Football Manager
– Video: Down’s 1961 All Ireland winning captain Paddy Doherty
– Video: Down legend James McCartan talks about the glory days
