Victory in Leinster, 1980

The Leinster Senior Hurling championship of 1980 was the first to take place under the “Open Draw” system, meaning that Kilkenny and Wexford would no longer be kept on different sides of the draw. Offaly were trained by Andy Gallagher (Tullamore) as well as Dermot Healy, and the other selectors were Tommy Erritty (Coolderry), Charlie Daly (Na Piarsaigh), Mick Spain (Drumcullen) and Paudge Mulhare (St Rynagh’s). Offaly’s campaign began at Portlaoise with a 2-10 to 0-12 victory over Laois. Damien Martin’s hand injury led to his replacement by Seir Kieran’s Noel Bergin, and the other two Clareen players were Eugene Coughlan and Joe Mooney. The Semi-final took place on 8 June 1980, when Offaly beat Dublin (despite an eye injury to Mark Corrigan) by 0-18 to 0-10. The Faithful County were through to their first Leinster Senior Hurling final since 1969, with Damien Martin and Kinnitty’s Johnny Flaherty the only players to bridge the gap. The opposition was again Kilkenny, and they also fielded two survivors from the 1969 encounter – Noel Skehan and Liam “Chunky” O’Brien.

Before a poor attendance of 9,631, Offaly’s seismic 3-17 to 5-10 victory was as glorious for the manner in which it was achieved as for the way it overturned the Faithful County’s seven previous defeats at this stage. Offaly won because, apart from the character that allowed them to shrug off the five Kilkenny goals, they had the fitness to harry the aristocrats mercilessly for the entire seventy minutes, and the skill and economy to convert most of their own scoring chances. Kilkenny full forward Matthew Ruth’s quicksilver display continued to trouble the Offaly defence even after the introduction of substitute Eugene Coughlan. Nonetheless, it was the rattled Kilkenny mentors who rang in the changes at the start of the second half. Offaly had gone three points down when they were awarded a penalty, which Pádraig Horan blasted shoulder-high. Although Sekhan parried, the talismanic Brendan Bermingham (Lusmagh) pounced to level the match. A minute later Horan sent to Johnny Flaherty, who hand-passed to the net. Ruth got a goal back as Kilkenny almost pulled off a Houdini act; but Ger Henderson’s 80-yard free drifted wide and the underdogs clung on. In his Evening Press column the following day, Con Houlihan depicted the post-match scene:“But then Noel O’Donoghue made a gesture that signified that he had put in the full stop… The joy on the terraces was all-embracing. Every Offaly citizen in the stands seemed to have been catapulted onto the pitch, and we saw men entitled to free travel go bounding across the turf like young greyhounds let loose in the morning.”

Andy Gallagher’s assessment summed it up: “They had faith in themselves and in Offaly hurling. Those who opposed the open draw in Leinster got their answer today.” It was a day of contrasting emotions for team captain Pádraig Horan – not long after he had lifted the massive Bob O’Keeffe Cup, he received word that his father Tommy had died suddenly. The entire Kilkenny hurling team were present at Ballivor, Banagher for the removal to St Rynagh’s Church the following evening. Aside from this sad event, Offaly’s celebrations were unconfined – especially when their Senior footballers overcame Dublin to make it an Offaly Double in Leinster. The hurlers advanced to their first Senior All Ireland Semi-final on 3 August 1980, where a more experienced Galway side narrowly won out (4-9 to 3-10). Eugene Coughlan at corner back was effecting many huge clearances, until he was sent to midfield early in the second half. As the constant drizzle turned into a deluge, Galway went six points up. Although Sylvie Linnane was dismissed, the Tribesmen deftly re-organised and extended their lead to eight points. It took Offaly a while to figure out how to deploy the numerical advantage. Eventually Joe Mooney was brought on as the “available” attacker, and Brendan Bermingham’s goal plus a late 1-1 from Mark Corrigan left it nick-or-nothing at the finish. Only for a short time did defeat put a dampener on Offaly’s epochal breakthrough – which was given added lustre when Pat Carroll and Joachim Kelly received the Faithful County’s first All Star Awards in hurling since Damien Martin in 1971.

The 1981 campaign

Over the winter of 1980/81, another teak-tough National Hurling League campaign brought the team further on. At Nowlan Park on 19 April 1981, 14-man Offaly held out for a 2-13 to 4-6 League Semi-final win against Laois, after another cliffhanger of hard close pulling. Pat Delaney lofted in a free that Paddy Kirwan sent to the net for what proved the decisive score, despite a furious Laois onslaught in the dying minutes. Some 19,000 spectators came to Thurles on 3 May for the League Final itself. Offaly won the toss and opted to play against the wind and hail – only to be rocked by Cork’s opening salvo of two goals and three points. Offaly effected a tremendous fightback, holding the Rebels scoreless for the last 14 minutes, but they had left themselves with too steep a climb. Cork took the League Title by 3-11 to 2-8.

That year’s Leinster Senior Hurling Semi-final (21 June 1981), would be the only championship match of the 1980s or 1990s where Offaly took to the field minus a Seir Kieran contingent. Laois again almost upset the apple cart, as Dermot Healy’s charges somehow evaded the usual consequences of piling 20 wides on top of the concession of six goals and ten points. Two penalties and two long-range shots deceived goalie Christy King, while Laois full forward PJ Cuddy had done serious damage by the time Pat Delaney was switched to take him on. Offaly’s own tally of 3-20 included a first-half Pádraig Horan goal that had only got in through a big tear in the side netting. Even so, the game was still deadlocked when Offaly were awarded a free over 100 yards out. With the last puck of the game, Paddy Kirwan heroically converted it, for Offaly to reach the Provincial decider by the very skin of their teeth.

On the other side of the draw, Wexford had also advanced, to the first Leinster Final without the Cats since 1961. Eugene Coughlan was handed the number 3 jersey for Offaly – seven years would go by before any other player would wear it in the Senior Hurling Championship – while Damien Martin resumed as first-choice goalkeeper. One of the key duels was Coughlan versus the Wexford full forward, Tony Doran. Early on in the match, amidst a thicket of hurleys that swung on an incoming Wexford ball, Doran went down with a badly gashed forehead and had to be substituted. However, this remained a hum-dinger throughout, as twice Offaly were getting on top and twice Wexford hauled it back. Despite Colm Doran finding the net, from a long-range free two minutes from time, it was Offaly’s calmness and self-belief that won out. Damien Martin pucked to Pádraig Horan in midfield, who sent sweetly to Johnny Flaherty and over the bar, to make it 3-12 to 2-13 at the long whistle.

The Leinster Champions won direct passage to the All Ireland Final, played on 6 September 1981. The opposition were defending champions Galway, who had overcome Munster champions Limerick in the Semi-final (following a replay). The official attendance of 71,384 (the highest in 18 years) saw Offaly win their first Senior Hurling Title. Galway made the play for long spells, and the Offaly defence absorbed huge pressure. Eugene Coughlan at full back kept John Connolly scoreless, and it was the same for Joe Connolly when he was switched to full forward. Pat Fleury likewise neutralised Bernie Forde, to round out a flawless campaign in which none of Fleury’s direct opponents scored at all.

At the other end, Pat Carroll’s knee-high shot beat Galway goalkeeper Michael Conneely to keep Offaly in touch, notwithstanding Galway’s first-half dominance. However, this was a team performance with each line of Offaly’s formation sticking to the game plan. They were as disciplined as they were tenacious – whereas Joe Connolly converted six times from placed balls in the first half, Offaly conceded just one free after the break. Galway still retained a sizable lead when midfielder Liam Currams (sporting a light beard in what was then a clean-shaven world) soloed forward to score a sweet point. Michael O’Hehir the RTE commentator likened the sliotar on Currams’s hurley to “a fried egg on a frying pan”. Centre-back Pat Delaney landed an inspirational point from a huge distance. From the puck-out, Galway quickly sent to Noel Lane in the danger area, who whipped in a ferocious shot. Damien Martin was at full stretch in less than a heartbeat, to somehow turn its trajectory around the upright. Offaly made the most of their reprieve, Johnny Flaherty reducing the margin to two with a well-worked point. Pat Delaney reached skyward to intercept Iggy Clarke’s long clearance, laying off to Brendan Bermingham at half forward who hand-passed to Johnny Flaherty, momentarily in the clear. Although the defence converged rapidly, Flaherty palmed over his left shoulder to the net. It was a goal that staggered the Tribesmen, and gave fresh light to the ancient writing on the Walls of Galway: “From the fury of the O’Flaherties, Good Lord deliver us”.Offaly scored twice more for a three-point margin of victory (2-12 to 0-15).

Reverberations in Clareen, 1980 and 1981

On the “domestic” scene, Seir Kieran went down to Kinnitty (1-19 to 3-8) and to Ballyskenagh (4-9 to 4-7) in the 1980 Senior Hurling Championship, and to St Rynagh’s (4-16 to 2-7) in 1981. Even so, their contribution to the Faithful County’s cause gave a tremendous boost to the profile of the club, and to its grip on the imagination of the rising generation in Clareen. The massive Bob O’Keeffe trophy came to the Seir Kieran National School in March 1981, along with Leinster Championship medal-holders Noel Bergin, Joe Mooney and Eugene Coughlan. Club chairman Tim Mulrooney, Offaly hurling secretary Tony Murphy, and Seamus Mulrooney were in attendance as well. There were even more ebullient scenes when Offaly recorded their famous All Ireland victory over Galway. On the Monday night, preceded by the Mountbolus Pipe Band, the new Champions had a rapturous reception into Emmett Square in Birr. The platform set up for the occasion was a converted articulated trailer provided by Frank Whitten of Clareen. Similar outpourings of pride and acclaim awaited the panel on its tour of the rural hurling strongholds. When they reached Mrs. May Bruce’s post office just above the Clareen cross-roads, team captain Pádraig Horan handed the Liam MacCarthy Cup over to Eugene Coughlan, and in that manner the cavalcade arrived in Seir Kieran.