The days when Glenamaddy were queens of Galway camogie

IF the story of St. Mary's of Glenamaddy/Kilkerrin camogie club was a Hollywood movie, it would be up there to rival any of the silver screen's greatest offerings – Raging Bull, Hoosiers, Field of Dreams, Miracle, Remember the Titans, We are Marshall or Coach Carter.

Quite simply, buried in the heartland of Galway football – with no hurling played at all in the locality – St. Mary's defied all the odds to become one of the great Galway camogie teams, winning county senior titles in 1983, ‘84, ‘87 and ‘88. It was truly a remarkable achievement but, then again, this was a truly remarkable squad of individuals tutored by a truly remarkable group of mentors.

Camogie was first introduced into Glenamaddy by teacher Sr. Fatima (Sr. Angela Hoare) through Coláiste Seosaimh in 1966 in an effort to encourage girls to participate in sport. In 1970, a new curate, Fr. Sean Higgins, was appointed to Glenamaddy and later that year he and others – such as Sr. Fatima, Peadar O'Dowd of St. Benin's VS, Mary Monaghan and Anne Quinn – established the local club.

They entered the junior championship the following year and, out of nothing, began to build momentum to reach the knockout stages. One of the key players of the time was Patricia Keady (nee Halloran) and she fondly remembers being flown home from England for the semi-final, its replay and the county final victory over Gurteen. They subsequently went on to win the 1971 Connacht championship.

"I was over in college in England but Fr. Higgins had the foresight to bring me home," recalls former midfielder Keady, as she proudly sifts through the old scrapbooks in her home in Glenamaddy.

"Somebody once asked would I have been the first ever (camogie player) flown home from abroad for a match? I don't know but what I am trying to say is Fr. Higgins had that way about him. Nothing was impossible with him. Those times, in the 1970s and '80s, to fly somebody home three times was remarkable. It just tells you a bit about him."

Indeed, chatting to Glenamaddy players from the '70s and '80s, Fr. Higgins influence becomes clear. "Not alone in the camogie side of it, but from the side of dealing with a group of girls. In those times, you wouldn't be going too many places. He brought camaraderie to it and he taught us certain values that have stood to us and helped us in later life.”

Keady believes Higgins' influence is the underlining reason why many of the girls are as close today as they were back then. "Camogie meant so much to us. As a group of girls, we are still all very friendly. I suppose, we were all young girls at the time but the values we carried from him – from sportsmanship to loyalty to looking after one another – has stayed with us. As I say, we still meet up after all those years, which is something."

After the ’71 victory, the titles started to flow. County League silverware was subsequently claimed in '75 and '76 before, having been re-graded back to junior, they claimed their second county and provincial championship crowns at this grade in '76.

Their return to senior, once again, resulted in some severe defeats – mainly at the hands of Athenry – in the late '70s but the winds of change began to blow as Coláiste Seosamh won its first Connacht Senior 'A' schools title in 1981 before the club's minor side secured the league title that same year.

Interestingly, that school's team was captained by Rita Divilly – Galway hurler Johnny Coen's mother – while Coen's father Tommy would later coach the senior club side in the late 80s as they made their bid for All-Ireland glory.

In any event, the big breakthrough came in 1983 when they defeated defending champions Athenry on a scoreline of 2-5 to 1-3 in the final, with forward Keady – now teaching at Coláiste Seosamh herself - scoring the vital second goal and Kitty Hoey (Tierney) and Ann Gallagher (Freaney) tallying two late points.

They subsequently defeated Knockcroghery of Roscommon in the Connacht decider before springing a surprise over Munster champions Croagh-Kilfinny of Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-final to set up a meeting with Buffers Alley of Wexford in the club showpiece.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.