PROGRAMME PLUS VOL. 2, NUMBER 5, NOVEMBER 14 th, 2017

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1 PROGRAMME PLUS VOL. 2, NUMBER 5, NOVEMBER 14 th, 2017 Welcome readers to the latest edition of Programme Plus which arrives at a time when collectors are counting down the days to the annual fair in the Thurles Sarsfields clubhouse. It seems hard to credit that it s almost twelve months since we last made the annual pilgrimage to the mid-tipperary venue, but the time has flown in This is generally regarded as the big one in terms of programme fairs, our own little All-Ireland, so I hope as many of you as possible can circle Sunday, November 26 th, in your diaries and travel to Thurles from 12 noon to 4 p.m. In particular, it would be wonderful to see some of our new readers, or those of you only setting out on programme collecting as a hobby. To borrow an extremely well-worn cliché, there really will be something for everyone. Plentiful bargains will be available, and you never know what you might find while sifting through the boxes, as one collector s most sought-after item might be a worthless swap for someone else. On the subject of fairs, Liam Rabbitte s first venture in Turloughmore in early June was a resounding success. I feared that the crowd might be low after a few unavoidable false starts, but I was delighted with the attendance in a spacious hall where the hours flew by given the volume of collectors present. The north Galway location catered for another strand of enthusiasts, some of whom wouldn t have ventured to Thurles yet. I am hopeful that Turloughmore will become an established venue in the fair calendar just like Thurles, and the timing of it was also just about right. On the one hand, it was long enough removed from Thurles to make it an attractive trip for collectors, and equally it took place shortly before the really serious onfield business began in the provincial and All-Ireland series. Well done to Liam, and I m looking forward to returning to Turloughmore in PROGRAMME REVIEWS: Regular readers will be aware that past issues have taken a close look at newly-released programmes and reviewed them in some detail. I ve decided not to go down that route for the provincial and All-Ireland championships, though, purely because the majority of serious collectors will have seen everything there is to see at this stage. I would like to get feedback from readers on what they thought of the programme input for the inter-county championship series. What did you like and what could have been improved? There s a same-ness to a lot of programmes so what do you think: is that a good or bad thing? I ll throw in a few personal observations for what it s worth. Firstly, it has never been easier for collectors to obtain a full set of Senior championship programmes, and that s clearly a good thing. That situation was improved considerably when the Leinster Council made the decision to farm out their programmes to DBA. With DBA already looking after Connacht, that squared off two provinces, with the exception of the games played in New York and Ruislip as part of the western series. Munster will never be a problem either because Ed Donnelly is such a tremendous help to collectors in every way, while I always wait until after the conclusion of the Ulster games and then contact Stephen Donnelly in their Armagh offices to purchase the full set.

2 That s a big plus, but the question must be asked too: are some of these programmes really worth obtaining any more? I pose this in relation to the DBA output in particular, more so than Munster and Ulster where I think by and large their output is excellent. However, after nearly 30 years with the national franchise, my own view is that DBA s publications need a shake-up. They also have the franchise for the international soccer programmes, and I m a big fan of the current style deployed, especially the non-glossy paper and a brilliant new feature where they pick one club and then list all of their international appearance-makers and goalscorers. Shamrock Rovers and Leeds United got the treatment recently in two-page spreads, and it made me think: imagine if the same was done in hurling and/or football. Leo McGough would be perfect for the job. Let s say, for example, a Galway v. Waterford programme with two pages apiece on the Sarsfields and Mount Sion men who represented their respective counties down through the years. It would be a mine of information, and it s something I d love to see in Speaking of Leo, I was disappointed to see his contributions to the Leinster programmes have been significantly limited since the DBA take-over. Most of the really interesting information beforehand came from our Carlow friend with the Clare roots, and he showed his capabilities with two brilliant one-page infographics in the Irish Examiner on the mornings after both All-Ireland Senior finals. Seeing his copy less and less in the summer programmes was an undoubted negative. What s your opinion on another relatively new trend, that of the three-in-one programme such as for the Leinster hurling quarter-finals when the three games were included in one publication? It s also the done thing now with the All-Ireland qualifiers, and I think it has a plus and a minus. The advantage is that, if you re trying to collect every programme from a particular competition, there s less to seek and accumulate. On the other hand, it stands to reason that a 48-page programme covering three games will have less information on each one than a similar-sized effort for just one match. If enough feedback was supplied, perhaps we could pass on our assembled thoughts to the programme compilers, or to the G.A.A. officials they have to answer to. So it s over to you, because I d love to know what the general view is on the modern programme. WHAT S IN A NAME? I have a question for our Galway readers in particular after their welldeserved All-Ireland Senior hurling triumph, one that only a programme collector would probably ask: is their corner-back from Beagh named Adrian Tuohy, or Adrian Tuohey? The issue first cropped up in the Leinster final programme when he was listed as Tuohey, while his fellow corner-back s name was printed as John Hansbury. This prompted a small but deserved note of criticism from Paul Keane in his match report in the following day s Irish Examiner. He made the simple point that it wasn t good enough to have two names spelled incorrectly in a programme for a game of such importance. The s has been left out of Hanbury ever since, but I note with interest that Tuohey continued to appear, and that s what prompted the question in the first place. If your name is John Murphy or Jim Doyle, you re probably wondering what all the fuss is about and why is it such a big deal?

3 It s unlikely that a common name, such as the examples given, has ever been mis-spelled. However, if you ve a name like mine, errors are common place. There s four ways to spell my surname: Aherne, Ahearne, Ahern and Ahearn. And I d be a rich man indeed if I got even a penny for every time somebody made a mistake. It happens regularly in work when somebody cannot understand why an to my address bounces back; it s always because they ve added an a or subtracted an e from Aherne. As a reporter, I always try to be as accurate as possible with names. I ll never forget a proud Mammy nearly 20 years ago telling me that her county Minor s name was Páraic, not Pádraig as per the programme, and I made sure to get it right from that point on. I never rely on names submitted for a programme by a club, as they re so often wrong. The examples are hundred-fold, and more and more I find myself doing a Facebook name search for clarification. It s worth having an account I rarely use for other purposes just to be able to check players names, such as Wexford Under-21 footballer Dillon Redmond who represented Starlights in their recent county final win and subsequent Leinster Club appearance. His case is even more interesting as, when he s playing hurling with Rapparees his name is listed correctly, but whoever looks after submissions for the football side of the club insists on calling him Dylan. The problem is widespread. Look back through programmes from the late- 70s to the mid- 80s and you will see the Offaly hurling centre-forward referred to constantly as Brendan Bermingham. Collector Patrick Donegan, a Lusmagh clubmate, assures me that Brendan spelled his name exactly like the U.K. city, Birmingham. Wexford s greatest living footballer is Matty Forde, not Mattie. And G.A.A. officials from the top down need to wake up to the fact that it s Nickey Rackard, not Nicky: that one really annoys me given that his name is so prominent now whenever the lower-level hurling championships are mentioned. I could go on and on with examples, but I m sure you get my drift. There is an epidemic of incorrect spelling on team line-outs in match programmes, but it s not a new or recent phenomenon. I m sure readers can come up with several examples too, and I d like to hear from you if that s the case. Speaking of names, I discovered the answer to a question that had puzzled me for a long time when I came across a programme I was looking for, purely by chance, at the last fair in Thurles. John Kelly from Carlow occupied the table nearest the door in the Sarsfields clubhouse and, after he packed up and headed for home, a local from just down the road who had been an interested observer earlier in the day arrived back with a handful of his own programmes. I happened to be in the vicinity when he laid them on the table and, lo and behold, I spotted the All- Ireland Junior hurling championship final of 1985 between Wexford and Tipperary, played in Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, on August 18 th with Jim Joe Landers of Waterford refereeing. As far as programmes go it was no classic, a mere four black and white pages for 30p produced as per the norm at that venue by the O Loughlin Gaels club, and with a familiar advertisement for Frank Wall s Man s Shop on the back.

4 In all national record books I ve seen, there s a P. Daly listed as having come on for Wexford in their 3-9 to 1-13 victory, when the player in question was actually Pádraig Bailey. However, the programme provides the answer, because listed at number 17 is Pádraig Daly rather than Bailey. In fact, it s not the only sloppy spelling among the Wexford panel of 24. Wing-back Luke Finn s club is listed as Crawford rather than Craanford and, while full-back Willie Dunphy was indeed representing Fethard-on-Sea as per the programme, that s not the club name and it s never referred to that way; it s either Fethard, St. Mogue s or St. Mogue s (Fethard). Perhaps the compilers decided to use Fethard-on-Sea to distinguish from Fethard in south Tipperary given that the Premier county provided the opposition. Three more Wexford substitutes are also victims of incorrect spellings: Pat Hanlon instead of O Hanlon (uncle of current Senior player, Matthew); Pat Bardon instead of Barden; and Larry Barnville instead of Banville. And in another interesting quirk, the last-named substitute doesn t have his club listed - a certain Martin Storey who went on to bigger and better things! There s inaccuracies on the Tipperary side too if I m not mistaken. For starters, Martin Bourke from Clonmore - a noted historian and subscriber to this bulletin - wore the number 4 jersey but is listed as Burke. So too is his namesake at number 15, Seamus, while substitute goalkeeper James Seymour s club is down as Portrane rather than Portroe. Meanwhile, another man who graduated to Senior ranks, midfielder Colm Bonnar, is listed as Bonner. As an aside, it galls me to see the nickname of current player Patrick Maher regularly written as Bonnar, when the story of how it stems from soccer goalkeeper Packie Bonner is so commonplace. How is it possible for an All-Ireland final programme to have so many spelling errors? Well, remember that we re talking about 1985, long before the fax machine was in common usage, let alone . And, given that this was a simple four-pager, my own guess would be that the compilers picked up the telephone to Wexford and Tipperary and took down the names and clubs in that manner. I think it s a more plausible reason than County Board officials sending them their panels in written format, because there s no way anybody in Wexford would list Pádraig Bailey as Daly, or Craanford as Crawford. And why does this matter? Purely and simply because every programme will in time become a historical record, not to mention the fact that the reporters in Kilkenny that day went by what was printed in front of them. As a result, P. Daly was listed as a Wexford substitute and is now immortalised in the Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games and similar-type publications, even though he was an interloper! To conclude this piece, I shall return to my original query: is it Tuohy or Tuohey lads?! BEST WISHES: Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Bobby McIlhatton, that gentlemanly collector from the glens of Antrim, who left hospital last week after having a hip replacement. Another man on the mend, this time after a total knee replacement, is Down collector Michael Anderson who is also a good friend to many fellow enthusiasts all over the country. Hopefully both men will be fighting fit again and awaiting the call for the first 15 in no time! Another very helpful collector, Jim Whelan in Graiguenamanagh, suffered a bereavement since our last bulletin when his father, Toddy,

5 passed away during the summer. The sympathy of the collecting community is extended to Jim and family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. GALWAY REQUEST: Ray O Dowd ( ) is looking for Galway G.A.A. tickets from 1964, 1966 and 1983, and/or programmes from 1964, 1965 and 1966 if anyone can oblige. DANIEL CAHILL: Collector Daniel Cahill (danielcahill95@hotmail.com) sent the following message last month if anyone wants to make direct contact: If anybody is attending county finals or club matches over the weekend or coming weekends I would be very grateful if people picked up a spare programme as I am a big programme collector and would love to see programmes from matches all over the country. Also if anybody has old programmes that they no longer want I would be delighted to take them off of your hands. PIN BADGE REQUEST: Some collectors might be able to assist with the following request from Neil McCarthy - I am a collector of all G.A.A. related lapel pin badges and would really appreciate any help in growing the collection. If you know of any G.A.A. club or corporate sponsor who have done pin badges, please let me know at nlmccarthy@eircom.net. Here s hoping to hear from ye soon and thanks for your time. YOUNG COLLECTOR: Earlier in the year I received an from Noreen Cashman in Cork whose son, Ewan (10), is a voracious reader of every programme he can get his hands on. Ewan is a hurling fanatic and an ardent follower of the Cork team in particular, and he loves reading up on the history of the game and enhancing his knowledge. There is an interesting back story to Ewan s hurling obsession as his mother explained. We adopted Ewan on from Vietnam so he definitely goes against the grain of having hurling in the blood!! As he says himself, my hurley is my third hand. He doesn t miss a Cork match up and down the country (challenge or other), and many a time had to go to a neutral game if he thought it was going to be worthwhile. I thought it was a lovely story and sent Ewan some programmes, with the approval of his mother of course. I know he would love to receive more so, if your collection space is cluttered and you re thinking of throwing out some swaps that you reckon everyone has, why not send them to Ewan instead as he would really appreciate it? His address is Páirc Na Bhfian, Cahermone, Midleton, Co. Cork, but contact his mother, Noreen (ncashman249@hotmail.com) just to give her some prior warning. I have included a photograph of Ewan, with his mother s permission, among the images being sent in a separate . It s always great to hear from a younger collector, because there s not too many under the age of 40 any more, let alone a 10-year-old! I hope Ewan gets as much pleasure from this wonderful hobby as the rest of us have down through the years. CONFUSION IN TULLAMORE: I am intrigued by a recent acquisition to my collection, and I m hoping somebody might be able to throw some light on the situation. It concerns a double-header in O Connor Park, Tullamore, on June 15 th, 1980, with Kildare playing Carlow in the All-Ireland Senior hurling B home final before Meath took on Westmeath in the Leinster Senior football championship.

6 And here s the interesting part: two match programmes, bearing no resemblance in appearance, were produced for the occasion. The first has purple type on a light green cover, comprised 20 pages and was on sale for 20p. The only reference to the hurling curtain-raiser in on the cover, and the teams aren t listed inside. There s no words of welcome from a Chairman or P.R.O. either, but it s clear from the ads - practically all from Navan businesses - that this programme was produced in Meath. That makes me wonder if the games were originally fixed for Páirc Tailteann. Anyway, the plot thickened so to speak when I discovered a separate programme for the same double bill folded inside the item described above. This one was just four pages with black type on light yellow paper, with a 10p cover charge and a credit on the cover for Kearns Printers in Tullamore. The hurling referee is correctly listed on this cover (S. Brennan as opposed to Seán Duggan from Galway whose name appeared on the Meath version). The back page is completely blank, and the centrespread lists the four line-outs albeit in sparse fashion, with no clubs printed and only initials for the Christian names of the entire Kildare and Westmeath panels plus some of the Carlow and Meath squads. My yellow programme is neatly annotated and reveals a crowd of 8,000 plus the match results along with individual scorers: Kildare 5-21, Carlow 3-16; Meath 4-12, Westmeath 1-5. I d love to know why two programmes were produced. Were the games hastily moved from Navan to Tullamore for some reason? Or was it decided to produce the yellow one at the last minute when someone realised that the hurling teams weren t included in the green version? There is another possible answer: given the absence of the G.A.A. crest or any formal welcome in the Meath programme, was it unofficial and produced by someone keen to make a quick bob from businesses in and around Navan? If that was the case, it certainly proved lucrative as 16 ads were featured. I m not so sure that s the reason though, because this programme is well produced and informative, with a lot more detail than what was the norm for the unofficial versions of my youth. Given Carlow s involvement, perhaps Leo McGough has the answer. I ve forwarded images of both covers in the hope that they might jog somebody s memory. CENTENARY CUP MEMORIES: How many of you remember the novelty that was the Centenary Cup, and the Ford Open Draw that followed in 1985 before these straight knockout competitions held between the league and championship were discontinued? This was 17 years before the arrival of the All-Ireland football qualifiers of course, so they threw up a number of unusual pairings and created a bit of excitement at the time. However, some counties weren t as enthusiastic about the follow-up in 1985, with a handful deciding not to compete as the games played havoc with local club fixtures. It was largely for this reason that the decision was taken not to proceed with the competitions after Just to underline the initial interest in the Centenary Cup, I have taken the date for the first round games in football - April 8 th, and selected seven programmes for games played that day, five cross-province encounters plus a couple of all-connacht clashes.

7 I ll start in Aughrim where Wicklow hosted Clare, with the game preceded by a secondary schools Senior football final between Arklow C.B.S. and Carnew V.S. This was 16 pages plus cover (featuring the only dash of colour - blue and gold) for 50p, and there was quite an amount of interesting detail contained inside. Ex-national President Hugh Byrne is pictured receiving a presentation from the man at the helm at the time, Paddy Buggy, who had visited the last Wicklow Convention, and the welcoming words of Co. Chairman Peter Keogh are carried alongside. There s a half page of Clare snippets above the schools roll of honour since 1973 and a mention for Centenary Cup referee Tony Jordan, from Dublin via Galway. Next up is a page feature on Paddy Kennedy, a talented Clare-born all-rounder and ex-dublin player whose family resided in Ashford, Co. Wicklow. Overleaf is a photograph of the All-Ireland winning Dublin Senior football team of 1942, fully captioned and including the subject of this article. A page titled Olympic Heroes follows, with the intro explaining that in an Olympic Games year this feature recalls the exploits of two former Irish participants: Pat McDonnell from Doonbeg and Peter O Connor from Ashford. The previous meetings page details a clash in 1887 in the first All-Ireland championship which didn t go ahead. Wicklow were drawn to play Clare in Athlone on a Tuesday but, due to the long journey which would entail being away from home for three days Wicklow did not travel. They met in a National League semi-final in 1947, the year of the big snow, and further group game clashes took place in 1972, 1973 and The words to ballads have appeared frequently in Wicklow programmes down through the years, and this one had In the fair land of Dwyer. The teams listed on the centrespread didn t carry club details and only Christian name initials. In contrast, the players in the schools game had their full names printed. The next page was filled with team photographs of Doonbeg and Blessington, the respective county champions for 1983, and Noel Walsh wrote a piece on the Clare team underneath a snippet recalling 1917 when the visitors contested their sole All-Ireland Senior football final. Hugh Byrne is photographed again on the next page, flanked by two fellow former Leinster Council chairmen in John Dowling and Paddy Buggy. Dowling, of course, would go on to follow in their footsteps by also serving as national President. Jimmy Dunne writes about the Clare connection to the Christian Brothers in Arklow, and the programme concludes with a series of photographs and the words to The Cliffs Of Duneen. The only ad is on the back page, and it s clear that Wicklow made an effort to mark this special occasion with a decent programme. Up in Pearse Park, Longford, on the same day, the locals hosted Down, and the informative eightpage programme cost 30p. The colourful cover featured both county crests plus four copies of the special G.A.A. crest for centenary year, with Leitrim s Tommy Moran listed as referee. There s a bit of general early Longford history on page two, opposite the words of welcome of Mel McCormack (Chairman) and the team details for four previous meetings: a challenge in 1965, a game in Rostrevor the following year, the grounds tournament clash in Croke Park in 1968, and the opening of the Longford Slashers complex in The teams on the centrespread are again without club names and Christian names, with the odd exception of the Down substitutes whose full names are the only ones listed. However, the clubs of the starting 15s are carried on pages five and six as part of one-line pen pictures also detailing age

8 and job. Underneath are photographs of the Down All-Ireland winners of 1960 and the Longford team which took on Kerry in the 1984 National League quarter-final, as well as a profile of Tommy Moran and thanks from the P.R.O. There s an ad for programme sponsors Killeshandra Co-Op on the back page. From Leinster we venture north for three games, starting with Armagh against Wexford in Lurgan s Davitt Park under the guidance of John Gough from Antrim who had been kept busy in the previous year s All-Ireland final. It was 20p for eight black and white pages, with a welcome from Armagh manager Fr. Seán Hegarty on page two above a short profile on the man in the middle. There s a Wexford team photograph from four years earlier in 1980 on page three, as the counties met twice that year in a drawn and replayed National League quarter-final in Croke Park. Forthcoming Armagh fixtures are listed underneath. This time club names did adorn the line-outs, but once again only one set of substitutes - the Armagh men - had their Christian names fully outlined. Page five has a brief piece on Wexford s golden football period from 1913 to 1918, plus information on four previous meetings. Two were challenge games, in Carrickcruppen and at the opening of floodlights in St. Patrick s Park, Enniscorthy, along with the aforementioned league ties in The teams from the drawn game are listed, again with initials only. The last piece of reading is a poem titled The Bad Referee before a couple of ads on the back page. Our journey takes us next to O Neill Park in Dungannon where Tyrone met Kildare with Damien Campbell from Fermanagh in charge, the last bespectacled inter-county referee that readily springs to mind. It was just four black and white pages for 10p. The Tyrone names were in full without clubs, while the Christian names of the Kildare 15 were initialled and substitutes were not available. The back page gave the dates and venues for a special G.A.A. centenary exhibition that was set to cater for every club in Tyrone from May to September. There was always plenty of material in the Donegal programmes in those days, and they didn t disappoint with a 32-page offering for the visit of Kerry to Ballybofey. There wasn t a cover charge on the programme, but we learn that Pádraig Gorman from Sligo was the referee and there was a Minor football curtain-raiser between Donegal and Monaghan. After the Chairman s welcome and Kerry s roll of honour, there was a fully-captioned photograph of the Kerry team which played Donegal at the official opening of the day s venue, MacCumhaill Park, on April 22 nd, Donegal s roll of honour is followed by the listing of teams from three previous meetings - the 1954 All-Ireland Junior home final in Croke Park, that Ballybofey pitch opening in 1956, and another challenge game in the north-west venue in Younger readers may find it hard to believe that the counties had never met in league or championship before this first competitive Senior clash in centenary year. The Donegal team from that 1956 opening also commands a page, and there s a photograph of their county executive above two snippets outlining how Kerry s Tom Prendergast played with MacCumhaills and Donegal in 1969, while Seamus Mac Gearailt lined out with Gweedore in 1971 and 1972 after winning an All-Ireland with the Kingdom in We learn that Prendergast couldn t hold

9 his place at corner-forward with Donegal but captained Kerry from right half-back to their Sam Maguire triumph the following year! A photograph of the Donegal centenary committee is followed by one-page pen pictures of the teams on either side of the centrespread. The line-outs have full Christian names but no clubs. The Minor line-outs are listed, before a page featuring brief profiles of Donegal s P.R.O. and Liaison Officer, Seán McGoldrick and Kieran McCready respectively. There s also three paragraphs of thanks from the P.R.O., a well-known inter-county referee and former official in Tyrone. Next up is a page with five head and shoulders photographs of Donegal manager Brian McEniff, trainer, P.J. McGowan, captain Mickey Lafferty, Under-21 manager Seamus Gallagher, and Minor manager Pat Conaghan. A current Donegal team photograph isn t captioned, and their forthcoming fixtures are listed on the opposite page. Another page with five photographs follows, this time of All-Star Martin McHugh, trainer Austin Coughlan, mentor Jimmy Cunningham, Minor Board Registrar Edward Molloy, and Minor Board Secretary Colm Toland. An interesting two-page historical spread follows, outlining the first inter-county game between Donegal and Derry played in 1906 which is re-produced from the programme for that MacCumhaill Park opening 50 years later. Two pages follow on the plans to mark centenary year before a photograph of a sponsorship presentation completes a detailed programme. Thirteen and a half of the 32 pages comprise ads, and the only colour is the green type on yellow cover. The look back in time to April 8 th, 1984, concludes in Connacht. No doubt there was disappointment that the Centenary Cup draw pitted Leitrim at home to Galway - nothing new there. The game in Carrick-on-Shannon was refereed by Westmeath s Paddy Collins, with the four-page programme costing 10p. The type was dark green on white paper, with a two-line welcome and a couple of forthcoming fixtures on the back. Only a Galway 15 was listed, with full names but no clubs, and it was the same for Leitrim s team while the men wearing 16 to 25 had their Christian names initialled. The biggest programme from this selection in terms of pages (36) was produced for another Connacht derby up the road in Markievicz Park between Sligo and Mayo. However, patrons who parted with 30p probably felt short-changed, as there was a blank space where the Mayo line-out should have been! By way of an explanation, it stated that The Park Committee regrets that due to injuries the Mayo Team had not been selected at the time of printing the Programme. Sligo s was listed with initials only, apart from the Jim and John to distinguish the Kents filling the right half-back and centre half-forward slots. This was an all-black and white job full of ads: 28 and a half pages in total. Seán Mullaney from Roscommon refereed, and the minimal reading material included a centenary year calendar; a few paragraphs on Countess Markievicz; a piece on past meetings with the focus, unsurprisingly, on Sligo s famous 1975 win; a general page on G.A.A. history; line-outs from meetings in 1949 and 1962; and a did you know page? So there you have it, a snapshot of one day from our centenary year when a new competition created a bit of a buzz in a lot of venues around the country. The programmes varied in size, style and content, but at least there was some variety to them. That remains the case for National League group games, one of the reasons why some collectors still avidly hunt them down.

10 BOOK REVIEWS: Ask me anything you like about the G.A.A. in Laois, and there s a good chance I ll be able to come up with an answer; just give me a few minutes to peruse The Laois GAA Records Bible by John Phelan and I m sure the information will be contained therein. With rolls of honour and team line-outs for every county final you can think of, not to mention copious intercounty details, this 660-page A4 tome is literally bursting with facts and figures. Two Laois greats, hurler Christy O Brien and footballer Tommy Boy Wonder Murphy, adorn the front and back covers along with the crests of all the clubs in the county which is a nice touch. On the club history front, there s a very professional and slick design to Aghamore The Story of a Rural Mayo GAA Club - Ar Son na Cúise. Jackie Coyne edited this hardback which runs to 336 pages, and a lot of consideration has been given to the lay-out. The home club of tigerish cornerback Brendan Harrison now has a club history book up there with the very best of them. I know that Garnish in Cork and Kilkerrin-Clonberne (Galway) also published in recent months, but I haven t seen either book yet. Former County Board and Leinster Chairman Jim Berry is making solid progress with the history of the St. Anne s (Rathangan) club here in Wexford. And of course, Liam O Donnchú s Thurles Sarsfields GAA Story Volume was launched only last Friday and will be on the to buy list for many collectors heading to their clubhouse on Sunday week. The History of GAA in New Ross 100 years & Wexford s Glorious Hurling Years by Pat Nolan is a very curious mix. First of all, it s not a town history in the strictest sense, rather an amalgam of various bits and pieces Nolan has gathered over the years. He was substitute goalkeeper for the Wexford hurlers in the late 1960s to the other Pat Nolan, from Oylegate-Glenbrien. The book consists of 604 A4 pages with a paperback cover, but it has been compiled without any professional input. It s like an amalgam of scrapbooks, with countless cut and paste jobs from old newspapers and magazines, and much of the content interspersed with Nolan s own handwriting in the margins. It s definitely different, I ll give it that! It s worth keeping an eye out for A Land of Men and Giants: Tony Doran by Liam Hayes which was also launched recently. Like many Wexford people of my age, Tony was my boyhood hero, and the image of this gifted red-haired number 14 heading for goal with the sliothar in his grasp will stay with me forever. The Sportsfile team timed the release of Great Moments In Hurling to coincide with September s All-Ireland hurling final. For fans of A Season Of Sundays this is a mini-version with a full emphasis on the small ball, and I assume there will be a follow-up at some stage, possibly next August/September, to cover football. I haven t had an opportunity to read all of the books on general release since September and October with a keen eye on the Christmas market, but the best far thus far was The Choice by Philly McMahon. This is a raw and compelling account focused largely on his life outside football, and principally the drug addiction of his only brother, John, who died at the age of 31 in It seems to me that so many of these books are simply written for the sake of it, along with the hope of making a few bob along the way, but this one is different because it deals with a real-life tragedy and how

11 McMahon has dealt with it. If you don t like his on-field persona, read this and I d be surprised if it doesn t change your opinion of the Ballymurn Kickhams clubman. Of the others I have read so far, and at the risk of offending our Kerry and Kilkenny readers, I didn t find anything particularly earth-shattering in Gooch - The Autobiography or The Warrior s Code - Jackie Tyrrell. Having said that, I m rarely impressed by books of that nature. I was taken aback by the constant use of bad language in Gooch s book, and I wondered if it was a misguided attempt to rid him of the saintly image his youthful looks have bestowed on him through the years. If it was, then it didn t work. If, on the other hand, that s really the language he uses on a day-to-day basis, then it s a far cry from his classy approach on the field. As for Jackie, it would be the understatement of the year to suggest that his book has rubbed Tipperary people up the wrong way. He refers to himself in various parts in the third person as JT, and that s always an instant turn-off as far as I m concerned. There s certainly no absence of confidence on his part, and his determination to succeed brought him ample rewards. To sum up, if you re from Kerry you ll lap up the Gooch book, and Tyrrell s will be required reading in Kilkenny. For the neutrals, though, there s more engrossing publications out there, and another one in particular, as well as McMahon s, I would highly recommend. That s The Pursuit of Perfection - The Life, Death and Legacy of Cormac McAnallen. The Tyrone star s big brother, Dónal, has written a wonderful account of an all-too short life that was lived to the full, and I found the book hard to put down. It s moving in parts, inspiring in others, and the author s recollection of that fateful night when Cormac passed away is difficult to read without shedding a tear or two. The subject matter is raw, given that we know in advance that the ending is so sad, and it must have extremely tough for Dónal to get it all down on paper. I m glad he did, though, because he has produced a fitting memorial to a life well lived, and a book I reckon I will read again long after I ve forgotten the bland output from a succession of stars. Finally, I read the latest offering from prolific author John Scally: The GAA Immortals Gaelic Games Legends. Given that the book runs to just 378 pages, it means that there isn t a great amount of detail on each individual covered, and I would strongly debate the legends claim in several cases. To be fair to the writer, he does state in his foreword that it s a very subjective opinion, and that his main concern was to ensure that all of the 32 counties were covered. Perhaps choosing 50 people rather than 100 would have facilitated the narrative and fleshed out each subject, but if you were a fan of the late Brendan Fullam s books you ll probably like this too. THE SWAPS LIST - BREVITY OR DETAIL?: I m told that the general preference among collectors is to receive swaps lists with the minimum of information, short, snappy and to the point. For example, most people would be happy to see MSHC final 80, 81, 82 and know exactly what it refers to, without being told that the games involved Limerick v. Cork, Limerick v. Clare, and Cork v. Waterford in that order. However, I beg to differ somewhat, and here s why: the prevalence of the double-header in the G.A.A. world. If you re a soccer collector, it s quite a straightforward exercise because you can look for your favourite club s home and away programmes knowing that they re the main event on any

12 given day. There s never a curtain-raiser of equal prominence before a soccer match, but, on the other hand, the vast majority of G.A.A. games are part of double- or triple-headers, particularly during the summer months. Why is this important with regard to a swaps list? Well, I reckon many collectors have items on their wanted lists without realising that the game in question was played along with something else. And that s why if I m listing a swap, I think in many cases it s worth including the curtain-raiser too. I m not talking about the really obvious. For example, we all know that the All-Ireland Senior finals have been preceded by the Minor equivalent for many years, or that the All-Ireland Vocational Schools finals were played before the vast majority of National League deciders in the 1970s and 1980s. However, it s not always as straightforward, and I intend to provide a few examples in order to highlight my point. What follows is merely a random sample, but I think it underlines the extent of the situation and the importance of providing detail rather than brevity in lists. Here s a good example to start with: if you re missing some All-Ireland Under-21 football finals, did you know that the Cork v. Derry clash in 1985 was played before the All-Ireland Senior football semifinal replay between Kerry and Monaghan, so that, in actual fact, is the programme you re after? Sticking with that year and the other semi-final replay (Dublin v. Mayo), its curtain-raiser was the replay of the All-Ireland Junior football final between Kerry and Galway. Another Junior decider, that of 1988 between Meath and London, was held before the Royals beat Cork in the All-Ireland Senior football final replay. Important colleges games are often played prior to inter-county engagements. For example, St. Kieran s met Birr in the Leinster Senior A hurling final of 2005 before Laois took on Kilkenny in a Division 1 league match. And if you re missing the Oireachtas final of 1980 between Offaly and Wexford, the programme you actually need is the Offaly Senior hurling final of that year. County final collectors should note that the Dublin football decider of 1982 between Ballymun Kickhams and Erin s Isle was held before the Offaly v. Laois Leinster Senior hurling championship semi-final replay in Croke Park. A lot of All-Ireland Senior hurling B finals were played before Leinster championship games in the 1980s in particular, such as Meath v. Down in 1985 (prior to the Senior hurling semi-finals, Laois v. Wexford and Offaly v. Kilkenny), or Wicklow v. Derry in 1996 (before two more hurling semi-finals, Wexford v. Dublin and Offaly v. Laois). The home final of 1991 (Westmeath v. Carlow) was played prior to the Meath v. Dublin second replay in that famous football saga. The All-Ireland Junior hurling final of 1993 (Clare v. Kilkenny) was on the same bill as the Leinster Senior hurling championship final replay between Kilkenny and Wexford. And when one strays into Railway Cup territory, some interesting examples are available. Take the hurling final of 1995 between Munster and Ulster, played before the All-Ireland Senior Club hurling final replay featuring Birr and Dunloy. Or how about both Railway Cup finals in 1979, a programme that is shared with the All-Ireland Senior Club football final of that year when Nemo

13 Rangers beat Scotstown. The hurling semi-final in 1978 (Leinster v. Ulster) is a four-pager that also features the Leinster Senior Club hurling final clash of Rathnure and Fenians. As I say, that s only a brief sample of a quite common occurrence. I m not suggesting that collectors should go to extremes. For example, if you re listing a county final there s no need to mention the Minor B hurling semi-final played before it. But if you do see something that may be important in its own right from the point of view of potentially filling a collecting gap, then by all means give it a mention and don t worry about the brevity brigade. Some of them tend to forget that there s no set rules in this particular hobby. DIRECTORY OF COLLECTORS: The 17th edition of the directory of collectors is attached in a Microsoft Word document, with no new additions but an updated address for Keith Heffernan. Thanks to all those who took the time out to forward their details, and it s not too late for others to follow suit. I intend to attach this directory every issue, so any additions or amendments will be accommodated. Hopefully it will help collectors in their quest to establish new contacts or liaise with people with similar interests. ADVERTISING THIS BULLETIN: If you know your local programme compiler, please cut and paste the following and ask them if they would be kind enough to include it in their upcoming programmes: PROGRAMME PLUS INFORMATION BULLETIN 'Programme Plus' is an information bulletin for collectors of GAA match programmes, histories, yearbooks, magazines, photographs, etc. It is distributed via and is free of charge, with its sole aim being to highlight all aspects of collecting for enthusiasts. In order to be added to the mailing list, please forward your address to Alan Aherne who is compiling the information bulletin (alanahernesars@gmail.com). PAST EDITIONS: All past editions are available via the following link, with thanks to James Lundon for his efforts in making it happen: CONCLUSION: That s the end of the 17 th edition, dear readers. Whether it survives into 2018 depends entirely on the feedback received, because if collectors aren t willing to engage and submit material, there will be no point in continuing. I shall bid you farewell on that note, and fervently hope that my inbox starts hopping with items for future issues. Mise le meas, ALAN AHERNE