Interview Report Form

GAA Oral History Project Interview Report Form Name of Interviewer Joe Jordan Date of Interview 7 th Feb 2011 Location Name of Interviewee (Maiden name / Nickname) Interviewee s home Eithne O Hare (nee Eithne O Neill) Biographical Summary of Interviewee Gender Female Born Year Born: 1931 Home County: Armagh Education (Optional) Primary: St. Louis Convent, Middletown, Co. Armagh Secondary: St. Louis Convent, Kilkeel, Co. Down Third Level: St. Mary s Training College, Falls Road, Belfast Family Siblings: 3 brothers (Gerald, Fr. Brendan, Fergal) 2 sister (Deirdre) Club(s) Occupation Parents Occupation Religion Political Affiliation / Membership Other Club/Society Membership(s) Middletown GAA Club [Armagh] Aghagallon GAA [Armagh], St. Louis Convent Camogie Club, Kilkeel [Armagh] Teacher Both teachers Catholic None Co. Armagh Golf Club 1

Date of Report 13 July 2012 Period Covered 1920s - 2011 Counties/Countries Covered Key Themes Covered Interview Summary Armagh Travel, Supporting, Grounds, Facilities, Playing, Training, Officials, Administration, Education, Religion, Role of Clergy, Role of Teachers, Role of Women, Role of the Club in the Community, Volunteers, All-Ireland, Club History, County History, Earliest Memories, Family Involvement, Childhood, Impact on Life, Career, Ban on Foreign Games and Dances, Relationship with the Association, Retirement, Relationships, Economy / Economics Eithne O Hare is a former club and county Camogie player from Armagh and a daughter of the former county chairman, PJ O Neill. Her brother, Gerry, was also a member of the Armagh team defeated in the 1953 All-Ireland final. The interview opens with O Hare reflecting on her family s GAA background and her early association with Camogie she possesses a photograph of herself from 1934 the GAA jubilee year holding a Camogie stick. She discusses her education at the St. Louis convent in Middletown where she played Camogie she would represent Armagh at 13 years of age. From Middletown, she attended the St. Louis nuns in Kilkeel and subsequently attended St. Mary s Training College in Belfast. She continued playing Camogie in Kilkeel but there was no Camogie in St. Mary s. And with Camogie falling apart in Middletown during this period she explains why O Hare ended playing with Aghagallon where, she says, there were a lot of very good Camogie players. Her Camogie days ended in her early 20s at a time she was preparing for marriage and was temporarily revived at the age of 40 when she togged out in a Past pupils versus students game at Kilkeel, to the initial embarrassment of her daughter who followed in her footsteps in attending the school. O Hare s GAA experiences were heavily influenced by her father, PJ O Neill. Through him and her brother, she got to know many of the Armagh players from the 1946 colleges team, the 1949 Minor team and the 1953 All-Ireland senior finalists team. She tells stories about attending training sessions and games with her father, including an account of an eventful journey to Croke Park for the 1953 All-Ireland final. Towards the end of the interview, Eithne reflects on the progress of Camogie in Middletown since the 1970s; she considers the changes in the GAA and the continued support 2

and interest it enjoys. In addition, she reflects on her father s legacy, the continued contribution of former students to the GAA and the sense of community the GAA it creates. 00:00:05 Eithne O Hare introduces herself. Born 1931. 00:00:20 Talks about her father s involvement in the GAA, both in football and the setting up of hurling in Middletown. 00:00:35 Mentions that mother, from Mayo, and father taught in the same school. 00:00:45 Father was originally from Tyrone but was a dedicated Armagh man. 00:00:50 Mentions being conscious of the GAA, both football and camogie from an early age. One of five children, her 3 brothers played football Gerald, Brendan and Fergal. 00:01:30 Talks about her interest in Camogie from an early age. Says she has a photograph of herself in the jubilee year, 1934, holding a Camogie stick. 00:01:47 Educated by the Louis nuns in Middletown and then at the Louis convent in Kilkeel. Mentions playing Camogie at school and representing Armagh as a 13 year old. 00:02:15 Continued playing Camogie in Kilkeel, but there was no team at St. Mary s Training College. At this time, she says Middletown Camogie had fallen apart. 00:02:49 During this time she says she played with Aghagallon where there were a lot of very good Camogie players. 00:02:55 Remarks on playing in the county Camogie team until 1955. 00:03:05 Says most of her childhood was spent around Gaelic football, where her father was heavily involved. 00:03:20 Remarks on the absence of television and Sundays in her house where people would gather around their radio cheering and roaring for Armagh. 00:03:45 Recalls the profile of Cavan and waiting for the time when Armagh might beat them. 00:04:05 Talks about attending all the football matches around Middletown, Keady and elsewhere. 00:04:16 Talks about spending two years in Belfast after finishing in Belfast and moving to teach in Armagh. Mentions 3

that on Monday morning s the reading lesson would consist of reading reports from Irish News of matches played the day before. Mentions they would also pick the teams on the Fridays before big games. 00:04:55 Expresses delight that a lot of her past pupils kept up their interest in the GAA, particularly Joe Jordan. 00:05:16 Mentions that they had a housekeeper who adored her father and Maggie the housekeeper would wash them. Eithne could put a name on every jersey, but her favourite was Alfie Murray from Lurgan, a real gentleman and her pin-up boy. 00:06:00 Refers also to Gentleman Jim McKeever from Derry, another favourite. 00:06:10 Discusses starting off playing Camogie with her sister in the big garden at home. Says she would head up to the sportsfield and older people were very good to her. 00:07:20 Remarks that footballers were not allowed to be in the field with the Ladies says that the parish priest would take a trot up the back way to the field and as soon as the word spread there always somebody on lookout - that he was coming the men disappeared behind the hedge. 00:07:45 Mentions Fr. Crilly who would take them in his car to play different teams. 00:08:00 Refers to some of the players in Middletown: Kitty and Margaret McKenna, Nelly McKenna, Maura McCoy, Bridget McQuaid, Kitty McLatchey. 00:08:35 Interviewer remarks that the McKenna were Pat The Man s daughters. 00:08:50 Refers to Monica Barrett. 00:09:00 Mentions the mix of the team and how kind the older girls were to them. 00:09:08 Mentions that she missed out on a lot of playing when she went to Kilkeel and they weren t allowed out. Recalls her father writing to get her out on one occasion and her helping Middletown to get into a final, but not being able to get out for the final. Middletown won the final, but she didn t get a medal. Not that I minded, she adds. 00:09:36 Discuses her father being Chairman of the county in 1949 when Armagh Minors won the All-Ireland. Mentions knowing a lot of the team Jack Bratton, Joe Cunningham, 4

Brendan O Neill etc going with her father to training to keep him company. 00:10:35 Recalls the team being housed in Armagh and a number of the players slipping out one night to go to the pictures only to be caught by Fr. Coyle, the curate in Armagh. Says her father thought it was funny, but Fr. Coyle didn t. 00:11:10 Talks of knowing a lot of the college boys who played in the Hogan Cup in 1946 because her brothers played on the team. Recalls the support which the college team received from people in Armagh they followed them everywhere, including on the train to Dublin. 00:11:45 Remarks on how nice college football was to watch. 00:11:58 Talks about attending the Training college and always been sure of a dance at the ceilis because she knew all the boys. 00:12:15 Recalls one of her brothers being asked when they were going what they wanted to do when they grew up: I want to go to a meeting. 00:12:40 Build up to the 1953 All-Ireland: recalls as a major event in our lifetime. Mentions that her brother was playing and travelled with the team. Eithne travelled with her father, departing Middletown and the car breaking down. Recalls cars passing them on the road and the housekeeper Maggie finding a mechanic to clean out the dirt in the petrol. 00:14:30 1953 All-Ireland final: mentions that father was in Hogan Stand and she was in Cusack Stand, with her fiancé and her Uncle Malachy, who had previously played with Derry. 00:15:05 Tells story about her father meeting a missionary priest on way into Croke Park and handing him a ticket. Her father thought he d meet someone to sort him out and it was only at the last minute that he got into ground spending the match sitting on a step in the Hogan Stand. 00:16:40 Mentions that Camogie was gone from Middletown by the time she came back. Remarks that when she started playing the majority of the team were older and once thye left, there weren t enough to replace them. 00:17:15 Comments on the role of her past-pupils in helping revive the game again. 5

00:17:25 Interviewer mentions that Camogie started again in 1970. He mentions also the Camogie tradition in Middletown, reaching back to the late 1920s, early 1930s. 00:17:50 Says she was unaware of that tradition. Her father had arrived in Middletown in 1925 mentions that he was an advocate of hurling, Camogie and football. 00:18:35 Interviewer mentions reference to her father refereeing an Armagh championship match in 1927. 00:18:45 Eithne mentions that her father came to Middletown from Scotland. 00:19:00 Speculates as to the women who may have started Camogie in Middletown refers also to her mother playing in goals reluctantly and suggests this might have been when they were starting up. 00:19:45 Suggests the club would have been well established by the time she was growing up given the experience of some of the girls then playing. 00:19:58 Comments on the break in Camogie up to 1970 when Bernadette McCann and Anne Casey got it going again in Middletown. Says it continued until 1983 when it fell through for another decade, starting up in St. Louis convent in 1994. Says its stronger now than ever. 00:20:35 Eithne remarks on the current role of the primary schools. Says the Camogie they played in the convent as children had nothing to do with the school. 00:20:50 Interviewer remarks on PJ O Neill s legacy being the hurling in Middletown and outlines the achievements since. 00:21:35 Reflects on her last Camogie match against Derry in Blackwatertown another strong Camogie area. The decision to retire coincided with her search for a job and jobs were scarce at the time. Refers to Jimmy McKee from Portadown who organised trips and recalls trips to Cork and England thought she wouldn t have been able to go. It was shortly after she d got engaged. 00:23:45 Considers the best Camogie match she ever played: mentions that her daughter attended the same Kilkeel school as herself and they would have a Past-pupils team played the students team. Recalls the past-pupils team being short of players and, then 40 years old and not having played since her early 20s, agreeing to play when she saw a nun older than herself pinning up her skirt. Mentions her daughter 6

being mortified. 00:26:09 Mentions her first swipe being a fresh-air and tells a story of later doing a solo-run up the field. Says they didn t win game, but were cheered off the field. Recalls the pain afterwards and feeling again like she on a Camogie team in her teens. 00:28:10 Reflects on the changes in the GAA, the improvement of facilities. Remarks on a different attitude among supporters and says she doesn t like the language at matches. 00:29:15 Recalls being in her teens and playing Armagh in a Camogie match says it was her first time hearing anybody cursing. 00:29:40 Comments on changes in football and remarks on how great it is that the support and interest is still there. 00:30:36 Talks about attending recent opening of new Athletic Grounds stadium of which her father was a Trustee and which he helped buy and remarks on the sporting nature of the game between Armagh and Dublin. Remembers thinking when she was there: Nothing ever changes... 00:31:35 Recalls being 8 years old and Alf Murray coming to her house to travel with her father on the train to Interprovincial games. Recalls Alfie her hero - doing a solo run in the game and shouting at Alfie to shoot before he got hit in the game recalls the whole place exploding with laughter. 00:32:50 Mentions feeling the same attending Armagh and Dublin in the Athletic Grounds and comments on the relationship she has had with people through the GAA. You were all one... 00:33:50 Mentions the funeral of her brother, Gerry, and the number of the 1953 team who turned up. Says that they went out of their way to come and to speak to her. I thought this was tremendous... 00:34:55 Speaks about Joe Jordan and believes she must have put something into his head because he has done a lifetime of work. 00:35:09 Comments on meeting Charlie O Hehir at her brother s funeral. 00:35:30 Interviewer tells a story about Charlie and recalls when he was younger that Killelagh had a soccer team 7

mentions going to see the game and being cautioned by Charlie at school. 00:36:00 Joe Jordan talks about the honour of being Armagh Chairman when the county won the All-Ireland remarks that a lot of people from south Armagh wouldn t have associated Killelagh with the GAA. Tells story of Tony Kearns remark to him coming out of a game in Crossmaglen. 00:36:40 Eithne talks about Joe Jordan walking up to Westport House with the Sam Maguire cup in Middletown I must say I appreciated that... Mentions another man, a non- Catholic, remarking with pride on the appearance of the Sam Maguire cup. 00:37:45 Recalls attending the 2002 final and Oisín McConville missing the penalty before half-time and wearing the expression not again. And it didn t. Involvement in GAA Supporter Player Manager Coach Steward Chairperson Committee Member Grounds-person Caterer Jersey Washer Referee None Other (please specify): Record as a Player (Titles won; Length of time played) Senior Co. Armagh Camogie (from age 13yrs) Captained Senior team in Kilkeel, Co. Down (St. Louis Convent) St. Louis Convent team from year 2 to year 5 Record as an Administrator (Positions held; how long for) N/A Format Audio Audio-Visual Duration Length of Interview: 00:38:46 Language English 8

To be filled in by Interviewer: I hereby assign the copyright of the content of the above to the GAA Oral History Project on the understanding that the content will not be used in a derogatory manner. I understand that I am giving the GAA Oral History Project the right to use and make available to the public the content of this interview. Signed: Joe Jordan Date: 7 th Feb 2011 9