Idea springs from hospital visit to Ardrahan great

Date Published: {J}

IN the days after the 1974 Galway senior hurling decider, the County Cup, clad in the blue and white colours of Ardrahan, found its way winding through the corridors of St. Brendan’s Hospital in Loughrea. The men who arrived had come, cup in hand, to pay homage to one of their greats, Martin Healy.

On that fateful day over 35 years ago as Healy, who has since passed away, began to recount his glory days back in the early 1900s, those who sat around his bedside marvelled at his tales of days of long ago. Of days when ordinary men feared and trembled at the sight of an Ardrahan jersey. Of Healy’s jersey. All around smiled, and wished such poignant moments could be captured forever.

Jumping forward to 2010, and Ardrahan’s Tom Greene says that hospital visit was, in fact, one of the most important moments in the club’s history. For on that day, a pledge was made to not only record and document Healy’s anecdotes for prosperity, but also compile a history of Ardrahan GAA that would stand the test of time.

In other words, ‘A History of Ardrahan GAA’ – which will be launched by former Galway great John Connolly in the Meadow Court Hotel, Loughrea on Friday evening – has been years in the making. “Oh, don’t write that down, but it has,” laughs Greene, who, along with Michael Howley, compiled the long overdue but impressive 576-page offering.

“Every picture, every scrap has been collected with a view of this goal in mind. That one day we would complete this history. So, a lot of years have gone by in between. We had great years in the ‘70s, of course, and we thought they would stay with us forever. But the wheel goes around and things change very fast. We haven’t won a title since ’78, but we always have been competitive.”

As the remaining survivor of the club’s golden period, when Ardrahan won seven county titles between 1894 and 1910 (1894, ’95, 96, 1901, 02, 03 and ‘10), Healy’s musings on those days were a hidden treasure. “The stories and his recollections from that period struck a chord with us and we decided on the spot that this man cannot go without us getting some of his recollections,” says Greene. “That was the catalyst to set out on this journey.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.