Inside Track: Louth links with MacRory Cup-winning Abbey CBS side

Ulster Colleges' football premier competition, the MacRory Cup, has long been a spawning ground for many of the province's finest players. It was there where they learned the game’s rudiments before graduating through the county ranks.

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Many of Down and Armagh’s best won medals. St Colman’s and Newry’s other academy, Abbey CBS; St Patrick’s in Maghera and St Columb’s were the training grounds for future Derry players, and take a look at winning Omagh CBS teams, and you’ll find a number of Tyrone’s All-Ireland-winning side included.

Back in the 1930s and 1940s, Dundalk’s St Mary’s College (Marist) figured prominently. Given special permission to play in the Ulster competition, Mary’s were involved in six successive finals and seven in all. They won twice in 1938 and 1941.

St Mary’s was a boarding school for many years, and a number from outside the county were included on the Louth teams that won the All-Ireland minor championship in 1936 and again four years later.

Mick Higgins, the great Cavan footballer, was included for one of the Mary’s wins, but lined out at under-18 for his native county. Later on, he played on the Cavan team that won the famous All-Ireland final in New York’s Polo Grounds.

The replay of this year’s MacRory final was played in Armagh on Friday week last and resulted in a fine win for Abbey CBS over St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon. In the drawn match, Abbey came from a long way back to deny Pat’s with a last-minute point.

Louth had some links with the winning team. Kevin McKernan, team coach and a member of the Abbey team that won the title in 2006, was in charge of Dundalk Gaels for last year’s intermediate league win and the same grade’s championship success twelve months earlier.

And captain of the team, Diarmuid O’Rourke, is a son of Aidan O’Rourke, who won an All-Ireland with Armagh in 2002, and on taking up a coaching role was in charge of the Louth senior side for a couple of years.

Diarmuid’s mother is the former Marion O’Hagan from Bellurgan Point.

What will surely interest current Louth minor manager, Eamonn McEneaney, is that right-full back on the Abbey side was Finn Madine. But then, McEneaney probably knows all about the young man as both belong to the same club, Geraldines.

In his profile in an exceptional final programme, Finn lists as his achievements to date wins in Louth under-16 and 18 leagues. He’s a six-footer and, having starred in the drawn match, carried his good form on to the replay.

The Louth connection with finals day doesn’t end there. The McLarnon Cup, another high-profile competition, had its decider as a curtain-raiser.

Last year, it was won by Patrician High School, Carrickmacross, who had the man-of-the-match in Tom Maguire.

Later on in the season, Maguire was at midfield for Louth minors in their Leinster final and All-Ireland outings. Now playing for Carrickmacross Emmets, having transferred from Westerns, he could figure on Fergal Reel’s under-20 Louth team.

That finals’ day programme? It is something else, almost 100 pages of reports of previous finals, player and officials profiles, honours lists, and pictures of the highest quality. It is, in short, a collector’s item.

Among those profiled is Jimmy Smyth, chairman of Ulster Schools, the body responsible for organising football and hurling for all ages throughout the province.

The name should be familiar in GAA followers. He’s the Jimmy Smyth who led Armagh out in the 1977 All-Ireland final.

In his school days, he won two MacRory Cup medals with Newry’s St Colman’s, and though his Armagh team had no luck in the All-Ireland final against Dublin, his form throughout the competition won him an All-Star.

Recently, Smyth was given recognition for his outstanding contribution to schools’ football when he was presented with the President’s Award by fellow countyman, GAA President Jarlath Burns.