Inside Track: St. Mary’s were the backbone to Louth team when rivalry with Cavan was at its keenest

Louth rivalry with Cavan was at its keenest in the 1940s. The sides met in an All-Ireland semi-final and in important league matches.

Then, as now, St Mary’s had many wearing the Louth colours. The Ardee side is today’s dominant force having brought up the senior championship treble last year, as well as winning the Cardinal O’Donnell Cup.

This is reflected in the make-up of Ger Brennan’s panel, with the names of six from last year’s championship-winning team appearing on the programme for last Sunday week’s match with Roscommon.

Back in the Forties, Mary’s were also well to the fore, but weren’t alone. Dundalk teams, Young Irelands and Gaels, along with Stabannon Parnells won the senior championship more than once, and St Bride’s had their say in ’43.

Yet, while Irelands, Gaels and Parnells had representatives on the county team, Mary’s provided the backbone.

This would be hard to match: On the day of a 1948/’49 National League group play-off with Cavan at Croke Park, Mary’s players filled every jersey from 2 to 7, and there was another at full-forward.

And for good measure, there was a St Mary’s clubman on the Cavan side, Paddy Smith. The brother-in-law of Kevin Beahan, a Mary’s star of the following decade, won a Louth championship with his adopted club and also two All-Ireland medals with his native county.

The names of the Ardee sextet will bring back memories to the older set of county team supporters. In the full-back line, reading from left to right, were Jack Bell, Johnny Malone, and Nicky Roe; half-backs, Seán Boyle, Paddy Markey and Paddy McArdle. Ray ‘Gua’ Mooney was at No. 14.

The game was played at Croke Park, and Louth won by a point, 2-5 to 2-4, with Boyle scoring 1-1. Victory brought with it a place in the semi-final, and there was another win here, this one over Down in Newcastle.

The final, the only one in the top flight that a Louth team has ever qualified for, was against Mayo. In a sign of things to come about 18 months later, Mayo won by 1-8 to 1-6. (The 1950 All-Ireland final result: Mayo 2-6, Louth 1-5).

Following on from the league final, played in April, Louth beat Wicklow before engaging Meath in a three-match epic, talked about for many years after. It was 1-5 apiece in the first meeting and 3-6 (for Louth) to 2-9 second time up, a game watched by 32,000.

It was another tight one at the third time of asking, Meath winning by 2-5 to 1-7 in front of a crowd 7,000 up on the first replay. This was a crucial step for the Royals on their way to bringing the Sam Maguire Cup home for the first time.

Back to the 1948 championship, one that included the most significant meeting of Louth and Cavan. It was an All-Ireland semi-final, for which Louth had qualified by beating, in turn, Longford, Dublin, Meath (by one point) and Laois.

Louth put four goals past JD Benson in the Cavan goals, but that along with a couple of matches wasn’t enough to make it to the final. Breffni’s 1-14 gave them a three-point win, and they followed it by Mayo in the final.

A closer look at Louth’s record around that time shows that defeats three years running were to teams that went on to win the All-Ireland, Cavan, Meath and Mayo.

St Mary’s players were prominent throughout, Seán Boyle making the No. 5 jersey his own, with just a brief spell at full-back.

Nicky Roe made a successful transition from defence to the forward line, stopping off at midfield for a time, and by claiming all but a point of his side’s 1-6 in the 1950 All-Ireland final, must have set some kind of record.

Maybe it was around that time that an Ardonian was first heard to claim Mary’s were the “Cream of the County”. Yes, and also the “Core of the County.”

Before disembarking from the time machine, let’s take yet another look at the Louth 1943 team to highlight a connection with today’s and other outfits.

Included was Brian Reynolds, grandfather of Seán Reynolds, who played against Roscommon and could be in from the start in Sunday’s match with Cavan.

A generation hasn’t been skipped. While they didn’t feature on the county team, Sean’s father, Gerry, and his uncle, Brian, were county senior championship winners with Stabannon Parnells.

There’s more. Seán’s aunt, Cathy – Brian and Gerry’s sister – led Louth ladies to victory in the 1998 All-Ireland junior final. It’s part of sports heritage, the manner in which family lines hold together.