Inside Track: Roscommon raged when Harry sidelined Dermot Earley

Harry Reilly was in the wars in the mid-1970s. He was at the height of his refereeing career at the time, taking charge of championship finals and inter-county games.

Dermot Earley, one of the best to ever wear the Roscommon jersey, got into a scrape with Dublin’s Bobby Boyle in a league match at Croke Park.

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Reilly was in charge, and in his view, Earley was the aggressor, deserving of being given his marching orders. Cue to outrage in Roscommon, with County Board chairman, Michael O’Callaghan, shouting the loudest.

So incensed was O’Callaghan, he said that if Roscommon were in an All-Ireland final and the Louth official was appointed referee, they wouldn’t field.

It’s not known how he felt when, in a Sunday newspaper interview shortly afterwards, Earley conceded he deserved to get the line.

And how did Croke Park view it? They appointed Reilly to referee the final a few weeks later, Meath beating the Dubs by 0-16 to 1-9.

No need to emphasise the point that Harry Reilly, who died the week before last after a lengthy illness, was one of the most sought-after officials.

In a career lasting 15 years from the mid-1960s to the ‘80s, he had charge of Louth championship finals in all grades, and was also regularly on call for inter-county league and championship games.

A few years ago, in a chat with this ‘paper, he recalled one particular Leinster championship match. Dublin played Meath at Navan, and included on the Dublin team was Kevin Moran, who at the time was on his summer break from his duties with Manchester United.

He couldn’t say if Alex Ferguson knew about his Republic of Ireland International defender reacquainting with his first love.

After playing underage football with St Mochta’s, Harry lined out with Fane Rangers, winning a Second Division championship in 1963. Before that, he had a few seasons playing senior with Young Irelands.

It was never his intention to become a referee. But after agreeing to handle Cumann Peil na nÓg matches in Dundalk, he joined the county panel, noting that his first outing at club level was a junior league tie between Náomh Malachí and Kilkerley Emmets.

He would link with the Kilkerley club when his refereeing days were over, filling the role of chairman for ten years, and also looking after the senior team for a spell.

Some other points he made in the interview: Dublin’s Brian Mullins was the highest-profile player he sent off; he was twice ordered off himself; three was the most he lined in one game; when experimental rules came into force, he awarded eight penalties in a game between Dublin and Cork. (Players were penalised for committing even the most minor of fouls inside the big square, a rule that didn’t last very long.)

His biggest regret was not getting an All-Ireland final. When his career was at its height, he was shortlisted for the 1975, but Tipperary’s Johnny Maloney was called on instead. However, he was involved when All-Ireland titles were at stake, and not only that, was a winner.

While still a teenager, he was first in the country to win under-18 and senior All-Ireland Ploughing Championships in the same year. That was in 1956.

In a GAA career that stretched over many decades, Harry was Louth County Board chairman and also served as a senior team selector. This, and the time as a referee and club chairman, made his contribution to the GAA one of enormous value.

Many of the GAA fraternity called at the Reilly home in Carnroe, Kilkerley, to sympathise with Harry’s wife, Ree (formerly Savage, from Castletowncooley), sisters Mary and Betty, and other relatives and friends.

Requiem Mass was celebrated in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Kilkerley, and burial took place in Louth Village cemetery.