Inside Track: Clare might not have been alone to field over-aged players

The story goes – a number of times on these pages – that the Clare team that beat Louth in the 1953 All-Ireland minor semi-final had a number of over-aged players included.

Not only that, some of them are said to have spoken with a Kerry accent, and on the morning of the match travelled over from Tarbert. Make sure you’re clean-shaven, they may have been told.

READ NEXT: Inside Track: If Louth avoid defeat against Clare All-Ireland hopes will be kept alive

It could be that Louth knew about it, but decided against objecting. There might have been a few in the camp who had long memories.

The simplest way of finding out about the Clare boys, of course, would have been to ask for a look at the birth certificates.

But, then, the alleged ringers could have been playing under assumed names, maybe given the handle of under-18s from Ballyvaughan, Broadford or Bodyke.

Louth had impressed in Leinster, beating Kildare in the final, but had no answer to Clare. It ended 1-10 to 0-3 for the Munster champions, who were then beaten by Mayo in the final.

The publication of the Louth team here a few weeks ago had Castlebellingham boys putting in a query at one of the recent matches in Newbridge.

Listed at full-back was Ken Smyth, belonging to the Kilsaran club team. Not only had the O’Connell’s lads never heard of Smyth, the club Kilsaran was also unknown to them.

Quite obviously Kilsaran was the name given to underage sides from the area at the time, maybe for only a season or two.

In more recent times, O’Connell’s, joining with Stabannon Parnbells, played under the name of St Michael’s. There was also at one time Castlebellingham under-age teams.

Anyway, Ken Smyth changed codes, maybe soon after his minor days were over, and had a number of outings with Dundalk FC in the latter part of the 1950s.

And the possible Louth reticence to ask for an inquiry into the Clare team? Well, it might have led to accusations like, ‘you were good at it yourselves.’

Back in 1931, Louth reached the All-Ireland minor final, and were due to play Kerry in the final at Croke Park in early September. The match didn’t take place. Why? You’ve guessed it, Kerry refused to travel. Shades of 1910 and 1978.

This time, however, there was a refixture, the match going ahead in Drogheda. This was history in the making, as it was the first All-Ireland final in any grade to be played outside Dublin. Kerry won, by 3-4 to 0-4.

It’s said that Louth had a 21-year-old included, the reason perhaps why the team published in ‘The Bible’, Fr John Mulligan’s The GAA In Louth – An Historical Record, reads:

“Peter McDonnell” (St Mary’s); Jim Tiernan (Dowdallshill), Gerard ‘Chalky’ Hearty (Clan na Gael); Jimmy Beirne (St Mary’s), Larry Dyas (Wolfe Tones), “Chris Marley” (Unknowns); Jack Kelly (O’Connell’s), Kevin McArdle (Cooley Kickhams); “G Caffrey” (O’Connell’s), Peter Anthony Collier (O’Connell’s), John Harlin, captain (St Mary’s); Ambrose Woods (Cooley Kickhams), Gerard Watters (Lodge Rovers), Gerard Dillon (Clan na Gael). Reserves: John Carrie (St Mary’s), Arthur Bradley (St Mary’s), Tommy ‘Slan’ O’Neill (Annagassan).

A judicious use of quotation marks there, but none attached to Jim Tiernan’s name. He was grandfather of the Clan na Gael O’Hanlon brothers, Séamus, Kevin, Cathal and Brian, while Ambrose Woods (later to become Father Ambrose), was uncle of Carlingford’s John Woods.