Inside Track: Former footballers swap codes to help worthy causes

Among the 120 who teed off were All-Ireland winners, All-Stars and a manager who led his county to three Sam Maguire wins. And along with these luminaries were county players of recent-year vintage, stars of the future, coaches, managers, and a few mere mortals (but only in a football sense.)

Counties bordering Louth had representatives: Down, Meath, Monaghan and Armagh – while the three-time winner mentioned above, Mickey Harte, came down from Tyrone, accompanied by his longtime buddy, present Louth manager, Gavin Devlin.

And you could say Cork was represented as well. Mick ‘Muckle’ McKeown, the Drogheda-born Louth senior championship winner with O’Rahilly’s, is no longer living by the Boyne, but instead by the Lee. He made his way up from the capital of the south, and although a club member down there, he remains a solid supporter of his native county. He rarely misses a game in which the Reds are involved.

This was the second such outing, organised by a committee that knows no bounds in its work for good causes. When Seamus O’Hanlon, Peter McGinnity and JP Rooney are not working on a golf classic, they’re organising and seeking support for a sponsored walk.

There have been six annual walks, all of them held in the name of bereaved footballers, with funds raised going to deserving causes. This was the second golf classic, and lending valuable assistance to the lads were Cooley’s Michael Owen McGrath, Peadar Gallagher and Brian Rafferty.

Beneficiaries are the Marie Goretti Foundation, in Lordship, and the Drogheda-based North-East Cancer Research & Education Trust (NECRET).

Both should gain substantially, because in addition to entry fees, the committee got terrific support from businesses, Protection & Prosperity Financial Services – which has been a huge backer of Louth GAA in recent times – chief among them.

Golfers had lots to play for. There were prizes for the top teams, nearest the pin and longest drive.

As one who could drive the ball prodigious distance in his football days, former Down All-Ireland winner, Conor Deegan, proved equally adept with a club in his hands. Billy Kearns got closest to the pin.

The team event, however, was the big one, and here victory went to Peter Fitzpatrick’s outfit. The former Louth senior team manager had his son, Stephen, alongside him, with Stephen Hilliard and the builder of Louth’s new stadium, David Rogers, lending valuable support.

In his acceptance speech, ‘Fitzer’ said his middle name was ‘Lucky’. Maybe, but in such a competitive field, more than good fortune was required. The Kevin Beahan Trophy, a replica of the British Open Claret Jug, was presented by the commemorated’s son, James.

A former club and county colleague of Fitzpatrick’s, Stefan White, headed the runners-up, with a team mainly comprised of Stabannon Parnell's former footballers, David Reilly, Pat Butterly and Donie Hurst, along with Noel Cluskey, finishing third.

Two Down teams finished first and second in the category confined to visiting teams, and there was also a prize for the Monaghan team of Ciarán Murray, Éamonn McEneaney, Brendan Murray and Séamus McCarville.

At a count, there had to be more than a dozen All-Ireland winners covering the lush Greenore grass, beautifully groomed by Oisín White and his team.

To name just a few, Meath’s Colm O’Rourke, David Beggy and Joe Cassells, Armagh’s Stevie McDonnell, Harte and Devlin, Tyrone, and all of the Down boys, Deegan, James McCartan, Ross Carr, Neil Collins, Mickey Linbden and Paul Higgins, to name but a few.

Seamus O’Hanlon and his team deserve great credit for getting those ‘names’ involved, but, more important, for the work they are doing for many deserving causes.