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This item was previousley published in
The Nationalist on Tuesday, June 09, 2020
By Tommy Murphy
- Faith Of Our Fathers was played by
the Carlow Pipe Band at the official opening of Dr Cullen Park on 9
August 1936 when the grounds were blessed by Rev JJ Dunny,
Adm.
The dream of the gaels of Carlow and the faith of our fathers and
their fathers continued and on 27 June 1982, Bishop Patrick
Lennon of Kildare & Leighlin and Mr John Dowling
(Chairman of Comhairle Laighean) officially opened the new Tommy
Lennon Stand. Thirty eight years later and that faith is still
there.
The original site and house – a total of 8 acres, 1 rood and 20
perches – was purchased from Captain HA Bruen on
behalf of the GAA by the Rev W Millar DD and
Martin O’Neill (Leinster Council) for £500 on 13
April 1935. The house which is still standing was occupied by
Tommy Lennon, who was an employee of Bruens. He
signed a caretaker’s agreement in November 1934 before the actual
purchase. It must be said that, from his job with Bruen’s, Tommy
brought expertise on land and development and in his own quiet way
laid the foundations for the county grounds at we know them today.
The initial drive for the development was supplied by Dr Millar who
was chairperson of the committee. A few other sites were also
considered including P Maher’s field known as The
Birdhouse, the scene of great games, the odd battle and excellent
Feiseanna down through the years. Another was Doyle’s The
Shamrock field which hosted the first ever county senior
football final between Ballon and Tullow.
The development work, levelling the field and building the perimeter
wall, was extensive and more costly than the actual purchase price
of the land. Contractors Messrs Thompsons, to its
eternal credit, was indeed paternal and not at all materialistic
towards the project, charging only the bare costs with no overheads
and no charge for plant.
Money was (as indeed still is) the real problem for the committee
headed by Dr Millar and while there was great work
around the county, the town itself supported the project extremely
well. The 1933 list of subscribers is extensive. The sale was not
recorded at the Land Registry office until April 1935 and includes a
receipt from Martin O’Neill (Leinster secretary)
for £259 to Paddy Coyne ex-Carlow Town.
For the record, the areas of the county and the collectors were:
Ballon M. Lennon, Hacketstown Mat Cullen,
who also had a Dublin section organised by a Miss B Jordan whose
list included a Miss Cullen. Milford and district
P Kelly and Martin Murphy,
Fighting Cocks Michael Dowling, Ballymurphy Co
Chairman Tom Ryan NT (grandfather
of current GAA Director General Tom Ryan), Kilbride
and District Ml Brophy, Tullow P Nolan,
Myshall Rev Fr Flood CC who with Rev Fr
Swayne was on the platform for the official opening.
Leighlin Co Secretary Martin Lynch, Cooleyhune
M. Galvin, Tinryland N. Murphy,
Carlow Gaelic League, Carlow Ceilidhe Committee, Boarders, Carlow
Convent of Mercy, Cooleyhune HC, Myshall Camogie Club, Ballon and
Myshall GAA clubs also subscribed. The list is notable also for the
excellent support given by the Reverend clergymen throughout the
county while Frank Slator Carlow topped it with £50
and the Irish Sugar Co gave £25.
1937 saw a big drive to raise much-needed funds with a carnival
being held on the grounds and dog racing an added attraction.
Busses were run from Shamrock Sq for the benefit of patrons. A bar
was in operation using the original dressing rooms (see note below)
of which there were three under the aegis of the late Pa
McDermott of Tullow St.
Others involved in these daring ventures included Paddy
Coyne, John Fenelon Fenagh, Thomas Lawlor The Plough, Charlie
McDermott Tullow, Matt Wall The Forge, Ml Ryan Tullow St, Wm O’Brien
Closh Pump (Bolands), Paddy Hickey Rutland and Donal McDermott
Tullow St.
The greyhound racing commenced opposite the present press box with
the finish where the stand is now. The ‘hare’ (a rugby ball) was
pulled by Sambo Ryan. The racing was well supported
by the bookies who included the late Abe Robinson.
The dogs wore different colours and a matching flag was raised to
signal the winner. After one race with a good few bob down,
the wrong coloured flag was hoisted!
Regarding the original dressing rooms, if you are sitting in the
present stand, these dressing rooms were on the left-hand side about
20 yards from the end of the stand and the entrance to the pitch for
players was through the small gate entrance that is still in the
sideline wall to this day. While the first game played was Milford v
Kilbride in the senior football championship, the official opening
took place on 9 August 1936 where in football Leix beat Kildare by
3-5 to 2-5 with John ‘The Mallet’ McDarby prominent
for the winners. In hurling Kilkenny defeated Dublin by 7-4 to 6-5.
Charlie Nolan of the Fighting Cocks and
Mick Gaynor of Muinebeag were the two referees.
So Gaelic Park, Carlow, as it was known, was open for business.
Most Reverend Dr Matthew Cullen was Bishop of
Kildare and Leighlin. He was a native of Kilcarney, Co Wicklow, in
the parish of Hacketstown. He died in 1936 and Dr Cullen Park was
named in his honour in early 1938. Dr Cullen threw
in the ball for the historic 1928 All-Ireland final between Kildare
and Kerry which Kildare won and it was also the first time the Sam
Maguire Cup was presented.- In future issues we will look at the purchase of more land, the
developing stages down through the decades, the great players from
Carlow and from all counties in Ireland and London who played at Dr
Cullen Park, and we invite readers to tell us of their heroes and
their memories of the first time they attended a game, the first
time they played, the last time they played or any other memories.
Please share them.
In coming issues we will feature club grounds in the county. We will
also investigate the fields where clubs played before they settled
in their own homes. Again the help of club people around the county
is most welcome to help compile this legacy. Contact Tommy Murphy on
087 6256028 or pro.carlow@gmail.com.
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