Impact of the Christian Brothers on Tipperary GAA has been huge

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries here in Tipperary, the Christian Brothers and the nuns, with their emphasis on second level education provided job opportunities for many young boys and girls that stood in good stead to them in their adult lives in subsequent years.

The Christian Brothers also in the twentieth century did remarkable work in the promotion of Gaelic Games in their schools not alone at second level but also at primary level. At county level there were very little organised games at underage level. That left an opening for the schools in the province, the Christian Brothers and the junior seminaries to organise the inter schools competitions between their schools.

n 1918 one of the most prestigious schools competitions of them all commenced - The Harty Cup that has stood the test of time. Many multiple all Ireland senior medal winners have told me how they regretted not having captured the elusive Harty medal during their second level school days. By 1930 Rockwell College had won 5 Harty finals and their victory in 1930 featured Willie O Donnell of Golden Annacarty fame who in 1937 added an All Ireland senior medal to his collection.

The Munster Colleges body that organised those competitions introduced a senior football competition at senior level in 1928 and that has also been quite successful. It was known as The Corn Uí Mhuirí and has been beneficial especially to Cork and Kerry schools in moulding the future intercounty and club players. Incidentally one of the early winners of this competition was Clonmel High School in 1928.

In the early thirties Thurles CBS being in a great catchment area and with a growing second level school began to compete in the Harty Cup and in 1933 captured their first title with a team that featured future All Ireland hurlers Tony Brennan, Philly Dwyer and Phil Purcell.

Once more in 1938 and 1939 the trophy came back to the Cathedral town with star players like Henry Gouldsboro, Eddie Gleeson and John Delahunty, who went on to win All Ireland senior medals in the Blue and Gold.

Thurles CBS won further Harty titles in 1950, 1951 and 1956. These teams featured players that went on to become household names in Tipperary hurling such as Tony Wall, Jimmy Doyle , Mickey Lonnergan and Billy Quinn.
During those early years of second level schools competition Thurles CBS was the only school that had sufficient numbers to compete in that great tournament.

Pat Henderson of Kilkenny pictured with Tadhg O'Connor of Tipperary prior to the All-Ireland Final in 1971 - both products of the CBS - Pat in Thurles and Tadhg in Roscrea. With them is referee Frank Murphy (Cork)

Gradually in the fifties and sixties as second level school numbers grew other CBS schools started to compete and The Abbey CBS, Tipp Town won the Harty in 1959.
There is no doubt but during that period the Christian Brothers and the priests in the junior seminaries did wonderful work in the promotion of Gaelic games at second level not alone in Tipperary bur throughout Ireland. They organised those main competitions and also administered them. As a young teacher in the late sixties I recall attending some of their A.G.M.s and the schools would have 90% of the attendees in clerical garb.

The Christian Brothers introduced a number of domestic competitions in Tipperary in the nineteen thirties and forties to provide inter school games for their pupils that were very much appreciated.

In the thirties an under 16 football competition, The Cusack Cup was introduced and while it was organised for a few years and disappeared, it resurfaced and now is run each year by the Tipp.- Post – Primary schools Board.
Similarly the Croke Cup an under fifteen hurling competition was introduced in 1933 and was a wonderful success. It continues to the present day as an interschool hurling competition and the trophy, a replica of the Ardagh Chalice is a much appreciated piece of silverware in the Premier County.

In 1943 the Christian Brothers introduced an (u-14) hurling competition for CBS schools in Munster and South Leinster that is still ongoing. The prize for the winners is the Rice Cup, which perpetuates the memory of their founding father. This has grown in stature over the years and is still one of the most sought after trophies in the second level schools hurling year.
Incidentally the death of Brother O Connell a few months ago has led to much talk about the competition.
Over the past 60 years he was an integral part of the competition. He organised it for many years and handed over its organisation to Niall Cahill, Thurles CBS a few years ago. Brother O Connell trained a team in Templemore CBS in 1969 to win the trophy.

In the early years the competition was unique in that it allowed schools to play overage players depending on their numbers. It was a form of handicapping in order to provide equalisation. This enabled CBS schools with smaller numbers to compete with the larger units.

In the fifties and sixties the brothers still had a big say in the organising of games and some legendary GAA coaches came on stream in different schools. In 1960 Clonmel High School who up to this concentrated more on football decided to participate in (U-15) Croke Cup hurling competition. In the early rounds they were pitted against Templemore CBS. Templemore having won back to back Rice Cups were hot favourites but Brother Colllins produced a rabbit out of the bag in the person of Michael ‘Babs’ Keating who destroyed the mid Tipp school boys with a four goal blitz. Babs in his autobiography sings the praises of Brother Collins who went on to make a big impact in the promotion of hurling at Roscrea CBS.

The ‘ability’ to compete in the Harty Cup had great status going with it at that time. Thurles CBS being a powerful force the Harty appealed to young boys with the result that they came from far and near to get their second level education there.
In 1953 Brother Doody a highly thought of hurling man was trying to put his Harty Team together for 1954. He knew he needed a goalkeeper and he went down to the primary school and met this young sixth class pupil named Jimmy Doyle and asked him if he would come up to the secondary school. Jimmy was not very interested in the academic side of education but Brother Doody assured him that he could sit at the back of the class and read the daily papers and come to train with the Harty Team at 12.00 and again after school. The deal was done with the blessing of Jimmy’s parents, Mr and Mrs Jerry Doyle and thus the legendary Jimmy embarked on a hurling career that was to bring him fame and a reputation as one of Tipp’s greatest hurlers. In 1954 St. Flannan’s College with Donie Nealon being their chief marksman defeated Thurles CBS by two points in the final.

!955 saw Limerick CBS deny Thurles CBS once more of outright victory with referee Philly Ryan playing over 12 minutes of injury time in the semi-final. It is said that Philly’s watch malfunctioned which was a blessing for Limerick as a last minute goal by the Limerick boys resulted in a one point loss for the Tipperary boys. In 1956 Jimmy finally won his Harty medal when Thurles CBS defeated famed North Monastery by (2-5) to (2-3) in a great final.

In 1957 when ill health brought an end to the Brother Doody reign Jimmy Doyle left school to work with his dad in their shoe repair business. The new principal wanted Jimmy to do some work at the books but it was not for Jimmy and he left school even though young enough to play Harty in 1957.

When free education arrived in the sixties it brought about huge changes not only in education but also in the promotion of sport in second level schools. The number of pupils within the Christian Brother’s schools was growing year on year while the number of Christian Brothers was decreasing accordingly with the result that lay teachers became more involved.
This period in second level schools saw the promotion of Gaelic Games grow at a great rate. New competitions were introduced at both provincial and county levels and wonderful work was being done which helped counties and clubs in a big way.

The last town in Tipperary in which the Christian Brothers founded a second level school was Roscrea in the sixties. They made an instant impact and their hurling teams were very competitive in both Munster and Tipperary competitions.
One of the early pupils in Roscrea CBS was Tadhg O Connor who went on to captain Tipperary in an All Ireland senior victory in 1971.

During the next 25 years The CBS Schools in Tipperary did great work in the promotion of games and as a result many had great success. All Ireland Senior B hurling finals were won by Coláiste Phobail, Roscrea, the Abbey CBS, CashelCBS, Nenagh CBS and Our Lady’s Templemore.
Templemore CBS had won the Prestigious Harty Cup in 1978 and All Ireland (A) hurling titles.
During this period on the educational scene great changes were taking place and with the number of Christian Brother’s decreasing the structure of schools were changing.

Roscrea CBS amalgamated with the Vocational school and the Sacred Heart Convent and became known as Coláiste Phobail, Roscrea that promotes Gaelic games among others at its very successful nursery.
Templemore saw a similar amalgamation. This happened in 1985 and the school now known as Our Lady’s Secondary School is a co-educational unit and has been very successful in the promotion of Gaelic games. In 2017 they won the Harty Cup and All Ireland (A) Colleges title for the towns second time.

Cashel CBS a school that has also featured in Harty Cup finals amalgamated with the Convent and Vocational schools to form the Cashel Community School that still promotes and coaches Gaelic games to the highest level.
The remaining CBS schools in Tipperary, Thurles CBS, the Abbey CBS, Tipp Town, Carrick –on Suir CBS are renowned educational establishments and even though the Christian Brothers are no longer involved, these schools still promote Gaelic games successfully.

Excellent lay teachers now do the coaching, training and management of teams and they are quite successful. Nenagh CBS won an All Ireland (A) hurling title in 2012 even though beaten in the Harty Final. Thurles CBS of the modern era won the Harty Cup titles in 2015and also in 2009 when they added the All Ireland (A) title also.

For over a century CBS schools have promoted Gaelic games very successfully, and even though the Brothers are no longer present the seeds sown by them are reaching fruition and our County Board should be, and are ,very grateful for their input.
The pupils attending these schools are fortunate that the work initially done by the Christian Brothers is now being continued by excellent teachers whose volunteerism, I believe, should be appreciated.