Johnny O'Connor, College Alumnus and Hurling Great

The death occurred recently of Johnny O’Connor, hurling great and greyhound enthusiast.  Johnny was a student in St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra and what follows is a reminiscence of his time in the College as told to Eoghan Ó Suilleabháin shortly before Johnny passed away.  Our deepest sympathy to his wife Nancy and his family.

Johnny O’Connor (St Patrick’s Training College 1947-49)

A native of Abbeyside, Dungarvan, Johnny attended the Christian Brother’s secondary school in Dungarvan prior to securing one of the fifty or so places then sought by hundreds of candidates in open competition to train as teachers in Drumcondra.

The College President during his first year was Fr. Jerome Twomey, a native of Castleisland, Co Kerry.  In August 1948, immediately after Johnny played on the Waterford team that defeated Galway in the Senior All-Ireland hurling semi-final, Fr. Twomey congratulated him.  Since Johnny was worried about his results in the first year examination and thus getting to the final (second) year, he asked when they would be available and was pleased to get the droll reply “We’ll have to put up with you for another year”.  In Johnny’s second year, Fr. Killian Keogh was President but having once been an outstanding rugby player, he was seen as rather aloof and to dislike Gaelic games.  The College Dean in both years was Fr. Séamas Ó Néill, nicknamed “Freddy”.

Johnny remembered most of the College staff, not least Gus Redmond who both taught music and assisted Seán Piggot in charge of Teaching Practice.  Piggot nicknamed “Jacko” laid much emphasis on questioning and revision of previous work, before progressing from the known to the unknown.  Johnny did his final practice in an inner-city school which had some disruptive pupils and, in particular, one huge fellow named “Smithy” who was least troublesome when left to sit silently by himself, undisturbed.  When one day Johnny saw that Jacko had arrived as supervisor at the start of a history lesson, he duly began with a revisionary question about St. Brigid, the focus of a previous lesson in which she was highlighted as a wealthy chieftain’s daughter who, despite her beautiful appearance, chose not to marry but to become a nun: “What was St. Brigid? Hands up!”  Some pupils raised their hand but Smithy stood up, waving his huge fist vehemently; “ Sir, Sir, Sir, she was a humdinger !” he said.  Jacko, a member of the State Censorship Bord, raised an eyebrow while the class-teacher-Seán Brosnan, a former Kerry Footballer - smiled, nodding approvingly at his young apprentice.

Johnny remembered the other professors too.  Críostóir Ó Raghallaigh was very strict on grammatical correctness and proper pronunciation in Irish.  James Rigney seemed rather pompous but had a great command of the English language, James Hurley , nicknamed “Snog” from Waterford taught Rural Science and referred to his students as “gentlemen”.  Johnny considered the College food (grub) to have been good but best of all he remembered the field games.

Footballers were in the majority in St Pat’s College during Johnny’s time there and Seán Purcell of Galway was the most prominent of those.  Hurlers were a minority and some were of a low standard, but still they managed to field a team that went to the final of the Dublin Intermediate League.  Johnny managed somehow to play senior hurling with UCD while still in St Pat’s.  On returning late one evening from winning some important match and for the first time drinking some celebratory pints of stout paid for by UCD, he felt himself swaying while pressing the bell of the locked front door.  Luckily he managed to prop himself, with his hurley against his rear end, before the dean opened the door to admit him.  The College authorities were very opposed to students drinking alcohol.

While standing in the Square in Dungarvan enjoying celebrations following the winning of the All-Ireland McCarthy Cup in 1948, Johnny was approached by Séamus Ó hEocha, better known as Fear Mór, who offered Johnny a job as a teacher:  “A Sheáin, nuair a bheidh tú oilte, caithfidh tú teacht chugainne agus múineadh linn sa Rinn.” ; this although he was not yet qualified to teach.  However, after the Senior Final Examinations in 1949, Johnny duly went to teach in Coláiste na Rinne - both the usual annual curriculum and the short summer courses until he returned to teach in Dublin and study at night in UCD with a view to working in Local Government.  But, already tired of teaching for a low salary in Ireland, in 1957 Johnny was interviewed in the Gresham Hotel and hired to teach at a better salary in a Catholic school in Canada. 

After only one year teaching in Canada, Johnny was again disillusioned when he found that Church schools paid smaller salaries than State schools, he resigned and travelled north to work as a miner until promoted to controlling a smelter.  But, perhaps when he heard that Waterford were again doing well in hurling, he became homesick and wrote to a girlfriend at home to send him a telegram that his father was “dead”.  She did so and he managed to “suspend” his contract, returning to Waterford in 1959 but too late to train for a place that won the McCarthy Cup again that year with his former St Pat’s colleague, Ned Power, as goalkeeper.

Wishing now to marry and settle down, Johnny got a school principalship and residence in Killavullen, near Mallow in Co Cork.  He continued to hurl there winning a Cork Senior Co. Championship medal with Avondhu and an Intermediate medal with Castletownroche.  Since he had earlier won senior championship medals with UCD and Clonea (Co Waterford), - having returned at 7a.m. that morning from an all-night dance - and had played for both county and provincial teams, he had wonderful memories of great exciting scores, incidents and games.  His hurling colleagues and opponents included Tony Herbert of Limerick, Terry Leahy of Kilkenny and of course Christy Ring of Cork whom Johnny claimed to have held scoreless in two games.  In later life he kept greyhounds and one of these, “Patricia’s Hope” won the English Derby in 1972 and 1973.

It was my great personal privilege to talk to Johnny at midday October 30th 2010 in his house at Ballysheahan, near Mallow.  He appeared glad to tell briefly about his time teaching and hurling, although now suffering from heart and breathing difficulties.  His wife, Nancy, and his son John helped me to understand what he was saying.  It was therefore a sad shock the next day to me in Dublin to hear that he had died that morning.  Ar Dheis Dé i dteannta laochra na hiomána, anois dó.

Eoghan Ó Suilleabháin

9 November 2010

 

 

Last Updated: Friday December 17 2010