A TALE OF TWO OLD NEIGHBOURS IN A TIME OF GREAT CONFLICT
by Tim Sheehan
Even the declaration of war in 1939 did not worry the hurling fans of Cork. There were more important issues at stake because on that Sunday, September 3 - an army of Cork supporters followed the county senior team to Cork Park in prospect of beating Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. It became known as the "Thunder and Lightning Final," because the game, particularly the second half, was played in torrential downpour with rapidly repeating flashes of lightning. And in that holocaust of the elements, Kilkenny won by a single point - Kilkenny 2-7; Cork, 3-3.
In the following years, when the effects of the war began to bite in mid Cork, the spirit of hurling was uppermost, defying food shortages and travel difficulties. Two clubs, in particular, Inniscarra, and Shournagh Valley, both in the parish of Inniscarra, deserve mention. Inniscarra, the parent club, went four years without winning a Mid Cork championship and Shournagh Valley, one of the outstanding clubs in the division, a splinter club of Inniscarra, had fallen back to a surprising degree. The idea of an amalgamation of the two clubs originated in Thomas Healy's pub in Cloghroe, where Tower man Dan Lehane, a fine hurler, was one of the clientele. Dan started his playing career with St Finbarrs from whom he retired at senior level and threw in his lot with his local Shournagh Valley team, as a junior player in the mid 1930s.
Thomas Healy, a staunch Inniscarra activist, shared Dan Lehane's suggestion that the two clubs would gain from a merger. The proposition took hold and was welcomed by both clubs at their meetings in Berrings Hall and Tower Hall, respectively.
The final meeting took place in Tower Hall before the 1941 Mid-Cork GAA season. All matters on the agenda were agreed until the last item under discussion - the name under which the amalgam would enter the championship. It evolved into a disagreement to scuttle what had been agreed. Inniscarra representatives insisted the name Inniscarra should be the masthead, while Shournagh speakers, wishing to safeguard their club from demise in the event of a possible break-up of the partnership at some time in the future, demanded that the clarion call 'Up the Valley' should be incorporated. A compromise was reached to name the new team Inniscarra Valley.
Inniscarra Valley took the field in the 1941 Mid-Cork championship, reaching the divisional hurling final. The elected officers of this team were:
• President, Very Rev B Canon Kenneally, PP Inniscarra
• Vice-Presidents, Rev Michael O'Dwyer, CC Berrings and Mr, John Twohig, NT Dripsey
• Chairman, Con O'Leary, Tower
• Vice-Chairman, Con Lehane, NT Matehy
• Secretary & Treasurer from Shournagh Valley and three from Inniscarra club
The aim was to win the Mid-Cork Junior Championship. Despite the grand array of talent that gladdened the hearts of supporters and selectors, they were faced with problems of available numbers of equal ability for vital positions. On August 21, 1941, Inniscarra Valley, as favourites, faced a spirited, hard-hitting Eire Og at Ballincollig and expected little change from the redoubtable Ovens men.
The game, though a thriller, received meagre mention from the Cork Examiner whose newsprint was drastically reduced owing to the war. Four days after the final the paper’s issue of August 25 published the scores: Inniscarra Valley, 4-4; Eire Og, 2-2.
The winning Inniscarra Valley team was
• John O'Grady
• John Michael Murphy
• Tim John O'Mahoney (captain)
• Denis Healy
• Ned McSweeney
• Willie Ring
• Neilly (Baity) Buckley
• Tim Lane
• John O'Brien
• Danny Murphy
• Jack McKechnie (better known as Jacko Lehane)
• Denis Griffin
• Jackie (Poundie) Murphy
• Charlie McCarthy
• Jack Casey.
On the bench were another 15 players, including Jerh Casey, who was of county junior standard, and others who had accepted to make way for in the interest of unity.
But the after-match rumblings went on. Tower took the first step to sever the merger and reconstitute Shournagh Valley. The Mid-Cork draws of 1942 paired Inniscarra and Donoughmore, and Shournagh Valley with Cloughduv in the first round of the hurling championship. Those four made a double bill at Coachford on a very wet Sunday in 1942.
The first of the two billed games, Inniscarra versus Donoughmore, took place a downpour. The referee, Sam O'Brien of Shournagh Valley, showed his disgust at the weather in the very limited number of times he blew the whistle, even for open fouls. Inniscarra emerged winners.
While the first half was in progress, Jim Goulding, the Cloughduv secretary, approached the Shournagh Valley chairman and others seeking agreement for a postponement of their tie in consideration of the weather. Shournagh readily agreed because only half of their team had turned up. Towards the close of the first game when the rain had eased off, Jim Goulding again contacted the Shournagh Valley officials to state Cloughduv would go on with the fixture. Shournagh refused and Cloughduv were awarded the match. Shournagh Valley objected to the referee's decision. The objection was dismissed by the Mid-Cork Board and Shournagh Valley was out of the 1942 championship without having played a game.
On the other hand, Inniscarra advanced and reached the semi-final against Grenagh. Prior to the semi-final a chat between John Michael Murphy of Tower, an unbeatable half-back, and Denis Griffin of Dripsey culminated in a request from Griffin to Murphy to take his place with Inniscarra for the game. John Michael Murphy agreed on condition that three other Shoumagh Valley players, Willie Ring, John O'Grady, and Jackie (Poundie) Murphy, would get their places as well. A meeting of Inniscarra agreed to their inclusion. In the semi-final against Grenagh, Inniscarra won by 3-4 to 1-2 and qualified to meet Ballincollig in the final for the newly-donated Kelleher Cup. Ballincollig
had a splendid team, and the game was in the balance until the last five minutes when Inniscarra had the deciding scores, a point followed by a goal.
Team panel:
• Tim Lane (captain),
• John O'Leary
• Con Murphy
• Jackie (Poundie) Murphy
• John O'Brien
• John Michael Murphy
• Jack Healy
• Willie Ring
• Jeremiah Noonan
• Denis Griffm
• Jerh Casey
• Jack Casey,
• Jim Lane
• Denis Healy
• John O'Grady
• Jimmy Brennan
• Paddy O'Mahony
• Tim Sheehan
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