seamus dubhghaill

Promoting Irish Culture and History from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA


Leave a comment

Founding of the Leinster Football Association

The Leinster Football Association (LFA) is founded on October 27, 1892, at the Wicklow Hotel in Dublin, making it the oldest football association in the area now known as the Republic of Ireland.

The LFA is established to promote and organize association football in the Irish province of Leinster, an area outside the traditional Ulster heartlands of the sport. The founding meeting is attended by representatives of five football clubs: Dublin University A.F.C., Bohemian F.C., Leinster Nomads A.F.C., Montpelier F.C., and St. Helen’s School F.C. Rev. Canon Morley of St. Helen’s School chairs the meeting, and Dudley T. Hussey of Bohemians is appointed the first honorary secretary.

Shortly after its creation, the LFA affiliates with the Belfast-based Irish Football Association (IFA), which donates £50 to support the new association. The LFA quickly organizes its first Leinster Senior Cup in the 1892–93 season, with Leinster Nomads defeating Dublin University 2–1 in the inaugural final. Soon after, the Leinster Senior League is formed, featuring clubs such as Bohemians, Britannia, Dublin University, Leinster Nomads, Phoenix, and Montpelier.

The primary aim of the LFA is to foster football in Leinster at a time when the sport is largely concentrated in Ulster. It becomes a key driver in promoting amateur and youth football, organizing leagues, and holding cup competitions for clubs across the province.

The LFA eventually becomes disaffiliated from the IFA in 1921 due to disputes over perceived Belfast bias, Sunday matches, and differences in focus between amateur and professional football. This leads directly to the establishment of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) in September 1921, in which the LFA plays a leading role.

In summary, the Leinster Football Association’s founding in 1892 marks the beginning of organized football governance in southern Ireland, overseeing competitions and nurturing clubs outside Ulster, and its establishment remains a key milestone in Irish football history. 


Leave a comment

Birth of Jimmy McIlroy, Northern Irish Footballer & Manager

James “Jimmy” McIlroy, celebrated Northern Irish footballer and manager, is born on October 25, 1931, in Lambeg, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He is regarded as one of Burnley’s greatest-ever players and a key figure in Northern Ireland’s 1958 World Cup squad.

McIlroy grows up in a working class family as the eldest and only son among five sisters. Football runs in his family; his father, Harry McIlroy, plays for Lisburn Distillery, and his uncle Willie represents Portadown. He hones his skills playing street football during wartime shortages and leaves school at 14 to pursue his football career, initially working as a bricklayer.

McIlroy began his senior career with Glentoran in 1949, making 18 league appearances and scoring 8 goals, quickly attracting attention from English clubs.

McIlroy transfers to Burnley in 1950 for £7,000. He spends twelve years at Burnley, making 497 appearances and scoring 131 goals across all competitions. Known as the “Brain” of Burnley, he is renowned for his intelligent passing, vision, and footwork, playing a pivotal role in Burnley’s First Division title in 1959–60 and helping the team reach the 1962 FA Cup Final. He forms key midfield partnerships with players like Jimmy Adamson and Brian Pilkington, contributing to Burnley’s prominence in English football during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

In 1963, McIlroy joins Stoke City in a major rebuild under Tony Waddington for £25,000. Despite a difficult debut, he helps them achieve Second Division promotion in 1962–63, and contributes to Stoke reaching the 1964 Football League Cup Final. He scores 16 goals in 98 league appearances during his tenure.

McIlroy joins Oldham Athletic in 1965, serving as player-manager from 1966 to 1968. He makes 39 appearances with 1 goal while implementing attacking tactics and mentoring players, though promotion eludes the club under his management.

McIlroy earns 55 caps for Northern Ireland between 1951 and 1965, scoring 10 goals. He is a key player in Northern Ireland’s 1958 FIFA World Cup squad, helping the team reach the quarter-finals and scoring crucial goals in qualifying matches, including a famous win over Italy. He partners effectively with captain Danny Blanchflower, combining tactical awareness and technical skill to orchestrate midfield play.

After Oldham Athletic, McIlroy briefly coaches Bolton Wanderers in 1970, resigning after 18 days due to disagreements with the board. His managerial record reflects 124 matches with 46 wins overall.

McIlroy is appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2011 for services to football and charity. He receives the Freedom of the Borough Burnley in December 2008. The east stand of Turf Moor is named the “Jimmy McIlroy Stand” in his honour. He is remembered as Burnley’s greatest-ever player, and is praised for his elegance, vision, and leadership on and off the pitch.

McIlroy retires in Burnley, where he continues to attend matches and participate in local events. He passes away on August 20, 2018, at the age of 86. He is survived by his children, Paul and Anne, and his enduring legacy lives on among Burnley fans and football historians.

Jimmy McIlroy’s story exemplifies dedication, technical excellence, and loyalty, leaving a lasting imprint on both club and international football.


Leave a comment

Birth of Kathleen Mills, Senior Camogie Player

Kathleen “Kay” Mills-Hill, a sportsperson who plays senior camogie with Dublin from 1941 until 1961, is born in 31 South Square, Inchicore, Dublin, on October 8, 1923. She is regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time, winning fifteen All-Ireland Senior Medals.

Mills’s mother, Winifred (née Wills), is from Inchicore and her father, Thomas, is from Glanmire, County Cork. Her father works for Great Southern Railways. She has three siblings, Gertrude, Ada and Robert. Her mother dies when she is just eighteen months old, leaving her to be raised by her maternal grandmother, Charlotte Wills, who lives at 1 Abercorn Terrace, Inchicore. She is educated at St. Vincent’s Industrial School, Goldenbridge, where she plays table tennis and association football as well as doing gymnastics. However, camogie is her first love, which she starts playing at age five. She leaves school at a young age, and goes to work in Lamb’s jam factory.

Through her father, Mills is able to participate in and avail of the sporting activities in the GSR Athletic Union. Two pence per week are deducted from the worker’s wages to go toward the financing of the sports activities in the Railway. In 1947, she marries George Hill. They run the Red Seal Handbag Company from the North Circular Road, and later Hill Street. Later they become vintners, running the Seventh Lock public house on the Grand Canal, Ballyfermot.

Mills makes her camogie debut with the Great Southern Railways club in Dublin in 1938 at the age of fourteen, and is promoted to the senior team for her second match. Three years later she makes her debut for Dublin while still sixteen and plays in Dublin’s unsuccessful 1941 All-Ireland Senor Camogie Championship final against Cork, winning her first All-Ireland medal after a replay against Cork a year later in the 1942 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship final.

In 1943, the same counties meet in the All-Ireland final for the third consecutive year. Once again Mills ends up claiming an All-Ireland medal, her goal from fifty yards range being described as the highlight of the match. The following year, 1944, brings a third All-Ireland medal. In 1945 and 1946, a dispute in the camogie association keeps Dublin out of the All-Ireland championship in spite of being Leinster champions in both years. In 1948, Dublin is back on form and Mills captures a fourth All-Ireland medal. She takes no part in the 1949 championship, however, the 1950s brings much success to Mills.

From 1950 to 1955, Mills captures six consecutive All-Ireland titles. In 1956, “the Dubs” surrender their crown to Antrim but it is soon reclaimed in 1957. In 1958, she is appointed captain of the Dublin camogie team. Led by her, Dublin defeats Tipperary to capture yet another All-Ireland title. She captures three more All-Ireland medals in 1959, 1960 and 1961. The occasion of the 1961 final is special as it is her 38th birthday and her last outing in a Dublin jersey.

In her playing days Mills is regarded as one of the all-time greats. She is regarded as camogie’s first superstar she has often been described as the Christy Ring, Mick Mackey, Nicky Rackard and Lory Meagher of the camogie world. With a haul of fifteen senior All-Ireland medals, she is the most decorated player in the history of Gaelic games at the time of her retirement. Since then Rena Buckley and Briege Corkery have won more than Mills.

Mills-Hill dies on August 11, 1996, from undisclosed causes, at her home on the Naas Road, Dublin. She is buried in Palmerstown Cemetery. In 2010, the camogie trophy for the annual inter-county All-Ireland Junior Camogie Championship is named in her honour. The Kay Mills Cup is a replica of the O’Duffy Cup. A plaque to Mills is erected at her former home, 1 Abercorn Terrace, Inchicore.


Leave a comment

Death of Johnny Lyons, 98FM Sports Presenter & Editor

Johnny Lyons, the long-time sports presenter and editor at 98FM, is found dead at his Dublin home on the evening of August 19, 2015. The 49‑year‑old broadcaster had been away from work for several weeks recovering from a broken ankle and was expected to return to the air the following week.

Friends become concerned when they cannot reach him, prompting a search of his apartment in Dublin city centre, where his body is discovered. The cause of death is not immediately known, but 98FM confirms he died suddenly and peacefully.

Lyons joins 98FM in 1996 and serves as the station’s Sports Editor for nearly two decades. He is best known for hosting the popular Sunday morning show Now That’s What I Call Sport (9 a.m.–10 a.m.) and also presents Premier League Live on Today FM. His distinctive voice, passion for soccer, and larger‑than‑life personality make him a familiar and beloved figure in Irish sports broadcasting.

The news of Lyons death shocks colleagues and fans across the media and sporting worlds. 98FM’s management describes him as “the backbone of our sports team” and “a great friend.” The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) praises him as “a great football man who really understood the game” and plans to pay tribute at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium during the following month’s match against Georgia. Tributes pour in from fellow broadcasters, politicians, and sports figures, with some calling him “the unmistakable voice of sport in Dublin.”

Lyons’s funeral is held at the Church of St. Therese, Mount Merrion, Dublin, followed by burial at Shanganagh Cemetery in Shankill, County Dublin. The station and FAI both announce on‑air tributes in his memory. His sudden passing leaves a significant gap in Irish sports radio, and his legacy as a passionate, knowledgeable, and charismatic sports voice will be remembered by many.


Leave a comment

Death of Donogh O’Malley, Politician & Rugby Union Player

Donogh Brendan O’Malley, Irish Fianna Fáil politician and rugby union player, dies suddenly in Limerick, County Limerick, on March 10, 1968. He serves as Minister for Education (1966-68), Minister for Health (1965-66) and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance (1961-65). He also serves as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick East constituency (1954-68). He is best remembered as the Minister who introduces free secondary school education in the Republic of Ireland.

O’Malley is born on January 18, 1921, in Limerick, one of eight surviving children of Joseph O’Malley, civil engineer, and his wife, Mary “Cis” (née Tooher). Born into a wealthy middle-class family, he is educated by the Jesuits at Crescent College and later at Clongowes Wood College, County Kildare. He later studies at University College Galway (UCG), where he is conferred with a degree in civil engineering in 1943. He later returns to Limerick, where he works as an engineer before becoming involved in politics.

O’Malley plays rugby at provincial level for Munster, Leinster and Connacht and at club level for Bohemians and Shannon RFC. His chances at an international career are ruined by the suspension of international fixtures during World War II. It is at a rugby match in Tralee that he first meets Dr. Hilda Moriarty, who he goes on to marry in August 1947.

Although O’Malley runs as a Fianna Fáil candidate, he is born into a politically active family who supports Cumann na nGaedheal until a falling-out with the party in the early 1930s. He first becomes involved in local politics as a member of Limerick Corporation. He becomes Mayor of Limerick in 1961, the third O’Malley brother to hold the office (Desmond from 1941-43 and Michael from 1948-49). He is a strong electoral performer, topping the poll in every general election he runs in.

O’Malley is first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for Limerick East at the 1954 Irish general election. Fianna Fáil is not returned to government on that occasion. He spends the rest of the decade on the backbenches. However, his party is returned to power in 1957. Two years later, the modernising process begins when Seán Lemass takes over from Éamon de Valera as Taoiseach. Lemass introduces younger cabinet ministers, as the old guard who has served the party since its foundation in 1926 begin to retire.

In 1961, O’Malley joins the government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance. He is part of a new, brasher style of politician that emerges in the 1960s, sometimes nicknamed “the men in the mohair suits.” It is expected that this generation of politician, born after the Irish Civil War, will be a modernising force in post-de Valera Ireland.

Although his sporting background is in rugby and swimming, it is association football which O’Malley gets involved in at a leadership level, becoming President of the Football Association of Ireland despite never having played the sport.

Following Fianna Fáil’s retention of power in the 1965 Irish general election, O’Malley joins the cabinet as Minister for Health. He spends just over a year in this position before he is appointed Minister for Education, a position in which he displays renowned dynamism. Having succeeded Patrick Hillery, another dynamic young minister, he resolves to act swiftly to introduce the recommendations of an official report on education.

As Minister for Education, O’Malley extends the school transport scheme and commissions the building of new non-denominational comprehensive and community schools in areas where they are needed. He introduces Regional Technical Colleges (RTCs), now called Institutes of Technology, in areas where there is no third level college. The best example of this policy is the University of Limerick, originally an Institute of Higher Education, where O’Malley is credited with taking the steps to ensure that it becomes a university. His plan to merge Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin arouses huge controversy, and is not successful, despite being supported by his cabinet colleague Brian Lenihan. Access to third-level education is also extended, the old scholarship system being replaced by a system of means-tested grants that give easier access to students without well-off parents.

Mid-twentieth century Ireland experiences significant emigration, especially to the neighbouring United Kingdom where, in addition to employment opportunities, there is a better state provision of education and healthcare. Social change in Ireland and policies intending to correct this deficit are often met with strong resistance, such as Noël Browne‘s proposed Mother and Child Scheme. As a former Health Minister, O’Malley has first-hand experience of running the department which had attempted to introduce this scheme and understood the processes that caused it to fail, such as resistance from Department of Finance and John Charles McQuaid. This influences his strategy in presenting the free-education proposal.

Shortly after O’Malley is appointed, he announces that from 1969 all education up to Intermediate Certificate level will be without cost, and free buses will bring students in rural areas to their nearest school, seemingly making this decision without consulting other ministers. However, he does discuss it with Lemass. Jack Lynch, who, as Minister for Finance, has to find the money to pay for the programme, is not consulted and is dismayed at the announcement.

By announcing the decision first to journalists and on a Saturday (during a month when the Dáil is in recess), the positive public reaction tempers resistance to the idea before the next cabinet meeting. O’Malley’s proposals are hugely popular with the public, and it is impossible for the government to go back on his word.

Some Irish commentators consider that O’Malley’s extension of education, changing Ireland from a land where the majority are schooled only to the age of 14 to a country with universal secondary-school education, indirectly leads to the Celtic Tiger boom of the 1990s-2000s when it is followed for some years by an extension of free education to primary degree level in university, a scheme that is launched in 1996 by the Labour Party and axed in 2009 by Fianna Fáil’s Batt O’Keeffe.

In 1967, O’Malley appoints Justice Eileen Kennedy to chair a committee to carry out a survey and report on the reformatory and industrial school systems. The report, which is published in 1970, is considered ground-breaking in many areas and comes to be known as the Kennedy Report. The Report makes recommendations about a number of matters, including the Magdalene laundries, in relation to which they are not acted upon. The report recommends the closure of a number of reformatories, including the latterly infamous reformatory at Daingean, County Offaly.

O’Malley’s reforms make him one of the most popular members of the government. He is affectionately known as “the School Man” for his work in education. His sudden death in Limerick on March 10, 1968, before his vision for the education system is completed, comes as a shock to the public. He is buried with a full Irish state funeral.

Following O’Malley’s death, his widow, Hilda O’Malley, does not run in the subsequent by-election for the seat he has left vacant. It is won narrowly by their nephew Desmond O’Malley. Hilda seeks the Fianna Fáil nomination for the 1969 Irish general election, but Fianna Fáil gives the party nomination to Desmond, as the sitting TD. Hilda runs as an Independent candidate in that election. After what proves a bitter campaign against her nephew, she fails to get the fourth seat in Limerick East by just 200 votes.


Leave a comment

Birth of John “Johnny” Carey, Professional Footballer

John Joseph “Johnny” Carey, professional footballer, manager and one of Manchester United F.C.’s great captains, is born in Dublin on February 23, 1919.

As a schoolboy, Carey plays football for Home Farm F.C. As a youth, he also plays Gaelic football and is selected to represent Dublin GAA at minor level before he signs for St. James’s Gate F.C. at the start of the 1936–1937 season.

After just two months of League of Ireland football, he is spotted by Billy Behan, a Dublin-based Manchester United scout. In November 1936, United signs him for a then League of Ireland record fee of £250. He makes his debut as an inside left for United on September 23, 1937, against Southampton F.C. During his first season with United, Carey, together with Harry Baird, Jack Rowley, Tommy Bamford, Tommy Breen and Stan Pearson, help United gain promotion to the First Division.

As a player Carey spends most of his career with Manchester United, where he is team captain from 1946 until he retires as a player in 1953. He also plays as a guest for several other clubs including Cardiff City F.C., Manchester City F.C., Everton F.C., Liverpool F.C. and Middlesbrough F.C.

Carey is also a dual internationalist, playing for and captaining both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. In 1947 he also captains a Europe XI which plays a Great Britain XI at Hampden Park. In 1949 he is voted the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year and in the same year captains the FAI XI that defeats England 2–0 at Goodison Park, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home.

Carey is also the first non-UK player and the first Irishman to captain a winning team in both an FA Cup Final and the First Division. Like his contemporary Con Martin, he is an extremely versatile footballer and plays in nine different positions throughout his career. He even plays in goal for United on one occasion.

One of Carey’s earliest experiences as a coach comes when he is still an active player. He takes charge of the Republic of Ireland national team at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. Ireland loses 3–1 to the Netherlands in the opening round in a game played at Fratton Park. He retires as a player in 1953 and almost immediately accepts the position as manager of Blackburn Rovers. In 1958 he guides the Rovers into First Division. He then becomes manager at Everton but, despite leading them to fifth place in the 1960–61 season, their highest post-war position, he is sacked in the back of a taxi by director John Moores. As a result, the jibe, “Taxi for …!” has become a staple insult offered to any manager facing the threat of the sack. He next manages Leyton Orient and takes them into the First Division in 1962, their only season in the top division. However his greatest success as a manager comes with Nottingham Forest. In 1967, he guides them to the FA Cup semi-finals and to second place in the First Division behind his former club Manchester United. Between 1955 and 1967 Carey also serves as team manager of the Republic of Ireland national team. However he has very little power as the team itself is chosen by a selection committee. In October 1970, he returns to the manager’s role at Blackburn, after a spell as administrative manager. He is sacked on June 7, 1971.

By this time Carey has had enough of football management, and takes up a job in the treasurer’s office of Trafford Borough Council until his retirement in 1984. He continues to visit Old Trafford regularly, and during the 1970s acts as a scout for Manchester United.

Carey dies at Macclesfield District General Hospital in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, on August 22, 1995. He is survived by his wife Margaret.


Leave a comment

Birth of James McAlinden, Irish Footballer

James McAlinden, Irish footballer who plays as a forward for several clubs, most notably, Belfast Celtic, Portsmouth, Shamrock Rovers and Southend United, is born in Belfast on December 27, 1917. As an international, he also plays for both Ireland teams – the IFA XI and the FAI XI. After retiring as a player, he goes on to manage Glenavon, Lisburn Distillery and Drogheda United.

In 1934, aged 16, McAlinden is playing for Glentoran Reserves, when after a game against their reserves, he is offered a professional contract by Belfast Celtic. Together with Jackie Vernon, Tommy Breen, Billy McMillan and Charlie Tully, he subsequently becomes a prominent member of the Celtic team managed by Elisha Scott. This team dominates the Irish League in the era before and during World War II. Among his most notable contributions is scoring in the 2–1 win against Bangor in the 1938 Irish Cup final.

In December 1938, McAlinden signs for Portsmouth for a fee of £7.500. He makes his debut for the club against Chelsea and goes on to become a regular in the side. Within six months of his arrival at the club, he helps them win the 1939 FA Cup final, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1. After the outbreak of World War II, he plays three times for Portsmouth in wartime regional leagues, but his first spell with the club ends when he then returns to Belfast Celtic in 1939. He returns to Portsmouth for a second stint in 1946. In September 1947, he leaves Portsmouth once again and joins Stoke City for a fee of £7,000.

Following the end of his second stint with Belfast Celtic and before he rejoins Portsmouth, McAlinden signs for Shamrock Rovers in September 1945. He makes his debut against Shelbourne at Glenmalure Park on September 16. While playing for Rovers his teammates include Paddy Coad, Peter Farrell and Tommy Eglington. During his one season with Rovers, he helps the club reach the 1946 FAI Cup final. However Rovers lose 3–1 to Drumcondra.

McAlinden joins Stoke City in September 1947 for a then club record fee of £7,000. He becomes regular inside forward under manager Bob McGrory in 1947–48, playing in 33 matches scoring just twice against Aston Villa and Huddersfield Town. His lack of goals sees him fall out of favour at the Victoria Ground and he is sold to Third Division South side Southend United in October 1948.

In 1948, Southend United signs McAlinden from Stoke City for a fee of £8,000. He continues to play for United until 1954 and during his time with the club he serves as club captain. He also becomes something of a cult hero among the club’s fans and is remembered as being possibly the best player ever to play for the club. In 1950, he is caught up in controversy after it is alleged that he received illegal payments during his second spell with Portsmouth. As a result, he is suspended for the first two months of the 1950–51 season. In April 1954, he makes his last home appearance for United in a 4–1 win over Queens Park Rangers.

When McAlinden begins his international career in 1937 there are in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both associations, the Northern Ireland–based Irish Football Association (IFA) and the Irish Free State–based Football Association of Ireland (FAI), claim jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and select players from the whole island. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era, including McAlinden play for both teams.

Between 1937 and 1948, McAlinden makes five appearances for the IFA XI, making his international debut in a 1–1 draw with Scotland at Pittodrie Stadium on November 10, 1937. His IFA XI appearances also include the 8–4 defeat against a Combined Services XI at Windsor Park on September 9, 1944. This team is basically a Great Britain XI and features, among others, Matt Busby, Stanley Matthews, Tommy Lawton and Stan Mortensen. He also plays against England in 7–2 defeat at Windsor Park on September 9, 1946. He makes his last appearance for the IFA XI on October 10, 1948, in a 6–2 defeat to England at Windsor Park. He makes his first three appearances for the IFA XI while with Belfast Celtic, his fourth while at Portsmouth and his fifth while at Southend United.

In 1946, while with Portsmouth, McAlinden also makes two appearances for the FAI XI. He is one of several players born in Northern Ireland who benefits from the FAI’s attempts to establish their all-Ireland influence. In June 1946, when the FAI organises an Iberian tour, he, together with Jackie Vernon, Billy McMillan and Paddy Sloan, is one of four Northern Irish players called up. He subsequently plays in both the 3–1 defeat to Portugal on June 16 and then helps Ireland gain a surprise 1–0 victory against Spain on June 23, 1946.

In 1955, McAlinden becomes player/manager of Glenavon. He continues playing for an additional year before finally retiring as a player to concentrate on management. During a thirteen-year stint with Glenavon, he guides them two Irish League titles, three Irish Cup victories and one Gold Cup. After leaving Glenavon, works as a full-time scout for Coventry City before taking charge at Lisburn Distillery in 1969. He subsequently guides a Distillery team that includes a young Martin O’Neill to a win in the 1971 Irish Cup. Later in his first season with Drogheda United, he guides them to the 1976 FAI Cup final, only to lose 1–0 to Bohemian.

McAlinden dies at the age of 75 on November 15, 1993.


Leave a comment

Death of Oscar Traynor, Fianna Fáil Politician & Republican

Oscar Traynor, Fianna Fáil politician and republican, dies in Dublin on December 14, 1963. He serves as Minister for Justice from 1957 to 1961, Minister for Defence from 1939 to 1948 and 1951 to 1954, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs from 1936 to 1939 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence from June 1936 to November 1936. He serves as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1925 to 1927 and 1932 to 1961. He is also involved with association football, being the President of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) from 1948 until 1963.

Traynor is born in Dublin on March 21, 1886, into a strongly nationalist family. He is educated by the Christian Brothers. In 1899, he is apprenticed to John Long, a famous woodcarver. As a young man he is a noted footballer and tours Europe as a goalkeeper with Belfast Celtic F.C. whom he plays with from 1910 to 1912. He rejects claims soccer is a foreign sport calling it “a Celtic game, pure and simple, having its roots in the Highlands of Scotland.”

Traynor joins the Irish Volunteers and takes part in the Easter Rising in 1916, being the leader of the Hotel Metropole garrison. Following this he is interned in Wales. During the Irish War of Independence, he is brigadier of the Dublin Brigade of the Irish Republican Army and leads the disastrous attack on the Custom House in 1921 and an ambush on the West Kent Regiment at Claude Road, Drumcondra on June 16, 1921, when the Thompson submachine gun is fired for the first time in action.

When the Irish Civil War breaks out in June 1922, Traynor takes the Anti-Treaty IRA side. The Dublin Brigade is split, however, with many of its members following Michael Collins in taking the pro-Treaty side. During the Battle of Dublin, he is in charge of the Barry’s Hotel garrison, before making their escape. He organises guerilla activity in south Dublin and County Wicklow, before being captured by Free State troops in September. He is then imprisoned for the remainder of the war.

On March 11, 1925, Traynor is elected to Dáil Éireann in a by-election as a Sinn Féin TD for the Dublin North constituency, though he does not take his seat due to the abstentionist policy of Sinn Féin. He is re-elected as one of eight members for Dublin North in the June 1927 Irish general election but just one of six Sinn Féin TDs. Once again, he does not take his seat. He does not contest the September 1927 Irish general election but declares his support for Fianna Fáil. He stands again in the 1932 Irish general election and is elected as a Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin North.

In 1936, Traynor is first appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs. In September 1939, he is appointed Minister for Defence and holds the portfolio to February 1948. In 1948, he becomes President of the Football Association of Ireland, a position he holds until his death. He serves as Minister for Defence in several Fianna Fáil governments and as Minister for Justice, where he is undermined by his junior minister, and later Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, before he retires in 1961.

Traynor dies in Dublin at the age of 77 on December 14, 1963. He has a road named in his memory, running from the Malahide Road through Coolock to Santry in Dublin’s northern suburbs.


Leave a comment

Birth of Billy Simpson, Northern Irish Footballer

William Joseph Simpson, a Northern Ireland international footballer, is born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on December 12, 1929. During his fifteen year playing career he plays for Linfield, Rangers, Stirling Albion, Partick Thistle and Oxford United.

Simpson signs for Rangers from Linfield for a sum of £11,500 in 1950. He spends nine years (1950–59) at Rangers making 239 appearances and scoring 163 goals. He wins three championship medals and a Scottish Cup winners medal with Rangers to add to the two Northern Ireland Football League and two Irish Cups he wins with Linfield. He leaves Ibrox Stadium in 1959 and spends the last couple of years of his career with Stirling Albion, Partick Thistle and (then non-league) Oxford United.

As an illustration of his popularity, in the fictional song “A Trip to Ibrox,” Simpson is credited with scoring twice in a “Ne’erday” Old Firm Derby at Ibrox. Whereby Rangers are 1-0 down at halftime, and Simpson inspires his team to a second half comeback after Willie Waddell has scored an equaliser.

In recognition of his service to that club, Simpson is made a member of the Rangers F.C. Hall of Fame.

Simpson makes his debut for Northern Ireland in 1951 against Wales, scoring in the process. He represents his country twelve times in total between 1951 and 1958, scoring five goals. He is selected in Northern Ireland’s squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden but a late injury ensures he does not play at all during the finals.

In April 2015, the feature-length documentary Spirit of ’58 is screened as part of the Belfast Film Festival. It features Simpson prominently alongside the other surviving players (Billy Bingham, Peter McParland, Jimmy McIlroy and Harry Gregg) as it tells the story of Northern Ireland’s journey throughout the 1950s under the managership of Peter Doherty, culminating in the 1958 World Cup.

Simpson dies in Glasgow, Scotland, on January 27, 2017.


Leave a comment

Birth of Sportswriter Con Houlihan

Con Houlihan, Irish sportswriter, is born on December 6, 1925, in Castleisland, County Kerry. Despite only progressing to national journalism at the age of 46, he becomes “the greatest and the best-loved Irish sports journalist of all.”

Over a lengthy career, Houlihan covers many Irish and international sporting events, from Gaelic football and hurling finals, to soccer and rugby World Cups, the Olympic Games and numberless race meetings inside and outside Ireland.

Houlihan is a journalist with the Irish Press group writing for The Irish Press, Evening Press and sometimes The Sunday Press, until the group’s demise in 1995. He writes the “Tributaries” column and Evening Press back sports page “Con Houlihan” column.

Houlihan dies on the morning of August 4, 2012, in St. James’s Hospital in Dublin. Often considered one of Ireland’s finest writers, he leaves behind a legacy of immense sports journalism that spans over 60 years. A minute’s silence is observed in his memory ahead of Kerry GAA‘s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final defeat to Donegal GAA at Croke Park the following day. His last column, in which he wishes Irish Olympic boxer Katie Taylor well, is published the day after his death. His funeral takes place on August 8, 2012.

Ireland’s president, Michael D. Higgins, leads the tributes to Houlihan, describing him as a “most original writer, with a unique style based on his extensive knowledge of literature, politics, life and sport.” He adds, “He had that special quality and ability to identify with the passion, pain and celebration of Irish community life.”

A bronze bust of Houlihan is unveiled in his hometown of Castleisland in 2004. In 2011, another sculpture is erected outside The Palace bar in Dublin.