Keegan Cup’s fascinating history dates back to 1950s
THE Keegan Cup, which is presented to the winners of the Meath SFC each year (hopefully it will be presented this year) is one of the most prestigious and unique trophies on the club scene anywhere in the country.
And unlike many cups awarded to championship winners, this one doesn’t derive its name from a famous player of the past. Indeed, it could be said that Tom Keegan, whom the cup is named after, is very much representative of the players at grassroots level.
Tom Keegan had a very humble background and was a blacksmith by trade. He was one of the stars of an emerging Syddan team in the late 1930s who had his young life cut short following a tragic accident in a match in 1940.
Tom playedlayed at midfield for Syddandan against Castletownwn in the IFC semi-i-final at Rathkennynny on Sundayay August 25th 1940. During the course of the gameme he receivedved a very seriouserious head injuryury and was removedmoved from the pitchh to Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan.
When his condition deteriorated he was transferred to the Richmond Hospital, Dublin, where he sadly passed away on the Tuesday morning.
Tom, who was a quiet and unassuming type of man, lived in Lobinstown and was just 26 years of age. He is buried in Killary cemetery.
Some years later the Syddan club decided to honour his memory by presenting a cup which bears his name for the Meath Senior Championship. Previous to that there was no trophy for the senior championship and Navan O’Mahony’s became the first winners of the Keegan Cup in 1953.
It was a specially convened meeting in Lobinstown Hall in May 1953 where the decision was made to perpetuate the memory of the late Tom Keegan. Following a lengthy discussion it was decided that a committee should endeavour to raise the funds necessary to purchase a valuable cup, to be known as the Tom Keegan Memorial Cup, and to present it to the Meath Co Board for the senior championship competition.
The cost of the project was estimated at three figures, which was quite a large sum in those days, and the committee hoped to raise funds by voluntary subscription, and by organising football matches and functions in Lobinstown Hall.
According to the late Paddy Meegan, one of Syddan’s most famous sons, and winner of All-Ireland senior medals in 1949 and 1954, it was Jem Cluskey who first mooted the idea of a cup to commemorate the memory of Tom Keegan.
With money raised Paddy, along with fellow clubmen Patsy Sheils and Paddy McGuirk, were handed the task to travel to Dublin, source a suitable cup and make the purchase.
‘We had about £230 to spend - a lot of money then from a very big parish collection,’ Paddy recalled.
‘It was to Millar & Millar, ‘The Gold and Silversmith’, who supplied the All-Ireland medals to the GAA, that they went when they hit the city.
‘We had seen Sam Maguire and we wanted a big cup too,’ Paddy Meegan said.
‘We were disappointed with what we could purchase new with the money we had and were about to try elsewhere when the man in the shop said:’ Wait, I have a very fine trophy here in top-grade silver for a little less than a new one.
‘It came from a London horse show which no longer runs and no finer piece you’ll get anywhere,’ he added.
‘When the cup was produced we knew we could not leave without it. He wanted £250 at the lowest. It was not easy to bargain hard for such a faultless piece, but we did. In the end we offered the entire contents of our purse and he accepted, providing a stand and engraving as well.’
Later that year the Syddan club presented the Keegan Cup to Meath Co Board chairman Fr Patrick Tully, at a function in Lobinstown Hall.
Three years on the Keegan Cup was back in the parish after Syddan defeated Skryne 3-4 to 2-6 in the 1956 championship final.
Since then there has been many epic final encounters, some forgettable ones, and a few controversial for the coveted cup.
Navan O’Mahony’s head the honours list with 20 titles to their name, including a five-in-a-row between 1957 and 1961. They also completed a four-in-a-row between 1987 and 1990. Jim and Paddy Fitzsimons from the
Navan club are the only brothers ersbrothers to have captained wwinning teams.
Skryne and Summerhill merhillSummerhill are next in the hohonours list witwith seven enseven titles eaceach. The ‘HiHill were chchampions onchampions for the first timtime in 1974 and they held onto thetheir title for the folfollowing three years to also complete a four-in-aa-row. When Skryne ‘won’ for tthe second ondsecond time in 1965 they didndidn’t have the honour of lifting the cup as they were awarded it at a subsequent Co Board meeting after their final against Kilbride was brought to a premature ending.
Kilbride were the dominant team in the late 1960s and early 1970s, while Walterstown took their tally of final wins to five after completing a three-in-a-row in 1984.
Dunshaughlin won it for the first time in 2000 and then went on to retain it in the following two years.
Simonstown Gaels gave north Navan something to cheer about following back-to-back wins in 2016 and 2017.
However, there were also a number of notable successes for teams from small rural areas, including St Vincent’s Ardcath in 1955, Dunderry in 1995 and Kilmainhamwood in 1996.
Ratoath were the latest club to get their name on the coveted trophy following their first ever final win over Summerhill in the autumn of last year.