Declan does his club proud

Blackwater hurling research is a brilliant body of work

2020-06-09 - BY ALAN AHERNE

LOCKDOWN HAS been an interminable drag for sports enthusiasts, but for the members of one local G.A.A. club, their knowledge has been greatly enhanced in an otherwise trying time.

From late March onwards, the Blackwater Twitter and Facebook pages were updated regularly with a gradual reveal of their top twenty scorers from play in competitive hurling over the years.

And when that most interesting task was completed, there was an added treat in store when the club’s website published a comprehensive list of over 400 players who have donned the green and gold jersey with distinction over the years.

It took many hours of painstaking and diligent research to compile such interesting information, and the man behind it all is club P.R.O. and long-time player, Declan ‘Dex’ O’Leary.

My timing was poor when I contacted him last Friday for a long overdue chat about this most worthwhile project, as Declan’s wife, Mary, had given birth to their first child, Michael, earlier in the day!

Forty-eight hours later, and still basking in the fresh glow of fatherhood, he told me that his passion for the history of his beloved Blackwater drew him to Wexford library on a regular basis from 2012 onwards.

The Garryvadden native is steeped in club lore given his own family’s strong involvement, and he was fascinated by the players and games of the past from an early age because his late father Michael – who sadly passed away in January of last year – always kept the newspaper clippings from his own lengthy career.

Three of Declan’s uncles – Bobby, the late Jack, and Eamonn – were also loyal servants of Blackwater, so he is carrying on a long-standing tradition.

‘From 2012 I got into the habit of spending maybe five or six hours of a Saturday, mainly during the winter months, in the library,’ he explained.

‘You might only get two or three years done each time, but I tried to go at least once a month and gradually it all came together.’

Given that the club was founded in 1885, just one year after the G.A.A. itself, Declan had a very long timeframe to get through, but it was a labour of love and an enriching learning experience that he was keen to share with the people of Blackwater and further afield.

Initially, he had planned to unveil the information next Christmas but, with club members in need of a lift, he brought it forward to the first few weeks of lockdown.

He started with the top twenty of hurling scorers from play, revealing one name per day until the overall chief marksman was made public: the prolific Paul Murphy from Knockbawn, who has registered 22-57 in 69 appearances since making his championship debut in 2000.

The response to the list was phenomenal, with Declan noting with a laugh that ‘if I didn’t put posts up by 9 a.m., people were ringing asking what was going on?’

It went down a treat with club members of all ages. For the players of the past, it was an opportunity to reflect again on those treasured recollections of bygone days.

And for the younger generation, it educated them about the stars of old, giving them a new appreciation of the men who wore the green and gold colours before their own arrival.

‘People would have forgotten many hurlers from the thirties and forties, and wouldn’t have known how good they were,’ Declan said.

And, of course, the disclosure of every new name gave rise to extra nuggets of information being passed on, and more stories emerging, some of them not appropriate to be printed!

The beauty of Declan’s list is that it covers so many different eras, enhancing general interest and the overall story as a result.

Martin Whelan (No. 19) and Edward Roche (No. 11) made their debuts in 1929, while Johnny Doran (No. 12) came on the scene in 1947.

First appearances were made in the 1950s by Martin Nolan (No. 2), James Ormonde (No. 5), P.J. Whelan (No. 8), Cyril Sutton (No. 13), and Dan Gallagher (No. 15).

Mogue Byrne (No. 14) arrived in 1968, followed in the early 1970s by Michael Murphy (No. 4) and Johnny Cullen (No. 16).

It’s no surprise that nine players from the modern era complete the list, as they had a lot more chances to pick off the goals and points in group games than their predecessors, who were often restricted to just one match per year in the knockout days of old.

As well as leader Paul Murphy, the list features Michael Lillis (No. 3), James Dooley (No. 6), Dean Wright (No. 7), Kevin Murphy (No. 9), Jason O’Leary, Declan’s brother (No. 10), Denis O’Brien (No. 17), Seánie Purcell (No. 18), and Aidan Whelan, who got the ball rolling in late March at No. 20.

The only frustrating aspect of Declan’s research was the lack of match reports for certain years, something he can do nothing about, and he has listed the games he is missing on the club website.

That doesn’t detract from the merits of the overall project, though, because the list is still a very accurate reflection of Blackwater’s main marksmen over the years.

Since the information-gathering started in 2012, it has become somewhat easier to conduct research, with an increasing number of newspapers now readily available online.

Blackwater had a particularly rich early history and, funnily enough, Declan didn’t encounter many problems in unearthing their line-outs from those fledgling years.

P.P. Sutton, a prominent journalist from neighbouring Oulart-The Ballagh, regularly listed their teams in his publication, ‘Sport’, and this proved an immense help.

Declan is especially happy that the research has given younger folk in the club a better appreciation of the quality of player to have served Blackwater down through the years.

Martin Nolan, second on the list with a whopping 23-42 in 22 appearances from 1959, is a prime example.

‘Lar and Owenie Lacey would have got lifts to school with Martin, and they were never aware of how good he was, he was such an unassuming guy,’ Declan said.

Indeed, in 1963, the prolific Nolan scored an incredible 4-2 from play from the right corner-forward role when Wexford pipped Antrim by 7-8 to 7-7 in the Leinster Intermediate semi-final in Croke Park.

Declan was delighted to see Cyril Sutton, ‘a man who did an awful lot for the club’, making the list at number 13 with a haul of 12-6 in 16 matches from 1950.

His grandsons, Kerill and Conor, are carrying on that proud family tradition today.

Of course, there’s more to any team than the scorers, and that’s why the complete list of players on the website is such an impressive resource.

It means that goalkeepers, backs and midfielders alike also get the recognition they deserve, men like the aforementioned Lar Lacey who played 84 games in the spell from 1995 to 2018.

When the action resumes, perhaps he’ll be tempted to put in a big effort to take a young lad’s place in a bid to hit the one hundred mark over the next few years!

Another nice touch on the players’ list is the inclusion of townlands whenever they are known, as this enables the readers to track family links through the generations.

And while new baby Michael is going to keep Declan occupied, he doesn’t see this rewarding project as being the end to his research.

‘I think I will,’ he answered, when asked if he planned on doing the same for football, although that would be a tall order given that many reports simply do not exist for early round Junior games over the years.

And, with a firm basis there in his work to date, hopefully a club history in printed book form will also be on the cards.

‘Senan Lillis is very interested in getting something going on that front. While it would take a good bit of time, a lot of the groundwork is already done,’ the hard-working P.R.O. said.

And if they need somebody to lay out a potential book, he won’t have far to look for advice, given that his brother, Rodí, is a graphic designer.

He was the man behind the very attractive playing cards that were produced for the top scorers, and seen elsewhere on this page, done in a style many will recall from childhood days collecting similar types for cross-channel soccer.

It added a touch of class to an outstanding body of research work, ranking among the best I have ever seen from a G.A.A. club.

THE TOP TWENTY

1) Paul Murphy 22-57

2) Martin Nolan 23-42

3) Michael Lillis 0-79

4) Michael Murphy 16-29

5) James Ormonde 12-29

6) James Dooley 3-51

7) Dean Wright 5-40

8) P.J. Whelan 10-18

9) Kevin Murphy 6-30

10) Jason O’Leary 5-30