Non-natives have contributed a lot to Wexford football

IENDED my conversation with John Bradley last Friday (see right) by informing him that - to the best of my knowledge - he is the only Donegal man ever to play football with Wexford. There has certainly been nobody since anyway, and unfortunately I don’t have the full resources right now to start searching backwards before John’s era, even though I have all the time in the world!

However, it did get me thinking about the other non-natives to don the county colours, and I’ve unearthed the following for football from 1965 to 1973 for a start.

Work as a Garda brought Portlaoise native Tom Byrne to the county, and he featured with Starlights first and represented Wexford at Under-21 level in ’65. By the time he played Junior (’68 and ’70) and Senior (’69 and ’70), he was with Half Way House in Bunclody, and he moved to Arklow in 1971.

Mick Thackaberry was a Dubliner who came down to Castletown - his father’s native parish - to live with his uncle, Jim. An ace free-taker, he played with the Seniors in 1965.

The presence of two John Kennedys in the county in the sixties causes some problems if - like yours truly - you have a keen interest in record-keeping, particularly when both ended up playing with my own club, Sarsfields, at the same time.

Garda John, from Midleton in Cork, started out with Faythe Harriers when they also played football, and he was a Senior in both codes with the county.

The other John was a bank official from Creggs in Roscommon. His last game with Wexford was in 1966, and he missed out on Sarsfields’ county title win one year later because he had re-located with work to Tullamore and went back to assist his home club.

Tommy McVeigh arrived in Enniscorthy from his native Laois in the 1960s, and the Starlights man had an O’Byrne Cup outing at left corner-back in 1966.

His fellow county man, Tom Miller from Timahoe, had a long association as a mentor with the all-conquering Duffry Rovers teams from 1986 onwards, but he was playing with Ferns St. Aidan’s when he lined out with Wexford in 1967 and 1968.

Seán Kavanagh, who came on during John Bradley’s last game for the county - in the ’68 championship - had an interesting family background.

He arrived in Wexford from his native Kerry when his father, Dan, was appointed County Engineer in 1963. Dan was an All-Ireland Senior medal winner with the Kingdom, and so was his father-in-law and Seán’s maternal grandfather, Billy Myers.

Seán and his younger brother, Dan, were outstanding footballers, and it was a huge blow to Sarsfields when they returned to Kerry in 1969. Dan, who later lined out with Dr. Crokes and U.C.C., played at centre-forward in the 1972 All-Ireland Senior final.

Before I move on from 1968, I should mention Waterford native Pat Flynn, who was playing with Castletown when he represented Wexford in a Leinster Junior semi-final loss to Laois.

George Rankin from Park-Ratheniska in the O’Moore county was a huge addition to the G.A.A. scene when he arrived in Bunclody. He was a county Senior in 1969, ’70 and ’71, and also played in the Leinster Junior championships of ’69 and ’72.

Tom Meally, one of a famous family of footballers from Railyard in north Kilkenny, has an interesting claim to fame as far as I can see.

I think he’s the last of only two non-natives to feature with Wexford in the Under-21 grade (Roscommon’s John Kennedy was the first in ’64), having played in 1970 during a brief stint with Sarsfields.

Another Waterford man, Tom Flynn, was with Geraldine O’Hanrahans when he made the county Junior football team in 1971.

And his fellow native of our nearest Munster county, Tommy Kirwan, had some outings with the Seniors in 1972 and ’73 after catching the eye in the Ballyhogue colours.

Tommy - father of a future Senior centurion, Barry - had previously played with Kilrossanty and the John Mitchels club in nearby Fews.

Space, or rather the lack of it, means that I have to bring this recollection to an abrupt halt, but I will return to the same topic in the column next week and continue with the list of ‘outsiders’ who served us so well in football from the early seventies to the present day.