On 13th June 1993 Round Tower Under 14 Footballers beat Simonstown Gaels in Austin Stacks Park, Tralee, Co Kerry, to claim the Division 1 Féile title and be crowned All Ireland champions. 20 years on, the team reassembled for a reunion and to play together once again in a challenge match v the club’s Gaelic 4 Fathers side. Team mentors Bernard Sheeran, PJ Minihan & Noel McGlynn stood on the lines once again. The match took place on 14th June in Monastery Road and was followed by a re-showing of the All Ireland success in the club. The 1993 stars ran out 1-11 v 1-10 winners. Thanks to Philip Carr for refereeing the match and to Tommy Keogh for capturing the action here. Thanks also to Ger Hickey and Gavin Lawler for bringing the payers together once again.
To coincide with the souvenier programme that was published 20th April to mark the anniversary of the opening of Monastery Road, team mentor Bernard Sheeran recalled the All Ireland success when he spoke to Mick McGlynn. The article is reproduced here.
They are used to winning All Irelands in Co Kerry and in June 1993 a team from Clondalkin travelled to the Kingdom to claim such glory. Round Tower GAA Club’s Under 14s, an outstanding side that brought significant to success to the club in the 1990s, claimed the Feile Peil na nÓg Division 1 title at Austin Stack Park, Tralee, on 13th June 1993 when they defeated Meath Champions Simonstown Gaels. This year the team will celebrate the 20th anniversary that momentous victory.
The side, under the stewardship of Bernard Sheeran, PJ Minihan and Noel McGlynn, went into the tournament with a prestigious record behind them. They had claimed the Under 13 and Under 14 Division 1 Dublin titles. “We were very confident travelling to the Feile,” team manager Bernard Sheeran recalls. “We’d went thru the Under 14 league unbeaten and in those days there were six teams that formed a premier league. They formed a premier league because these sides were way stronger than the rest of Dublin county.” The calibre of the other clubs in the league bears this out: St Vincent’s, Kilmacud Crokes, Naomh Mearnóg, Ballyboden St Enda’s, St Brigid’s.
Towers were hosted by Laune Rangers, based in the mid-west town of Killorglin. They beat their hosts in their opening fixture 3-7 v 1-1 and beat another Kerry club, Beaufort 3-9 v 0-0 the following day. Another comprehensive victory ensued that afternoon, when Galway representatives Claregalway were beaten 2-6 v 1-1. Towers had eased into the semi-final but Ballinderry, a strong Co Derry side managed by current Derry manager Brian McIver, awaited in the semi-finals. They were on the Towers radar. “After moving down to Co Kerry, that night I met John Evans, a Kerryman and current Roscommon manager, and he told me the best team around was Ballinderry and they were being talked about,” Sheeran explains. “I sent a few scouts out to see them playing.”
Hundreds of Ballinderry supporters travelled to support their side but a resilient performance saw the Clondalkin lads edge it 0-9 v 0-8. “We were hanging on by the skin of our teeth,” Sheeran recalls. “I’ll tell you how good that Ballinderry team was; nine of them went on later to wear the senior county jersey.”
The manager said his side still hadn’t got over the effects of the semi-final when they travelled to Austin Stacks Park, Tralee, to compete against Meath’s Simonstown Gaels of Navan. A Justin McGrane goal in extra time edged Towers to a 2-9 v 2-6 victory. “I knew we were up against it against a very good Simonstown side and we were level at half-time and full-time,” Sheeran remembers. “It was so wet that day and conditions were extremely tough. I was 50 yards away from Justin’s goal and I only knew he scored when I saw the rain rattling from the back of the net.”
Burning bonfires and a Garda escort welcomed the All Ireland winners back to celebrations at Round Tower Clubhouse on Convent Road. The team went on to win the Dublin Under 15 and Under 16 Division 1 Leagues – four league titles in a row. Was there a secret to their success? “I remember being asked by a man why were we training in Summer,” Sheeran explains. “There was no real secret about it. We were constantly learning the skills of Gaelic Football. When the league finished playing we went playing challenge matches all over the country and the city. It was about skills, skills, skills and hard graft. We had an attitude when the season closed the hard work began. We were learning the skills constantly, kicking points and defending. I say it to this day, when you see a good player playing in Croke Park, where and when did they learn their skills; it wasn’t in Croke Park.”
That successful side brought representation from across Clondalkin. “Players came to my door asking could they play,” Sheeran states. “We used to run trips down the country to play matches and through sponsorship we could offer players free boots. Players came to my door asking could they play.” He believes the support of the team’s sponsors played a key role in supporting the players to achieve All-Ireland and Dublin county success.
He credits current Executive Member John Ryan with creating a structure that enabled juvenile success. “When I took over the Under 11s, young lads could be turning up at Moyle Park and there’d be no match. John Ryan came aboard as juvenile chairman and he put order to the set-up; I’ve fierce good praise for what John did. Transport was organised and matches were played.” Just four years later in 1997, a team under the management of Tom Corrigan almost replicated the success, reaching the Division 1 final but on this occasion Ballinderry came out on top against the Clondalkin lads.
How high does Bernard rate the ‘94 All Ireland winning side? “They were a marvellous set of players and it truly was a great team. We won the Under 13, 14, 15 and 16 leagues, beating the best sides in Dublin. At Under 15 we played the Dublin 16 team; that will tell you how good we were and how highly we were regarded.”
