Bench unveiling to mark 1949 and '54 All-Ireland football championship wins

Seventy five years ago, after Meath won its first All-Ireland senior football championship, Pat Connell, the team's 'star midfielder' received a tremendous reception in his native Moynalty, when, it was claimed, the crowd was the largest ever seen in the village in living memory.

The Meath Chronicle reported that he was met outside the village and hoisted onto a horse drawn vehicle which was draped in green and gold.

“Members of the Moynalty team, wearing their football togs, formed a guard of honour,” the writer continued.

“Preceded by Moynalty, Newcastle, and Mullagh Bands, he was carried in triumph to the centre of the village. Deafening cheers rang out as he mounted a platform, where Mr Con Sheridan presided.

“The chairman read an address of welcome to the Moynalty boy, to whom the rest of the platform also paid tribute. Mr Connell, who was also the recipient of a presentation on behalf of his admirers, expressed his sincere appreciation of the great honour that had been paid to him. Then, a rare scene sprang to life. Mr JJ Carr, Kells, produced his accordion and soon thousands of feet were tapping out Irish dances. The dancing went on for hours. It was a memorable reception to a very popular and very modest young Gael.”

Also on the reception platform in Moynalty that Wednesday evening were Fr Patrick Tully, CC, Moynalty, and Matthew Gilsenan, a Moynalty man who was a selector on that Meath team of 1949.

Those two legendary Meath GAA figures were commemorated on Saturday week last at an event in Moynalty, along with the local club man Connell, in a special bench unveiling addressed by another Meath GAA legend, Sean Boylan.

Master of ceremonies, Paul McCabe, explained the background to the event was a letter which arrived last year from Pearl River in upstate New York.

“A proud son of Moynalty, Patrick Reilly from Carrickspringan, who left this parish on 4th February 1957, wrote to remind us that 2024 marked the 75th and 70th anniversaries of Meath winning their first and second All-Irelands. I met Patrick when I was in New York for St Patrick’s Day last March. He made me promise that the anniversaries be commemorated in some way in Moynalty and that a permanent memorial would be arranged and I really hope that we’ve done him proud today.”

Mr Reilly also sent a financial donation for the bench, as did Meath County Board, whose chairman, Jason Plunkett attended the event, and Moynalty GFC, represented by chairman, John Cassidy.

Mr McCabe described how Paddy Connell was born in Moynalty village in 1927. He and his sister Frances, who now resides in a nursing home in Kilcock, were reared in a house at the lower end of the village.

Paddy, at 22 years of age, six foot in height and 12 stone weight was a formidable force in centrefield. Apart from his two All-Ireland successes he won a National League medal in 1951 and was the holder of five Leinster SFC medals. He played club football for Moynalty, Ballinlough and Sean McDermott's, with whom he won a Dublin SFC medal. Paddy, who had a sweet shop in Athboy for a period, emigrated to the UK in the late 1950s but returned very often to his native Moynalty.

Working on the buses, he met and married Ann Maguire from Mayo.

“He passed away suddenly in November 1994 but Paddy’s name, memory and achievements lives on in the hearts and minds of the people of Moynalty,” Mr McCabe said, welcoming Paddy’s daughter and son, Marie and Patrick, from Birmingham for the event.

Managing a GAA team takes more than just football knowledge - it takes wisdom, patience, and an ability to rally a group of individuals to work as one, he continued.

“And Fr Paddy Tully had those qualities in abundance. A man of faith and football, he brought a direct and strategic mind that shaped the team’s path to victory.”

Fr Tully's nieces, Carmel, Bernadette and Catherine, and grandniece, Susan Tully and her family, and his grandnephews Christopher and Joe Sullivan were in attendance.

The Gilsenan family of Moynalty were also there, to hear the 1939 Meath captain described as one of the sharpest footballing minds of his generation and a selector whose decisions were instrumental in shaping any team he was involved with.

“In an era when football was as much about instinct as tactics, Matt’s insight and judgment made all the difference. He had the eye to spot potential, the wisdom to know how to use it, and the courage to make the tough calls,” Paul McCabe stated.

“Matt Gilsenan's role as a selector was vital, ensuring that the right mix of talent and determination took to the field each day, giving Meath the best possible chance of victory.”

His tenor grandson, Matthew Gilsenan, performed the National Anthem at the event, a day before performing at the county finals in Navan.

Sean Boylan described Matt Gilsenan as “the Father of Meath football” who never had a bad word to say about anyone, and who gave great encouragement to young players, and to Boylan himself.

“And he also passed on great wisdom.”

Sean said that when his father died in 1971, Matt became a father figure to him. Later, when Sean took over as Meath manager and wanted to reduce the panel of selectors, which included Gilsenan, to two, Matt was the first he spoke to about it, and Matt told him that he would always be there to support him regardless, and he was.

He recalled that when the Meath team first came together for collective training under Fr Tully and Tom Russell, that it was Matt Gilsenan who told Fr Tully that Jim Kearney would have to be brought back, to partner Paddy Connell at midfield.

“And that was the engine room of the team - that changed everything.” he said.

He recalled watching Paddy Connell playing, and as a young lad in Dunboyne watching Connell and Jim Reilly and the Meath team arrive in on a bus with Irish and US flags, when the local GAA club did a guard of honour and he got to greet Connell through his friendship with Jim Reilly.

Sean also recalled meeting Patrick Reilly in New York when he brought the Sam Maguire over in 1987. Patrick Reilly's brother, Stephen, was present at the event, as was his niece Catherine, and Patrick himself arrived from New York in a surprise visit last week. 'Moynalty Glory Days' by Patrick, who has been a frequent contributor to the Meath Chronicle Christmas poetry pages over the years, was read by Pauric O'Connor of Moynalty GFC.

The bench was unveiled by members of the Connell, Tully and Gilsenan families, and an exhibition of photographs and memorabilia took place in the Muintir na Tire Hall in the village afterwards, as the crowd of 150 or so who were there reflected on tales from Meath's glory days from over half a century, and Sean Boylan's concluding words: "We did it then, we've done it since, and there is no question in the world but that we'll do it again."