Slop, Iodine, Sawdust, Rashers, Chops
by Tommy Conroy, Tralee
The years are certainly flying, and so is the passage of time. We are seeing massive change in not alone sport, but also in everyday living. Since the last Christmas Blitz, sport has lost many outstanding personalities, some great athletes on the field or court, others, tremendous characters who brought that extra bit of laughter to brighten up the days when the heartbreak of defeat had left teams and mentors in low spirits. The characters in sport were very special people, they were unique and each team had its own favourites.
Nowadays, with sport gone so serious, the presence of characters are a very scarce commodity. The days of Tralee's own Willie Fitzgerald from the Mitchels, when O'Rahilly's played Boherbee. "Fitzie" would taunt the great John Dowling with "Humpty Doolan" from the sportsfield terraces, all in great traditional spirit. Gill O'Brien's marching drum, accordion and flagellate band was part and parcel of most sporting occasions, now it is no longer there. That is a change, and the colour and pagentry that it brought was incredible.
Nicknames also, a thing fo the past. Kerry was always notorious for nicknames. Sportspeople were known the length of Ireland by their nicknames - Roundy, Purty Landers, Bomber Liston, Gooch Cooper, Slue Baily, Chance Hanlon, Shy Nolan, Duke O'Connor, Clobber Fitzgibbon, Bully O'Sullivan, Bracker O'Regan, "Socs" Walsh, Broc Brophy, Sando Walsh, Lang Sullivan, The Lamb Ryan, Skeff Sheehy, Kerr Boyle and many more are some who spring to mind, also going out of fashion are Kerry's best known Toms, Kacks, Michaels, Seans, Josephs and the more we see coming in are the Barry Johns who are called after the famous Welsh rugby international, all that is change, and we are fast forgetting our grassroots.
We are becoming harder to please. I know one Tralee man who is a legend in his own right, now well into his eighties and all his life he drank porter and still does. I often meet him on the streets of Tralee and he is always complaining about the bad pint he gets. The first pint he drank the night before, he called it "Slop", the second pint was "iodine" and the third pint he described as "sawdust". He is quite an amazing man to be still alive, if that is what he has been drinking all his life, but he never got a good pint. The same man and his brother worked locally in one of the factories, they were both unmarried, our friend with the bad pints never showed up one afternoon after lunch, the foreman, on enquiry, was told by his brother, that while having his dinner, he nearly choked on a rasher. A workmate called Dan, another character, quickly replied "if had fat in a chop, he would be dead".
This family was from old stock from a farming background, and the mother lived to be a very old lady who had a brother a priest. Our pint drinking friend was a bit of a nuisance at times, who could blame him? From drinking slop, iodine and sawdust. His mother told him to go down to confession for himself and cut out his blackguarding. He replied back to his mother, "There is no way, I will go and tell my sins to another farmer's son". (How about that Fr. Mossie Brick out there in Tarbert?) The bagman which was always part and parcel of sports teams, is also dying out. My friend Paddy Brophy was telling me, before Kerins O'Rahillys won the County Football Final, that in the early 1950's, he travelled everywhere with Strand Road as joint bagman, carrying the jerseys with Tim (Socs) Walsh now of Bridge Street Inn Guesthouse fame. "We just had to do it" says Paddy, "as we had little money and we got in free to games". That too, is now finished. Also, very much absent in sport is the father figure who motivated a team with a few well spoken words. The late, great Paddy "Paul" Fitzgerald, Kerins O'Rahillys chairman was one such figure who lifted the players to dizzy heights. Before the team left the dressing room for action, Paddy Paul would call for silence and tell the players "go out and do your bit for the honour and glory of The Little Road".
That meant more than all the training, it had the desired effect on everyone. A lot of people who don't attend sports occasions too often are not being brought up to date on the real happenings by dome commentators who are only one game men. The difference between a sportsman and a GAA person is that a sportsman enjoys all sports, but the Gaelic games enthusiast can't see anything wrong with the only game they know. I often wondered was I at the same football match while listening to the radio commentators describe same. My views were totally different, but I am not tied down by any GAA body in what I write and what may cause some confusion. You can't fool the public, and if you think so, you are only the loser yourself. Nowadays, it is the in thing to follow the winning team in any sport and this is very much so with the new brand of supporters who feel it is trendy to be seen at big matches, more especially, teenage ladies.
Minority sports are being eroded and it is great to all in Castleisland to be in
such a vibrant town in having 33 years of the blitz. One thing that deserves, is
about time our national TV channels came down and give Castleisland the
publicity it deserves on a wider audience. I know it will be again, a very
successful event, and sport is enjoyment. All those around Ireland who think
otherwise by taking little mistakes to the high court are losing out in the real
value of sport. You win some, you lose some. Shake hands with the victors and
the vanquished. Competing is what sport is all about. Winning is not everything.
Finally, my best wishes to all my many friends in Castleisland and surrounding
districts for a wonderful Christmas and lovely, sporting memories from another
landmark in this historic sporting town. 33 years of the real Christmas spirit.
Finally, I must bring my pint drinking friend out to Castleisland over the
festive season for a real, good pint and get him away from slop, iodine and
sawdust. Castleisland publicans and hoteliers will only be too glad to serve him
the best pint. May God be with you all wherever you may be.