An excerpt from Curraghboy native, John Scally's new book, '100 Extraordinary GAA Occasions', pays homage to former Meath supremo, Sean Boylan, who celebrated his 80th birthday this week.
An icon of the GAA, Boylan has a fascinating background. His father, the man he still calls ‘the Boss’, was steeped in the Irish war of Independence and the Civil War and was a friend of Michael Collins – though he never spoke about it. The family also have a strong connection with the hill of Tara.
"My great-great-grandparents came from there. The house was burnt in the land war and they came to live in Dunboyne and they were attacked in Dunboyne as well.
"They were 85 when the house was burnt to the ground and the house where my grandparents came to, that was burnt as well. My great-great-grandmother’s people were evicted off a farm the day after they paid the rent and the funny thing about it is that you didn’t hold animosity for the people," Boylan said.
When the Meath football manager's job came up in 1982, it was a role that nobody wanted. Boylan, despite his complete lack of a background in football management, was nominated, and got the job by default. The watershed moment for the team came in 1985 after they bombed against Laois in the Leinster Championship. Harsh words needed to be said afterwards if the Meath ship was to sail to brighter horizons. It was a memorable experience for Boylan.
"I came home one evening and some of the senior players were in my house to work out on a blueprint for success. I could hardly see them because our kitchen was covered in a cloud of my mother’s cigarette smoke. Padraig Lyons looked me straight in the eye and said, 'will you put your shyness in your arse pocket?’, Boylan recalled.
The words were heeded and the fortunes of the Meath team would be changed dramatically for the next generation as a consequence, winning four All-Irelands in 1987, 1988, 1996 and 1999.
The most infamous came over Mayo in 1996 which featured an unforgettable brawl between practically all the players on both teams. Three days before that final Boylan was on edge. His wife, Tina, was due to have their third child. Tina takes up the story.
"My doctor was a massive Meath fan and absolutely loved Seán. When Seán was visiting me in the hospital the conversation was 40 minutes football and then two minutes baby followed by 40 minutes football. The big fear we had was that the baby would not be born until the day of the All-Ireland. My doctor intervened and said 'we are going to induce the baby to make things easier - for Seán'.
"Every nurse in the ward was from Mayo so when he was born they wrapped our baby in the Mayo colours but I was out of the hospital with my new child in my arms for the final and the replay," Tina remarked.
Meath’s win is best remembered for the brawl but Boylan’s memories are more gentle.
"They were building a bypass on our normal route to Croke Park and I knew that it would cause a problem for us so we stayed in the Davenport Hotel in the City Centre for the game. That meant we had to find a new venue to have a training session before the big match so I got permission to have one in Trinity College.
"Who came to watch it but one of Trinity’s most famous lecturers Brendan Kennelly. He himself had played for Kerry. He had a lovely chat with us after the session. When the match was a draw I made the same arrangements for the replay. In the meantime though Brendan had a major coronary incident and was rushed to hospital. While we were training on the day of the replay I got a message from Brendan saying, 'Seán, sorry I had to miss your session today. Am on the bypass', Sean commented.
John Scally’s new book '100 Extraordinary GAA Occasions' is available in all good bookshops now.
