Reaching out for seventh heaven from the crow’s nest

When they gathered on Feakle’s Fair Green on the second last Saturday in July it was in hope and hurling that history was at hand as the village’s famous festival came a month early.
A balmy evening with tunes to the power of hurling played into the night and when people like Fr Harry Bohan and Tommy Guilfoyle among those who held court on the eve of the All-Ireland final in Croke Park as Marty Morrissey and his RTÉ camera crew came calling.
They were ‘Up for the Match’ – up for the All-Ireland as that hope and history rhymed in this bedrock and foundation stone of Clare hurling that has always weaned itself on stories and songs about the game and what the wider meaning of it all.
Thing is, they’re up for this match more. That’s Feakle, but more than that in the local vernacular of any one of a gold and green hue it’s ‘Faykell’.
The club of the Loughnanes – whether it’s Dr Tom, MP or Dr Bill – or Flan Purcell, Sean Harrington, Fr Kevin Egan, Fr Tom Tuohy or ‘Sikey’ Moloney.
These were the storied names of the 1930s and ‘40s that ensured the likes of Harry Bohan emerged in the ‘50s, Ger Loughnane in the ‘70s and the Guilfoyles, Val Donnellan and more in the ‘80s.
They’re up for it more than an All-Ireland, because of that tradition, because of their corner of hurling country in the shadow of the Slieve Aughtys and the by the banks of Loughgraney.
Their East Clare thing; their ‘Faykell’ thing – their wellspring of the game out of which great players and characters emerge and All-Stars and All-Irelands are won.
And they wouldn’t be won but this ‘Faykell’ thing and the mystique around it that makes county final week much more personal – a family gig, a parish pride thing like Garland Sunday or the Corpus Christi parade of old, but more, much, much more…
“Why,” muses Tommy Guilfoyle, a former Clare captain and these days synonymous with Clare hurling and the biggest of days as match analyst with Clare FM for many years; pucking every ball from the privileged position in the commentary box as the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and more come Clare’s way in the maelstrom of championship hurling.
“Feakle,” he adds. “When we won the championship in 1988 Tony Hayes was manager, Fr Harry as a selector, as was Paddy Minogue who is no longer with us.
“They instilled what hurling means in Feakle and Ger Loughnane always says that his greatest hour was to win a championship with Feakle. He had been with Wolfe Tones, but came back to Feakle, not only to play, but to be the coach.
“And Fr Harry might be former parish priest in Sixmilebridge, but he assured me that he’s Feakle. ‘Feakle by birth and Feakle ‘till I die’, he told me.”
That’s why county final days with Feakle competing is their All-Ireland day, only much more than that.
“My mother is 88 and she hasn’t missed a game this year,” reveals Tommy. “She was probably wondering whether she would ever see a team back in a county final but we’re here.
“In 1988 when we won the title she used to wash the jerseys, while my father was chairman of the club. She washed them all by hand from underage to senior and took great pride in it – afraid they’d shrink.
“We have a great association with it – the best of days and the bad days. More than anything else it’s about family – cousins, brothers and we’re all involved in some way.
“Michael and Deirdre are with Doora-Barefield, John with Newmarket, Maureen in Bodyke and another sister Kathleen is with Michael Glaveys in Roscommon. It shows the GAA is family.
“It is with this team as well because if you look at it Val Donnellan was captain in ‘88 and son his Óisín is the captain this year. There are ten sons of players who played in 1988 with this team.”
When Val Donnellan lifted the Canon Hamilton Trophy in 1988 it was expected of Feakle, just because of the underage successes that had come in the years leading up to it, with Tommy being a huge part of it as a slew of hugely talented players emerged during the long crusade to land a first championship title since 1944.
And, when it happened after 44 years it was long overdue.
“Back then in the late ’70s and early ‘80s we would have had a lot of lads coming together and we went on and won Under 16A, Minor A and four Under 21 A titles,” says Tommy.
“Yes, it was expected but it is never easy to win a county title. We got beaten in ’87, won it in ’88 and beaten again in semi-final in ’89 and it took us 36 years to get back in a final.
“In rural areas sometimes you get a group of players together. More often than not you are struggling with numbers – we are amalgamated with Killanena at underage level and are down in the C divisions but most of the guys that are involved on Sunday have the experience of being involved in A competitions.
“We are going steadily. When we won the intermediate in 2014 we had five or six or seven 17-year-olds – they are now the backbone of the team.
“We knew we had younger players coming on and it was a case of putting together that 2014 team with the next group of players that included Eoin Tuohy, Con Smyth, Óisín Donnellan and then the last generation of players – the O’Connors, Óisín Clune, Adam Hogan. It is the culmination of three different generations of players coming together and getting that chance to represent the parish in the county final. It is always something I hoped that the Feakle players would experience – a county final day. They have that to look forward to on Sunday.”
For Tommy, it will be something completely different – a county hurling final day when he won’t be working, as he’s hanging up his microphone for the day, even if his vantage point will be the same.
“It’s a good excuse that I’m not working because Feakle are playing,” he says, “but I’ll be in the crow’s nest. I go up on top usually because it’s the best view in Ireland.
“I will be nervous, and probably overly analytical, thinking they should switch this guy and bring on that guy. I will be anxious, but you come to realise that when you are looking on you can’t have much of say in what’s going on.
“When you’re down on the field in management you hit every ball and point out instructions – as a supporter tend to keep quiet which people struggle to understand.”
You sense, he’ll puck every ball though, because he’s been with these players as they come up through the ranks at underage level and gradually get to the level of contending for county senior titles.
“I have had most of those underage or adult – know them intimately, know their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers. It is special, there is no doubt,” he says.
“I know all the players. I have a son involved – and hopefully, he is back in contention to figure, as he is making good progress.
“Since we won it back in ’88 we were down in intermediate for 15 years before we came back up again in 2014 with a fairly young intermediate team,” he says.
“We always hoped that we would get back to be competitive at senior but to get to the final is great for the parish – it’s great for the young and the old, it’s great for the panel of players.
“We have very talented players that have represented Clare and have been very successful so getting beaten in the semi-final last year was an added incentive this year. They would have been disappointed in their performance against Clonlara, but this year we took the next step to reach a final.
“We in Feakle have really enjoyed the year – the lead-up to the All-Ireland final was great. It is important that people see their heroes at a local level.
“It will be massive – the one thing I remember from ’88 is the people coming from overseas. The great John Joe Naughton from America, guys from England. The diaspora will return for the big weekend – it will be a joyous occasion.
“It will be great for the small village that we are and to march around behind the Tulla Pipe Band will be a dream come through for all of these players. It is something to savour, for the people of the parish and the players.
“All I hope is that the players perform to the best of their ability. If we do we have a great chance of winning the title. They’re there to be won.”
Seventh heaven, he hopes. He prays.
And when Sunday comes and he’s in the crow’s nest, he’ll be looking at, and to the heavens, of course.