The Late James Keenan The death of James Keenan of Listrakelt, Derrynoose at the age of 82 has deprived the club and wider footballing fraternity of one of its most celebrated stalwarts. He was a man renowned in local lore for his larger than life exploits on the field of play and for his exceptional descriptive powers of the game, particularly that of the local club scene in Armagh in which he had performed for well over a decade. James was a founder member of Derrynoose GFC in 1955 along with other stalwarts including Pat Flanagan and the late Eddie Gaffney. But before this, he played with Keady Dwyers and also with Clontibret O'Neills where he came under the influence of the great John Rice, the one player whose style and approach to the game most influenced him. His finest achievement as a player was in captaining the Derrynoose team to the mid division championship in 1960, winning the Dean Keown cup. But because the medals were not forthcoming for the players, he refused to hand back the cup to the County Board the following year, and for ten years it remained in the window of his house in Mullyard. Eventually in 1970 it was negotiated back to Armagh on condition that the medals in question would be handed over in time for the impending dinner dance. 38 years from then, the medals have still not materialised. "We should never have parted with that cup" he often rued. James Keenan's game was basic and uncomplicated. At centre half back, his established position, he was there to disrupt the opposition and to clear his lines. He low centre of gravity and very athletic build, including a substantial upper body, enabled him to approach his task quite fearlessly but with absolutely no bad intent. He played the traditional catch and kick and largely caught the ball on the chest in the manner of the old defenders - in his terms "stand and deliver", and described his general action as "rootin' away at the back", or cuttin' in tight" or "stappin' him dead in his tracks. In his colourful descriptions of his fellow players, delivered matter of factly without the slightest sense of wit, he spoke of "McAtavey rising in the air behind me like a cat" so and so "liftin' them perches" (an old imperial measurement of five and half yards) and so on. He dreaded being ever knocked down. That would have almost destroyed him. It was an impossible humiliation and there is no known record of him coming off second best in a shoulder charge. By the time Derrynoose won the Junior championship in 1963 in Crossmaglen he had retired, although he arrived at the match with the boots under his arm just in case the call came, a sort of wanting to be seen and not to be seen. James ran a quarry in Tivnacree and worked there al his life providing gravel for roads and was also involved in concreting lanes and yards. But football absorbed him. The entire social fabric of his life was dependent on it. It filled his imagination to a rare degree. His ten years playing the game gave him forty years of boundless reminisce on the life, times, characters, ideas and aspirations of those involved. He studied the football all his life at all levels and was remarkably insightful about how games turned around on various incidents and how teams strayed from the simple things. His passing marks one less of the old regime who started up football in Derrynoose after the great lift of Armagh's All Ireland appearance in 1953. But blue was chosen for the jerseys in honour of Cavan, who for the previous twenty years were among the great teams of Ireland and winners of five Sam Maguires. It was a jersey and a tradition that James Keenan fitted readily into, and in which he set out on his own great adventure in life. Courtesy of the The Armagh Examiner 15/1/2008 Tweet

Most Read Stories