McGovern, Frank
January 22, 2008
The Late Frank McGovern
Readers of this column who were students in Summerhill College, Sligo, in the early 1950's will remember Brother Frank McGovern. He was the Marist Brother who trained the college teams that won back-to-back Connacht colleges' senior championships in 1954 and '55. He was teaching in the nearby Marist school, St. John's National School at the time. Sadly, Brother Frank died last week, aged 83. He had been based in Athlone for the past 20 years.
He was a native of Gurteen, Sligo and he played senior county football with Sligo from 1951 to '55 inclusive. A team-mate of his in those years describes him as a "delightful footballer with all the skills." He won senior championship medals with Craobh Rua in 1952 and '53. Another Marist Brother, Seamus (Jimmy) Beegan, Brother Eamonn was also on that Craobh Rua (Sligo Team) team. Brother Eamonn, who was a native of near Creagh in South Roscommon, played senior county football with Roscommon for a number of years.
Brother Frank was attending UCG in 1956 and he didn't train the Summerhill team that year. He later went to Africa on missionary work. There he came in contact with people who were victims of a civil war in the part of Africa he was based in. His experience there prepared him for his work in Athlone in later years. After he had finished his teaching career in Athlone, he devoted his life to the recovery and rehabilitation of drug addicts and alcoholics. Many of the men he helped were present at his funeral Mass in St. Mary's Church, Athlone, last Wednesday. Some of them sang in the choir at the Mass.
Included in that successful Summerhill team were players who would later play county football for Roscommon - John Joe Breslin, Eamonn Curley, Aidan Kelleher, Don and Des Feely, Martin Molloy and Tony Kelly. Mattie McDonagh, who later went on to win four All-Ireland senior medals with Galway, was a key member of the team. In 1956 he was midfield on the Galway team that beat Cork in the All-Ireland final. Ironically, Mattie had scarcely played football at all before he had entered Summerhill as a boarder. It was largely due to the coaching methods of Brother Frank aswell as his own powerful physique and determination that he developed into one of the best footballers in the country. Another Ballygar man, Mick Greally, who was left-half back on that Galway team in 1956, was also a member of that successful Summerhill team.
When I went to Summerhill in 1961, after spending three years in Roscommon CBS, memories of that team were still fresh. The name of Brother Francis, as he was known, was still remembered even tho he would have departed for Africa by that time. I met him a few times in Athlone and he still had treasured memories of his days in Sligo and the footballers he coached in Summerhill College.
May he rest in peace.
Courtesy of the Roscommon Herald
22 January 2008
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