The late Mick Haughney Mick 'Cutchie' Haughney, recognised as one of the greatest Graiguecullen and Laois footballers of all-time passed away peacefully in his 91st year. One of four Laois men to win four Leinster SFC medals on the field of play, 'Cutchie' captained the O'Moore's to their Provincial final success of 1946, a decade after he had come on as a sub for then captain Joe McDonnell in the '36 Leinster final. That '36 season was the dawning of a glorious era for Laois football as a Graiguecullen/Stradbally powered outfit won three successive Leinster titles but, alas, All-Ireland honours eluded them, losing badly to Mayo in the 1936 All-Ireland final and going down to Kerry in the semi-finals of '37 and '38, the former after a controversial replay. Mick Haughney was a central figure in most of those games. Though coming on as a sub in the 1936 Leinster final, he did not see action in the All-Ireland final that year, Laois having overcome Cavan in the semi-final but by the following Summer 'Cutchie' had established himself on the side, lining out at right full forward in their 0-12 to 0-4 Leinster final victory in Croke Park. Laois completed their three-in-a-row the following July, beating Kildare 2-18 to 1-3, Haughney top of the left on this occasion. That Laois team, powered by the 'Boy Wonder' Tommy Murphy, Jim Slator, Danny Douglas and the Delaney clan of Stradbally were extremely unlucky not to beat Kerry in the '37 All-Ireland semi-final, leading by three points with 10 minutes to go when Murphy was controversially 'grounded'. Mick Haughney kicked a good second half point that day. The '37 semi-final saga was to have a happy epilogue when the All-Ireland finalists were invited to play exhibition games in the United States but Kerry, unable to fulfil the invitation, readily nominated the vanquished semi-final heroes from Laois to make the trip. 20 players accompanied by Co. Chairman Lar Brady and team manager Jack Delaney set sail from Cobh on the SS Manhattan on May 7th 1938. Laois drew with Cavan 1-4 to 0-7 before trouncing the Ulster champions 3-6 to 0-4 in the second game. Laois returned home to a great reception and the Cups won in the USA were presented to Stradbally (Jameson International Cup) and Graiguecullen (Tom Healy Challenge Cup), the latter cup 'minded' in Graiguecullen National School for many years before moving to the 'care' of the GFC clubhouse. 'Cutchie' enjoyed that trip immensely and eleven years later was to go Stateside again only on this occasion for a much longer stay as he emigrated altoghter in 1949, not returning to Ireland, apart from holidays, for many, many years. Before emigrating, though, Mick played a lot of good football and was on the Laois team beaten in the Leinster final of 1940 (when going for four-in-a-row) before collecting his fourth Provincial SFC medal in 1946 when captaining the O'Moore's to a famous 0-11 to 1-6 victory over Kildare in Croke Park, Tommy Murphy landing 0-9 from centre half back. 'Cutchie' was at midfield that day while the other survivors of the 30's three-in-a-row were the Delaney's, Mick, Bill and Chris. Laois were beaten 3-5 to 2-6 by Roscommon in the All-Ireland semi-final, ending Haughney's hopes of an elusive Celtic Cross. However, it was not the end of his football career and in 1947 he had the honour of captaining Leinster in the Railway Cup final in Croke Park on St Patrick's Day by the Eastern province, who had ousted Connacht in the semi-final, were beaten by a strong Ulster side led by Kevin Armstrong of Antrim. With his native Graiguecullen Mick won an amazing nine SFC medals, playing a huge role in all those famous victories of the 30's and 40's, the 'Village' fielding a side that were rated amongst the best in the country. Mick was the last surviving member of a family of 17 who began life in No 9, the Numbers Graiguecullen and only December 2005 celebrated his 90th birthday with relatives and friends in Bethany House. Mick's remains were removed from Healy's funeral home to St Clare's Church, Graiguecullen while burial took place in Sleaty Cemetery. When 'Joe Rexie' McDonnell led Laois out on the field for the 1936 Leinster SFC final the Graiguecullen player was hoping to become the first Laois man in 47 years to life the provincial cup. Not since 1889 had the O'Moore's won the Eastern title but the high standard of club football in Laois - the Graiguecullen/Stradbally rivalry was at it's height - gave supporters reason to harbour high hopes of ending the famine. A workmanlike display was enough to pip Offaly 2-7 to 1-7 in the semi-final but Kildare, the then Provincial kingpins, were warm favourites to win the Croke Park final. It was reckoned that the inside knowledge on Kildare, provided by Portlaoise based Garda, Tom Keogh, was a vital factor in Laois' famous 3-3 to 0-8 success. Keogh, who had won Leinster and All-Ireland medal with Kildare, lined out at full forward for Laois and almost destroyed his native county single-handed. When Kildare had amassed a painstaking lead head struck back with a goal before half-time that levelled proceedings at 1-1 to 0-4. Then in the last half he set up a goal for Reilly and scored a third himself from Reilly's pass. To rub salt in the Lily-white wounds Keogh kicked the final two points. Skipper McDonnell did not finish that final due to injury and his replacement was Mick Haughney, the starting fifteen being: Tom Delaney; Joe Brennan, Tom Delaney, Tim O'Brien; Paddy Swayne, Joe McDonnell (Capt), Dan Walsh; Bill Delaney, Chris Delaney; Danny Douglas, Mick Delaney, Jack Delaney; J 'Kipper' Keating, Tom Keogh, John O'Reilly. That Leinster final started the golden era of Laois football as team powered by the Delaney's won three Provincial titles in a row and won the admiration of the country in trying to win their first All-Ireland crown. If victory over Kildare had made people sit up and notice, then the All-Ireland semi-final triumph over Cavan turned the Laois players into household names. Big Tom O'Reilly of Cornafean was captain of a confident Cavan team but at the end of an engrossing All-Ireland semi-final it was the O'Moore County who emerged thoroughly deserving winners, the 2-6 to 1-5 final scoreline not doing justice to their dominance. It all went horribly wrong for Laois in the All-Ireland final as on the fourth Sunday of September they travelled to Croke Park having left their form of earlier games behind them in the Midland. 4-11 to 0-3 was the ugly scoreline to emerge from a forgettable game. Laois lined out as in the Leinster final with J Moran replacing Walsh during the course of the game. 1937 - Back-to-back, the 'Boy Wonder' and Controversy. All the talk in subsequent years of the 1937 All-Ireland semi-final and replay with Kerry, the Tommy Murphy controversy and the disquiet over the venues chosen for those games, had tended to overshadow Laois' accomplishment of putting Leinster titles back-to-back. Confidence was fragile following the All-Ireland failure and Laois were lucky to scrape a draw with Offaly in the opening round. It took two late O'Moore goals to beat the Faithful County in the replay. Kildare were overcome again in the semi-final, the 2-8 to 1-3 victory being credited to slick hand-passing play while Louth were decisively beaten 0-12 to 0-4 in the Croke Park final by the following team: Martin Farrell; Joe Brennan, Tom Delaney, Jim Slator; Jack Delaney (Capt), Bill Delaney; Danny Douglas, Tommy Murphy, Syd Harkins; Mick Haughney, Tom Keogh, Jack McDarby. So to the infamous 1937 All-Ireland semi-final and the arrival on the national scene of the 'boy wonder' Tommy Murphy of Graiguecullen. Just 16 years of age the Knockbeg College student was to go on to become one of the greatest of all-time, selected at mid-field on the football team of the millennium. A crowd of 14,000 witnessed a rousing game in Cork, a late Danny Douglas point earning Laois a draw, the Leinster champions totalling 1-6, the Kingdom 2-3. The replay in Waterford - another Munster venue! - on August 29th is hotly debated to this day. At the end of a lively first half Kerry were 1-1 to 0-1 to the good. Immediately on the restart Mill Delaney placed Tommy murphy who scored a dynamite goal with a perfectly directed left-footed pile-driver. Laois struck the front when Tom Keogh angled over a lovely point and Mick Haughney tacked on another. With Laois in the ascendancy, Danny Douglas, within 10 minutes remaining, put the O'Moore's three points up. As he did Tommy Murphy, who had been playing extremely well, was 'grounded' in a deliberate fashion and to the anger and dismay of the Laois supporters was forced to retire due to injury incurred. Tim 'Roundy' Landers blazed home the levelling goal for Kerry and before the final whistle M Lyne swung over the winning point. The 2-2 to 1-4 scoreline tells the tale of Laois heartbreak but they were glorious in defeat and but for the departure of the 'boy wonder' it is felt that the Leinster champions have prevailed. The Kingdom went on to win the All-Ireland title beating Cavan 4-4 to 1-7 in a final replay. The '37 semi-final saga had a sporting epilogue. The 1937 All-Ireland finalists were invited to play exhibition games in the United States but Kerry, unable to fulfil the invitation, readily nominated the vanquished heroes from Laois to make the trip. 20 players accompanied by Co. Chairman Lar Brady and team manager Jack Delaney set sail from Cobh on the SS Manhattan on May 7th 1938. Laois drew with Cavan 1-4 to 0-7 before trouncing the Ulster Champions 3-6 to 0-4 in the second game. Laois returned home to a great reception and the Cups won in the USA were presented to Stradbally (Jameson International Cup) and Graiguecullen (Tom Healy Challenge Cup). Following the experience of sailing to America and the razzmatazz of New York, it was back to the mundane but more important Leinster SFC campaign. A narrow 2-5 to 2-2 victory over Louth gave cause for concern but then Meath were blitzed by double scores, 4-6 to 2-3 in the semi-final. Old rivals Kildare provided the final opposition and Laois again played some fine football in beating the Lily-whites 2-8 to 1-3. A notable three-in-a-row had been completed by the following heroes in blue and white: Martin Farrell; Tommy Walsh, Tom Delaney, Dan Walsh; Dick Scully, Mick Delaney; Jim Slator, Tommy Murphy, Bill Delaney; Ned Begley, Jack McDarby, Mick Haughney. Croke Park was the setting for the All-Ireland semi-final on August 21st and once again it was the mighty men of the Kingdom who stood between Laois and another All-Ireland final appearance. It was level at the break with 0-4 a piece, but a third quarter burst from Kerry which yielded 2-2 was a fatal body-blow to the Leinster champions. Laois mounted a strong rally and goals from McDarby and Begley reduced the arrears to just two points but time ran out for Laois, beaten 2-6 to 2-4. It was the end of an era. Courtesy of The Carlow Nationalist 15/09/2006 Tweet

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