According to the 'Anglo-Celt', Breffni Park was officially opened on Sunday, 28th July, 1923. Following new developments there were further official openings, the principal of which was on the 8th June, 1952. Writing on that occasion, the late long-serving Secretary of Cavan Co. Board, Aodh Mac Gabhann, had this to say: "Love of Ireland and things Irish were the motives that actuated those who, in the midst of hostility, conquered insurmountable obstacles in order to provide a Gaelic arena for the young men and women of Breffni. By their extraordinary foresight and indomitable courage many generations have found in Breffni Park a place to express and display our Gaelic culture and pastimes." The mention of Breffni Park revives happy memories for me as it was the scene of many thrilling and exciting games during the days of my youth. It was also the place where I took part in an Irish-speaking competition (comhra) at Feis-Breifne, 1939, which was good preparation for my securing a County Vocational Schools Scholarship to An Gaeltacht later in that year. I had made visits to Breffni Park from circa 1935 onwards. However, as I have been requested to recall my visits of the forties and fifties I will confine myself to those. 1940 - My first visit to Breffni Park was for the County Senior Football final between Cornafean and Killinkere. There was little transport then as it was 'Emergency' days and rationing was beginning to bite. One had to rely on the pedal bicycle and I went on the eight and a half-miles journey early and alone. Approaching the ticket-box inside the entrance gate I was called by the late Hughie Smith, Co. Secretary, who said: "Young McManus you are not paying. I have a job for you." He gave me an armband and told me I would be a sideline steward on the far side of the pitch, meaning the West side. The playing pitch was then running in a North-South direction, one goal area being near the entrance end and the other often referred to as 'The Royal School' end. After 1952, the playing pitch ran in an East-West direction. Hughie told me my job would be to assist the linesman in preventing any encroachment from the sideline. The game and its incidents are recorded in Rev. Fr. Dan Gallogly's 'Cavan's Football Story' at Page 155 and in George Cartwright's excellent and well-researched book - 'Up the Reds' - 'The Cornafean Achievement' at Pages 113, 114 and 115. Then seventeen, one might as well have tried to keep back the tide as to prevent the first pitch invasion. I did try to help Mr. Somers, the referee, in clearing the pitch. The second encroachment was quickly sorted out and there were plenty of stewards on hand. A memorable feature was Tom O'Reilly's great goal after a solo-run. The final score was Cornafean 1-4, Killinkere 0-3. I waited for the presentation of the Cup to Tom O'Reilly by Fr. Tom Maguire, handed in my armband, and resolved not to take up duty as a sideline steward again. 1941 - On February 9th, I went to Breffni Park for the Railway Cup semi-final between Ulster and Leinster. I was accompanied on my cycling journey by two neighbours, Noel Donohoe and Packie Smith (Phadraig) who had returned from U.S.A. Both were older than I was. An amusing incident happened when we reached a point near Poles Creamery and decided to walk up a brae. Noel asked how long it had taken us to get that far. He had no watch. Neither had I, but Packie reached into his pocket and pulled out a big alarm clock. Anyway, we reached Breffni Park in time for the throw-in. It was a well-contested and exciting game. I was particularly interested in the displays of the Cavan players - Brendan Kelly, Gerry Smith, Tom O'Reilly, John Joe O'Reilly, Paddy Smith, Donal Morgan, T.P. O'Reilly. Bernie Cully came on as a sub. All played very well. Other outstanding players were Jim McCullagh (Armagh) and Alf Murray (Armagh). The final score was Ulster 1-9, Leinster 2-5. There were great duels during the game between Paddy Smith and Bill Delaney (Laois). Later in the same year I went to Breffni Park to see the County Senior Final between Cornafean and Cavan Slashers. At the game I was in the company of the late Kevin McEntee, Cavan. There was a hurricane wind blowing. Cornafean led by two points at half-time but were beaten by one point at the end. I recall that they mounted attack after attack against the wind but could not get the levelling score. The Slashers had a very strong team, including Frank Dowling (Kildare), Mick Fallon (Galway), Barney Hunt (Laois), all 'County' players living in Cavan, as well as T.P. O'Reilly, M.J. Magee, and Paddy (Freezer) Conaty. During the year, I paid another visit to the Park with some of my Lavey friends to see the All-Ireland Camogie semi-final between Cavan and Dublin. This was a tense struggle. At one stage tempers became frayed. Luckily, some of the girls threw down their camans but resorted to hair-pulling and shouldering. Those were the days of the famous Dublin players, Kathleen Mills and Kathleen Coady, but I think only one of them played that day. Into the last quarter, Dublin led by a goal - 3-3, to 3-0 Then a Cavan player, Rita O'Sullivan, got the sliothar near the sideline about thirty yards out from the entrance goal, sent in a cracking shot which hit the net. Whether the sliothar hit the inside of the outside of the net became a matter of dispute. The late Kevin McEntee, Cavan, was goal umpire nearest to the left-hand post at the entrance goal. He raised the green flag and immediately as he did so one of the Dublin players hit him with her caman. It appeared to me that he was struck on the head. He went down injured and was attended to by medics. On resuming, he again raised the green flag. The goal was allowed and the match ended in a draw - Cavan 4-0, Dublin 3-3. (Cavan lost the replay at Islandbridge). 1942 - The most memorable visit of 1942 was one to see the County Senior Football Final between Mullahoran and Cornafean. This was regarded by everyone as one of the greatest club games ever seen in the Park or anywhere else. Cornafean had their usual quota of great 'County' players while Mullahoran had Val Gannon, Brian O'Reilly, their Tom O'Reilly, Brian O'Reilly (2), John Wilson, Fonsie Comaskey, Paddy Smith (Drumkilly), all of whom played for the County team. In the end Mullahoran won by one point - Mullahoran 1-8, Cornafean 0-10. John Joe Brady, Mullahoran, then a young boy, penned a long poem in memory of the occasion. Here is an extract from the last two verses - "It was a glorious sight to see In Breifne Park that day Cornafean and Mullahoran join in one affray, Their colours blazing in the sun No doubt the sight was grand as they marched around the playing pitch led by Cavan Labour Band. Faith of Our Fathers it was played The National Anthem too The teams stood to attention as everyone should do And as the band stopped playing the Ref gave out the call for Magee to come to centre-field and there throw in the ball." 1943 - By this year I had gone to Mullingar and visits to Breffni Park could not be made too easily. I missed the County Senior Final in which Cornafean got revenge over Mullahoran. However, my club, Lavey, were on a winning streak and met neighbouring Stradone in a Junior Divisional Final at Breffni Park. There was no Intermediate grade then. For the Lavey games, some weekends it meant for me cycling to and from Mullingar or getting a train. However, Breffni Park on an Autumn Sunday evening I lined out at right full-back for Lavey. My immediate opponent in that game was the late Johnnie Reilly (Red Rock House, Stradone) and outside him at left half-forward was P.J. Duke. This was a repeat of great games between the two sides. Fortunately for us we had the far-famed young Iggy Jones of Tyrone playing at centre half-forward. He was staying in his father's home place at Corraghoe (Sodens). There was no talk of an objection from anyone, certainly not from Stradone. Many year later as I sat through two and three-hour debates in Sligo about the 'Parish Rule' my mind went back to Iggy's displays with Lavey. In a previous game at Stradone, P.J. Duke was moved back to centre half-back in order to mark him. I heard an old man say that he would come back and stand in snow to see Duke and Jones 'at it again'. To get back to the Breffni Park game, Lavey came out on top by the score of 3-5 or 3-6, to 0-6. The result meant that we (Lavey) would meet Kill Shamrocks in the Junior semi-final, again at Breffni Park. I cannot recall the date but the game took place on an atrocious day when rain fell without stop and the playing surface, especially in the goal mouths, was muddy and slippery. Unfortunately for me, a Kill forward rushing in (I had my back towards him and thought he was one of our own players) stuck in his fist and knocked the ball from my hands and it rolled the wrong way for our goalie (Jack Lee) into the net. The 'Anglo-Celt' reporter afterwards kindly described the incident as a 'defensive error' but it was one I could never forget. I consoled myself by thinking that we were well and truly beaten anyway when the score reached a total of fifteen points to one at the interval. However, Lavey started the second-half in determined fashion. Micky Cusack, our full-back, moved to the attack, leaving only his brother, Gene, and myself in the full-back line. He kept feeding Jones and Co. and our forwards bored holes in the Kill defence. In the end, Kill won by a mere three points - a total of twenty-one to eighteen - I am not sure of the number of goals scored. Gerry Smith (Cavan & Ulster) had a great duel with Iggy Jones throughout the game. 1944 - Another visit to Breffni Park was for a Junior Game versus Cavan Slashers (Juniors) on the 24th September '44, the same date as the Roscommon v. Kerry All-Ireland Final. Ours was an evening game and I heard the broadcast of the All-Ireland while visiting my mother in Lisdarn. Winning our game would take us to another Divisional Final v. Stradone. I was at mid-field for most of the game. Although we were on top our forwards were finding it hard to score and once again Micky Cusack came out-field and I was switched for full-back. Micky moved up with the forwards and got the winning scores. Next visit for the Divisional Final. Stradone seemed far fitter than we were, certainly far better than in the previous year, and defeated us by five or six points. Tommy Smith (Behey) went off through injury in the second half and I was moved up to left full-forward. Peter McMahon, afterwards on the Lavey Championship winning team of 1950 and 1951, took my place at right full-back. I cannot remember who was my immediate opponent while I was in the back line - it may have been one of the Jordans, and when I moved to the forward-line my marker was Gary O'Reilly. In the course of my duties at Columb Barracks, Mullingar, I had met Captain Richard J. O'Reilly who was none other than 'Dick' - former Stradone, St. Patrick's and Ulster Colleges player, brother of Adie, Dessie, Dermot and Gary. I came home to Cavan with Dick on the weekend of the County Junior Final of 1944. Stradone and Kill were the contestants. When I again visited Breffni Park for that final I was surprised to see Dick lining out at left full-forward for Stradone, as he had not played football for some years and on the homeward journey he made no mention of his intention to play. However, his colleagues kept ending the ball towards his corner and he scored a great goal plus two points inside the first ten minutes. Stradone won the Junior Championship that day and were obliged to go Senior the following year. They had 'County' players in Paddy Smith, P.J. Duke, Dessie, Dermot and Adie O'Reilly. After the game I met and congratulated P.J. Duke when he was going towards the dressing-room. 1945 - In June of that year I moved from Mullingar to the Garda Training Depot, then in the Phoenix Park. Visits to Breffni Park became less frequent. After my first posting to Ballinameen, Co. Roscommon, I got my first ten days Annual Leave towards the end of February, 1946. On the 17th February I was in Breffni Park once more for a Cavan v. Mayo National League game. Cavan were team-building and I was very interested in the team placings. As far as I remember Willie Doonan was at left half-back. Tony Tighe was at left half-forward. (Afterwards he was invariably on the right). Adie O'Reilly was at left full-forward. It was a close game and Cavan won by a one-point margin. The winning point was scored by Joe Stafford. On the following Sunday, 24th February, I was again in the Park for the Railway Cup semi-final between Ulster and Leinster. The Cavan contingent were continuing to play well and were ably assisted by such as Jim McCullagh (Armagh), Kevin Armstrong and Sean Gibson (Antrim). Leinster had great players such as Eddie Boyle (Louth), willie Goodison (Wexford), D. O'Neill (Do), Frankie Byrne (Meath), and Paddy Meegan (Do), N. Rackard (Wexford), and J. Rea (Carlow) in the full-forward line. Ulster were on top for most of the game, but towards the end Leinster got a great goal but I think, though I am not sure, the recent C.D. states it was another player. When the game was over I met Micky Cusack (Lavey), previously mentioned, and on our way out we met Joe Stafford on his way to the dressing-room. Micky maintained that it was the forwards lost the game and was critical of Joe's display in that game and the previous one (in which Joe scored the winning point). Joe was amused and headed off with a smile on his face. I did not know whether Micky was serious or just joking. I omitted to mention National Football League games but as far as I remember the National League was suspended during the first half of the forties. After the 1946 games family commitments and distance ordained that I had no further visits to Breffni Park in the forties. Moving further away my visits to Breffni became fewer in the fifties. However, on a Saturday night in 1958 I received a telephone call in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, from Eddie Moriarty who was stationed as a Garda in Kilmaine a few miles away. (Eddie had started at left half-back for Mayo and Connacht in League and Championship games and was a native of Boyle). He informed me that he would be playing for Mayo against Cavan in Breffni Park the following day and that he would have a seat for me if I wished to travel. On Sunday morning Eddie called after Mass, and we started out for Cavan, calling to Tuam en route in order to collect John Nallen. When we arrived at the Farnham Hotel there were a few Cavan people around to welcome the Mayo men. Willie Doonan got into conversation with Willie Casey about good right full-backs. I went into the dinning-room and was beckoned to his table by a man whom I recognised from his photograph as the late Noel O'Reilly (Crosserlough). Noel shook hands and said "How are you Andy?," mistaking me for my younger brother. He wanted to know what I thought of the Mayo forwards and which of them would play at left full-forward. I had time to visit my other brother - who was then Adm. in Cavan, and I think it was he who drove me up to Breffni Park. It was the first time I saw the playing pitch in its present position. My friend, Eddie, was right full-back for Mayo and marking Charlie Gallagher. John Nallen was marked by Jim McDonnell. I had told Noel that it was likely his immediate opponent would be young Tommy Tracey from Ballinrobe. It transpired Tommy was on the right and marked by James McCabe. Cavan won the game by four or five points. 'Charlie from Cootehill' did most of the scoring, with James Brady ably assisting. A Cavan goal in the second half was scored by a player whose name on the Clar was 'McIntyre' and I forget his first name. I remember that he was grounded in an attack but while on the ground succeeded in getting his left boot to the ball and putting it into the net. The only Lavey people I met at the game were John Murtagh (Drumfomina) and T.J. Smith (Garryowen). On the way home we had some banter about the game. Both my friends were discussing Charlie Gallagher's accuracy. I asked Eddie how did Charlie miss the first fourteen yards free and he told me that when Charlie was about to take the kick he (Eddie) shouted "Watch yourself, Gallagher". Eddie tried to find out if there was any truth in the speculation that John would transfer to Galway in the following year, but John was not giving any information. So ended the fifties visits, but D.G. there were others to follow in the years thereafter. Ta a lan na ndaoine ata luaite sa phiosa reamh-raite imighe uainn ar Shli na Firinne. Guim solas na bhFlaitheas ar a n-anamaca dilse, agus go gcuirfidh Dia rath ar iad siud ata linn fos. Seosamh MacManasa. Tweet

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