It was a fairytale back then. Éire Óg are looking to create another fairytale now.
Before 1992, a Carlow club had never once won the Leinster senior football championship. In the 70s and 80s, it was the Dublin clubs that dominated. Offaly, Laois and Meath weren’t far behind, but never Carlow.
Éire Óg, having won a barrage of county titles in the 80s, finally made the breakthrough in ’92. It was a huge one for Carlow. It was the start of a special and unique GAA run for Éire Óg.
The town team went onto win five of the next seven provincial titles, with the late Laois great Bobby Miller having a huge part to play as team’s manager.
Unfortunately, they never managed to follow it up with All-Ireland glory, twice falling at the final hurdle. But Éire Óg had done enough to capture imaginations on a national scale, and many of their players became household names in a storied GAA era.
Joe Murphy was one of these players, and he relived some of his club’s great triumphs on The GAA Hour Show on Thursday.
“It was a bit of a fairy tale for a Carlow team to be in the higher echelons of club football at the time,” says Murphy, who is currently the Carlow club’s manager.
“It was great to be a part of that. It’s as good to be a part of what’s happening in Éire Óg at the moment…”
"We've been here before" says @Eireogcarlow manager Joe Murphy on The GAA Hour Show.
"It's nothing to be afraid of. Thrive on it. Embrace the past.
"It gives a nice balance between the past and the present."
Éire Óg have great tradition and they're back in a Leinster final 👏 pic.twitter.com/pl6wwMaPJf
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) December 6, 2019
Which brings us forward a generation to the current team, with the sons of those great men bringing Éire Óg back. On Sunday, the club will contest another Leinster final, 21 years on from their last.
“History has a habit of repeating myself, to what end you don’t know…”
The odds are stacked against Murphy’s team on Saturday, with Dublin superclub Ballyboden St Enda’s standing between them and another Leinster title.
But tradition counts for a lot, and Murphy is hoping his club can make it six Leinster final wins, in just seven Leinster final appearances.
“It’s a fine line. You don’t want to be shoving the past down any new player’s throats. You don’t want them to be getting bitter about it, you want them to be a part of it, and to work off that tradition.
“We’ve been here before as a club,
“That’s the message we’re trying to get across. It’s nothing to be afraid of. We thrive on it, embrace the past because it’s in your gene-pool…”
It certainly is. Murphy’s own son is on the panel, as is Brendan Hayden’s son Dean while Jody Morrisseys son Jordan is one of their key men.
“Whether that’s going to be enough is another day’s work, but it gives a nice balance between the past and the present…”
You can watch the latest episode of The GAA Hour here.
