Bord na Móna - Source Issue 12 - (Page 20)
Action from the Laois v Dublin
Walsh Cup hurling competition.
GAME ON
OVER-ENTHUSIASTIC UMPIRES, LATE CHALLENGES AND DISPUTED SCORES WERE
ALL PART OF THE FUN IN BORD NA MÓNA'S INVOLVEMENT WITH THE GAA, WHICH
CONTINUES TO THIS DAY
B
ord na Móna is once again the title
sponsor of the Bord na Móna O'Byrne
Cup and Shield, Bord na Móna Walsh
Cup and Shield, and the Bord na Móna Kehoe
Cup and Shield, which together are known as
the Bord na Móna Leinster GAA Series.
This sponsorship began in 2012 and saw
Bord na Móna as the first title sponsor in the
competition's 60-year history and continues the
company's strong association with the GAA. It
also helps to finance the Leinster GAA Hardship
Fund which has been instrumental down
through the years in helping players, players'
families, and local communities in times of great
need and financial difficulty.
Bord na Móna has a long-standing presence
and involvement with the people of Leinster in
every county through its workers and
customers. Sponsorship of these competitions
is a natural and engaging relationship that has
continued right through to 2014.
Our shared history with the GAA dates back
to the Wexford four-in-a-row football team of
1915 to 1918. John Wall, a member of that team,
worked for the Turf Board and Bord na Móna in
the 1940s in Kildare. Since then, employees have
won All-Ireland senior hurling medals with
20 | Source Winter 2013
Wexford, Offaly, Kilkenny and Tipperary, and
All-Ireland senior football medals with Dublin,
Meath, Galway, Offaly, and Wexford.
EARLY DAYS
In 1945, the Turf Board decided to affiliate to the
Leinster Council so that the company could run
hurling and football competitions under GAA rules.
They set up their own version of a county board
with a chairman, officers, and delegates from each
camp. There was a committee to deal with fixtures
and a panel of referees for football and hurling. At
the time, An Slean magazine warned certain
employees that they would be unable to take part
unless they ceased involvement in all foreign
sports as the games were now being played
under GAA rules. William Stapleton, who was chief
camp superintendant and a veteran of the War of
Independence and the Civil War, organised the
Turf Board's GAA Board.
The Bord na Móna interworks football
competitions began in 1959 because the works
were banned from the factories competition as
they were not regarded as factories in the normal
sense. Mountdillon is the most successful team in
the history of the company, having won the
competition ten times.
In the early days, the teams travelled to the
interworks games in canvas-topped lorries.
Players loved to celebrate and 'enjoy' their
victories. Indeed, there was a case in Blackwater
where a man turned up for work the next day
looking for his false teeth and luckily found them
on the floor of the lorry.
In an early match between Blackwater and
Mountdillon, a Blackwater umpire got excited
when he saw a Mountdillon forward about to kick
the ball into an empty net so he ran out and
'clocked' him! This did not go down well with the
Mountdillon players.
The last inter-works final took place in 1992
between Mountdillon and Oweninny. It was a
'tough' encounter, with disputed points, umpire
rows, and late challenges (whether you had the
ball or not). When the ball was thrown in, it got
even worse. The game ended in a draw, there
was a disagreement about extra-time, both teams
thought that a replay would be arranged, but it
never was. Almost 15 years later, after a dispute
resolution process, both teams agreed to share
the title. So the last-ever competition produced
joint winners and, at a function, both teams
mingled without a single off-the-ball tackle
thrown in.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bord na Móna - Source Issue 12
Bord Na MóNa - Source Issue 12
Contents
News
Brown Gold
A Bright Future Beckons
Clean Energy Hub
A Good Year
Game On!
Sales Force
Project Update
Heritage Corner
Nationwide
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