Members of the Ballygunner three-in-a-row Waterford SHC winning team (1966, '67, '68) pictured at the club's 70th anniversary celebrations last weekend.
By John Harrington
Ballygunner Hurling Club celebrated their 70th anniversary last weekend and the occasion that marked it vividly illustrated how their modern-day excellence is built upon the solid foundations left by previous generations.
Medals rained down like confetti as the club’s senior, U20A, Minor A, and Minor B teams collected their gongs for their 2024 championship successes, but pride of place on the night undoubtedly went to their three-in-a-row county senior champions of 1966, 1967, and 1967 who were honoured for that stellar achievement.
The line from that team to the one that has now won 11 Waterford senior hurling championships in a row is an easy one to trace.
The four Mahony brothers, the three O’Keeffe brothers, Tadhg Foley, Shane O’Sullivan, and team manager Darragh O’Sullivan are all grandsons of men who played on the three-in-a-row team of the sixties.
Some of those men who played on that team of the sixties were among the first to ever wear the colours of Ballygunner, which was founded in 1954 on the back of a lot of great developmental work by a local school-teacher, Jimmy McGinn, who moved to the area from Louth.
“When Jimmy McGinn came as a teacher in the 1940s he decided that the children of school should take up some game,” says Ballygunner Hurling Club President, Gerry Cullinan.
“He was a soccer man himself, naturally enough, coming from Dundalk, but he figured that hurling would be a better fit because Waterford were fairly decent at the time. They had gotten to an All-Ireland Final in 1938 and then obviously won in 1948.
“He knew nothing about hurling himself so he enlisted the help of a few locals who knew a lot, a Christian Brother from Mount Sion and another De La Salle Brother to help him find out how this game should be played.
“That was the beginning of it and there was hurling in the school long before the club was born. The school became successful, winning a number of competitions, and then there was a city league in Waterford which wasn't a competition for clubs but for districts around the city and they were invited to play in that.
“This was for players aged between 12 and 16, possibly. They showed that they were a good match for the city teams so it was decided in 1954 to start the club and they met in the old school early in the year. Because Jimmy McGinn was still involved in soccer and that that was very much in vogue at the time, he didn't take part except to sit at the back and look on at the proceedings.
“They were all young people involved. The first three officers were all very young because the only team the club fielded in that first year was a minor team in 1954 and two of the officers were on that team and if the third officer was older he was only a year or two older.
“As it happened then they won the minor championship in Waterford in their first year which is remarkable.”
The Ballygunner team that won the Waterford minor hurling championship in 1954.
Those young hurlers went on to compete in the Junior grade against grown men and within three years they would win that championship and gain promotion to the senior grade.
After the three-in-a-row winning exploits of the sixties, the club’s fortunes dipped and they were eventually relegated to the intermediate grade and didn’t manage to get out of it and back up senior until 1984.
Successive Waterford U21A titles in 1988 and 1989 heralded the dawn of a new golden era with many of those players going on to form the spine of the team that would win five Waterford senior championships in the 1990s.
That period coincided with great developmental work as the club finally got a home of their own in 1994 after decades as nomads. Fast-forward another 30 years, and they have facilities that are as good as you’ll find anywhere in the country.
“Going back to Mr McGinn's time, he’d just asked farmers to give him a field and they played in many different fields all at that time,” says Cullinan.
“Luckily enough there was a politician in the club, the late Frankie King, who was very much involved in getting the pitch and the present Ballygunner school built close to each other which is fantastic for any club.
“It makes life very easy when you have children in the school that can come across and play.
“Then the clubhouse was the next thing that was done. Pat O'Sullivan then who was chairperson for many years was a man of great vision, much like Frankie King.
“During their time a second pitch and what's called The Arena which is a large indoor astroturf pitch with ancillary facilities was built.
“We’ve done a lot more work in recent years. We had room for half a pitch so that was developed and is used as a training area for warming up. Then we developed a walking track.
“If an opportunity arises to buy another pitch then we'll have to raise the money for that because there's so many kids now playing in the club.”
Ballygunner players and supporters celebrate with the Waterford News and Star Cup after their side's victory in the Waterford Senior Club Hurling Championship Final match between Abbeyside Ballinacourty and Ballygunner at Fraher Field in Dungarvan, Waterford. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Once a rural club, Ballygunner are now very much an urban one but their success is down to far more than just a population explosion.
They’ve worked hard to harness it by putting a huge emphasis on coaching and games development which has reaped great rewards from juvenile level up to the senior team.
“A lot of the players who won those championships in the 1990s are very much involved with the club right now in different capacities, particularly coaching," says Cullinan. "You have that plus parents who are genuinely interested.
“We're very strong now at every level. We havne't just won 11 county senior championships and three musters in a row, but we also won eight out of the last 10 minor championships. In the other two we were beaten in the final.
“That's thanks to the quality of the coaching we do in the club. We obviously have bigger numbers than a lot of clubs too, but I would put our success mainly down to the quality of coaching and training in the club and the dedication and hard work of everyone involved.”
Cullinan himself is from West Waterford originally but has been a member of Ballygunner for over 30 years and joined at a time when the club was at a relatively low ebb.
Had you told him when he moved to the area that they’d be celebrating an 11th county title in a row at their 70th anniversary celebrations, he’d have looked at you askance.
“It's unbelievable, really, when you think about it," he says. "When I started we had one juvenile team that played in the A competition and they didn’t really feature in that championship.
“All of the others from U11 right up to U-16 weren't even winning the 'B' championships until we did win one in 1994 at U-16.
“Our target then was to have every team playing in the A division and we got that. Then the next target was to be competitive in all of those and then after that to win a few. And sure we can't stop winning now.
“We have so many players now and every team that we have is competitive. We have second teams at underage and they do well too, they compete with the best in their own division.
“I would love to see other clubs come up to the same level. If Waterford had three clubs like us, then they'd be up there at the top.”