Our Finest Hour proving to be a success story in Mayo

By Cian O’Connell

For Edwin McGreal, it was a labour of love. Passionate about sport, especially Mayo GAA, Our Finest Hour is a sweet collection of stories, with players, mentors, administrators, and supporters from 54 different clubs in the county reflecting on memorable triumphs.

Time and energy was invested in the project, but McGreal simply relished the discussions, the conversations about what truly mattered to people in Mayo. “It took a bit of executing,” McGreal laughs.

“I just thought it would be something that might draw people in. People like to hear about their own club, but there is plenty to sustain them beyond that because there is a good chunk of stuff beyond their own back yard. So, it has been really enjoyable. I started in March and it went to print in early September, it was busy, but really enjoyable.”

During his days with The Mayo News, McGreal found group interviews to be particularly beneficial when documenting the exploits of a team from the past. That process was followed for the book. “I just find they are a very good forum for talking,” McGreal explains.

“When you get people, who know each other sitting around the table, they'll knock off each other, they'll be having the craic. It is like if you're in a pub, one or two of you will get on fine, but with three or four the craic will get going, the stories flow that bit easier.

“That is something we did in The Mayo News in the past, a round table for different moments in clubs history. For example, if Knockmore were in a county final we might say we will talk to the Knockmore team of 1980 about their year.

“You get an insight into the individuals, the time, and the club. They were always great value, there was always great stories and great engagement with them. That was always in my head as a format, that was successful and viable.”

The planning and plotting was considerable for the book, but it was rewarding. “In the end between the 54 clubs, there was more than 200 people I'd have sat down with,” McGreal adds.

“A couple of occasions, it might've been individual phone calls, but for the most part I think 40 were in person interviews, there might have been maybe 10 on zoom due to one of the group wasn't in Mayo or the country.

“Most of them were in person which was great, you went to the club, and you get a better feel for things in person, but the zoom meetings were good too.”

Football and hurling clubs throughout Mayo were involved. “On a point of clarity, and I was careful with this, I did 54 clubs, some of the newer hurling clubs I didn't do, time and resources, and the fact they were only formed in the last 10 years,” McGreal explains.

“I'm not stating it is every club, but it is every corner of the county. The way it worked out was 54 in total, 47 football clubs, two island teams, Clareisland and Inisturk, talking about the All island experience, and five hurling clubs.”

Unearth many different aspects in the book is what McGreal wanted to accomplish. Above all, though, was being ready, willing, and able to tell a sporting tale, what a victory meant for a community. “The key thing about it is that there are stories everywhere in life,” McGreal says.

“Everybody has a story to tell. Every club is worthy of a book, and some of them have done it. Every club should do their own book. It is obviously impossible to cover the history of each club in an individual chapter of 2,000-2,500 words.

“What I tried to do was to convey a sense of the club. Also, just to reflect on a moment, it wasn't just talking about a match or how a match was won, it was more the human interest side of things. Talking about the journey to that point, what made it special, what are the memories that stand out, and the memories that sustain.”

Ultimately, it was a joyful experience with McGreal highlighting the knowledge and ability of the interviewees. “It is so apparent that so many days we forget, they are quite ordinary, but the recall guys have from games that were played 30, 40 or 50 years ago,” McGreal remarks.

“The furthest back I went was 1958, the recall guys have from those finals and wins, the meaning and fondness for those days, throughout the rest of their lives, that just shows how powerful the GAA can be in terms of making those connections and special memories.

“There is a great range of memories, and from talking to everybody the passion and the worth the GAA brings to communities throughout Mayo, both in urban and rural Mayo. You talk to people, you see the good work so many people are doing.”

Author McGreal’s respect for those involved in the organisation is deep. “I dedicated the book to my family, but I also dedicated to all the GAA volunteers, who are so selfless with their time to create something special for others,” he adds.

“That is what the GAA is, people giving so freely of their time. They do get some personal reward in terms of enjoyment. That is why looking at moments like this, for so many people it makes so much of it worthwhile. That just came across loud and clear with so many of them, too.”

As the interviews were conducted, McGreal had to adapt the chapters slightly. The information flowed and the cherished memories were recalled everywhere. “I was initially starting at 2,000 words, but then I was thinking some of these are going to be hard to tell in 2,000 words,” McGreal says.

“I extended the range to 2,000-2,500, but they all got four pages. I was very determined on that, I just wanted to be fair to all clubs. Every clubs story gets the same significance and the same importance. Some stories are hard to distil into 2,000 words, it doesn't mean it is a bigger story or a better story. It might just have more layers to it or more of a background that needs a bit of explaining. I was thinking 2,000 words to begin with. For instance, Crossmolina's All-Ireland in 2001, it was a long journey to that point for them. There is a book in that alone.

“I could definitely have written twice the amount for every single club. I wanted something that was accessible for readers so people could dip in and dip out. They could pick it up for 10 or 15 minutes, read a chapter, and drop it down.

“That is what I'm finding from the feedback I'm getting; people are enjoying that. It isn't a book you read from beginning to end, you dip in and out. You go through it over time.”

Ensuring there was different types of stories was something else McGreal was eager to portray. “I've tried to make sure there is a variety in the chapters,” he replies. “That is one of the worries I had, there might be similarities across the chapters.

“It was something I was on guard for, but it was something I didn't really need to worry about. Every club and all the people I spoke to had their own set of circumstances, their own backgrounds and own unique stories. That took care of itself, I was lucky in that regard.”

During the past couple of months, McGreal has embarked on roadshows where events have been held with various clubs from a locality attending. Rivalries certainly exist, but the GAA connections them, too. “Certainly since Covid, it is harder to get people out,” McGreal says.

“People just love talking football and hurling, football for the most part in Mayo. They love talking GAA. You've stories everywhere and interest levels everywhere. So, I decided we'd go out and about, to get someone from every club where possible in their area to talk on stage, to reflect on their stories.

“The people that have been at them so far have really enjoyed them. It is a nice format, a live panel discussion, nice and lighthearted. You've some great stories in there.”

Mayo Junior B Championship wins for Eastern Gaels and Kilfian captured McGreal’s imagination, the sense of joy and hope provided. “Talking to people like Breege Hoban in Kilfian and John Hickey in Eastern Gaels, you get a really strong sense for what those victories meant to those clubs,” McGreal says.

“They were their first county titles, at any level, in both instances. It was like an All-Ireland for them. That is another part of the GAA. The GAA, by its nature, isn't equally distributed in that you've bigger counties and small, bigger clubs and smaller clubs, but there is always something there for people.

“There is always something for people relative to your starting point. For Eastern Gaels and Kilfian, to win a county Junior B title it just meant the world to them. That is one of the great things about the GAA, it beats so strongly in every corner of the country.

“Obviously, you've the big clubs competing at senior level, often they're the ones spoken about the most, but you've serious breakthroughs and achievements in every club, and moments for them to reflect on. I was honoured to be able to write about those for the clubs, I had a particular attachment to the smaller clubs because they'd be operating far from the maddening crowds often.”

Stitching the book together, McGreal travelled the length and breadth of Mayo. The decency and pride of clubs was evident with the late and great, John O’Mahony, again underlining his class. “Back in March, I interviewed John O'Mahony, his brother Fr Dan, Christy McCann, and Jim Fleming in Ballaghaderreen,” McGreal says.

“It was a great chat, John couldn't have been any more helpful. He arranged the interview, he was something else, ringing me the day afterwards to make sure I had everything I needed.”

That was the beauty. People embraced the idea. Sport occupies a central place in the lives of so many. “There is a line from John Hickey in the book, he talks about winning that Junior B, he says 'for the rest of the county that day meant nothing, to us it meant everything', I thought that summed it all up perfectly.”

‘Our Finest Hour – Mayo GAA clubs reflect on their glory days’, published by Mayo Books Press, is available in bookshops throughout Mayo, Charlie Byrne’s in Galway, Liber in Sligo, Hodges Figgis in Dublin and online via https://www.mayobooks.ie/Our-Finest-Hour-Edwin-McGreal-9781914596315 where it can be sent anywhere in the world in time for Christmas.