THEY WERE REIGNING county champions and All-Ireland finalists. In 1986, Kilruane MacDonaghs lost out in the Tipperary decider against Borris-Ileigh.
It felt like a disappointing loss but nothing more. The plan was to regather and relaunch. They haven’t darkened the county final door since. Until now.
“Sure at the time you think you will win it every year. Instead, it has been 37 years waiting,” says Len Gaynor, three-time Tipperary All-Ireland winner and the club’s greatest ambassador.
“We had a great team then. We won the 1985 county final but that was the time when the All-Ireland final was played on St Patrick’s Day. By the time the 1986 county final came around, we were just worn out.
“We were coming to an end. It has been a long hard road since. Ups and downs. We are back now and it is up to us to take our chance.”
Every day as a child, Gaynor passed a photo of the old Lahorna De Wets team in his hallway. That GAA club was formed in 1900, named after General De Wet, a South African who took on the British forces during the Boer war. His grand-uncle was the first secretary.
There were splinters of various local junior teams and the parish rule soon came into play. By 1935, Kilruane McDonaghs united them all.
In total, Gaynor gave 34 years of service as a player. He skipped trips to Wembley with Tipperary to make himself available for club games and in 1977, operated as player-coach.
At the time he had travelled to watch training and coaching courses across the country with one eye on his post-playing career. Ports of call included Mick O’Dwyer training Kerry and Kevin Heffernan with Dublin.
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Well qualified for a seismic challenge. They were 75 years without a senior title. A three-in-a-row followed before they were felled in the final when going for four.
“I didn’t find it too hard to balance coaching and playing. I played with most of them and while some of the guys were new, they were the same breed. I was a sub for the fourth one actually, the legs were gone. I found it the finest.
“They were a great group which made it easy.”
The initial breakthrough was hard fought, beating Borris-Illeagh in a replay. Having suffered losses at the same stage twice in the previous five years, that triumph finally lit the match.
“That was some game! There was a downpour the whole way through the match. Absolute miserable. It was hard to be on the field. We got a lucky goal. A free I think, touched on the way in deceived the goalkeeper. 1-5 to 0-5, imagine winning a county final on that score.
“But it gave us the knack of winning. The confidence and belief that gives carried on. When one group goes before, the next say, ‘we need to do it as well.’ Experience is a great thing. Those moments where a match is won and lost, a small lull and the opposition take hold.
“When you learn to cope with those situations it is powerful.”
The evidence is compelling. Between 1955 and 1960, Thurles Sarsfields won five in a row. They did it again between 1961 and 1965. Carrick Davins were beaten in a replay at the end of that run, but came back to win their debut title the subsequent season and backed it up a year later.
Evan Treacy / INPHO
Evan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Roscrea came along and won their first in 1968, again after losing a final 12 months before. They went on to collect four of the next five. So it continued with Moneygall breaching the glass ceiling in 1975 and doing back-t0-back, before Kilraune’s run from 1977 onwards.
The golden age ended after 1985. Gaynor was manager then and chaired shoulder-high from Semple Stadium after a seven-point win. Maintaining such lofty standards was always going to be a struggle.
“There was bound to be a lull. The trouble is a lull breeds another lull. That is the nature of it too. Every club has ups and downs. We had good players all the time, the crucial thing is to have enough of them together.
“Our underage structure was good all the time and they are coming again now. When you get out of the habit of winning, it takes time to get it back. Younger players need to learn how again,” Gaynor explains.
One of his proudest days was the Munster final on the way to 1986 All-Ireland glory. Another first delivered by their greatest, another parade on top of the player’s shoulders.
“We drew with Blackrock in Limerick. We had it nearly won and conceded a free near the end they equalised. Someone said to me leaving, ‘ye missed your chance.’
“I remember thinking, how could that be? We are not that far behind them. Why would anyone think that? The replay was on the following week and I had them really wound up for that.
“We beat them by double scores. That was a serious side. They had the likes of Cummins and Cashman. Fr Michael O’Brien was their manager.
“I drilled it into our lads all week. There is not that big a difference between Tipp and Cork. Why should we be written off after a draw?”
There was no one reason for the ensuing dry spell. Rebuilding takes time and golden crops are hard to find. Only twice in their history have the club won a minor – 1971 and 2005. It took 21 years to get back to the quarter-final stage. In 2019, they suffered a semi-final defeat despite playing with a man advantage for the final twenty minutes.
Last year they reached the North final. In their way on Sunday are their same opponents and neighbours Kiladangan.
In Thurles, they’ll crash and clatter into each other for the guts of an hour. Len Gaynor will watch on, glad they’re back on centre stage and hoping for one more glory day.
“It is all part of it, going through periods like that. You learn lessons as you go along, hopefully, I’m still learning a few. Fingers crossed I learn something with a win on Sunday.”
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'You think you will win it every year... it has been 37 years waiting' - Chasing Tipp glory
THEY WERE REIGNING county champions and All-Ireland finalists. In 1986, Kilruane MacDonaghs lost out in the Tipperary decider against Borris-Ileigh.
It felt like a disappointing loss but nothing more. The plan was to regather and relaunch. They haven’t darkened the county final door since. Until now.
“Sure at the time you think you will win it every year. Instead, it has been 37 years waiting,” says Len Gaynor, three-time Tipperary All-Ireland winner and the club’s greatest ambassador.
“We had a great team then. We won the 1985 county final but that was the time when the All-Ireland final was played on St Patrick’s Day. By the time the 1986 county final came around, we were just worn out.
“We were coming to an end. It has been a long hard road since. Ups and downs. We are back now and it is up to us to take our chance.”
Every day as a child, Gaynor passed a photo of the old Lahorna De Wets team in his hallway. That GAA club was formed in 1900, named after General De Wet, a South African who took on the British forces during the Boer war. His grand-uncle was the first secretary.
There were splinters of various local junior teams and the parish rule soon came into play. By 1935, Kilruane McDonaghs united them all.
In total, Gaynor gave 34 years of service as a player. He skipped trips to Wembley with Tipperary to make himself available for club games and in 1977, operated as player-coach.
At the time he had travelled to watch training and coaching courses across the country with one eye on his post-playing career. Ports of call included Mick O’Dwyer training Kerry and Kevin Heffernan with Dublin.
Well qualified for a seismic challenge. They were 75 years without a senior title. A three-in-a-row followed before they were felled in the final when going for four.
“I didn’t find it too hard to balance coaching and playing. I played with most of them and while some of the guys were new, they were the same breed. I was a sub for the fourth one actually, the legs were gone. I found it the finest.
“They were a great group which made it easy.”
The initial breakthrough was hard fought, beating Borris-Illeagh in a replay. Having suffered losses at the same stage twice in the previous five years, that triumph finally lit the match.
“That was some game! There was a downpour the whole way through the match. Absolute miserable. It was hard to be on the field. We got a lucky goal. A free I think, touched on the way in deceived the goalkeeper. 1-5 to 0-5, imagine winning a county final on that score.
“But it gave us the knack of winning. The confidence and belief that gives carried on. When one group goes before, the next say, ‘we need to do it as well.’ Experience is a great thing. Those moments where a match is won and lost, a small lull and the opposition take hold.
“When you learn to cope with those situations it is powerful.”
The evidence is compelling. Between 1955 and 1960, Thurles Sarsfields won five in a row. They did it again between 1961 and 1965. Carrick Davins were beaten in a replay at the end of that run, but came back to win their debut title the subsequent season and backed it up a year later.
Roscrea came along and won their first in 1968, again after losing a final 12 months before. They went on to collect four of the next five. So it continued with Moneygall breaching the glass ceiling in 1975 and doing back-t0-back, before Kilraune’s run from 1977 onwards.
The golden age ended after 1985. Gaynor was manager then and chaired shoulder-high from Semple Stadium after a seven-point win. Maintaining such lofty standards was always going to be a struggle.
“There was bound to be a lull. The trouble is a lull breeds another lull. That is the nature of it too. Every club has ups and downs. We had good players all the time, the crucial thing is to have enough of them together.
“Our underage structure was good all the time and they are coming again now. When you get out of the habit of winning, it takes time to get it back. Younger players need to learn how again,” Gaynor explains.
One of his proudest days was the Munster final on the way to 1986 All-Ireland glory. Another first delivered by their greatest, another parade on top of the player’s shoulders.
“We drew with Blackrock in Limerick. We had it nearly won and conceded a free near the end they equalised. Someone said to me leaving, ‘ye missed your chance.’
“I remember thinking, how could that be? We are not that far behind them. Why would anyone think that? The replay was on the following week and I had them really wound up for that.
“We beat them by double scores. That was a serious side. They had the likes of Cummins and Cashman. Fr Michael O’Brien was their manager.
“I drilled it into our lads all week. There is not that big a difference between Tipp and Cork. Why should we be written off after a draw?”
There was no one reason for the ensuing dry spell. Rebuilding takes time and golden crops are hard to find. Only twice in their history have the club won a minor – 1971 and 2005. It took 21 years to get back to the quarter-final stage. In 2019, they suffered a semi-final defeat despite playing with a man advantage for the final twenty minutes.
Last year they reached the North final. In their way on Sunday are their same opponents and neighbours Kiladangan.
In Thurles, they’ll crash and clatter into each other for the guts of an hour. Len Gaynor will watch on, glad they’re back on centre stage and hoping for one more glory day.
“It is all part of it, going through periods like that. You learn lessons as you go along, hopefully, I’m still learning a few. Fingers crossed I learn something with a win on Sunday.”
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County final GAA Hurling Kilruane MacDonaghs Len Gaynor Tipp decider Tipperary Tipperary SHC