ON Wednesday 16 September, author, school principal and life-long Bennekerry resident John Kelly gave a talk on the infamous ‘Battle of Rathoe’ to the Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society (CHAS) in the Seven Oaks Hotel, Carlow.
The ‘Battle of Rathoe’ refers to the violent clashes that occurred between the players and fans of Graiguecullen and Milford Gaelic football clubs during the Carlow County Senior Football Final in August 1926. The match had to be abandoned because of the violence and in the subsequent disciplinary proceedings, Graiguecullen GAA was given a two-year suspension.
Des Hurley, John Kelly and Ollie Hennessy
Eventually, Graiguecullen, which was the best GAA team in Carlow at the time, decided that it would leave Carlow to play in Laois.
Eamonn Byrne with lecturer John Kelly
John is the author of the acclaimed book The GAA Covered and has had a life-long involvement with the GAA as a player, coach, administrator and inter-county match official.
Brendan Hennessy, speaker John Kelly and Walter Lacey at the ‘Battle of Rathoe’ talk in the Seven Oaks Hotel recently, organised by the Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society
During his talk, he described Carlow GAA’s fractious relationship with Graiguecullen GAA and the events that led to the ‘disgraceful scenes’ that the Irish Independent reported. He also covered what went down in the committee rooms and on football pitches afterwards.
Leo McGough with Kieran Murphy and Brendan Hennessy
According to John, the talk saw a great turnout with over 70 people in attendance. John said that he has long been a member of CHAS but this was his first time giving a talk to the society.
A number of people present at the talk had known people who were at the match and shared what they had been told about that day.
John has always been interested in history and a few years ago decided to do a master’s degree in Irish history at Carlow College. “History is kind of my hobby, I suppose,” John said.
