Following in family footsteps in Féile na nGael
Pat O'Brien, John Agar and John's father Bob at 1981 Féile presentation
‘Reeling in the years’ is a popular programme on RTÉ, tracing the major happenings of a particular 365 days. If you were asked to put together an episode on 1971 what events would you choose to highlight?
Bet you a euro most of you will have already come up with ‘decimalisation’ as that was the year we Irish changed from the old pound, shillings and pence to a new currency that saw inflation take a huge hike. That was also the year Ireland, after Dana’s success the previous Spring, hosted the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time and gave RTÉ, just a decade old, their biggest challenge up to date.
Turning to sport, Arsenal won the league-cup double, Offaly were crowned All-Ireland football champions for the first time and Tipp took the hurling. 1971 also saw three new GAA innovations that were, at varying speeds, destined to capture the imagination of the general sporting public The All-Stars scheme, selecting the best fifteen hurlers and footballers of the year in their positions, was an immediate hit. The All-Ireland Club championships, echoing the early days of the GAA when the champion clubs represented the county, were a bit of a slow-burner and in Carlow here we would be of the opinion that the electric exploits of the Éire Óg footballers helped elevate the competitions to the second most important on the calendar.
The third innovation, the innovation that in my opinion, made a far, far greater impact on hurling at grassroots level than either the All-Stars or the Club championship, was Féile na nGael, the national festival of juvenile hurling, camogie and handball. Every single hurling club in every single county in Ireland and even some abroad were offered the opportunity of playing on the National stage. Win your County competition and you were away to some far flung county for a week-end of sport and fun.
I remember the very first time I read about Féile and the excitement it could generate. I was on the floor of Granny O’Connor’s house in Inagh, reading the ‘Clare Champion’ (I was only eleven and it was more comfortable turning the pages on the floor than trying to wrestle paper on the sugán chair!) when I came across apiece about the Clarecastle Under 15 hurlers and their preparations for their trip to Tipperary for the first Féile. And, no, the Under 15 in the preceding paragraph is not a misprint, the first Féile was for Under 15s before changing to U-14 the following year and remaining so until recent years when returning to its original age-grouping. Anyway, that little article in the ‘Champion’ 55 years ago conveyed the excitement in Clarecastle as the young Magpies got ready for Féile, brand new white and black jersies, a special club banner for the big parade and how the young hurlers would be put up in the homes of the opposing team. Straight away I was envious of those young Magpies, though at eleven I viewed a fifteen year old as an adult; now at 66 I am still envious of those Féile participants, though now I view the fifteen year olds as chaps. You could say I have grown old with Féile!
As Carlow and Laois jointly host the National Féile next weekend, it is an opportune time to focus on some local Féile heroes.
You know the word association game where the participant hears a name or phrase and has to reply with the first thing that comes into their mind? Well say ‘Féile na nGael’ to a generation of Carlow town hurlers and you are guaranteed that their response will be ‘Pat O’Brien’.
Pat simply adored Féile and his infectious enthusiasm dovetailed with superb organisational skills ensured the Hurling Club were always ‘up for’ and ‘up to’ competing in the prestigious National competition. When Carlow and Kilkenny were joint-hosts of Féile na nGael in 2007 ‘The Nationalist’ brought out a special supplement, the highlight of which was a fascinating article written by Pat on his Féile memories, an article in which he recalled the club’s trips to Ardrahan in Galway (1980), Clare’s Clonlara (1986) and Inagh (1987, the same Inagh of the eleven year old reader) as well Offaly’s Ballyskenagh (1988) and Ferbane-Belmont (1989).
His penchant for keeping records meant that the name of every boy who travelled to those Féile’s was recorded, the names of the adults who travelled too while in giving the details of the games Pat wrote “there were many excellent teams and good performances and we came close on a number of occasions but we never did win our division. Perhaps there was too much emphasis on having fun and creating a bond among us. The will to win was there but the bounce of the ball was never on our side.”
While Pat was an excellent hurling coach and top-class motivator the proud son of Donegal also enjoyed the craic and when it came to a sing-song or making friends with the locals he was in his element. Hence that ‘having fun’ query on those Féile trips. Dare say, though Pat, who sadly passed away in 2021, wouldn’t change a thing and would echo the sentiments written on the Kelly Cup, the prize for the winners of the Carlow U-14 Hurling Championship’, ‘Memories Cannot be Bought’.
Indeed the 1980 night that that Cup was first presented to Carlow Town at a function in Askea Boys School, the highlight of the night, for many was the little Novelty Act performed by some members of the panel. It involved the boys 'taking off their mentor’s mannerisms with the slick Pat “Go out and enjoy yourselves” O'Brien, the bearded Pat “Mow into them” Cassin, the enthusiastic Brendan (“Win it for me”) Hayden and the pipe-smoking Dan “This club was built on effort” Harnedy all coming into the firing line. The boys proved in this sketch that their talent was not confined to the playing field. Just as Pat O’Brien would have wanted it.
The Carlow Féile na nGael Camogie champions are presented with the Pat O’Brien Cup, there is also a Pat O’Brien Trophy for the ‘Shield’ competition, the presentations made by Pat’s son Pajo, himself a ‘veteran’ of Féile and a trojan worker with the Hurling Club while another of Pat’s sons Michael is heavily involved with the county and Burrin Rangers.
If these Féile trips didn’t yield team success, Carlow Town boys twice won the All-Ireland Féile na nGael Skillstar competition, John Agar triumphing in Galway in 1981, Niall English crowned champion in Clare in 1987. Liam Ahern was second in 1982 while Brendan Lawlor of Parnells (now Naomh Bríd) became Carlow’s third All-Ireland Skills champion in 1995.
In an interview with Dermot Crowe of the ‘Sunday Independent’ in 2004 John recalled his triumph with entertaining honesty. “The first to break the standard stranglehold of the traditional powers was Carlow's John Agar in 1981 when the competition was held in Castlegar. He retired from hurling three years ago after failing to win a Carlow senior championship and a couple of league appearances with the county team. A serious back injury in 1986 hampered his prospects of playing at a higher level for longer, but the greatest grief lay in not winning a county title. When Carlow Town came through in 1988 he was out of action with a broken leg. “I was just mad into the hurling.” he says now.
“I did not think much of it (the Féile) until I went out on the field and 1 saw all these shapers with new hurleys. I had an old one that was made for me. Pat O’Brien went down as my mentor in the Fiat l27, he even bought me dinner.
He won in a play-off, decided by 45m frees, beating off Dublin’s Rory Boland and Offaly’s Michael Hogan. He remembers Cork goalkeeper Ger Cunningham being in goal for the penalties.
“Peter Quinn made the presentation a real hurling man, wha?” When he came home Maura Kelly (“a real driving force behind the club”) and her husband Christy were there to meet him. A “big do"dutifully followed at the local school. “They made us feel appreciated,” he states.
“My mother is from Kilkenny, from the parish of Mooncoin and she has a great grá for it (hurling). I didn’t play any football then. To be honest I thought it was only pulling and dragging, 1 was no good at it anyway. I saw more in the hurling, saw more honesty in it. “My Dad is actually a ‘left-footer'; he did not go to matches much although he supported me. I always put the club first and it was a big disappointment that others did not rain as hard as I did, to be honest I was probably a little bit fanatical for the club. That’s my main regret; that I did not win a senior championship.”
John Agar was a member of the Carlow Town team that won the Carlow Féile title in 1980. His son Padraig completed a family double when part of the Burrin Rangers team that won the 2026 Carlow Féile title.
