1960 – when Offaly football was on the rise and Louth was heading for the doldrums

Pictured above: The Offaly team that won the Leinster MFC title in 1960. Back, left to right, Mick Bracken, Jimmy Kelly, Charlie Daly, Patsy Merrigan, Christy McGrath, Mick Ennis, Martin Turley, Tom Furlong. Front, Joe Wrafter, Noel O'Brien, Gabriel Hayden, Brendan Donoghue, Past Heffernan, Dick Shaughnessy, Ricey Scully.

LOUTH is on the crest of a wave at the moment as they enjoy a sensational footballing renaissance but the shoe was on the other foot sixty five years ago when Offaly began their meteoric rise to the top.

1960 was the big breakthrough for Offaly football as they won their first Leinster Senior Football and second Minor Football Championship title on a never to be forgotten day in Croke Park.

It was a hugely significant day for Offaly but its importance went deeper than that as it also represented a changing of the guard.

As Offaly reached for the sky, Louth were heading for a long stay in the doldrums, even though no one knew it at that time. In 1960, however, Louth were still a real force to be reckoned with and Offaly took their scalp in both the senior and minor finals.

Captained by the legendary Dermot O'Brien, Louth had won both Leinster and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship titles in 1957. That was their eight Leinster senior football title, their third All-Ireland senior football. While the first two were way back in 1910 and 1912, they were still flying high in 1960, serious contenders and when Offaly scraped to a 0-10 to 1-6 win on a day of wild excitement for their fans, no one could have predicted that Louth would have to wait until 2025 for their ninth provincial crown.

Everything changed for Offaly on July 31 1960. That great team was very unlucky, losing to Down in a replayed 1960 All-Ireland senior football semi-final and the 1961 All-Ireland final, played in front of a record attendance in Croke Park. They had Down on the rack in both games and probably should have won the drawn semi-final in 1960 while they made a dream start in 1961 but the Ulster men were the better team. A penalty given to Down in 1960 and not given to Offaly in 1961 were two of the abiding memories of those games.

That Down team won back to back All-Ireland titles and went down in history as one of the greatest to play the game while Offaly ended up a footnote nationally but not in their own county – where they were revered for decades and got the respect they deserved. That 1960/1961 team sowed the seeds for everything that followed as Offaly won the All-Ireland minor football title in 1964 and many of those young players, inspired by the senior side, won All-Ireland senior football medals in 1971 and 1972.

Offaly's 1982 All-Ireland final win over Kerry remains one of the most talked about games and the 1960 win sparked an incredible twenty five years for Offaly.

The minor win in 1960 was also important as Offaly beat Louth comprehensively by 1-12 to 1-5 and it sparked a sensational era for underage football in the county – U21 was not in existence until 1964.

Beaten by Dublin in the 1959 Leinster minor football final, Offaly captured provincial honours in 1962, 1964, when they won their only All-Ireland in that grade, and 1965. They also lost Leinster minor football finals in 1957, 1961 and 1966 and it provided a steady stream of outstanding players for the county senior side.

Beaten by eventual champions Galway in the 1960 All-Ireland minor semi-final, none of that team was there when Offaly reached the 1969 All-Ireland senior football final and made the big breakthrough two years later but a number did play senior for the county.

One of those was the team captain Pat Heffernan from Tullamore, who incidentally was denied the privilege of accepting the cup as the 1959 champions Dublin had not returned it. This led to an official protest by the Offaly County Board and was something that should not happened, though the only long term impact was that it put a generally unknown but occasionally pointed out spanner in the works of a later Tullamore GAA Club boast about their players who collected silverware on the steps of the Hogan Stand!!!

There are some interesting observations to be made about that Offaly team. Arguably the most talented player on it was full forward, Tullamore's Tom Furlong. A member of one of Offaly's great football dynasties, he was a sub on the 1961 senior side despite his tender years and was a high profile victim of the ban on foreign games when suspended in 1963 – at one stage, the ban seemed to apply almost exclusively to the Furlong family as elder brother Mick and famous younger brother Martin were also suspended for breaches.

That suspension soured Tom and he followed Mick Furlong out to America in 1964, ending a very promising career.

The team featured two young players from the notorious St Conleth's Reformatory in Daingean, goalkeeper Paddy Merrigan and half back Christy McGrath. St Conleth's were allowed to compete in Offaly underage championships for a while in that period, winning U16 football in 1948, but other clubs were not happy at them being able to pick players from other counties and they disappeared off the landscape in the 1960s – the Offaly senior 1960/1961 team used a field at St Conleth's for much of their training.

There are also a couple of distant family connections between the 1960 squad and the current team. The full back in 1960 was Charlie Daly, a hugely dedicated GAA activist from one of Cappincur's iconic families. The 2025 centre half back is Tadgh Kelly, the son of Offaly senior football joint manager Declan Kelly and his wife Eilish – Eilish is a daughter of Joe Daly, a brother of Charlie.

Geashill native Mick Rouse came on as a sub in 1960 and Tullamore youth Eoin Rouse will be a key player in Monday's final – Living in Mullingar for decades, Mick Rouse is the younger brother of Eoin's grandfather, Patsy Rouse, who was on the fringe of the great 1960/1961 panel.

The team included a highly rated Gracefield player, Martin Turley. He made just one appearance for Offaly senior footballers, against Laois in 1961, but he handed a lasting legacy to his neighbouring county – he moved across the border at Portarlington and his sons Leo and Michael were very good Laois forwards in the 1990s.
Another very promising player on that team was legendary Clara character, Ricey Scully. A bad eye injury later curtailed his career and he was very young in 1960, also playing county minor in 1961 and 1962. His son Darragh was the goalkeeper and captain of the last Offaly team to win the Leinster minor football title in 1989.

There are also connections between the current squad and that 1989 team – they were beaten by Derry in the All-Ireland final. Midfielder Eamon Maher from Ferbane is a son of the 1989 full back Cathal Maher – while the current full back, Tomas Carroll is a son of a panel member in 1989 and long serving Erin Rovers' stalwart, Paul Carroll.

SEE NEXT: Fixture made for Leinster minor football final between Offaly and Louth

The teams from that final were:

OFFALY: Paddy Merrigan (St Conleth's); Jimmy Kelly (Walsh Island), Charlie Daly (Cappincur), Mick Bracken (Tullamore); Christy McGrath (St Conleth's), Pat Heffernan (Tullamore), Gabriel Hayden (Tullamore); Martin Turley (Gracefield), Brendan Donogue (St Mary's); Dick Shaughnessy (Walsh Island), Mick Ennis (Tullamore), Eamon (Ricey) Scully (Clara); Noel O'Brien (Clara), Tom Furlong (Tullamore), Joe Wrafter (Tullamore). Sub – Michael Rouse (Tullamore) for Donoghue.

LOUTH: Mick Sherlock; Benny Grogan, Pat Hanlon, Frank McArdle; Mick Foster, Willie Daly, Val Murphy; Mick Briscoe, Muckie McKeown; Sean Ryan, Anthony Campbell, Seamus Savage; Seamus Mohan, Seamus Dolan, Sean McVeigh. Sub – Jack McAuley for McKeown.