THE KILDARE TEAM AND OFFICIALS FOR THE 1919 ALL-IRELAND FINAL

The Kildare team and officials for the 1919 All-Ireland Final

Compiled from newspaper, archive and family sources by Karel Kiely, Mario Corrigan and James Durney, Local Studies and Genealogy Department, Newbridge, Co Kildare.

 

Mick Buckley
Position: Right half back
Club: Caragh
Born Michael Patrick Buckley on 3 January 1897 at Landenstown, Sallins, he was the son of Thomas Buckley, a farmer, and Christina Walsh. He won three All-Ireland medals with Kildare in 1919, 1927 and 1928. He was also the holder of five Leinster Championship medals and a Tailteann Games medal. He married Kathleen Curley on 7 January 1931 in Prosperous, when his occupation was recorded as motor driver. Mick Buckley died in the County Hospital, Naas, on 28 August 1972 aged seventy-five. He was buried in St. Conleth’s Cemetery, Newbridge.

Frank ‘Joyce’ Conlan
Position: Left wing forward
Club: St. Conleith’s
A founder member of Roseberry GFC, he was born at Roseberry, Newbridge, on 4 July 1883. His parents were Peter Conlan and Mary Donnelly. He married Bridget Carey on 12 January 1916 and their son Peter was the Kildare team mascot in 1919. Frank won two All-Ireland medals (1905 and 1919) for Co. Kildare. He joined the Irish Volunteers in 1917 and operated as an Intelligence Officer for Kildare, delivering dispatches to GHQ on troop movements. In August 1922 he joined the National Army as an NCO, was appointed Quartermaster Account of Transport in Newbridge Barracks and was demobilised in 1924. He later served as a Labour Party member of Newbridge Town Commission and worked as a labourer and weighmaster. Joyce Conlan died on 28 February 1953, aged sixty-nine, at Edward St., Newbridge and was interred in St. Conleth’s Cemetery, Newbridge.

Jimmy Conlan
Position: Right full back
Club: St. Conleith’s
Born James Conlan on 6 December 1893 at Roseberry, Newbridge, the son of Peter Conlan and Mary Donnelly and a brother of Frank ‘Joyce’ Conlan. He was regarded as one of the best corner backs of the time. He married Margaret Breen on 2 September 1929 in Mountrath, Co. Laois. Following a railway accident in 1926, Jimmy retired from football. He worked as a labourer. He died on 5 April 1971, at his daughter’s residence, Newbridge and was buried in St. Conleth’s Cemetery, Newbridge.

Joe Connor
Position: Centre half back
Club: Kilcock
The son of Cornelius Connor and Mary McNally, he was born on 20 December 1892 in Timahoe, Clane. He played for Kilcock and for the county team from 1914 to 1921. He was described as being ‘a talented player as a centre half back’ who fixed his studs on his weekday boots on a Sunday morning for that game that evening. He is also remembered as wearing a halter or strap around his neck on which the medals and watch that he received as an All-Ireland winner were attached. Joe was a farmer who never married and died on 12 August 1968, at St. Vincent’s, Athy. He is buried in St. Benignus’ Cemetery, Staplestown, where the St. Mochua Historical Society, with the aid of St. Kevin’s, Staplestown and Kilcock GAA, erected a headstone in his name.

Larry ‘Hussey’ Cribbin
Position: Goal
Club: Clane
Larry was born at Irishtown, Straffan, on 27 August 1880 and became known as one of the strongest defenders of the game. He was the son of John Cribbin and Bridget Hipps. He took part in the famous replayed finals of 1903 against Kerry; he won his first All-Ireland medal in the 1905 final which was actually played in June 1907. In 1906 he turned out with the Kildare Junior Hurlers and went on to win a Leinster Championship medal. In the following years he switched from left-full back to goal and made his last appearance in the 1920 Leinster Final when Kildare defeated Dublin. He married Mary Walsh on 23 November 1910 and worked as a farm labourer. Larry Cribbin died on 15 October 1962 aged eighty-two at Richardstown, Clane.

Paul Doyle
Position: Sub. Left half back (replaced Grady)
Club: Maddenstown
The son of Robert Doyle and Catherine Moran, he was born on 17 June 1898 at Blackrath, Athgarvan, according to his birth and baptismal records, and Knoxes Corner, Brownstown, the Curragh, according to the Suncroft GFC Centenary Club History. He won three All-Ireland medals with Kildare in 1919, 1927 and 1928 and six Leinster championship medals in a row. He joined the National Army in 1922 and attained the rank of Quarter Master Sergeant. He played most of his Club football with Army teams. He captained the winning Irish team in the 1925 Tealtainn Games. He also won a senior championship medal with Virginia Blues and an Ulster Championship with Cavan. Paul never married and he died on 29 May 1953 aged fifty-five at the Curragh Camp and was buried at Carna Cemetery, Suncroft.

Christopher ‘Kit’ Flynn
Position: Right half forward
Club: Kilcock
Born Christopher Flynn on 4 November 1890 in Kilcock, he was the son of Michael Flynn and Mary Elliott. He played with the county team from 1915 to 1921. He was a member of Kilcock Company, Irish Volunteers and managed to appear several times for Kilcock GFC, while ‘on the run.’ Kit Flynn worked as a labourer; never married and died on 29 July 1962 aged seventy-two at Naas Hospital was was buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Kilcock.

Tom Goulding
Position: Left full back
Club: Maddenstown
Tom was the son of John Goulding and Sarah Kinsella and was born at Ballysax on 16 July 1890. He married Mary Leavy on 8 September 1927. A labourer, he died on 15 January 1954 aged sixty-three at the County Hospital, Kildare, following a kick from a horse. His address at that time was Dublin Road, Naas. He was buried in New Abbey Cemetery, Kilcullen.

Tom Lawler
Position: Sub.
Club: Naas
Born Thomas Michael Lawler at Halverstown House, Caragh, Naas, on 15 February 1891, he was the son of Peter Lawler and Catherine Murphy. He was an officer in the Irish Volunteers during the War of Independence and subsequently became an officer in the National Army during the Civil War. He was Chairman of the Kildare County GAA Board for thirty years. Tom Lawler was a farmer; he married Kathleen Cox on 23 June 1931. He died on 30 September 1961 aged seventy, at 3 Upper Pembroke St., Dublin. He was interred at Caragh Cemetery.

George Magan
Position: Right half forward
Club: Kilcock
George was the son of William Magan and Mary Gibney and was born on 16 July 1894 in Kingsfort, Co. Meath. His family later moved to Castletown, Celbridge, where his father worked as a stud groom. He played with Maynooth in the 1916 final and then transferred to Kilcock. He also played hurling and was an outstanding athlete who won All-Ireland Senior Cross-country titles in 1920 ands 1922. When the Kilcock team broke up after 1920 he moved to Maddenstown. George married Marcella Dunphy on 5 February 1935 in St. Michael’s, Kilmainham, Dublin. He was a member of the Civic Guard/An Garda Síochana and served in Dublin. He made his name as a half miler and miler and won seven National titles under GAA rules. He won the 880 yards title in 1918 in 2 minutes and 5 seconds and in 1919 added the 880 yards and mile National track titles, winning the 880 (2 mins. 4 secs) and the mile (4-45). He repeated the double in 1921 and 1922. He also won the Police Championships of England and Ireland in the 400 yards and mile three years in a row. George Magan lived in Rialto, Dublin, and died on 28 March 1974 aged seventy-nine at St. James’ Hospital, Dublin. He was buried in Donaghcumper Cemetery.

James ‘Ginger’ Moran
Position: Centre full back
Club: Kilcock
Born on 3 April 1889 in Trim, Co. Meath, the son of Thomas Moran and Christina Wilton, he moved with his family to Kilcock at the age of two. In 1916 he moved to Edenderry, Co. Offaly to work in the factory run by the Alesbury brothers, and in April 1922 he started a cycle repair and car hire business with three Model T Fords. Ginger won SFC medals for Kilcock in 1914 and 1917 and a Leinster SFC in 1919. He played full-back in the 1919 All-Ireland. In 1922 he was persuaded by the Loughlins in Rathangan to play for the club there and won a Leinster Leader Cup medal with them. He was active in the War of Independence and Civil War. He married Jenny (Jane) Davy on 15 February 1928. They lived at Offalia House, Edenderry. Ginger Moran died on 28 January 1987, aged ninety-eight and was buried in St. Mary’s, Edenderry.

Bernard ‘Bernie’ McGlade
Position: Left full forward
Club: St. Conleith’s
Bernard Leo McGlade was born on 5 September 1898 in Cabragh, Knockloughrim, Lavey, Co. Derry, the son a prosperous shopkeeper, Patrick McGlade and his wife Kate Meenan. He attended Rockwell College, Co. Tipperary, and subsequently moved to Newbridge where he is reputed to have worked as a teacher at Newbridge College. He played on only four occasions with the Kildare team. Her married Madeleine Larkin in Dublin on 11 February 1931. At that time his occupation was recorded as an engineer. Bernard died on 28 July 1987 in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England.

James O’Connor
Position: Centre full forward
Club: Two-Mile-House
Born at Mylerstown, Naas, on 8 December 1896, the son of Joseph O’Connor and Margaret Fay. His father, a farmer and cattle dealer, was originally from Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, and later served as a Fine Gael Senator from 1934-36. He also played rugby for Kildare. James married Claire Finucane of Mount Rivers, Navan, on 22 November 1932 in Monkstown Church, Blackrock, Co. Dublin. They had two children Colette and David. James worked for the Land Commission but the family later moved to the UK. James O’Connor died in Cheltenham, England, on 6 September 1965.

Mick Sammon
Position: Midfield
Club: Clane
The son of Thomas Sammon and Bridget Carthy, he was born on 7 February 1893 at Mainham, Clane. He was arrested after reading the Sinn Féin manifesto after Mass in Kilcullen on 15 August 1918 and sentenced at Maryborough to one month imprisonment. An All-Ireland football medal winner with Kildare in the 1919 final, he also played for the Dublin teams, Hibernian Knights and Kickhams. He was the referee at Croke Park on Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920. Michael married Elizabeth Gill on 26 June 1922. He ran the Railway Hotel in Celbridge and died on 24 April 1947 of tuberculosis, aged fifty-three, at Peamount Sanatorium and was buried in the Abbey Cemetery, Clane. He is recorded on some records with the surname Salmon.

James Stanley
Position: Centre half forward
Club: Caragh
James was born at Blacktrench, Caragh, on 17 May 1890, the son of John Stanley and Jane Keogh. He entered the priesthood and received his sub-deaconate on 14 July 1918. He played under the name ‘J. O’Reilly,’ as he was not allowed to play football as a clerical student. The older brother of Larry Stanley, he immigrated to the USA in 1925. James died on 27 May 1970 in Jefferson City, Missouri. He was buried in St. Anthony of Padua Cemetery, Folk, Osage County, Missouri.

Larry Stanley
Position: Captain/Mid-field
Club: Caragh
The son of John Stanley and Jane Keogh, he was born on 19 May 1896 at Blacktrench, Caragh. He was a member of the Kildare team that lost to Kerry in the 1926 All-Ireland. Larry was a famous high jumper and defeated the Olympic gold medal winner Harold Osborne in the Tailteann Games; he later represented Ireland at the 1924 Olympic Games in the long jump. He lined out for Kildare in the 1926 All-Ireland final which Kerry won. Larry married Mary Nolan on 19 May 1926 in Tullow, Co. Carlow. He was a member of the Civic Guard/An Garda Síochana and served in Dublin. A recipient of a Kildare GAA Hall of Fame award, Larry Stanley died on 21 September 1987 at Rathmines, Dublin aged ninety-one and was buried in Bohernabreena Cemetery, Co. Dublin.

John Carey
Position: Sub.
Club: St. Conleith’s
Born John Henry Carey in Newbridge on 11 December 1886, his father John was a head railway porter originally from Co. Wexford, and his mother Jane Whelan was from Co. Tipperary. He was one of eleven children who were all born in Co. Kildare. A talented carpenter, he married Brigid Conlan, a sister of Frank Joyce and Jim Conlan on 13 July 1913. During team training sessions John was left to mind the boots of the other players while they attended 12 o’clock mass. John Carey died on 14 December 1968 aged eighty-two at the County Hospital, Naas and was buried in St. Conleth’s Cemetery, Newbridge.

Peter Garrett
Position: Sub.
Club: Maddenstown
The son of Christopher Garrett and his wife Bridget Johnson, he was born at Pollardstown on 22 October 1889 according to Allen parish registers and at Standhouse, 3 October 1889 according to his civil birth record. His father was a miles man with the Great Southern and Western Railway. Peter served an apprenticeship as a groom with James Dunne at Osborne Lodge, Rathbride, along with his brother Henry; he graduated as headman with Captain Bald at Conyngham Lodge and had some success as a horse trainer. He immigrated to England in 1923 and worked as a landscape gardener. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939 Peter was living at 74 Park Avenue, Thorpe Lea, Egham, Surrey; his occupation at that time was painter and decorator. Peter died on 2 June 1966 at Milford Hospital, Godalming, Surrey. He left his effects, £6,571 to Thomas Garrett, stud farm worker.

Albert O’Neill
Position: Sub.
Club: Maddenstown
Albert Joseph O’Neill was born in Dublin City circa 1894 and lived at Union Lane, Celbridge as a child and later at Strawhall, Kildare. According to the 1901 Census, he was born in Co. Kildare and was the son of Joseph and Kate Neill, who lived at Big Lane, Celbridge. However, on the family’s 1911 Census return, he was recorded as their stepson and as born in Dublin City. Known as Little Albert he also played club football with Brownstown and Round Towers. Albert married Catherine Wilmot on 26 November 1927. (No father’s name was recorded on the marriage record for Albert.) She died of tuberculosis in 1928, only eight months after their marriage. He died on 1 April 1980, Oldtown Road, Celbridge and was buried with his wife at St. Conleth’s Cemetery, Kildare.

Peter Conlan
Mascot
The team mascot in 1919 and the son of Joyce Conlan and his wife, Brigid Carey, Peter was born on 13 October 1916. He was killed in a mine explosion at Cullenstown Strand, Co. Wexford, while serving in the National Army on 29 January 1941. Three other soldiers from the Curragh Command, Sergt. James Cullen, Pte. James Keogh and Pte. Joseph Tinsley, were also killed in the incident. He was buried at St. Conleth’s Cemetery, Newbridge.

Peter Carey
Official
Club: St. Conleith’s
The son of Edward Carey and Eliza Farrell, he was born in Newbridge on 1 May 1886. Peter worked as a groom and was married to Sarah Garry on 11 February 1920. She died on 1 November 1929 aged thirty-five years. Peter Carey died on 20 November 1949 aged sixty-two at Eyre St., Newbridge and was buried in St. Conleth’s Cemetery, Newbridge.

Jack Fitzgerald
Chairman, County Board
Club: Roseberry
Born in Newbridge on 27 December 1875, the son of John Fitzgerald and Mary Anne Walshe, he played Gaelic football for Roseberry (which later became Sarsfields) and was on the Kildare team which won the All-Ireland in 1905. Jack worked in Aldershot, England, as a bootmaker for many years, and returned to Newbridge and joined the Irish Volunteers in 1915. He was arrested on 29 April 1916, detained in Hare Park, The Curragh and Richmond Barracks, Dublin, and then deported to Wakefield Prison, England, on 4 May. At the time he was Chairman of the Co. Kildare GAA Committee. Following the reorganisation of the Irish Volunteers he was appointed OC Newbridge Company. He was later elected to Newbridge Town Commission and Kildare Co. Council. On 25 November 1920 he was arrested and interned in Ballykinlar Camp, Co. Down. He joined the National Army on 3 July 1922, and became OC of Naas Barracks, retiring with the rank of captain. Jack Fitzgerald never married; he died at Eyre St., Newbridge on 6 February 1950 aged seventy-five and was buried in St. Conleth’s Cemetery, Newbridge.

Peter Grady
Left half back (replaced by Doyle prior to final)
Club: St. Conleith’s
Peter was born at Liffey View, Roseberry, Newbridge, on 21 February 1897 to Patrick Grady and Mary Waters. He married Bridget Bourke on 18 April 1934. Peter was a farmer who died on 19 February 1950 aged fifty-two, Railway View, Roseberry, Newbridge.

Tommy Kelly
Official
Club: Kilcock
Tommy was born at Kilcock on 24 May 1884, the son of John Kelly and Mary Brady. He played for Kildare in the 1904 Leinster Final and was also on the 1905 All-Ireland winning team. A dual player he won two Leinster junior hurling medals. Tommy played with Clane until 1910 and retired from county football in 1917. He then took over the management of Kilcock and also served as a selector for Kildare. Tommy, a boat owner, married Mary O’Keefe, a schoolteacher, at Kilsheelin, Co. Tipperary on 29 November 1916. They had four children: Mary (1918), Patricia (1919), John (1927) and Thomas (1934). Tommy Kelly died at his residence, The Harbour, Kilcock, on 29 November 1957 aged seventy-three.

Joe McDonald
Trainer
Club: Naas
He was born on 27 August 1887 at Knockerin, Blessington, Co. Wicklow, the son of Joseph McDonald and Anna Maria Mooney. He trained Naas GFC and the All–Ireland winning teams of 1919 and 1927, later guiding Kildare to a Leinster title in 1928. He was also a skilled heavyweight boxer and athlete. He later served as Chairman of the Kildare Co. Board. Joe McDonald ran a drapery business at North Main St., Naas for many years (later Prouts), as well as breeding horses. He never married and died aged eighty-four on 17 December 1971 at the Infirmary, Navan, Co. Meath. He was buried in Burgage (Blessington) Cemetery, Co. Wicklow.

Bill White
Secretary, County Board
Club: Athgarvan & Eyrefield
Bill was born on 28 January 1887 at Glenville Lodge, Donnybrook, Dublin, son of William White and Esther Moran of 6 Merrion View Avenue. His father was a British soldier who moved his family to the Curragh and then Newbridge. Bill was associated with the Athgarvan and Eyrefield clubs. He was appointed County Secretary at the 1911 GAA Convention. He married Mary Brady on 22 April 1914. He retired as County Secretary in 1920 to concentrate on his turf accountant business. Bill White died on 9 March 1943 aged fifty-six at his residence, College View, Newbridge and was buried in St. Conleth’s Cemetery, Newbridge.