Review here: http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14405:the-road-to-51-a-unique-social-history&catid=81:defacto&Itemid=100038 (http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14405:the-road-to-51-a-unique-social-history&catid=81:defacto&Itemid=100038) by Liamy MacNally in the Mayo News.
I am over half way through this and must say it is a must for all Mayo Gaa supporters and indeed anyone curious about Mayo history. The start of the book gives fascinating accounts of some players involvement in 1916, the War of Independence and the Civil War. I have no idea how difficult it is to research such information but I found that aspect a gripping read.
I'm not finished yet but one word of warning: I am not the sort who simply blames the referee, the County Board, Central Council, Connacht Council, the lack of training, a bad pitch, the ruffians from Roscommon/Kerry/Galway, the weather, the horoscopes or whatever for my team always losing. I'm half way through the book and this seems to be a slightly irritating theme, even if in some cases (e.g. 1925) it might be justified. This might render the book almost unreadable to a neutral but then it probably isn't written for the neutral.
I might update this post when I finish it, which should be shortly as it is a very enjoyable account.
Finished. Very very good book despite the one criticism above but that is probably part of being a Mayo supporter, it is always someone's fault or a conspiracy when we lose. There are some lovely anecdotes about some of the great players we would have heard a bit about but known very little. Tom Langan played against Paddy 'Bawn' Brosnan of Kerry and Paddy 'Hands' O'Brien of Meath who are still mentioned as two of the greatest full-backs ever and they seemed to have some mighty tussles. Think Mick Lyons meeting Brian McGilligan and you get the idea.
Padraig Carney is mentioned by many of the elders as being Mayo's greatest ever player and even just looking at some of his stats it is hard to argue. E.g. Fly 25 hours from the States, land in Shannon in the early morning, made his way to the match, score 11 points in a League semi against the Dubs, head back to Shannon, fly back to the States, in work on tuesday morning, grand. Some man.
I would highly recommend the book to any Mayo supporter.
Quote from: muppet on January 10, 2012, 12:04:26 AM
Finished. Very very good book despite the one criticism above but that is probably part of being a Mayo supporter, it is always someone's fault or a conspiracy when we lose. There are some lovely anecdotes about some of the great players we would have heard a bit about but known very little. Tom Langan played against Paddy 'Bawn' Brosnan of Kerry and Paddy 'Hands' O'Brien of Meath who are still mentioned as two of the greatest full-backs ever and they seemed to have some mighty tussles. Think Mick Lyons meeting Brian McGilligan and you get the idea.
Padraig Carney is mentioned by many of the elders as being Mayo's greatest ever player and even just looking at some of his stats it is hard to argue. E.g. Fly 25 hours from the States, land in Shannon in the early morning, made his way to the match, score 11 points in a League semi against the Dubs, head back to Shannon, fly back to the States, in work on tuesday morning, grand. Some man.
I would highly recommend the book to any Mayo supporter.
Anywhere this can be purchased online (overseas shipping would be a bonus)
Have searched but can't find anywhere
I'd chance an email to the Western: http://www.westernpeople.ie/ (http://www.westernpeople.ie/)
I'm getting it posted out by family, couldn't get it online
Must get a copy when I visit again. Can add it to my horror story collection.
Padraig Carney's son Cormac has made quite a name for himself also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_J._Carney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_J._Carney)
Hey lads I think another son of the Flying Doctors might have played major league baseball as well. Some sporting family.
I started reading Laffey's book this week but I had to put down after page 26. This is the paragraph that broke me:
One can only imagine the the heavy heart with which Dick Walsh received the news of Tommy Ruane's passing. For so long they had been staunch allies, two young men with a shared passion for politics and sport. Like any friendship, theirs was one built painstakingly, corner stone by corner stone. Now the entire edifice had crumbled to pieces and Tommy Ruane was buried in the rubble of his country's broken dreams.
Blessed Oliver Plunkett didn't suffer as much as that building image when they hung, drew and quartered him in Tyburn. The photographs are lovely of course, but you can never be your own editor and if ever a book needed an editor to take a blade to a manuscript it's this one. I'm sorry, but there it is.
Brilliant ICC :D still waiting for the book and to be honest I wouldn't be a huge fan of the author, but it's a book about Mayo GAA. I feel obliged to read it if that makes any sense?
Quote from: stephenite on January 19, 2012, 08:41:14 PM
Brilliant ICC :D still waiting for the book and to be honest I wouldn't be a huge fan of the author, but it's a book about Mayo GAA. I feel obliged to read it if that makes any sense?
It might be fair to put the above in context: Tommy Ruane had just been shot by a fellow Kiltimagh man, a former Mayo teammate and a man who had fought beside both Walsh and Ruane against the Black and Tans. Better still the Ruane's family would later play with the brother of the man of the who shot him. That brother was Sean Lavan, who Captained an Irish Olympic team and is credited with the invention of the solo run: http://www.museumsofmayo.com/Kiltimagh3.htm (http://www.museumsofmayo.com/Kiltimagh3.htm)
Quote from: stephenite on January 19, 2012, 08:41:14 PM
Brilliant ICC :D still waiting for the book and to be honest I wouldn't be a huge fan of the author, but it's a book about Mayo GAA. I feel obliged to read it if that makes any sense?
I was looking forward to it for a long time myself Stephenite, but I'm too old now for pretending the emperor has clothes when he's in his pelt.
Quote from: muppet on January 19, 2012, 10:00:24 PM
Quote from: stephenite on January 19, 2012, 08:41:14 PM
Brilliant ICC :D still waiting for the book and to be honest I wouldn't be a huge fan of the author, but it's a book about Mayo GAA. I feel obliged to read it if that makes any sense?
It might be fair to put the above in context: Tommy Ruane had just been shot by a fellow Kiltimagh man, a former Mayo teammate and a man who had fought beside both Walsh and Ruane against the Black and Tans. Better still the Ruane's family would later play with the brother of the man of the who shot him. That brother was Sean Lavan, who Captained an Irish Olympic team and is credited with the invention of the solo run: http://www.museumsofmayo.com/Kiltimagh3.htm (http://www.museumsofmayo.com/Kiltimagh3.htm)
Muppet, I have the height of respect for all the people mentioned in the book. Every mother's son of them. But that's not the point I'm trying to make.
You yourself made the tragic point point about what happened to Tommy Ruane better than the garbage Laffey was going on with there. A man got shot in a civil war. The bald fact of that is far more moving and eloquent than all this stuff about crumbling edifices and corner stones brought in from Archer's yard.
Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on January 19, 2012, 11:15:40 PM
Quote from: stephenite on January 19, 2012, 08:41:14 PM
Brilliant ICC :D still waiting for the book and to be honest I wouldn't be a huge fan of the author, but it's a book about Mayo GAA. I feel obliged to read it if that makes any sense?
I was looking forward to it for a long time myself Stephenite, but I'm too old now for pretending the emperor has clothes when he's in his pelt.
Quote from: muppet on January 19, 2012, 10:00:24 PM
Quote from: stephenite on January 19, 2012, 08:41:14 PM
Brilliant ICC :D still waiting for the book and to be honest I wouldn't be a huge fan of the author, but it's a book about Mayo GAA. I feel obliged to read it if that makes any sense?
It might be fair to put the above in context: Tommy Ruane had just been shot by a fellow Kiltimagh man, a former Mayo teammate and a man who had fought beside both Walsh and Ruane against the Black and Tans. Better still the Ruane's family would later play with the brother of the man of the who shot him. That brother was Sean Lavan, who Captained an Irish Olympic team and is credited with the invention of the solo run: http://www.museumsofmayo.com/Kiltimagh3.htm (http://www.museumsofmayo.com/Kiltimagh3.htm)
Muppet, I have the height of respect for all the people mentioned in the book. Every mother's son of them. But that's not the point I'm trying to make.
You yourself made the tragic point point about what happened to Tommy Ruane better than the garbage Laffey was going on with there. A man got shot in a civil war. The bald fact of that is far more moving and eloquent than all this stuff about crumbling edifices and corner stones brought in from Archer's yard.
I agree that the style is for the beholder, but it does't take away from the gravity of the stories. The next tragedy that befell that Ruane family was even worse. If you don't like the prose fair enough, but the real attraction is the research and the stories that it dug up and I wouldn't stop reading it yet.
This is the crux of it Muppet. In my opinion, the writing does indeed take away from what those men did. Research is no good if you can't express what you've found out.
If you can wade through the book, great. I'm glad you're getting so much out of it. If anyone else can get the same amount out of it, that's great too. But I can't. I was very disappointed with the book and I can't recommend it.
I have waded through it and thought it was great. A bit on the long side, for sure, and I'd agree that a good editor might have helped to sharpen it but I thought it was still well worth persevering with. By the way, if anyone wants to buy it online, it's available from here: http://www.mayobooks.ie/details.php?book=the_road_to_51_the_making_of_mayo_football
Thanks for that Oyam, have placed an order. Didnt know Castle bookshop was online