The players who paved the way for Omagh St Enda’s

Niall Gartland spoke to four men about their recollections of playing in – and winning – Tyrone Senior Championship finals for Omagh St Enda’s.

WHERE they led, the rest duly followed. At a specially convened event in Caife 32 at Healy Park, members of the hallowed Omagh St Enda’s teams of years gone by were recently honoured by a club that knows and appreciates its history.

In attendance were Donal McSorley, Patsy McCanny, Joe Mulryan and Fintan O’Neill – esteemed Tyrone Senior Championship winners from the days of black and white television – alongside members of the Turbett, Taggart and Corey families, all of whom are steeped in Omagh St Enda’s folklore.

Take Donal for starters – the last surviving member of Omagh’s maiden Senior Championship success back in 1948, he pocketed a second, third and fourth medal in their memorable run between the years 1952-1954. He recently celebrated his 96th birthday but remembers his playing days like they were yesterday.

Patsy, Joe and Fintan came on the scene in subsequent years, and they too won O’Neill Cup medals in an era where Omagh battled for supremacy with clubs like Dungannon, Coalisland, Carrickmore, and perhaps most prominently of all, Clonoe.

We spoke to all four men about their recollections of playing in – and winning – Tyrone Senior Championship finals for the St Enda’s club.

Donal McSorley (1948, 1952, 1953, 1954)

Before they broke through the glass ceiling in 1948, Omagh St Enda’s knew all about the pain of losing. They’d lost O’Neill Cup final showdowns for three years running between 1933 and 1935, followed by a further defeat to Moortown in 1942. What’s more, Omagh had also unsuccessfully contested three finals prior to the formation of the St Enda’s club in 1932, so it was going to take something particularly special to finally make the breakthrough after decades of near-misses.

Their day of days finally arrived in 1948, when they defeated Clogher in the first ever county final between two ‘West Tyrone’ teams, as they were delineated back then. Eskra native Donal McSorely was an integral member of their history-making side, and he says it set the wheels in motion for their uninterrupted winning streak between 1952 and 1954.

McSorley said: “We were the first team in Tyrone to win the three in-a-row, but the really big thing was winning the title in 1948.

“That period was dominated by Carrickmore and Dungannon, but we won a Tyrone Minor Championship in 1946, and we hoped it would be the basis of winning a Senior Championship for the first time.

“That’s how it worked out for us. In 1948 we beat Carrickmore by a point in our first match and that was big for us. We made it through to the final where we played Clogher at Gardrum Park. It wasn’t a very exciting football match but we won it and that was massively important to us as it was the first time we got our name on the Championship.”

They didn’t make it back to another final until four years later, but an important psychological hurdle had been surmounted and they ruled the roost in Tyrone in the years spanning 1952 and 1954. Moreover, there was a fresh batch of talented younger players coming through the ranks, including Dr Pat O’Neill, who made his Championship debut en route to their second title in 1952, Jackie Taggart and Paddy Corey.

Donal said: “We were fortunate to have a lot of brilliant players coming into the team in the fifties. It was a very different era though, Omagh was a soccer town really in those days, particularly with the army camp. We all played a bit of soccer, but if you were caught attending or playing a match, you were suspended, which was crazy really.

“Football was very different in those days as well. Players are so fit and strong these days, if they don’t have the right conditioning, they don’t last.”

Donal’s life took a major detour as he moved to London in the mid-fifties for work, but by that stage he had won four Senior Championship medals with Omagh, an achievement that quite simply speaks for itself.

Patsy McCanny (1957)

Omagh St Enda’s won their fifth ever Tyrone Senior Championship in 1957 with a 1-7 to 0-3 victory over a Derrylaughan side that found themselves bridesmaids on a number of occasions. Among the Omagh line-up that day was Patsy McCanny, a lion-hearted defender, who took the roundabout route to playing for St Enda’s.

“I grew up in Drumquin, they didn’t have much of a team back then but I’d a good time and played at minor and senior level. I played a year for Tattysallagh as well before signing for Omagh.

“It’s a long time ago now, it’s difficult to remember, but they were very enjoyable days.

“We didn’t do as much training as they do these days, but at the time I kept myself very fit, because I worked in the electricity service and I cycled in and out from Drumquin for a number of years.”

“I won a medal in 1957 which I’m very proud of, we’d a good team, a good spirit, and we played in a lot of tournaments as well.”

Joe Mulryan (1963)

With hindsight, 1963 marked the end of an era for Omagh St Enda’s. Thady Turbett, Donal Donnelly, Harry Scully and Jackie Taggart crowned legendary playing careers as they secured championship honours with a 2-10 to 0-5 win over Galbally, after which Omagh didn’t win another O’Neill Cup for a full quarter of a century.

Bagging both goals against Galbally was Joe Mulryan, a man who has been involved in every facet of Omagh St Enda’s between playing, coaching and administration.

He was actually born in Dromore, but moved to Omagh in 1947 – the year of the ‘big snow’ – and belatedly got his hands on a championship medal in 1963, lining out alongside his brother Sean.

“I was out of Omagh for a few years in the late fifties but I eventually made it to a senior final in 1963. We’d a very strong team, we had seven county players, and I was fortunate enough to score two goals in the final.”

Joe stayed at the coalface long after he’d signed off on his playing career. He served as Club President when Omagh reached the 2014 Ulster Senior Championship final, and he describes the club as his second home.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time with St Enda’s. After I stopped playing football, I got involved with underage coaching and I have many great memories, we won a Minor Championship in 1983 and All-Ireland Féile in 1986. St Enda’s has been my second home – I just hope it didn’t affect my family too much!”

Fintan O’Neill (1963)

Fintan O’Neill was the youngest member of the Omagh team that won the Tyrone Senior Championship title in 1963. Still playing minor football at the time, he says it was a “privilege” to line out alongside the Thady Turbetts of this world.

Fintan was a native of Dromore but his family picked up sticks and he won a Senior Championship medal in 1963 while in the formative stages of his playing career.

“I was only 17, I was the youngest on the squad, and it was a privilege to play football with the likes of Thady Turbett, Jackie Taggart, Donal Donnelly and Paddy Corey. They had plenty of medals at that stage, after we won in 1963, a lot of boys retired and it took a while for things to build again.”

While he didn’t get his hands on a second Championship medal, Fintan knows that he was fortunate to have been involved in the twilight of a generational Omagh St Enda’s team. His brother Declan also played a massive role in the club, as Fintan is keen to emphasise.

“I played with my brother Declan in 1963, he’s about four years older than me. He was chairman, secretary, you name it and he was involved.

“I stayed about as well, mostly at underage level, after my family came along.

“Michael played in the country final against Carrickmore in 2005, he scored a goal, they were beaten by a point that day.

“I’ve a lot of happy memories and there’s no doubt that it’s special to me that I won a Championship with Omagh, especially as things weren’t so successful after 1963. It’s something I’ve never taken for granted.”