Fifth volume of ‘The GAA in Tyrone’ history series to be launched

TYRONE GAA fans, take note: at the annual County Convention on December 12, the fifth and final volume of the late Joe Martin’s acclaimed ‘The GAA in Tyrone’ history series will be officially unveiled.

Entitled ‘Memories: 1900-56’, the book is a miscellany of fascinating stories, historical research and interview material. To say this is a treasure trove would be to put it very mildly indeed.

And a quick trawl through the chapter list (there’s 32 in total) will give you some idea of the sheer breadth of material here.

Chapter Three is a contemporary match report on Tyrone’s historic first-ever Ulster Championship triumph by the renowned Omagh-born writer Benedict Kiely, alongside an extract from his memoir.

Chapter Seven is a newly published interview with Tommy Tierney from Donaghmore, who played in the 1906 county final.

Chapter 15 is the story of how Carrickmore man Pat McCartan commissioned and bought Gaelic football’s most revered prize, the Sam Maguire. Then in the following chapter, Beragh architect Des McMahon, who designed the modern Croke Park, draws on his late father’s recollections of the violent events in the same stadium in 1920.

The book reaches a crescendo with one of Joe’s last major pieces of historical research, highlighting the efforts across the county to revive Irish language and sport in the early twentieth century.

We could go on and on – it really is a wonder. Then there’s the very fact of the book’s publication, that it’s even seeing the light of day.

Joe Martin, who was regarded as one of the foremost historians in the GAA, passed away in August after a battle with illness at the age of 84.

He was determined to leave one last parting gift to Tyrone fans having assembled a ream of material over the years that wasn’t included in his previous volumes of the ground-breaking ‘The GAA in Tyrone’ series, the last of which was published in 2021.

Joe himself acknowledged in his first volume back in 1984 that “it has not been possible to record the anecdotes recalled with joy or sorrow, the little incidents on the field of play or at the committee meeting which are the very stuff of history.”

It was imperative that the material wouldn’t be lost to the sands of time and he worked steadfastly to ensure this latest collection would be finished before he met his eternal rest.

That he managed to do so was a monumental accomplishment in the circumstances and his son Ciaran explains that Joe felt a ‘duty’ to get his final work across the line.

“I think he felt a duty to make that one final contribution to the history of Tyrone GAA. He always intended on returning to the material he’d unearthed from the very early years and he wanted to make sure it was safeguarded for posterity.

“He wrote at a very fast and furious pace throughout the early months of 2022 as he knew his condition was going to worsen. He was very meticulous, even when he was too ill to get out of bed it was still very much on his mind.

“By early summer of this year he had it pretty much all done but he still sent members of the family to Coalisland to check up on a couple of facts! But he basically left us a full and complete draft, all we had to do was make a few edits.”

Ciaran continued: “He was enormously proud of this book and he kept asking people close to him in his final months if they’d had a chance to have a look at it – like any writer he wanted to know if they thought it was good.

>body2text<“He was doing something different here – there’s more flair and exuberance than in his previous books and he knew that and was nervous about it. But I think he’d be proud and very pleased that the public will get a chance to read it.”

>body2text<The book will be officially released on December 12 at the annual Tyrone County Convention in Garvaghey. It’s a particularly proud moment for his family having promised Joe that the book would hit the shelves before Christmas.

>body2text<Ciaran said: “He always wanted to get the books out before Christmas so we promised him we’d get it out in time. Ecclesville of Fintona have been incredible in that regard and we couldn’t have asked for more. We gave them a tall order of getting the book out before Christmas and the County Board have been very supportive in that respect as well.”

>body2text<The book also draws upon the ground-breaking scholarship of eminent historian Dr Dónal McAnallen on the subject of World War One.

>body2text<Dónal has conducted extensive research on the hidden history of GAA players who served with the Crown Forces during the War – perhaps an uneasy subject matter, but no less fascinating for that.

>body2text<Take the story of Patrick Holland, the former Tyrone County Secretary who left his position to join the RAF late in the war.

>body2text<Dónal said: “Joe’s bringing Patrick Holland to a wider audience and it’s an extraordinary story. Patrick was associated with the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) at a time when the county was starting to become a lot more radicalised.

“He was also part of the Craobh Rua club in Dungannon –  the newly formed Dungannon Clarkes were a coming force and were more radical.

“It all came to a head when there was a rally in 1918 in Dungannon and Patrick was assaulted by Irish Volunteers who were sent up from the south armed with sticks.

“In general people were becoming more radicalised and he probably found that many of his peers didn’t approve of him, and you can imagine how that must have felt for him.

“So he probably felt aggrieved and he ended up joining the RAF. It was quite a strange thing to do but I don’t over-analyse it, maybe he just wanted to learn how to fly. It’s a fascinating story though as it was a microcosm of what was going on at a local level, that one movement or body was being eclipsed by another.”

As a leading historian, McAnallen is perfectly placed to assess the impact of Joe’s body of work. He describes Martin’s contribution to the annals of Tyrone GAA as “an immense achievement” and his fifth and final volume is set to be a particularly special addition to the canon.

“Joe’s was one of the most authoritative and comprehensive county histories of the GAA. Doing what he did when no digital copies were heard of was an immense achievement. He wrote it all himself. Many other such tomes were collaborations with gaps in narrative whereas the ‘GAA in Tyrone’ was consistent and relatively seamless – indeed, some counties have never published a history book and Joe’s is the only one that has been updated.”