BY MICHAEL BRESLIN
Reading, 'From Boooloola to Mangerton Mountain', the second book from the pen of the man with the unmistakable voice, RTE games commentator, Micheál ´O Muircheartaigh, the reader is confirmed in the belief that his is an extraordinary talent for finding out about way out people in way out places.
As the book's sleeve neatly put it, 'Micheál brings us along on his travels around the world, and to the villages, townlands and sporting fields of the four provinces of Ireland'. And, as Frank Carson would say, 'it's the way he tells them'.
Having met the great man after a game in Clones, it's easy to see how people relate to him and he to them, and having been actively involved in reporting on GAA games since 1949 and got to know the movers and shakers within that great organisation with its world-wide tentacles, it's equally easy to appreciate his is a vast circle of acquaintances.
However, the book, with its short, easy to read chapters, one for each encounter or recall, is certainly not all small talk. The author hits upon some weighty themes, among them the heart-rending retelling of Australia's 'stolen generation', young aborigines who were removed from their families and re-settled hundreds of miles away in a wholly unchristian scheme to reduce their numbers. The film, 'Bulletproof Fence' is based on the abuse.
Armed with strong ethical values, he is equally condemnatory of the way that the Catholic church initially turned a blind eye to its clergy misbehaving and, indeed, he suggests that women priests would have blown the whistle right at the start. He is also in favour of priests marrying.
A strength of the book is that the author is always at pains to get a first-hand account, even if it means getting on a plane in Melbourne, where he was covering the International Rules series, and flying to Sydney to try and track down a semi-aboriginal, John Moriarity whose name, incidentally, translates into Irish as the author's.
Australia, with its significant Irish input, provides good copy. Many of them made good, among them Charles O'Connor, engineer extraordinary, to whom a memorial stands in Perth whose first harbour he designed. He also achieved the impossible by providing a water supply across 350 miles of desert to the goldfields in Kalgoorlie.
Willie Walsh, when he was simply, 'Fr Willie', was a noted Clare hurler and county team manager and, so, he was an obvious choice for an interview when he was bishop. This is a chapter that should be a 'must read' for its brutal honesty about the scandals within the church, his hopes for the church's future and how, like another well-known cleric, he finds women are under-utilised by priests.
'I find myself turning to women when I have a difficult problem, either personal or dealing with the church. I am fortunate that I have a small number of close women friends, and I value their advice and support greatly'.
Bishop Walsh secured lasting fame/infamy, depending on how one feels about the travelling community, by opening up his expansive lawns to them for nine months of the year to park their caravans. Why? - 'The original intention was to supply a temporary solution to a serious problem, but I think it had the effect of drawing attention on a wider scale to the issue'.
Muircheartaigh himself is not afraid to bare his soul. A teacher before changing course into sports journalism (he is equally keen on the dogs), he saw for himself the changing attitudes towards the Church from his secondary school students. Indeed, he recalls the very moment he realised this, when at the start of an exam, one student read out one of the questions, 'God is dead. Comment'.
"Before I could issue a rebuke", he recalls, "an answer came quickly from another who had not seen the paper: 'I didn't even know he was sick'. It may be just a coincidence, but that year turned out to be the last of the written diocesan examinations".
And, as elsewhere in schools where priests and the Brothers/Sister taught, he witnessed their gradual laicization. But, with the experience of having taught only in Christian Brothers schools, he staunchly defends their reputation when the scandals' storm broke: "Those I met and worked with were all honourable men and, like many more, they suffered later on account of the deviations of a minority".
It is a fairly trenchant commendation from someone who is the father of eight and grandfather of five.
Those who are familiar with his mellifluous tone will know that he intersperses his commentary with bits of Irish. He is a fluent Irish speaker and has been a long-time champion of the Irish Language.
Perhaps, not surprisingly, his all-time hero is Ken Whittaker who was born in Rostrevor but went on to chalk up a 70-year service in the Irish Civil Service (he was 89 when the book was written). He it was who, along with the then Taoiseach, Sean Lemass, put the Irish economy on a sound footing and, similarly, the working of Bord na Gaeilge which chaired in the mid-70's. One of his findings, or instance, recommended bilingualism and advocated a knowledge of the Irish language for a child's proper education.
Interestingly, today, Mr Whittaker, while welcoming Ireland's greater prosperity and greater longevity among its people, cites binge-drinking among the negatives. The author also served on Bord na Gaeilge.
Staying North, so to speak, he gives due respect to the way Northern teams have more or less dominated GAA in the late 90's. Again, rather than relying on match reports, he talks to those closely involved.
Maurice Hayes, today a respected political commentator, was Down County Board secretary from 1956-60 and helped introduce novel training methods, eg Winter training that, in the end brought them the 'Sam Maguire' in '60, and four more titles in '61, '68, '91 and '94.
Margaret McConville, mother of Jim and Oisin, won't forget Armagh won theirs in 2002, after a match in which Oisin missed a penalty but then goaled later.
"My daughters and all around were on their feet celebrating and calling on me to get up also, but me legs refused. I stayed there and thanked God".
Oh for a Fermanagh mother to experience that euphoria?
But, for this reviewer, the highlight of the book has to be the chef in the chapter devoted to Brendan O'Regan, the developer of Shannon Airport, its industrial park and duty-free zone . He was Joe Sheridan from Castlederg, and his claim to fame? He invented Irish coffee.
Yes, it's in the book: 'His discovery, like many other inventions, was accidental. It was not unusual for a (sea boat) pilot to make a decision to turn back due to worsening weather conditions and, it was while entertaining crew members that Joe added a drop of whiskey to the coffee'.
Sadly, Joe's fame got him a US offer he couldn't refuse, and he spent the rest of his working days in San Francisco.
An amazing man and an amazing book.
'From Booroloola To Mangerton Mountain' by Michael Muircheartaigh is publish in hardback by Penguin Ireland and is now available in the shops at £18.99, or less.
