Ann McCague

Meeting Pat and early memories:

“We went to the local school together and met- it’s where the church is now [St Joseph’s Hannahstown] it was like a primary school. You went there until you were about 14 or 15 and then went off to work unless you were very brainy and wanted to continue into further academic education”.

“At that time Pat was playing minor for St Johns because Lámh Dhearg didn’t have a minor team at that stage. Pat and the McQullian brothers played minor for St Johns and won a minor Championship medal with them. We got married when we were young, I was 19 and Pat was 20 and we’ve been together since we were 16. I didn’t always get to matches when he was playing because there wasn’t any vehicles going- there was maybe only Felix Mulligan [RIP] who drove a jeep and that took the players”.

“The first thing I remember them winning was the time they beat Glenavy- we got married in 1964 and they beat Glenavy in 1968 in Casement. I can remember that and the senior Championship final win against St Johns  in 1971. It was massive and they celebrated for days on end. It was massive for the family because Pat’s brother Gerard was playing on that team with him- he went to Australia after that. It meant so much for Pat to see the team win it a few years ago in 2017 and to have Paddy [Cunningham jnr] involved in it- having more family members experience what he did”.

Life at the top table:

“There wasn’t any ladies football at that time and in the first old club- woman didn’t really go into it- it was only really later on when the current club was opened and woman became involved. The children were up a bit by that time, when they were young- I wouldn’t have been out that much in the club. It was only as they got older and Pat became chairman that we’d have been about there a lot”.

“It was hard work for 17-years, I didn’t relish the idea of having to sit up at the top table for the presentation dinners. That went on for 17-years and all you wanted to do was sit the crowd with everyone else”.

“I have a photograph with Pat Spillane at one of the dinners and Jack O’Shea would have come up as well and Jacko called into my house before the dinner and it is not every day you have superstars in your living room.  I remember leading players such as Nicky English coming up as guests  and there were some great nights and the time that the Offaly team came up to open the pitch in 1984. It was massive to attract figures like that to the club”. Dinner dances in the Ballymac were huge occasions as the troubles were at their height and every member wouldn’t of missed attending them. I have also very happy memories of special club functions like the Centenary Gala Dinner in the Europa and the black tie 40^th reunion for the 71 c’ship team in the club. Special nights.

Washing the kits and helping to make food:

“Before I started to wash the kits- Pat’s mother [Sarah] did it and she lived next door to us where Kathleen and Paddy [Cunningham sen] live now. It was always kept in the family and they were always very committed to the club”.

“it started when the juvenile presentation events would have been once a year and about Christmas time. It would have been held in the club and we would have put a meal on and we’d plenty of the help from the late Marie Fitzsimons [RIP], Maire McCann, Kate Prior and my daughter Deirdre. Everybody got together and just did it and chipped in and there was always plenty of help”.

“I never played for the darts team in the club but Pat would have been happy to transport the team in the minibus to different venues around Belfast. Pat and ‘Shaker’ McGarry would have also picked up the young ones from Lenadoon and when you think of some of them- they’ve all grown up now and have families of their own”.

Social side of the club:

“Ray [Megahey] and Marty [McCartney] played a massive part in the social side of the club, I remember they did the Golden Oldies on Friday Nights and the Sunday night disco. We would have been up in the members room and discos would have been held in the big hall. We would have been a bit too old for the discos. There was always a big crowd on each night and they did popular games like ‘Mr and Mrs’ and ‘Take your Pick’ and they were hugely popular with everybody in the club. The social side was flourishing at that time”.

Children’s involvement and grandchildren:

“The children were very much involved from day one, they were young and when the troubles started the club kept us all sane. They would have been up with Pat from they were no-age. Stephen was our eldest son and there was Martin, Patrick and Deirdre – Stephen and Patrick liked the hurling better and Martin would have also got involved”. Of course Pat and I have followed closely the successful career with great pride and satisfaction of our godson Patrick Cunningham.

“We’d have followed them to their matches from no age up to they played senior and now their own children are involved. Patrick’s son Aidan plays and Martin’s two sons Ryan and Mark are young- but getting involved”.

Godson Patricks views on Ann

What can I say about Aunt Ann – my God mother. I was lucky enough to live with my Granny Mc Cague when we moved down from Derry for a couple of years until we found a house and Ann basically reared me for those years along with Granny Mc Cague and Uncle Pat. I have fond memories of going out the back every day to puck or kick about wondering what set jerseys would be out hanging on the washing line out Ann’s back that day, hoping someday that I would wear the senior jersey which so often was often hung from 1-30 in number order on the washing line. She was often seen at the back kitchen window scrubbing the blood/mud stained jerseys in the kitchen sink roaring at Pat “Who the was wearing number 10 today it’s a mess?? Number 4 is missing Pat!” Pat straight on the house phone to the relevant manager to get the investigation underway as to its whereabouts.

My other abiding memory of Ann was the fry on a Sunday morning after mass you could smell the smoked bacon and vegetable roll from half way up the graveyard, the race to the dining room was on. It was my pre match meal before many a game “Not do you one bit of harm Patrick” she would say , “Do you want more potato bread?” And you knew better than to say no. Every year there was only one conversation to be had on boxing night “next door” in Ann and Pat’s house as we called it and it was will this be the year we win championship? What went wrong last year? What do we need to do this year to win? I would say the championship of 2017 meant as much to Aunt Ann than it did to any one of the players on the pitch that day. Il never forget the final whistle Pat & Ann were one the first people I seen and it’s something il never forget, I will always be grateful for everything that Aunt Ann & Uncle Pat did for me over the years and they were a huge part of me developing as a player. Thank you Ann

Trips:

“The trips away would have been around Easter time when the team would have travelled- a lot of the time it would have been Donegal and we went to the Letterkenny 7s. we would have went there with them and Pat and the children would have went. There was quite a lot of families would have went – Marie, Fitzy and their children would have went and it was more or less your holiday for the year”.

“I’ll never forget when they won the Letterkenny 7s  in 1993 and it was played in a mud bath and Hughsie Mooreland was the first one to do it- they came across the pitch on their tummies. I’ll never forget it, when we came home it took us about a week to try and clean the jerseys. We had to put the jerseys out the back and put the hose on them. That was before we even attempted to wash them. in those days you had to wash the pants and socks as well and in later years it was just the jerseys”.

“We also went on trips to Cork, Carlow and Ballina and when the children was young it would have been our holidays for the year and everybody would have had such a great time together”. Ballina stands out as our accommodation was like Fawlty Towers as it was under reconstruction while Jurys in Cork was a touch of class and even had a swimming pool and Jacuzzi .

Bukey recalls Ann’s key contributions

When I played or managed teams in the 70’s until mid 1990’s we were without a doubt the best turned out and kitted out teams in the county. This can be attributed to Ann’s phenomenal commitment, pride and care she took in washing and looking after the rigs. There wasn’t a day when you would pass the house and a set of jerseys, shorts and socks would be out drying in the back garden. Despite being white our jerseys were always spotless and were pressed and ironed and always had a new look and fresh feeling. 

You would of thought they were brand new. Jerseys and socks were always in top condition as well. If a jersey ever went missing or was torn Anne and Pat were quickly on your case. I remember the next game after Letterkenny 7’s mud bath we were all amazed at how Anne was able to clean them as they were barely recognisable after Letterkenny. Nowadays mentors like myself share the responsibility of washing jerseys and its only then how you appreciate time and the first class service provided by Sarah and Anne over the decades regarding club kits.

I also recall the commitment of Anne and her team in providing quality cuisine at our annual and popular Juvenile awards nights in the club in the 80’/90’s. Despite the club having no catering facilities Anne and her team provided lovely meat salads with fresh apple tart and cream and there never an empty plate. They spent most of the day in preparing the hall and food right from an early visit to the late Tuckers RIP butchers until serving the meal and clearing up the hall. Service and cuisine was of a hotel standard and completed with military precision.

Marie and Fitzy:

“Marie and I went back a long time, we went to school together and knew each other before marriage and it so happened that Fitzy [Frank Fitzsimons snr] and Pat were quite close too. There was a great bond between us over the years and Marie was a great friend and we miss her dreadfully and we had a many good nights in the club, Ballymac, at matches and on club trips.

Sean Mc Elhatton recalls

After the games league and championship matches the players were dropped off at the top of the hill and being single then on many a Sunday evening I was asked “Hi Boy where are you getting your dinner “ I usually replied Ah No Its ok .But I can recall that within 10 minutes you would be sitting at a big family  dinner in Ann and Pats house  or in Mrs McQuillans or Masey Mulligans Felix’s mothers house, no questions asked. This was a hospitality and welcome that I have never experienced before and it was a real factor in welcoming me a stranger into the club and the Hills of Hannahstown.

Pat and Ann McCague and many of the families above are the bedrock of what the GAA stands for and what our great club is about. Ann and Pats mother were not just making sure the jerseys were organised, clean, and washed but they and the other wives and partners were the heart and soul of the club just as they are now They were the motivators, the cheer leaders, and the home builders that allowed us to focus on training and winning the matches.

Ann was also rearing a young family as were all the other mothers of the club. The door to her home was always open and it reminds me now of the Amish saying

“a happy home is more than a roof over your head, it’s the foundation under your feet”

Ann, Pat and all the families were also great supporters of the club’s teams, games social activities. Ann has been blessed with a beautiful singing voice and her rendition of “4 Green Fields “was a weekly request up in the old club rooms and you would have heard a pin drop during the song.

Ann and Pat opened their home and their hearts to the new players like me and its true to say that their friendships last to this day.

Ann is a true Gael as are the mothers and wives of the players in the 60s and 70s . They were and are the fore runners of the great role that ladies play in our modern club today. Their contribution must never be underestimated, as women and families

Attending games with Pat:

“When I go to matches with Pat- if Pat is at one side of the pitch, I go to the other and sometimes take a leisurely stroll – I can’t stand near him. When Pat pulled the jersey over the head he was a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde. He’s a different person at the match than he would be at home. I never want to go through another year like we did last year- I don’t think anybody would- all those replays and stress. It was an emotional rollercoaster for everybody involved. Whoever could forget the nail biting and dramatic shoot out at the Dub. We’ve had great life with the club and had some wonderful memories”.