From The Avondhu 25th March 2021

In our last notes we mentioned the close links between our club and our local national school. The earliest record presently of hurling or football being played in the school was in 1925 when Upper Glanmire took on Riverstown and then subsequently joined forces with them to play in a more formal inter-parish competition against neighbouring Glounthane parish schools.  

Upper Glanmire did not enter any formal school shields competition in this period. At a meeting of the county school shields committee in 1934, the then president of the GAA Sean McCarthy, himself a national teacher and a native of Upton, proposed the establishment of a separate schools competition for the Carrignavar district. This, was hoped, would attract six to eight schools. There was a separate Clashaboy division or league within the East Cork division for adult teams from Carrignavar, Glenville, Upper Glanmire and others at that time and the idea was probably that the school shields would mirror the adult competition. However, this was just a motion at the time and as the Clashaboy Division itself did not last for more than a few years after this it is unlikely that it ever got beyond the boardroom.  

In the meeting it was said that the availability of transit would prevent schools in the region from entering the school shields proper (assuming this meant City Competitions). Though this may have been difficult for the likes of Glenville, Upper Glanmire had entered the school sports (athletics) competitions which were usually held in the Mardyke in mid summer. Here they had competed against the boys from the bigger city schools including Greenmount, Blackpool and Sullivan’s Quay and had done so with some success. In 1930 a William Burke, a farmer from Ballyhesta, who had moved to the school having initially attended Carrignavar school had a top three finish in the long jump while the school also competed in the relay race for boys.  

However, the star athlete though was a young lad named Kevin McMahon, the son of a mechanic, who resided in Ballyphillip. In 1930 he won his heat and, following a split decision in the final, won his playoff in the boys under 12 200 metres race. Showing that he was one of the dominant athletes at the time, the following year in 1931 he returned to successfully defend his title. This, perhaps, would be the first time that the young Ballyphilip native came to sporting attention. It would not be the last. 

Beyond the school gates, there was no juvenile sporting activity for young McMahon in Upper Glanmire hence his only options would be to play hurling and football with the Sarsfields club. He did so and with some affect. He played wing forward, and from the match report was one of the four star players, when the Cork minor hurlers won the All-Ireland minor hurling championship in 1937 after a 10 year wait. They beat Kilkenny in a final that was played in the unusual venue, for a hurling final, of Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney.  This was part of a hectic year for the Leaving Cert student who won East Cork and county minor (as captain) and junior football championships with Sarsfields.  

He played in the intermediate hurling championship the follow year for Sarsfields. However, at this point his hurling career petered out somewhat in the parish. A career in the army would have meant his sporting endeavours, if any, would have been with the army. In the next few weeks we will look at other noteable contributions from Upper Glanmire school.