Muristek
IT was a case of the picture not quite telling a 1,000 words that led Paul Gallagher on a quest that spanned five decades and from North Cork to New Zealand. And while this is a quirky sporting tale it also comes with a reminder of the decline of rural Ireland. The picture in question (see main picture) had pride of place in Lyon’s Bar, Cecilstown (between Mallow and Kanturk) where it had been a conversation piece since the mid-1970’s. In it, the late proprietor of the pub, Mrs Lyons, is seen pulling a pint as a hearty looking group of men await their drinks. One of the men is local native Stephen O’Leary, a gamekeeper at the nearby Lohort Castle, but it is the others who are the main talking point for they are members of the New Zealand national rugby team, the All Blacks. This spurs the obvious question: How did the All Blacks come to be in a rural pub in North Cork on a November day in 1974? “The photo was the kind of treasure any pub in Ireland would be proud to have, it is an absolutely iconic in my opinion and the circumstances surrounding the capturing of that moment would be impossible to re-create in the world we live in today,” said Paul Gallagher, who spent many an hour in the now closed Lyon’s Bar. He had parts of the tale, but not all of it. Lyon’s Bar closed for good shortly before the pandemic arrived and it was in the quieter hours of lockdown that Paul set out to find out more. Specifically, he wanted to know who were the All Blacks players in the photograph. Much of the rest of the story he already knew, and it goes like this: On Friday, November 1, 1974, the All Blacks flew into Cork after an 81-hour journey from New Zealand (with a 23-hour stopover in Singapore) for a goodwill tour of Ireland, playing Irish rugby teams. The New Zealanders had been coming here since 1905. The team were snapped by the Cork Examiner training at Winter’s Hill, Sunday’s Well the following day and on November 6 took on a ‘combined universities’ team at Musgrave Park. Though they won that game there was ‘no glory for the All Blacks’, so the headline went, as the score was a mere 10-3. The visitors headed to a civic reception in Limerick on Friday, November 8 before taking on Munster in Thomond Park on the 9th, where they regained their pride with a 14-4 win. After that they headed for a date with Leinster on November 13. All these dates are significant as they leave the question: where in this busy travelling schedule did the visitors have time to stop off for pints in a somewhat out of the way corner of North Cork? Enter Irish American high flyer John Augustine ‘Jack’ Mulcahy, industrialist, businessman and philanthropist. Having brought a major American company to set up in Ireland, and subsequently Pfizer to Cork, by 1974 Mulcahy had also embarked on several business cum altruistic projects here, such as the now world famous hotel, clubhouse and golf course at Waterville, completed in 1973. In North Cork, Mulcahy had the shooting rights to lands at Lohort Castle, a short hop away from Cecilstown. Here Mulcahy invited his friends and associates for a day’s shooting, people such as his friends in horse racing Vincent O’Brien and Robert Sangster, and Sonny Perks of Perks Funfair. These excursions always ended with a stop at Lyon’s Bar, where he wouldn’t allow anyone but himself pay, all night. It is said his guests honoured his wishes by drinking plenty. And that is how the All Blacks came to an out of the way watering hole in the middle of November 1974, after a day out shooting pheasants, or at least attempting to, as guests of an Irish American high flyer. All this Paul Gallagher was able to piece together, except the identities of the New Zealand players. He did know one, their team captain Sid Going, sitting behind a half drunk pint. This is ironic because Going, a Morman, didn’t drink alcohol. But, what of the rest? In an attempt to identify the others, Paul turned to New Zealand. “Shortly after Christmas I sent off a load of e-mails to radio and TV stations in New Zealand, as well as the New Zealand Rugby Union. It was very much on spec, a trawl to see who’d bite,” said Paul, a Mallow native now living in Castlemagner. “Then, on the same day, I got two replies, from New Zealand Rugby Union, who have a memorabilia section and they were interested in the photograph, and from Radio New Zealand.” Not only did Paul finally solve most of the mystery of the players’ names but he also ended up doing a live slot on Radio New Zealand, telling them how the All Blacks landed in Duhallow for a pheasant shoot and a few pints in Lyon’s Bar. However, Paul – PRO with Castlemagner GAA Club – also points out how this story highlights decline in rural Ireland, not just in North Cork but right across the country. “Back in those days Cecilstown was a thriving village,” he said. “It had not one but two pubs, both owned by the Lynes at that time, a post office and a shop. Now, there’s Geoff’s Bar but all the rest are gone.” Certainly, a sobering end to the story.
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