Joe Daly

Originally published: Town Tattler Vol 5 Issue 4

We had the pleasure recently of sitting down with Joe Daly, who has been involved in some capacity with the Portlaoise club since 1989. A proud Cork man, Joe first came to Portlaoise in 1974 as a newly qualified Garda. Over the following 51 years, he wrote his own chapter in terms of his legacy and involvement with Portlaoise GAA. A character through and through, Joe’s love for the GAA and passion for the Town shone brightly throughout our chat. The service he has given to the club since first becoming involved in 1989 is second to none. He is one of the many club greats who was not born and reared in Portlaoise, but instead came to the town and got involved with the club, leaving a lasting impact and legacy through sheer dedication and commitment.

Growing up in West Cork and playing career.

I grew up in Leap, West Cork, a footballing stronghold! I started playing football at under-14, as that was the first underage competition available at that time. I played with my club, Kilmacabea, and I won a West Cork under-14 medal in 1965. Two years later, I won an under-16 medal, when we were amalgamated with Castlehaven.

One of the biggest disappointments I had as a player came in 1969 with my own club, Kilmacabea, when we lost the West Cork minor football final. I was captain that year. We were 2 points up and they got a goal with the last kick of the game to win by a point.

I won a West Cork junior hurling medal with Kilmacabea in 1971. Again we were amalgamated with Castlehaven. The standard wouldn’t have been too hectic, but we won a county title nonetheless! So I had a reasonably good career down in Cork, before I went on to join the Guards.

Becoming a Garda and moving to Portlaoise.

I joined the Guards in 1974 and I moved to Portlaoise then as a newly qualified Garda in August 1974. I continued to play down home for a few years, but then one of the sergeants in the station in Portlaoise convinced myself and a few of the other lads to go and play football for Durrow! I wasn’t playing any football at the time, so I got a transfer.

We went on and we won a county Junior football title then! The biggest part of my career though, between 1976 and 1992/1993, was through rugby. I played rugby for 17 years with Portlaoise as a prop forward. I played with the first, seconds, thirds, every team Portlaoise had! We won a Town’s Cup in 1984/85. I won a seconds Leinster plate with the club, a Town’s Plate with the seconds, a Hosey Cup with the firsts and a few league titles as well.

It was a wonderful time. I made some great friends along the way, lads I’d still be very friendly with to this day. Great memories. We had a good rugby team with the guards at the time too. We won 2 Garda All-Irelands. We had a great crop of players at the time. They were very enjoyable times.

Getting involved with the GAA Club.

Then, in 1989, the Portlaoise club reformed the juvenile GAA club. I’d always followed the club since I’d arrived in Portlaoise and got to see the great hurling and football teams of the 80’s when they were at their peak.

From 1989 onwards, I became involved with the underage set-up in the club. Ned Murphy, Sean Mullins and Mick Reynolds, amongst others, did great work at that time.

My own two sons, Allan and Kieran, were starting to play as well at that time. We used to have league matches on Sunday morning. It was fantastic and a wonderful way to become involved with the club.

I ended up having great success with underage football teams in the club then, along with John Mulligan and Ollie Hughes. We had a fantastic crop of players at the time. We won everything from under-14 onwards, including two under-14 titles, two under-16 titles, two Minor titles and three under-21 titles.

We were very dominant, but we had a great crop of players, a lot of whom went on to have great success with the senior footballers.

Martin Parkinson and Brian Delaney had brought through a great underage group a few years before us, and between their group and ours, that laid the foundations for the great Portlaoise team that came after.

After underage, I then got involved with the senior footballers with Mick Lillis and Mark Kavanagh. We won a senior football title in 2002, beating St. Joseph’s in the final.

In 2004, Mark and Mick stepped away, but I stayed on and was involved with Tommy Conroy and Niall Tully. We won the county final in 2004, though we made hard work of it. We won it anyhow, and then went on to win the Leinster Final in Newbridge, beating Skryne of Meath in the final.

That was a fantastic day. We’d played Rhode in the first round in Leinster. Niall McNamee was their rising star at the time. But we had a star of our own that day, in the shape of Tommy Fitzgerald, who had come up from playing junior football to senior football. He did a wonderful job marking McNamee.

The day we won the final, Bruno won man of the match, and the Doc Fitz got the singing award for his rendition of the Portlaoise Queen!

The highlight of that time was beating the great Crossmaglen Rangers in Parnell Park. That was something else. Oisin McConville was on fire at the time, but Eoin Bland went in and did a fantastic job marking him.

Unfortunately, we just didn’t play as well as we could have in the final and we lost. It just didn’t click for us on the day. I honestly believe if we’d played that game another ten times, we’d have won every time. It just didn’t click for us on the day. It was a huge disappointment.

They were great years. It would be wrong of me to single out individual players, we just had a great team and a great hunger to win.

In 2006, I stepped away from the Senior footballers, but I stayed involved, taking on an Intermediate team with Noel Tynan, Eddie McCormack and George Plunkett. We won the Division 2 league title, and we were beaten in the Intermediate final by a Timahoe team who had contested the senior football final only a few years previously.

The club was flying it at that time. It was a huge pity we didn’t win that final. We had a few great years though, and we had great craic together.

In 2008-09, I was also involved with Mick Nerney and Tommy Conroy with the under-16 footballers. We won two under-16 titles, and then went on to win two Minor titles as well.

After that I took a break, but in 2020 I got involved with the Junior footballers along with Ronan Molloy, Adrian Kelly and Sean Brown. We reached a county final, and were beaten by a very good Park-Ratheniska team.

Last year then, I was involved with the Junior B footballers. I stood away from it this year, after 36 years. I loved every minute of it though. It wasn’t just being involved with teams, but the social aspect of it was fantastic.

The old club house was always a great spot, full of characters and craic. It was the most enjoyable place to be. Even being involved with looking after the car parking on match days was great, and we’d often have a get-together after matches.

Andy Molly, God rest him, was a great man. He could nearly charge you going out the gate as well as coming in!

In the 51 years I’ve been in Portlaoise, sport has played a huge role in my life. Being involved with the club over the past 36 years has been fantastic.

Allan is heavily involved with the club, and has been involved as a coach/selector since 2009. He’s a great coach and has put a lot into it.

Kieran is also getting involved now with the underage set-up which is fantastic. It’s great to see them involved. They always gave me good support, as did my wife, Marie.

Best games you’ve seen/been involved in.

I suppose the Crossmaglen game in 2005 always stands out, but winning the County final in 2002 was very special. That would probably be my favourite game, as it was the first time I’d been involved with a winning Senior Football team.

At half-time that day, Dick Sydes gave a magnificent speech in the dressing room. I’ll never forget it. There was fire in what he said and the lads went out in the second half and put in a great display.

What the club means to you:

The club means an awful lot to me. It was a great way of meeting up with people and making friends. The social side of it and the friendship side of it is what really stands out to me. I’ve made great friends and great memories over the years.

I was Juvenile chairman from 1997-2000 which I’m very proud of and that means a lot to me. And obviously having some success with the club over the years was brilliant too.

Hopes for the club going forward.

There’s been great progress made out in Rathleague over the years, and to see the club moving in the direction it’s going in relation to the new club house is fantastic. When all that is in place it will provide a very solid foundation for the club going forward.

What has been done and what’s there in Rathleague now has served the club very well. Men like Sonny Keogh, JP Cahillane, Ollie Byrne and Liam Breen are worth their weight in gold for the work they do. We won’t see their likes again.

In recent times, a few more volunteers have joined the workforce out in Rathleague. Interviews are ongoing at the minute for any more potential applicants!

For the past 36 years, Joe has given phenomenal service to the club. With an honours list that covers all grades from under-14 to senior football, he has won practically everything there is to win with the club.

From West Cork to Portlaoise, Joe has embedded himself within the foundations of the town over the past 51 years, and made Portlaoise his home. His voluntary work and commitment to the club and the town have been second to none.

As a club, we are blessed to have had men like Joe involved. They have played a huge role in making the Portlaoise club what it is today, and we are forever indebted to them for their continued commitment and dedication. C’mon the Town.