I remember that there was great excitement at school in the week leading up to the final. Our mentors made up maroon and white paper hats and distributed them to the pupils for match day. Double decker buses were hired for the day and transported most of the pupils to Croke Park. Most of the supporters were located under the Cusack Stand.
Celebration March
There was a tradition in Jambo that when a trophy was won there would be a celebration march in the week following the final. All the pupils would meet and march to the school behind the team , carrying banners and singing the team songs.
Celebration Party
Following our two victory's in the Clanna Gael Cup & Sweet Afton Cup, our mentors gave us a party to celebrate. The party was held in the classroom to the left just inside the main door to the school. There were cakes, minerals and sweets in abundance, bearing in mind that cake was'nt exactly in plentyful supply in 1959, this was a real treat. I don't know how our Mentors organised this or were the goodies came from but there were a lot fella's with pains in the tummy the next day !
School Yard Match Reports
Following our important matchs leading to both finals, a blackboard and easel would appear in the big school yard the next morning, the blackboard was covered in white paper which contained in colourful marker, a detailed match report including the scorers, who played particularly well on the day, etc etc. I don't remember who did up the reports although I think it may have been Stevie Cummins.
Match Sandwiches
Fairview Park on a cold wet day, half time and Bro.Hannigan produces sandwiches which he had "put aside" from the free sambos we received each lunchtime in the yard.
Rialto Gaels Annual Party
The party was held in the Parochial Hall in Dolphins Barn which was opposite the Leinster cinema. We were fed cakes and buns and were treated to two films. We were issued with ticket's for our families for the "picture show" "Rooney" was the "small" picture, it starred John Gregson who played a Dublin binman who was a great hurler. The "big" picture was the Clanna Gael Cup Final from O'Toole Park in Dec. 1959. Despite a thorough search prior to our re-union in 1999 this film was regretfully not found.
Sweet Afton Cup Semi-Final Versus St.Ciarans
Ringsend Park on a very, very wet Sat. afternooon versus St. Ciarans (the elite of Primary Schools football at the time !), I was battered that day and I can still remember the woolen jerseys which got heavier with the rain !
Clanna Gael Cup Final - O'Toole Park
I remember the final in O'Toole Park quiet clearly and the gale that blew that day, we played with the wind in the first half and built up a good lead. Haddington Road came at us bigtime in the second half and whittled our lead away. The wind was so strong that we hardly got out of our own half. We were hanging on by a thread and in a rare incursion into their half Sean Doody (R.I.P.) scored a great point and that was the winning point. We held out to the end, because as a team we never gave up !
Rory Fitzpatrick
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