The Gospel according to Mackey
“The cards are still coming in hand over fist,” laughed Mackey McKenna in the days following his 82nd birthday.
It wasn’t the celebration hoped for because of restrictions from Covid-19 but his neighbours and friends gathered outside his home in Newtown to congratulate one of the great personalities of Tipperary hurling.
John McKenna, as he is christened, can definitely be classed as one of the great “characters” with a great wit to tell a story and a superb recollection of some the great days in Tipperary hurling when they were kings of Ireland.
Born in 1938, Mackey was one of 14 in his family born to Malachy and Agnes McKenna. His father was crippled from a motorbike accident with his mobility restricted to such an extent he rarely got to see Mackey play.
“He was mad into motorbikes and crashed into a tree and was lucky to survive,” he revealed.
“He would have been a man of few words, but we always said, well done son.
“He would never say you were greatest, but those few words meant an awful lot.”
He was close to his father whom he remembers as a great judge of cattle, as well as greyhounds which have become synonymous with the McKenna family, particularly Mackey’s brother Ger who went onto win three Irish Derby’s, the first in 1956.
“At the peak we had fifteen dogs,” he said.
“You were working with them. You were walking them or rubbing them or doing something with them.
“Now they have machines which can walk them around in a circle while we had to walk them two three miles and if a cat came into sight there would be trouble.
“You were always doing something whether it was walking the dogs, either sowing or picking spuds or snagging turnips. I don’t even know if the current generation know a fork from a shovel,” he quipped.
While Borrisokane would have been a junior and intermediate club during his formative years, the town would have hosted big club championship games, particularly when Lorrha met Kilruane where Mackey became a confident of Tony Reddin.
“I was fairly young, but I used to bring Reddin out a bottle of water when Lorrha were playing and I thought I was his best friend.
“He used to say, is Mackey knocking around with the bottle? Of course, Reddin didn’t drink in his life but some were thinking I was putting a little whiskey or brandy into it.
“He was unreal. The only man that would come near him would have been Pat McLoughney. “A good goalkeeper goes a long way.”
However, Mackey McKenna developed into a centre forward of note with his idol being another great of Reddin’s generation, Paddy Kenny. “I used to follow him everywhere,” he recalls.
“He was unusual in that he was only a slip of a lad and only had one side, but he’d put the ball through a small hole in the wall.”
“He was unusual in that he was only a slip of a lad and only had one side, but he’d put the ball through a small hole in the wall.”
As Borrisokane worked their way to senior level, McKenna initially started out with the Tipperary junior team in 1958 before earning his first call-up to the senior squad in 1961.
“I was going well at the time with Borrisokane and I got a letter from Tommy Barrett, secretary of the County Board to be at a challenge match in Cork,” he said.
“Martin Kennedy of Kiladangan was to bring me. I didn’t know any of the players at that time. I asked Martin Kennedy, where am I playing, he said, you’re in the corner. Who is the man I am marking, do you know him, is he any good, I said?
“Kennedy said he’s not too bad, he’s rated as one of the best corner backs in Ireland. I said to Martin, is there no one better to put me on,” McKenna joked.
“It was Jimmy Brohan. I met him several times after in Cork, he was a lovely man.
“We would hear these names on other counties, but we wouldn’t know them. I was going well but on the likes of him you’d want to be moving yourself. He was a clean hurler, the first man to the ball.”
“I was going well at the time with Borrisokane and I got a letter from Tommy Barrett, secretary of the County Board to be at a challenge match in Cork,” he said.
“Martin Kennedy of Kiladangan was to bring me. I didn’t know any of the players at that time. I asked Martin Kennedy, where am I playing, he said, you’re in the corner. Who is the man I am marking, do you know him, is he any good, I said?
“Kennedy said he’s not too bad, he’s rated as one of the best corner backs in Ireland. I said to Martin, is there no one better to put me on,” McKenna joked.
“It was Jimmy Brohan. I met him several times after in Cork, he was a lovely man.
“We would hear these names on other counties, but we wouldn’t know them. I was going well but on the likes of him you’d want to be moving yourself. He was a clean hurler, the first man to the ball.”
From there, Mackey became a firm member of the Tipperary panel and made his first real impression in the 1961 National League final where he scored two goals in the 6-6 to 4-9 win over Waterford. He hadn’t seen the inside of Thurles at this stage where his real education in hurling would begin, having to mark some of the greats of the game in training, night in night out.
“They took you on and there was no excuse, you had to hurl every night,” he said.
“They took you on and there was no excuse, you had to hurl every night,” he said.
As predominantly a centre forward, Mackey would have marked Tony Wall most often at training, but he always remembers as early test of his mettle provided by John Doyle.
“One night at training a ball went in over the two of us. I didn’t know how to handle him at that stage. I went after him and he got the ball and didn’t he throw the ball up in front of my face and pulled. I said to myself, Mackey you’re getting an education; you won’t last here too long.
“Two balls came in after that and I put the hurley up to block the ball and I let fly and connected with him. He said, Kenna, are you rotten. I said, Mr Doyle, do you see this pointing to his face, when the next ball comes, I won’t miss. I’ll cut the head off you. He never laid a glove on me after that. I got his respect. Doyle was testing me. That was the way.”
“Two balls came in after that and I put the hurley up to block the ball and I let fly and connected with him. He said, Kenna, are you rotten. I said, Mr Doyle, do you see this pointing to his face, when the next ball comes, I won’t miss. I’ll cut the head off you. He never laid a glove on me after that. I got his respect. Doyle was testing me. That was the way.”
We all hear war stories of the savagery of the hurling back then but that was the way and none of those players would change it for a second. While being great rivals on the field at training, they were great teammates off it enjoying some great trips abroad to New York, Chicago, and regularly London for the annual tournament there. However, for Mackey those trips were a problem as he hated flying.
“One year we were heading to England. Paddy Leahy, who was in charge of us said, Mackey we want you in Wembley. I had never been on a plane in my life. I was terrified and I said to Paddy, I don’t think I’ll be able to get on that.
“The next thing Kieran Carey came looking for me, Mick Murphy came looking for me and finally Mick Burns came out and said I had to go. They kept at me until I finally agreed.
“I got on the plane and it started and the noise of it nearly drove me mad. I said to myself, I’m in trouble now. I thought we had gone a couple of miles and I said to Mick Murphy beside me, are we nearly there? Murphy said, we haven’t even taken off yet.
“I was sat in the middle between Murphy and Sean McLoughlin and I leaned forward and began saying the Hail Mary. Murphy rose up and said, would you straighten yourself up and look out the window and see the lovely view and wasn’t it the sea and I ready to get sick.
“We got there anyway and played one of my best matches ever but afterwards I was thinking about how am I going to get home now. I’d had to face into this again and I said to myself, there is only one way I could deal with it and I went into a pub not far from the airport and I got full up.
“I wobbled back to the airport and I didn’t know where I was going, and I managed to get onto the plane. The next thing it came over the loudspeaker, would the person in charge of the Tipperary team come to the front of the plane, there is a small lad here in the pilot’s seat and he’s signing hurrah for Toomevara, and I can’t get him out,” he laughed.
After winning his first All Ireland medal in 1961 as a fringe player, a year later Mackey made a notable contribution as Tipperary regained the All Ireland title for a nineteenth time with victory over Wexford but were denied in their quest for a three-in-a-row of All Ireland titles in 1963 when surprisingly beaten by Waterford in the Munster Final.
“We couldn’t hit the wall from five yards, every one of us. We couldn’t score and only lost by a couple of points.
“I couldn’t understand how so many of us were so poor on the day, or unless they were great. We met them afterwards in the Oireachtas tournament and beat them by 22 points. It shows you it is all on the day.”
Unsurprisingly for great sportsmen, the defeats usually stand out more than their victories and despite Tipperary regaining the All Ireland title in 1964 and 1965, they failed in another three-in-a-row quest in 1966 when a team minus an injured McKenna were defeated by Limerick. They rebounded again to win Munster titles in 1967 and 1968 but now an aging team were denied by both Kilkenny and Wexford in those All Ireland Finals with McKenna claiming they threw away the latter final, which they led by eight points at one stage, and which they would have won had Francis Loughnane started.
“I rate him up there with the best,” he said of his former teammate.
“If I were wing forward, he would be the sort of fella I’d love to play beside.
“I was one of those young lads that used to follow Christy Ring around the field, and every match Francis played for Roscrea I was behind the goals looking at him. I adored him.
“I remember watching a match in Nenagh one day against Kilruane and he was getting it tough physically. There was a lad behind me, and he was about sixteen stone weight and the next thing the ball was coming into Loughnane and the lad behind me roared, cut the head off him.
“I said, cut the head off who. He said that Loughnane from Roscrea. I hit him under the jaw, and he rolled down the bank.
“Paudie Kennedy was with me and said, Mackey you’d want to start running now. I was getting ready when the lad was coming back towards me and I said do you want another one, and he took off running and went to the other side of the field. I always get great gas out of that.”
“I rate him up there with the best,” he said of his former teammate.
“If I were wing forward, he would be the sort of fella I’d love to play beside.
“I was one of those young lads that used to follow Christy Ring around the field, and every match Francis played for Roscrea I was behind the goals looking at him. I adored him.
“I remember watching a match in Nenagh one day against Kilruane and he was getting it tough physically. There was a lad behind me, and he was about sixteen stone weight and the next thing the ball was coming into Loughnane and the lad behind me roared, cut the head off him.
“I said, cut the head off who. He said that Loughnane from Roscrea. I hit him under the jaw, and he rolled down the bank.
“Paudie Kennedy was with me and said, Mackey you’d want to start running now. I was getting ready when the lad was coming back towards me and I said do you want another one, and he took off running and went to the other side of the field. I always get great gas out of that.”
That Tipperary team were serious about their hurling and is why they won all they did in the 1960’s where Mackey McKenna helped himself to four All Ireland senior titles in adding two more in 1964 and 1965, as well as 7 Munster titles and a National League.
“We were one big family,” he said of the squad who were always up for a bit of banter too with Mackey and John Doyle squaring off once more.
“One night at training Doyle said to me, Kenna, you’re supposed to be a great runner.
“Do you know what he says, we’ll have a fiver between us, you against me.
“I said alright, I’ll take you on. We started running and after thirty yards I said to myself I have Doyle. I went another twenty yards and I roared to him, I am going into overdrive now, you won’t see me, and I won the race.
“We came into the dressing room after training and I asked him if he had as bad a memory as he was to run. What’s wrong with you, he said. You owe me a fiver, said I. He said, I forgot to bring in my check-book and I replied it’s not the first time you forgot it.”
“To beat him alone though was worth it. I don’t think I had the fiver alone myself that evening,” he laughed.
“We were one big family,” he said of the squad who were always up for a bit of banter too with Mackey and John Doyle squaring off once more.
“One night at training Doyle said to me, Kenna, you’re supposed to be a great runner.
“Do you know what he says, we’ll have a fiver between us, you against me.
“I said alright, I’ll take you on. We started running and after thirty yards I said to myself I have Doyle. I went another twenty yards and I roared to him, I am going into overdrive now, you won’t see me, and I won the race.
“We came into the dressing room after training and I asked him if he had as bad a memory as he was to run. What’s wrong with you, he said. You owe me a fiver, said I. He said, I forgot to bring in my check-book and I replied it’s not the first time you forgot it.”
“To beat him alone though was worth it. I don’t think I had the fiver alone myself that evening,” he laughed.
While Mackey McKenna enjoyed great success with Tipperary, his greatest regret is he never enjoyed a great victory with Borrisokane, although they came very close to beating the great Thurles Sarsfields team in 1961.
“We played Thurles in the county semi-final in Nenagh and we were three points ahead with a minute to go when we conceded a needless line ball,” he recalls.
“We played Thurles in the county semi-final in Nenagh and we were three points ahead with a minute to go when we conceded a needless line ball,” he recalls.
“Mick Murphy, the lord have mercy on him, cut the side-line into the square and Larry Keane got a touch to send into the net and made a draw out of it and they won the replay.
“That was the biggest regret of all that we didn’t beat Thurles who had seven or eight of the county team at the time.
“It was always my dream to win with my own club. It was always number one, no matter how many All Ireland’s I won with Tipperary, but Borris always seemed to be beaten by a point or two in matches we should have won.
“I often cried after matches and said, if we only did this or did that but you can’t turn back the clock.”
“That was the biggest regret of all that we didn’t beat Thurles who had seven or eight of the county team at the time.
“It was always my dream to win with my own club. It was always number one, no matter how many All Ireland’s I won with Tipperary, but Borris always seemed to be beaten by a point or two in matches we should have won.
“I often cried after matches and said, if we only did this or did that but you can’t turn back the clock.”
He did win a North Junior Championship with Borrisokane in 1958 as well as a North Intermediate title in 1973 before taking up with Burgess for a couple of years hwere he lived having married Berndette Nealon, sister of his Tipperary teammate Donie.
Almost sixty years on from the beginning of the golden era of Tipperary hurling, the Premier County are going through another successful era with three All Irelands won in the last decade so how does Mackey see the modern game.
“Hurling is different now, it’s all about speed,” he said.
“I don’t think they are as good nowadays. Back in my day it was a lot tougher. We didn’t have a light ball that landed in the square from a puckout or this pucking out the ball to a loose man, I can’t understand that. The two wing backs, there is no one on them when the ball is being pucked out and it’s the same at the other end. If I were wing forward, I would be on my man, so he doesn’t get a free puck.
“Maybe I’m on the wrong wheel as the fella says but that’s the way it had gone now.
“In my day when I saw Burns or Wall, or Gaynor get the ball I was gone. I was always told when you get the ball in your hand there is feck all anyone can do about it.
“The current team have some great hurlers. Seamus Callanan would be my favourite.”
“Hurling is different now, it’s all about speed,” he said.
“I don’t think they are as good nowadays. Back in my day it was a lot tougher. We didn’t have a light ball that landed in the square from a puckout or this pucking out the ball to a loose man, I can’t understand that. The two wing backs, there is no one on them when the ball is being pucked out and it’s the same at the other end. If I were wing forward, I would be on my man, so he doesn’t get a free puck.
“Maybe I’m on the wrong wheel as the fella says but that’s the way it had gone now.
“In my day when I saw Burns or Wall, or Gaynor get the ball I was gone. I was always told when you get the ball in your hand there is feck all anyone can do about it.
“The current team have some great hurlers. Seamus Callanan would be my favourite.”