Cricket in Fingal 1825-1925

Early Days, 1825-1890

The earliest references to cricket in the Fingal area are contained in the diaries of Mrs Taylor of Ardgillan [see photo above] when she mentions cricket in Hampton (Balbriggan) and in Rush in the 1820s.  This is what was colloquially called “Big House” cricket where the gentry of an area played games against each other during the day and then had a tea-party and dance after the game. Hampton was again the venue when cricket was revived in Balbriggan in 1844. “Several gentlemen amateurs of that manly sport have applied to Mr George A. Hamilton for the use of the old ground in his demesne”, and on 15 July 1844, Balbriggan beat Rathmines by an innings and 38 runs.

By the early 1860s, the focus had shifted from the Big Houses to the formation of cricket clubs although members of the gentry were centrally involved in these enterprises, and continued to provide the playing facilities, the equipment and the players. Malahide Cricket Club was founded in 1861 and Balbriggan Cricket Club was re-established on 12 May 1863. At the inaugural  meeting, it was reported that “nearly the whole of the gentry of the neighbourhood and surrounding country have become members, and everything looks as if the Balbriggan Club, will ere long, become one of the best in Ireland.” Balbriggan played its first match on Saturday, 25 July 1863 on its “nicely situated ground.” They batted first and placed what the newspaper account referred to as a “very respectable number of 75 to their account.” After a game of two innings per side, the result was a win for Malahide, but this was deemed “highly creditable” for a young club to have played with “such success against such good players as the Malahide.”

The report of the game between Balbriggan and Westown which was played on 31 August 1863 is a model of its type with no amount of hyperbole being too much for the intrepid correspondent. There are references to the “match coming off at the beautiful seat of Malachi S. Hussey, Esq. before “a great concourse of spectators, including the ladies and gentlemen, and all the peasantry of the neighbourhood.” Balbriggan batted first, lost early wickets, and the last wicket in the first innings fell for 44 with “Mr Whyte making the largest score, “by good play, all singles.” Westown only scored 28 in the first innings but came into their own in the second innings. In his innings, “Mr Hussey played in his usual fine style and his young son and heir, Master Anthony, who is home for vacation, played and bowled beautifully.” Balbriggan really had no chance against such talented cricketers, and Westown got the required score in the second innings for the loss of eight wickets. The above report encapsulates the nature of the society which existed in that era. With the dependence on the gentry for facilities and employment, we notice the deferential attitude shown to them, and modern readers would find singularly unfortunate the reference to the “peasantry”. 

The return game between Balbriggan and Weston was played in Balbriggan on 7 September 1863  “in the presence of a large and fashionable attendance of spectators.” Balbriggan scored 46 in the first innings, and Weston scored 52 in reply. Young Mr Strong Hussey, again got favourable mention and it was reported that “although, (he was) a juvenile in years, promises fair to be a significant player, and he at present forms a very worthy example for many older players.” He did not play as well in the second innings because he only got one run,  Westown was bowled out for 18 runs, and Balbriggan won by 42 runs. In 1863 also, there is a reference to a team from Balcunnin playing against White Hart, and in 1865, Balbriggan played Drogheda, home and away. Balbriggan scored 96, and Drogheda in two innings could only accumulate 54 runs. Sandymount travelled to Balbriggan for a game, and Balbriggan played games against Gormanston and Skerries.

In the 1870s, there are very few reports of games, but in the ones which are reported, the influence of the gentry continued to be very much in evidence. When Co. Meath played Malahide, the Hon. Mr Talbot “contributed 18 by steady play and held possession of his wicket to the last.” The reply for Co. Meath was led by the Hon. Mr R. Plunket who scored 20, not out. The result of this game was Malahide 55, Co. Meath, 54. The Hussey family of Westown House did not confine their cricketing activities to playing for Westown House, they also featured for Navan. In the game against Co. Louth in August 1872, Navan did not have a great start because the team was two players short (the two Mr Husseys), for the first innings but the situation was retrieved in the second innings when the Husseys arrived, and young Mr Hussey scored 32 runs. His father, Malachi was not as fortunate. He scored a duck. 

By the early 1880s, there was evidence of the democratisation of the sport in Fingal. There were names on the scorecards other than members of the gentry. Knockbrack CC was founded in 1880, and there were new teams in Skerries (Skerries Excelsior), Balbriggan, Garristown, The Naul and Balscadden. When Stamullen played Skerries Excelsior in June 1883, the main contributors for Skerries were J. Sherwin (18) and J. Wade (14). There was still a club in Balbriggan in 1887, but it was now called Balbriggan Rovers. In its game with City of Dublin Workingmen’s CC, Balbriggan won on a score of 69 to 62.

At this stage, there was evidence of sensitivities arising from the Land War, and when Mr Hussey made the facilities at Westown available for the Naul CC, a reporter was taken very severely to task by a letter-writer for confusing the Naul CC and Westown, and salt was rubbed into the wound because the paper also reported the score incorrectly: 

In your issue of this day there appears a report of a cricket match played between Westown Naul CC and Matt CC. Same report is incorrect, no club whatsoever being in Westown. The game was between Naul CC and Matt on the ground of AS Hussey, Westown kindly given for the occasion. When stumps were drawn the Naul had scored 41 for their second innings for the loss of 5 wickets. Your report states they were all out for 40. (Signed:) Thomas Duff.

Why did it matter that the name of the club was reported incorrectly? Apart from the obvious comment regarding the importance of accuracy, the Duffs were Nationalists, and although they were grateful for the use of the ground, they did not wish to be associated too closely with the gentry. Despite these reservations, Mr Hussey played for the Naul CC in the following season, and he featured prominently in a game against Inchicore Catholic Club when he contributed 65 runs. Another person, J. Ennis, also got runs (27 not out) for the Naul CC, and his son, JT (The Squire) Ennis was to be very influential in ensuring the preservation of cricket in Fingal. 

1890-1925

Sports historians and various commentators have provided many reasons for cricket’s decline from being a mainstream sport in Ireland in the 1870s to its status as a minority sport in the early 20^th Century. It is beyond the scope of this article to analyse the causes for this phenomenon, but it is necessary to outline them briefly so that a context can be provided for an account of cricket in Fingal. One of the consequences of the Land Wars of the early 1880s was to drive a further wedge in the already difficult relationship between landlords and tenants with the result that landlords were not inclined to engage in sporting activities with their tenants when violent actions were occurring on a regular basis. The Gaelic Revival of the early 1890s with its emphasis on all things Irish and its castigation of English games and goods meant that there was plenty of ammunition (no pun intended) for those who perceived cricket as being the most quintessentially English of all field sports, and Irish-Irelanders were quick to vent their spleen on cricket and cricketers. It is dangerous to generalise, and Paul Rouse suggests that the complexities of life in rural Ireland meant that different factors were at work in different areas, and that it is not always possible to ascribe neat divisions in sport to a particular reason.

This was undoubtedly the case in Fingal (and Meath) towards the end of the 19^th Century and the beginning of the 20^th Century, and while cricket was dying in parts of the country, it was thriving in these two areas. To ascertain the reasons these regions appeared to be swimming against the tide, it is necessary to examine briefly the factors which contributed to the development of cricket in Fingal during this period.

While there were large landed estates in Fingal such as those of Holmpatrick in Skerries and Talbot in Malahide, the pattern of land-ownership in Fingal differed from that which existed in the rest of Ireland. Due to  the various Land Acts, many of the tenant farmers were enabled to buy-out their holdings, with the result that there was not the same level of dependence on the gentry for the promotion of cricket. The owners of the Big Houses such as the Taylors of Ardgillan, the Talbots of Malahide and the Palmers of Rush were responsible for introducing cricket to Fingal, and members of the gentry such as Woods of Milverton Hall, Woods of Whitestown, and Hussey of Westown House played their part in fostering cricket, but the tenant farmers, farm labourers and small farmers who lived in the vicinity of the landed gentry were also very involved in playing cricket. It is not being suggested that Fingal was an egalitarian Utopia, and that relationships between landowners and farm-labourers were always harmonious, but at a general level, it appears that there was a level of tolerant co-existence with the gentry leading totally  separate lives to the rest of the community. Cricket was an area of activity where there was a connection between the gentry and their tenants although it was reported that at some games, the gentry took their refreshments in different quarters to their workers.

The availability of the rail network was of crucial importance because it provided flexibility and choice in terms of fixtures for teams and it is no coincidence that clubs were founded in Malahide, Skerries, Balbriggan and Rush. This is readily illustrated by the fixtures which teams from Balbriggan, its hinterland, Skerries and Malahide fulfilled during this period. The report on the game between Laytown Visitors and Skerries Visitors in the Drogheda Argus and Leader Journal, 30 August 1890 ended with a note of appreciation for the station master:  

As usual the Railway company stopped the 8.10 p.m. train to take up the Skerries cricket team. The Company always kindly stopped trains at Laytown to take up or set down cricket teams at the request of the hon. sec. of the Laytown Cricket Club, Mr Thos. JA Wall.

The train timetables tended to dictate the starting and finishing times of games. For example, the members of the Civil Service 2^nd X1 were advised to meet at Amiens Street Station at 1.30 p.m. for a game against Balbriggan which was scheduled to commence at 3.00. Corduff’s wonderful trip to Dublin to play against St James CC, which involved some cricket, and lots of singing and dancing was curtailed by the “unwelcome train time."

Other factors involved in facilitating cricket in Fingal was the involvement in cricket of the visitors to Skerries and Rush who rented houses in these town during the summer. The Holmpatrick cricket team was comprised of members of the sizeable Anglican population in Skerries, summer residents and visitors to the area. Balbriggan had developed as a major manufacturing centre with the result that there was a constant influx of migrant workers from England to the town.

Due to a lack of league structures and a resistance among some people to the concept of competitions, clubs arranged games by placing advertisements in the local newspapers, indicating available dates or preferences in terms of travel. For example, the Emmets Cricket Club in Skerries expressed a desire for “a few more fixtures with country clubs.” The other means of obtaining fixtures was to issue a public challenge. In a review of the 1903 season, the Secretary of Knockbrack CC reported that the team had won eight games and lost 4, and its record was not as good as Corduff’s but unlike Corduff, Knockbrack never refused a challenge from “clubs that were likely to beat them.” An inflammatory statement such as this was guaranteed to provoke a response from Corduff, and Peter Kelly, Secretary of Corduff, did not pull any punches in his reply:

Corduff has played and defeated better teams that ever they were, and would not have refused to play (and be sure to defeat them), only on the grounds that we were certain they were inclined to pick a local team whom we have defeated, but are very much inclined for rising rows.

On the evidence of the reports in the local newspapers, there were at least twenty three cricket clubs in Fingal during the period 1897 to 1910. Many of these clubs could more correctly be called teams because they were simply groups of  like-minded individuals who came together to play cricket and had been given access to a field by a friendly landowner. The fields which were used could change from season to season, or even during a season, and finding a field in which to play was a constant problem. Balbriggan CC held its annual meeting on 23 May 1900, and it was explained that there was no point in meeting any earlier because the club had no ground but Terence O’Neill, businessman and landowner, came to the rescue and “placed one of his fields at their disposal.”

Gormanstown (sic) played Balbriggan at this ground later in the season, but from the account provided by PJ Curtis, Secretary of Gormanstown, some of the home club’s “supporters” appear to have been less than gracious:

There was a very bad spleen showing by the outsiders on the part of the Balbriggan X1 to which we suggest to Mr Terence O’Neill who kindly lent the ground for the occasion, to keep the roughs away from going to the ground who came for no other purpose that to cause a row between the two elevens.

Games not being finished occurred occasionally. The convention was for each team to provide one umpire, and it was assumed that in keeping with the spirit of cricket, umpires’ decisions would be respected, and all umpires would be impartial. The practice diverged at times from this theory, and umpires’ decisions were contested with some regularity. When the Naul played Ashbourne, the Naul was 19 runs in front, when T. Mc Grurn disputed the umpire’s decision and the game was abandoned.

It would be unfair to over-emphasise the games not being completed due to disputes. Teams in Fingal acquired a reputation for being very competitive on the field, and very hospitable when the games were over. The quality of the hospitality was a characteristic of Fingal clubs in the early era and continues to be a hallmark of Fingal clubs in modern times. In an account on the game between Westown and Balbriggan, the reporter excelled himself with the account of the after-match hospitality:

After play Mr and Mrs Hussey displayed their usual hospitality by entertaining the players and visitors to sumptuous dejeuner. Mr Hussey presiding and after drinking the usual loyal and complimentary toasts, the company parted at a late hour, highly pleased after indulging in the feast of reason and the flow of soul.

Corduff CC had a reputation for being a very competitive team, but that did not prevent the players from appreciating the social aspects of cricket. The club appears to have made a distinction between games against neighbouring clubs and games in Dublin because the game against St James’ CC was “all the more enjoyable as it was free from the strain of league and inter-club cricket.” The game “took a secondary part with the social proceedings which followed. The St James’ men and their ladies vied with each other in paying attention to their guests."

The start of the cricket season was awaited eagerly in Fingal, and a correspondent in the Drogheda Argus was critical of the tardy way in which  Balbriggan was preparing for the new season:

What is the matter with Balbriggan Cricket Club? On all sides one reads and hears of preparations being made for the coming season, but the committee of BCC seem to be still in the comatose condition attributed to the bear in winter. 

Balbriggan’s season was due to start eventually with a game against Civil Service on 28 May 1904, and it appears that the delay was caused by the loss of its benefactor, Mr T.J. O’Neill.

In addition to inter-club games, business houses and factories also played cricket. In a game between Balbriggan and Belfast Banking Co., a player called A. Slogger got runs (18) and took 5 wickets. An exhaustive search of the 1901 Census has failed to reveal anyone in Ireland with the surname of Slogger so even in that era, it is obvious that “hired guns” were being used. In 1904, Smyth and Co. played against Mr R. Spencer’s X1, and in a two innings per side game, Spenser’s X1 scored 94 and Smyth & Co. scored 77.

Between 1910 and 1913, there are very few reports of cricket being played in Fingal. Whether this was due to less cricket being played or if there was pressure on space due to publicity being given to other sports or other events is not clear. In 1913, Ring Commons CC indicated in April that it was open for challenges for the coming season. Knockbrack continued to play cricket, and Gormanstown CC made a comeback after being absent for some years. On 31 August, Gormanstown played Ring Commons “on the lately well-laid grounds presented to the club by Lord Gormanston” and beat them on a score of 58 runs to 22. Best for Gormanstown were Johnny Clark and the Purfield brothers. On 7 September 1913, Gormanstown beat Knockbrack on a score of 50 to 26 runs. The same two teams met again on 14 September 1913, and Gormanstown won on a score of31 to 17, with the low scores being attributed to a “slow wicket”. There was some cricket being played during the war, because on 29 August 1915, Lieutenant M. F. Healy thought it strange that people in Skerries preferred playing cricket and golf to fighting in the war:

They were fighting to keep the Germans from Ireland and yet they in Skerries could keep on playing golf and cricket and would not go into training and help the fighting men.

From 1913 until 1925, the only report in the local press is a reference to a schoolboys’ game which was played in Rush in 1920.

Local, national and international events were predominant during the next 12 years or so, with minimal attention being given to the reporting of cricket. For example, there was agitation during 1911 regarding rents and the sale of the Holmpatrick estate. Relations between farm labourers and land owners were particularly strained during the farm labourers’ strike in 1913 when an ultimatum was given to the farm labourers to leave the union or be dismissed, a tomb belonging to the Woods’ family was desecrated and cattle were released on to the road. In October 1914, the Skerries Branch of the Town Tenants’ League organised a protest meeting to condemn evictions, the increased demands for rent and charges for seaweed by Lord Holmpatrick and his agents. Some of people on the platform such as Wm. McLoughlin, P. Grimes and Walter Collins had also been involved in playing cricket with the Emmets CC and the Black Hills.

The War of Independence and Civil War which followed World War 1 caused attitudes to harden regarding anything to do with England, and cricket was adjudged by cultural nationalists to be the most English of all sports, a source of fraternisation with the enemy and the cause of emasculation of the virile Irish people. Politically and socially, it was not expedient to be involved in cricket during troubled times, but the regard for cricket in Fingal ran very deep, and traditionally, Fingallians are “possessed of an independent spirit.” They did not appreciate being dictated to by cultural nationalists or others regarding the games that they might or might not play.

The re-birth of cricket in Fingal commenced in 1925 with the re-organisation of Skerries CC and its desire to play home and away games against the “many clubs which in the past contested friendlies with them". In April 1926, Knockbrack CC indicated that it was “open to arrange fixtures for the coming season”. However, the most important development was the announcement in October 1926 that North County Dublin cricket clubs intended to form a league and were confident of having the league “in full working order before the opening of the next season”. Having taken all other factors into account, the greatest single factor in the preservation of cricket in Fingal was the establishment of the Fingal League, and it is intended to chronicle at a later stage the extent of the indebtedness of cricket-lovers to the vision and energy of the its founders.

Note: The assistance of Joe Curtis is acknowledged for his insights into that era and the photographs; the late Joe Clinton provided the impetus and inspiration for undertaking this work. 

The articles with all the footnotes and references can be obtained from Jim Bennett.