The tug-o-war that took down Cork man 'Big Jack'

In the morning, when my father was untackling the pony from the cart after delivering milk to Lombardstown Creamery, the second oldest one in the country, as a 5-year-old, I heard him say ‘the war is over’.

It was May 1945.

Ireland was so lucky to escape so well.

During the war, there was very little emigration and even though wages were small, most of the younger people stayed in the country.

As the youth needed something to occupy their minds and time, in small villages and sometimes crossroads or townlands, new clubs were set up.

One such area was Skehanagh; a townland about four miles from Doneraile and close to the Ballyhoura mountains where the community joined in forming an athletic club.

The club was very successful in sports and cross-country, winning the county novice cross-country at Mallow Racecourse.

A hurling club followed and this club was also victorious in winning the North Cork Novice Hurling Championship.

There were quite a few strong men in the area with a little time on their hands, and so Bob Deane and others formed a tug-o-war team.

It was this team which would become the most famous of the three local clubs.

It was coached by Mossie O’Connell of Ballyhooly.

His son, Con, ran with me on the Grange team that won the 1966 Jubilee Race from Pierce’s Cottage in Ros Muc, Connemara, to Kilmainham Jail in Dublin — 273km all through the night. Con was a fine fellow and a good athlete.

The Skehanagh tug-o-war team won three County Championships and two Munster Championships in 1946/47.

With travelling so difficult, the team did not compete in the All-Ireland but any time they pulled against the All-Ireland teams they beat them.

The members of the team were the great anchor man Big Jack Sheehan, Bob Deane, Lar Murphy, Pat Norris, Ned Donoghue, Jack O’Flynn (when Big Jack did not pull, Jack O’Flynn filled the role of anchor man), Tim O’Hanlon, Joe Hunt, Paddy Hurley, Pat Kelly and coach Mossie ‘Harper’ O’Connell.

I was told Mossie got the name ‘Harper’ because when he was playing pitch and toss, he always called ‘harp’.

When training for the tug-o-war, Skehanagh used a pole, which when standing, was eight to 10 feet high.

This had a pulley on top, a rope going through the pulley, and a heavyweight at the end of the rope.

To get on the team, the puller would have to pull the weight to the top of the pole and let it down slowly.

The only puller that could do that was Big Jack. And he could do it with one hand.

People said he was as strong as two men.

A neighbour of mine, Jamsie Magner from Ballinaraha, Castletownroche, who passed away last year, once told me the story of the time he was offered a spin to a tug-o-war and sports in Barraduff in Co Kerry.

At that time, spins in cars were not too plentiful and he didn’t need a second invitation.

Giving him the drive was his neighbour Mick Drinan, who was working for the sugar factory and was pulling for them in a junior tug.

The senior pull was between the Cork and the Kerry champions Eiries.

The tug-o-war and sports were held in John Jack’s (Murphy) Field.

The Kerry team included two lots of brothers, with Paddy Mich’s Moynihans, the Leary’s of Reighneagh, two brothers of the Micklos of Kilquane, one brother of Ger Dinny Booley and one of the O’Donoghue boys.

Under the rules for tug-o-war teams at that time, the winning team would have to get the losing team across a red mark on the ground, 13 feet from where the pull started.

On the day, the Skehanagh team pulled the Eiries team most of the way to the winning line but failed to get them any further as the ground was fairly soft.

Both teams had different styles with the Skehanagh team pulling at an angle, standing up, while the Eiries team were lying on the ground.

With yielding ground, the legs of the Eiries team sank into the earth and both teams were at a standstill for ages.

Jamsie Magner was standing beside Big Jack, the Skehanagh anchor man, when he saw the rope tightening on him.

It was said that Big Jack began to turn all sorts of colours; blue, pale green and hectic red.

Jamsie rushed to open the stud on his shirt and when he did, with the pressure, the stud went flying.

There was a young priest there, Father Timothy O’Leary, who was CC in Barraduff from 1944 to 1947.

Father Timothy shouted at the pullers that if they didn’t stop he would cut the rope.

Big Jack went down.

At the time there was no first aid, only buckets of water.

While the anchor man was down for a long time, he came around and was said to be very lucky to be alive.

Each time I went to Barraduff, I met a lovely man, John Joe Murphy, who has a pub in the centre of the town.

He arranged a meeting for me with Jim Kelly of Headford.

John Joe drove me to his place and it was great to meet a man of 93 years of age and in great health and perfect mind.

Jim, like Jamsie Magner, was also at the tug of war and sports that Sunday in 1946 and he too remembered the excitement well.

He said it was a big day between the tug-o-war and the sports.

I’m so happy that my friend and neighbour Jamsie told me the story of that unforgettable day when the powerful Skehanagh tug-o-war man Big Jack Sheehan almost lost his life.