Pat Tomany, John Makem and Peter Makem

Pat Tomany and brothers Peter and John Makem are all Derrynoose-based members of the GAA. All three plot the high and lows of the club’s fortunes in the 1960s – from the winning of the Dean Keown cup in 1960 and the junior championship in 1963 to the demise of the club after 1964 in the face of emigration. Peter Makem talks about the enthusiasm and excitement of seeing grown men togged out for the first time in the mid1950s when football was started up in the area after an absence of almost 20 years. He talks about joining the team in 1963 and being part of the winning junior championship team of that year. Peter also talks about his interest in Armagh county football and his role in helping restore organisation to the county set-up in the early 1970s. He further notes the contribution the 1977-82 generation of players made to the subsequent success enjoyed by the Armagh teams. By the early 1970s, football in Derry had restarted and John Makem discusses the club’s achievement in winning a junior championship in 1973. He also reflects on the casual approach of the team manager, the relaxed attitude to training, the fun that was had competing in tournaments across Armagh, the players pride in representing their area and the support they received from the wider community. John Makem also discusses the benefits to the individual of participation with a local club and the bonds that still exist between players who once played together. All three interviewees consider the challenges facing the club at a time of economic recession and rising emigration and they each reflect on the changes in Gaelic football over the decades, from the catch and kick game that they practiced and enjoyed to the possession game then in vogue.