Hogan's Deck

Photos and collage compiled by by Leo "George" Devitt

An evening with Tommy Hogan – a life in service to Raheny GAA 

(interview with Eamon Doherty)

We will start at the end, one word, ‘everything’, - that is what Raheny GAA means to Tommy Hogan, and why wouldn’t it? 

He was one of the first boys to represent the club on Father Ryans U15 team in 1958. St Anne’s Park was a very different world in the early 1950’s and the Hogans were its only residents, Tommy and his nine siblings grew up in this idyllic world in a house by the clock tower called the Garden House. “St Annes was akin to a jungle in those days” according to Tommy. 

Without the capillaries of tarmac footpaths we have today, it made the park difficult to navigate, and Tommy remembers his father having to pre mark the trees and stones to guide him home through the darkness of the park after his shifts on Dublin Bus. It was around then that the St Annes Housing was built, and families came from everywhere around Dublin to live in St Annes Park. 

“They came and found us“ Tommy fondly recalls of the new arrivals to the Hogans world. Schools were being built to accommodate the boys and girls of the great influx of families into the embryonic parish, when an energetic curate on loan to the parish, Father Richard (Dick) Ryan from Doon in County Limerick entered a school team into the school leagues. 

Father Ryan was ably supported by Jim Donegan, Jim was a Kilkenny man who played hurling for Dublin between 1942 and 1945 before eventually winning an All-Ireland Hurling title with his native Kilkenny in 1947. Jim Donegan's great-grandchildren play with the club today. Although many great volunteers came on board soon after, these were the men who founded the club. 

This was in 1956, and in 1958, affiliation to the GAA followed. It was decided to call the new club after our place, Raheny, and our colours, Maroon and white, because Galway were the All-Ireland Champions in 1956. The 1958 under 15 team was the first to represent the club, and Peter Carroll, who is still an occasional visitor to the club, was also a member of this team. The new club continued to build behind this team, and hurling was also soon played in the parish, and many wonderful people helped the club through its infancy. 

In Dublin in those days, there were 4 divisions of 8 football teams, and Raheny climbed through the divisions, eventually reaching division 1 status. The 1970 county final was a watershed moment, and despite a 4-point loss to our neighbours, St Vincent’s we had announced ourselves on the scene. Tommy played until minor but back then the demands of making a decent living in the 1950’s and 60’s Ireland were perhaps not as conducive to playing sport as they are today. A tailoring apprenticeship which meant a 6 day work week from 8AM to 6PM, along with 4 nights per week of night tech, would curtail any career, but Tommy’s service to his beloved club was entering a new phase. 

In 1974, Tommy became the vice chairperson of Raheny GAA club, and then in 1975, he was elected chairperson of Raheny GAA club. “I was surrounded by great energetic people with great careers” said Tommy “and we were watching clubs like Na Fianna and Craobh Chiarain building clubhouses and we didn’t want to be left behind” and so began the development of our Clubhouse. Initially, some people were disinclined about the prospect of such a venture, but the people with the vision were committed and dedicated enough, so we began the fundraising to find the money. “We knocked on doors, and people gave us all sorts, we held winter fairs and summer fairs in De La Salle school, and somehow we raised the money.” 

The club house was opened in April 1981 and Tommy resigned as chairperson in 1982. Around this time, Paula Lee and Claire Hayes were some of the visionaries that started camogie in Raheny, and Tommy’s daughters were soon swinging hurleys with the fledgling camogie section. 

Tommy and Dolores have three children, Greg, Louise, and Emma. All have played in the club with Greg representing Dublin as captain of the minor hurling team in 1990 whilst also being a member of the Dublin minor football team at the same time. Louise and Emma are now coaches and volunteers in Raheny whilst Greg is living in Howth and involved with Beann Eadair, “that’s where Greg lives, and that is the proper GAA way” says Tommy. Upon retirement from his business, the GAA club came calling again, “We were having difficulty finding someone to manage the club” said Tommy, and sure enough he stepped into the breach once more and he ran the club bar and complex for 13 years. 

When asked about the great days and moments down the years, Tommy reminisces about so many great days, but settled on the day we achieved senior football status away against Ballyboughal, and in recent times there is our Minor A hurling victory over St Vincents in Cloghran - “Ah, so many great players” says Tommy, when asked. 

“Raheny have been blessed with some great men and women representing their club and sometimes their county”. The Raheny contribution to Dublin teams has been extraordinary, and we are a club held in high esteem by our neighbours and other clubs in Dublin, and all our county representatives have been marvellous There are just too many to name. 

Tommy is our President , he is a lifetime honorary member and he acts as a trustee of our GAA Club, and he can be found on the side-lines supporting his grandchildren as they represent the club that means so much to him. 

So Tommy, we are at the last question what does Raheny GAA mean to you? “Everything!” The club has been a constant in the lives of Tommy and Dolores. 

Tommy recalls all the great lifelong friends he has made in the club, and the wonderful memories have brought great joy, and his beloved Raheny GAA club, the Pride of the Parish. 

Maybe a bit like Tommy himself. The Pride of the Parish.