In a very informed, detailed and personal tribute, Eamonn Keogh recalls the late great Weeshie Fogarty’s long association with Killarney basketball, the role he played in the development of the sport in the town and his involvement with the legendary Busby Babes team that built up a remarkably close bond with the Manchester United Football Club squad, many of whom perished in the Munich Air Disaster in February 1958
FONDLY remembered by many as a broadcasting legend, Gaelic footballer and referee, the late great Weeshie Fogarty was also a wonderful supporter and ambassador for Killarney basketball and had a deep love for the game in which he excelled in his playing days. He had no hesitation admitting that, after football, basketball had always been his second favourite sport.
Image is from an old St Paul’s programme and the original photograph was taken by Harry MacMonagle
Growing up on Lower New Street, Killarney, Weeshie was only 10 years old when Ben Campion founded the first local basketball club, in October 1951, and he was present when the very first game took place in November of that year in the old Killarney Town Hall. He also had the thrill of watching the high-flying Harlem Globetrotters playing an exhibition match on an outdoor court at Killarney Racecourse in the mid 1950s. Basketball continued to grow during that decade with the town hall hosting the All-Ireland Championship finals in October 1955.
Several Killarney teams began to emerge throughout the 1950s and 60s to participate in a local town league and the sides in action included The United, New Street, High Street, Arbutus Eagles, Ross Rovers, Woodlawn Rangers, St Mary’s, The Panthers, The Warriors, The Red Devils, The Jokers, The Battleships, The Shadows and The Rockets.
With basketball booming in Killarney and throughout Kerry, Weeshie and his sports-mad friends, Louis Nolan, Mick O’Sullivan, Donal Courtney, Jimmy O’Leary, Jerry Looney and Noel O’Connor, soon formed their own basketball team and decided to call themselves The Busby Babes. Down through the years, Weeshie often recalled the story about sitting down and drafting a letter to Matt Busby, the then all-powerful and charismatic Manchester United manager, and a few weeks later a brown box arrived, to the Dalton’s Avenue home of Mick O’Sullivan, containing 11 red jerseys with wide white collars and all sporting huge numbers on the back. A short letter, signed by the great man himself, wished the lads every success and added that the enclosed jerseys had been worn by the Busby Babes during some of their great triumphs.
Ironically, the Killarney Busby Babes team wore the famous jerseys for the very first time on 6 February 1958, the day of the dreadful Munich Air Disaster when British European Airways Flight 609, carrying the Manchester United team, officials and journalists, crashed on a the snow-covered Munich runway resulting in 23 fatalities with 21 survivors.
Weeshie and the Killarney Busby Babes basketball team went on to win numerous Killarney town leagues and championships. By the mid to late 1960s they were the main basketball team in town and in the 1966-67 season the Babes won senior and minor county championship titles while the junior team lost a final, in overtime, to the Red Devils.
Weeshie played on that team alongside his brother Geni Fogarty, Tadghie Fleming, Jackie Looney, Pat Somers, Johnny Culloty and Tommy Bracker O’Regan. The Babes also went on to represent Kerry in the Munster Championship and in a dramatic two-legged affair, they beat Cork kingpins Neptune by a single point.
The Busby Babes were also strengthened with the emergence of some great young players in that period, particularly the late Paudie O’Connor, Weeshie’s neighbour and friend, who the broadcaster later described as the greatest Kerry born basketball player he had ever seen and the greatest innovator of the sport of basketball in his era.
Weeshie also proudly recalled a fascinating story about his O’Sullivan’s Place neighbours who won three different All-Ireland titles in 1969: Paudie O’Connor brought home the All-Ireland senior and minor basketball cups, Vince Johnson was the All-Ireland fly fishing champion and another neighbour, Johnny Culloty, had captained Kerry to win their 21st senior All-Ireland title to bring the Sam Maguire Cup to the small housing estate in the shadow of St Mary’s Parish Hall.
Weeshie’s basketball playing days came to an end during the 1970s but he never lost interest in the game and he was a passionate supporter of the great St Vincent’s Gleneagle Killarney team in the late 70s and early 1980s. He enjoyed the big nights at a packed St Brendan’s Gym during these glory days when Gleneagle won national titles as well as suffering an agonising overtime loss to Doncaster in the Federation Cup final in 1982. Later, Weeshie kept a close eye on the fortunes of St Paul’s Basketball Club’s underage and national league teams during the 1990s and right up to the present day.
He was always obliging and very supportive in promoting basketball, giving it prominent coverage on his radio show on several occasions. In an article he penned for a St Paul’s programme a number of years ago, Weeshie wished the club every success, stating that St Paul’s were the heirs to a precious tradition of basketball in Killarney, a tradition handed down from that first ever match played in the town in 1951.
Long before he ever hit the airwaves and the publication of his books, Weeshie Fogarty was always a man that stood out and made a difference in Killarney town. His playing career in football and basketball is well documented and he was the main driving force behind the publication of the 50th anniversary history book A Legion of Memories in 1979.
My earliest childhood memory of Weeshie – a deeply personal one – was a sad occasion on 24 May 1976 when he and his Legion clubmate, Johnny Culloty, did their level best to try and revive my own father Tim Keogh – a Dr Crokes man – when he suffered a fatal heart attack at the Fitzgerald Stadium during a Dr Crokes v Legion East Kerry under 12 final.
Always willing to help others, courteous and generous with his time, our shared interest in the history and progress of Killarney basketball contributed greatly to our many conversations over the years. A keen collector of sporting memorabilia, he once gave me an original copy of the official match programme from the All-Ireland basketball finals that took place in Killarney in 1955.
His encyclopedic knowledge of Killarney and Kerry basketball players and matches, covering every decade from the 1950s to the current era, was endless. Paudie O’Connor, Bruddy Burrows, Paddy Culligan, Hugh O’Brien and Pat O’Shea were just some of the basketballers that he truly admired.
He was equally comfortable talking about the exploits of NBA superstars LeBron James and Steph Curry who have revolutionized the game of basketball on a global stage in the past number of years.
Weeshie’s familiar presence and distinctive voice will be sorely missed by all. Sincere condolences are extended to Weeshie’s wife Joan, daughters, Denise and Carolann, and son Kieran, son-in-law Glenn, granddaughters Lucy and Eva, sister Sheila, and extended family.
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