September 10th, 2021

A Chairde,

This week’s two page bulletin will take a look at updates since our last communication along with a short article on a legendary All Ireland Hero from Clane called Larry “Hussey” Cribbin:

“Bits & Bytes”

  • The first Kildare GAA Club Draw will take place this evening @ 6:30pm in Joe Mallon Motors, Sallins Rd. Each ticket bought will assist your Club with projects they are completing. The draw will be broadcast live on Kfm.
  • The Kildare County Committee are now inviting expressions of interest from candidates for the positions of Senior & Minor Football Managers. The closing date for expressions is 5.00pm on Friday 17th September and all correspondence is to be sent, by email, to kildare@gaa.ie. Nominations received beyond the deadline will not be accepted.
  • David Herity was ratified as Senior Hurling Manager for a three year term with review after two years at Tuesday night’s County Board Meeting. David’s selectors will be Declan O’Toole & Paul Dermody. A further selector & coach will be announced in the coming weeks.
  • The U20 & Minor Hurling Management Teams were also ratified on Tuesday night. Eoin Stapleton will manage the U20 Hurlers with Tom Walsh, Cian Hogan, Pat O’Meara, Liam Dolan & Mairtin Boran as selectors. The Minor Hurlers will be jointly managed by Noel Ryan & Mark Moloney. Their selectors will be Sean Bean, Brian Frisby & Darragh Nolan.
  • Scór Sinsear is back!! The very best of luck to Ardclough (Solo Singing), Maynooth (Céilí and Set Dancing) and Miltown (Quiz and Novelty Act) who will represent Kildare in the provincial finals.
  • Best wishes to Kildare GAA referees Brendan Cawley & Ray Kelly who will be linesmen in this weekend’s All Ireland Football & Camogie Finals this weekend respectively.
 

Larry ‘Hussey’ Cribbin, Clane’s Legendary All-Ireland Hero

Larry ‘Hussey’ Cribbin from Clane and Frank ‘Joyce’ Conlan of Roseberry Club in Newbridge had the distinction of being the only men to play in Kildare’s first (1905) All-Ireland win and in the 1919 final victory in his 40th year.

‘Hussey’ was one of the most famous Kildare players ever to wear the white jersey. He won 15 county senior hurling medals with his club between 1901 and 1916 as well as four senior football medals in the same period.

He was at left corner-back on the Kildare team which won the 1905 All-Ireland final (1-7 to 0-5 v Kerry) which was played on 16 June 1907 at Thurles. From 1915, he was the regular Lilywhite goalkeeper, and he won a second Celtic cross when Kildare beat Galway by 2-5 to 0-1 in the 1919 All-Ireland final on 28 September, making him one of the oldest players ever to win an All-Ireland medal. The midfielders on that team were the famous Larry Stanley from Caragh, and Mick Sammon from Clane who refereed the fateful Bloody Sunday match between Dublin and Tipperary at Croke Park on 21 November 1920.

Hussey’s last game for Kildare was on 15 August 1920 in a 1-5 to 0-1 win against Westmeath in Croke Park. In all, he lined out for his county at least 50 times in official matches beginning 120 years ago in 1901.

‘Hussey’ Cribbin won the first of his three Leinster medals in the 1903 championship. He was on a Leinster Railway Shield team that beat Connacht in the pre-Railway Cup days. In May 1906, he was a member of the Kildare team which captured the county’s first national trophy, the Dr Croke Cup, by beating Mayo, 1-9 to nil. He also won a Leinster Second Division hurling medal with Kildare in 1905.

The Clane stalwart was made of stern stuff. Eoghan Corry writes in his Kildare GAA, A Centenary History that after the 1905 Leinster final (played in 1907) against Louth,
“He was told that he would have to have his arm amputated as a result of blood poisoning from a wound received from a kick on the wrist during the match. ‘Death first’, he replied. Six months later, he won an All-Ireland medal.”
In his account of the 1919 final, Corry colourfully describes Hussey Cribbin as

“A feared goalkeeper. Most of his teeth were missing, and it appeared he had fangs in the corners of his mouth. He also smoked his pipe as he strode from goalpost to goalpost, his massive physique tearing up the Croke Park turf like a bullock”.