The Main Interview: Bernie O’Dowd

Tipperary Camogie PRO Geraldine Kinane chats with Thurles Sarsfields Bernie O’Dowd

If you are lucky enough to captain a senior club team to a county final win, you will lift the Bernie O’Dowd trophy! A name renowned with camogie in Thurles and around the premier county.  I have been going to county board meetings for longer than I can recall and I don’t think I have ever been there and Thurles Sarsfield’s Bernie O’Dowd hasn’t been present. Never one to shy away from a debate her passion and dedication to camogie in the county can never be questioned. I first got to know Bernie in 2001 when I was called into the Tipperary Junior panel and she was a selector. But despite knowing Bernie for over 20 years I came to the realisation that I didn’t really know her at all. I knew she played camogie and I presumed she must have been good. I also knew she had been involved in the sport all her life but that’s about it. Therefore I was delighted when Bernie kindly agreed to meet me for a chat for the “The Main Interview” a new series where I chat to various camogie personnel from around the county to get an insight into their lives.

Three Moloney Sisters who played with Roscrea, Bernie O'Dowd, Peggy Kennedy RIP & Bunty Hogan 

I meet Bernie one afternoon for a cup of tea which she doesn’t have as she’s off it for lent. 10 minutes into our meeting I realise it’s a book that could be written about Bernie’s life and I straight away wonder how I will keep this to an article. She has lived a very full life with lots of joy and heart break. Bernie has had more than her fair share of painful setbacks from losing her father at 2 years of age, undergoing cancer treatment in 1995, the loss of her beloved husband Tommy in 1998 to the sudden illness and passing of her own sister during the first lockdown. Bernie firmly believes that sport and in particular Camogie has kept her going through all these hard times along with her inherent will-power. Born Bernie Moloney in Roscrea in 1945 Bernie was obsessed with the GAA and camogie from a young age. When her father died her mother a ‘remarkable woman’ was left to run the farm and rear 5 children on her own. Bernie recalls her mother milking 14 cows every day by hand morning and evening while also cycling 10 mile round trips a few times a week to help look after her own mother. She delights in telling me about her happy childhood where her love for hurling and camogie was evident from a young age. ‘I always carried my hurley and ball with me everywhere growing up. I had to walk 3 miles to school there and back and I hurled all the way’. Growing up on a farm meant there was plenty of space to practice her skills. After thrashing everyone gathered for a match. Bernie remembers playing with her sisters, brothers, uncles and friends. ‘the youth played the adults and there would be holy war but we always had a laugh and it definitely strengthened me up’. From the beginning Bernie longed to play senior camogie with Roscrea. Back then there was no underage camogie but at 12 years of age to Bernie’s delight she was called into the Roscrea senior panel. She won her first senior club medal at the age of 14 and went on to win numerous medals with Roscrea. Times and camogie were much different back then. Explaining about the unusual goals she hurled into in the beginning of her camogie career Bernie explains to me how the ‘goals were much smaller than what they are today and there was a double crossbar, with the ball having to be put in between in order to score a point’. The ‘ban’ was also in place meaning as a member of a camogie club she was banned from going to rugby and soccer matches. Bernie however being very much her own person, interested in sports and friendly with boys in Roscrea who played rugby donned hats and scarves and went in disguise to watch the rugby games.

In 1968 Bernie married Tommy O’Dowd and moved to Thurles and joined Thurles Camogie Club. She had a hugely successful career with Thurles going on to win 6 county senior championships and league medals aswel as 2 Munster championships captaining the team on one occasion. One of Bernie’s fondest memories is when she travelled to New York with Thurles Camogie Club in 1972 and played two games in the Gaelic Park and in Brooklyn. In doing so they were the first ever camogie club to play in the Gaelic park. Bernie’s talents were evident from a young age and at age 15 she made the Tipperary team. She wore the Tipperary jersey with pride and treasures the 2 Munster senior championships titles she won in the blue and gold. Dublin were a fantastic team back then and very dominant. It was rare to get them out of Croke park but one year they played them in an All-Ireland semi-final in Cahir. Bernie describes the extraordinary drama that unfolded that day. ‘Tipperary had won the game by a point but the referee had gotten the score mixed up and awarded the match to Dublin. The norm back then was for both teams to go for a meal together after the game so we were in the Cahir House hotel and we were up in arms that we had won. Members of central council were there and they instructed us that if we didn’t sit down and have our meal they would suspend every team in the county. Clearly still very mad all these years later Bernie tells me how they had to ‘sit down and swallow their pride’. According to Bernie the referee was then taken to the toilets away from the teams by central council to have their own ‘meeting’. After the meal Dublin were declared the winners to the anger of the Tipperary players who proceeded to protest outside of the Cahir House Hotel by burning their hurleys. The story in a way sums up Bernie, passionate about camogie, competitive to the core and no shrinking violet.

Thules Senior Team in New York in 1972

Back Row left to right: Guest player Kitty Ryan, Marion Moynihan (Graham), Marion Troy (Stokes) Mary Kelly, Deirdre Lane, Biddy Philips(RIP), Margo Loughnane (Regan)

Front row left to right: Beatrice Lawrence, Alice long (Perry) Bernie Moloney (O'Dowd) Mary Graham (Barret) Breda Doyle (Loughnane) Kay Bermingham.

 During her intercounty career Bernie was picked to play with Munster and she went on to win two senior Gael Linn titles with the province.  In 1961 Bernie played with Munster in the Gael Linn competition against Ulster. She reminiscences with laughter travelling to the Glens of Antrim with a Roscrea taxi man known for not driving past 30 miles an hour. ‘We started at 8 in the morning and didn’t get there till 12 that night’. The troubles were just starting and a Tipp man with the team decided to put our national flag on top of the hotel. British soldiers ended up storming the hotel room and standing up all the beds up against the wall and searching the rooms. ‘We were all petrified’. Bernie continued to play camogie for Thurles down through the years while also raising a family of 7 children with her husband Tommy. Tommy was always a great supporter of Bernie’s love of the sport and was always willing to give a hand. Paddy Doyle, Seamus Loughnane and Tommy were the main men over the team back then. With both her and Tommy involved I wonder how they managed with young kids. Bernie explains how there was plenty of mammies on the team and that there would be someone from the club who would mind the kids while they were training. She laughs as she recollects the various prams on the side-line and how often at the end of training you could be ‘handed back the wrong child.’

After many of the senior players had retired the senior end of Thurles camogie club came to a standstill. So Bernie then made the decision to play with St Patricks’s of Glengoogle winning a county final with them. They too disbanded so Bernie joined Moycarkey and won yet another county title. In 1984 Bernie decided it was time to hang up her boots. For the love of the game she threw herself into Thurles camogie club working tirelessly at keeping the juveniles going from strength to strength. In 1984 she became chairperson of the club a position she held until 2017. An amazing 36 years of devotion to a sport and club she truly loved. In 2012 Thurles camogie club joined forces with Thurles Sarsfields GAA club to become Thurles Sarsfields Camogie club. Today Bernie is still hugely involved with the club as selector with the U14s and u16s and also helps out with the u8s and u10s. She proudly informs me that her own Granddaughter Jade won an u12 county final in 2016 and an U16 county title in 2020.

In 1995 while at a camogie match Bernie got a pain in her back. After a number of appointments, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Like everything that came her way she faced it head on determined to beat it. She received chemo and radium treatment for 6 months and thankfully made a full recovery. During that period Bernie recalls how she had promised a club she would present medals to them at their medal presentation. On that particular day though she was after having chemo and despite being very sick she got up and left her bed and travelled to the club to make the presentation. Explaining to me the reason she went she states how she ‘gave them my word and I have never broken my word’. Bernie’s gratitude shines through throughout our conversation. She knows she is one of the fortunate ones that has beaten cancer but also believes her strength and will power aided her massively to fight it. Unfortunately, three years later Bernie was dealt another cruel blow with the sudden death of her devoted husband Tommy from a brainstem stroke at only 56. Tommy’s death was devastating for Bernie now widowed at only 53 and for their 7 children who would grow up without their Dad. ‘I got a few knocks but I will say sport will stand to you. I never left the camogie, I kept going and it steadied me.’ 

On Referee duties for Feile in 1991

 

Bernie has also had a huge involvement at county level as a referee, mentor and administrator. She refereed many games at club and inter county level. In 2001 she was a selector with the Tipperary junior team that won the All-Ireland. For years she was also involved in the administration at County Board Level where she held the position of chairperson, vice chairperson, child welfare officer, registrar and Munster delegate. Bernie also held the position of Chairperson of the Field Development Committee for the development of the County grounds in the Ragg. Huge work and endless fundraising was carried out by Bernie and her committee which resulted in the excellent facilities being developed. In 2010 when serving as vice chair Bernie noted that the senior championship cup was on its last legs and decided to donate a brand new cup to the County Board which we have today – the Bernie O’Dowd Perpetual Cup. It’s no surprise really that Bernie was chosen by Thurles Town for a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. An honour she was so thrilled and proud to receive. She literally has given a lifetime of dedication to camogie from starring as a young girl on the Roscrea team to playing midfield and centre back for Thurles and Tipperary, to years and years of volunteering at club and county level - and she’s not finished yet. Her many tales and exploits on and off the camogie field are intriguing and inspiring and it has been a pleasure to learn more about the Tipperary and Thurles Camogie great that is Bernie O’Dowd!