PAUL ‘PILLER’ CAFFREY stretches himself out with the phone clamped to his ear and his feet up.
He looks up at a Spanish sky, where he and his wife live the majority of their days in retirement now, and he’s glad to share some of the old anecdotes.
Living in an apartment at the entrance to a golf resort, there’s a steady stream of requests to go out for a leisurely 18 holes or a swift nine. He turns them all down.
The 19th hole could be too great a temptation, but the two replacement knees, the replacement hip and the operations on each shoulder leave it too painful.
Instead, he eases himself into a pool every day for a 40-minute limber up, and he’ll slurp on a couple of beers come evening time.
“Fairly relaxed,” he says.
Has he got time for a chat? He has surely.
Time for a chat about the Na Fianna team he managed, that featured the current Dublin boss Dessie Farrell and the defending All-Ireland winning manager Kieran McGeeney, who meet each other this Saturday night along the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds sideline?
Not to mention Mick Galvin, Farrell’s selector?
All the time in the world.
First point of order. There was no money on the table for McGeeney to join Na Fianna. None.
Truth be told, and it’s not something he’s particularly proud of in this day of micro analysis and managers knowing which finger every player uses to pick their nose; but Pillar didn’t know Geezer.
Sorry, let’s rephrase that; he didn’t even know who he was. Not even in a passing sense.
But one night Dessie Farrell met McGeeney, so the story goes, in Copper Face Jacks on a national league weekend back when players socialised and weren’t petrified of the world.
Dessie Farrell and Kieran McGeeney on GPA duty. Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO
Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO
The two knew each other from various encounters through the Gaelic Player’s Association. McGeeney was working for the Sports Council in Dublin. Travelling for Armagh and his club Mullaghbawn was becoming a serious grind. Something needed to change to allow him to play longer for his county.
Farrell gave the Mobhi Road club a gentle sell. Told him he should come down and train twice, see how he liked it.
Advertisement
McGeeney got in touch with Caffrey and he was picked up at the Halfway House, en route to training at an all-weather surface at St Peregrine’s.
They shared a common friend; John ‘Beefer’ Morrison, the madcap, brilliant and warm former Armagh co-manager who Caffrey had encountered on coaching courses.
The two bonded by trading ‘Beefer’ stories. McGeeney came the next night too. He liked what he saw.
And, he had a bonus for Caffrey. He wanted to bring another lad from south Armagh, Des Mackin of Cullyhanna.
Des Mackin scores the goal that sends Na Fianna to the All-Ireland final. Tom Honan / INPHO
Tom Honan / INPHO / INPHO
“I certainly hadn’t heard of Des Mackin either, there was no Dr Google in those days and no major research,” laughs Caffrey.
“I liked what I saw of McGeeney and said that he would make us a better team. And I hoped we could make him a better player. He signed the forms in Nancy Hands pub about two weeks later.
“He played ten seasons for us. People miss that point. And people ask, ‘What did you give Geezer to join?’”
Others around the capital knew all about him.
In fact, McGeeney had actually trained with St Vincent’s. But back then, there was still something left of the Kevin Heffernan legacy that Vincent’s had a strict no-Culchie policy.
“I remember Jimmy Keaveney giving out shite to me, saying., ‘Ye fucker, ye robbed him on us,’” laughs Caffrey.
“I looked him up and found that Mullaghbawn had won the Ulster club and he was midfield or wherever. And then he started training with us and I thought, ‘Jeez, this fella’s a bit of a player!’”
Na Fianna weren’t sniffy about opening their doors to the country cousins.
Before Pillar took charge, they only had two Dublin titles; 1969 and 1979. There were four country fellas on both teams.
When they got to the All-Ireland final, they had McGeeney, Mackin, Sean Forde of Mayo alongside McGeeney in midfield and Noel Ó Murchú of Kerry.
“So that would have been the way we were geared and as you go down through the ranks you would have seen that, a few on the intermediate and junior teams. Nowadays with college, lads come up, they play in college teams together and get pally,” says Caffrey.
“We aren’t in the market, and nothing changes hands. But we are our own. You won’t see outside paid managers in Na Fianna, that’s not what we do.”
It’s not as if they were the only ones doing it.
In 1998 they met KIlmacud Crokes in the county final. They found Conor Deegan of Down, an absolute animal in the middle of the field, along with other huge men John Costello and Mick Leahy, as they came up short.
A quick aside about that game – please indulge us.
At the time, Na Fianna’s star forward Jason Sherlock was still scratching around at life, figuring it all out as he went along in the public eye.
He was presenting television alongside Kathryn Thomas. He was doing promotional work for designers and shopping outlets. And he had transferred from UCD to Shamrock Rovers to play soccer.
Problem was, that the 1998 county final clashed with a Rovers game away to Finn Harps in Ballybofey. Pillar went along into town one day to meet a Rovers suit in town and see what they could agree to.
Rovers had no problem with Jayo playing the Gah. But he would still need to report for duty to play for Rovers, 150 miles away, all the same.
Pillar struck the deal. Jayo would play the game, then be spirited to Marino and St Vincent’s pitch, where a helicopter was on standby. There would also be a waiting photographer and a journalist to accompany Sherlock on the journey.
The kind of stuff that would cause modern inter-county managers to have a conniption.
“They would split the costs with us for a helicopter and I would get permission from Vincent’s to land the helicopter,” says Caffrey.
“But of course, we never seen a penny from Shamrock Rovers! Woodies was their sponsor at the time and they had a photographer and a reporter on the helicopter. Jayo was in every newspaper, what a story!
Jayo gets airbourne. Irish Indepndent October 1998 - Irish News Archives
Irish Indepndent October 1998 - Irish News Archives
“But no, we had to foot the bill for whatever it was. We got hoodwinked!”
To go back to the actual game, Na Fianna were some way off Kilmacud in 1998.
“We had a right good team and thought we had a right chance but we were well beaten,” says Caffrey.
“I thought we hadn’t anything to come back at them the following year and had nothing coming from minor. Kilmacud were still going to be capable of beating us nine times out of ten.
“Dessie came then about McGeeney and I would say that without getting Geezer and Des Mackin, who turned out to be a gem of a fella, and scored a goal in the county final that following year against Brigid’s and was (a) very aggressive full-forward, exactly what we needed. Geezer was an enforcer, with a very strong mind.”
Caffrey started watching a lot more Armagh games. He noted that McGeeney had an ability to drift into the left wing before arrowing Exocet passes to the far corner, pinging them off his left.
So, Na Fianna plopped him into midfield. Alongside him was Sean Forde of Mayo. Solid lad. Good in the air. Hungry for breaks. Off you go, Sean, carry water for McGeeney.
“The Leinster title we won (against Sarsfields of Kildare), I still quote it to people. We got Geezer on the ball 48 times in that game! He was the best passer we had. I’d say Sean Forde could have had 24 possessions and he might have handed 18 of them to Geezer,” says Caffrey.
Related Reads
'He brings so much energy to the place' - Cormac Egan on Mickey Harte impact with Offaly
'I hate the way it's done' - Ó Sé unhappy as AFL clubs eye Kerry talent
Farrell and McGeeney after the 2002 All-Ireland semi-final. INPHO
INPHO
“And he had this bullet of a pass.”
Some appreciated it. At full-forward, they had the international basketballer Karl Donnelly who had the paws to claim any ball.
Others found it a mite tricky.
“Jason Sherlock wasn’t able to handle Geezer’s passes for a long while. He was putting so much power on that kickpass and he was knocking Sherlock backwards,” laughs Caffrey.
“They were practicing and practicing at that to get the trajectory and managing to control the power of it.
“Geezer, himself and Des were similar in that the two of them never went out and had shite games. Every time they togged out for Na Fianna, you could write it in your notepad, 8/10, 8.5/10, 9/10. That’s how good they were every time, league games, challenge games, championship games.
“They were the only two I could say that about. They were incredible.”
With their addition, they won the next three Dublin titles, beating St Brigid’s in two finals and avenging that Kilmacud defeat in the other. They won Leinster in 1999 and made it to St Patrick’s Day the following year when they were beaten by – with staggering symmetry for McGeeney – Crossmaglen Rangers.
“Their presence in the dressing room. How lucky was I, a youngish fella who was a bang average player, to come back and manage my own club and have the likes of Mick Galvin, Dessie Farrell, Senan Connell, Jason Sherlock. And then throw in the Kieran McGeeney and Des Mackins?” wonders Caffrey.
“They made me look very good and I have no doubt that had I not gone on that run with Na Fianna, I wouldn’t have been thought of for the Dubs.”
Kieran McGeeney and Dessie Farrell at the 2022 Division 1 league game between Armagh and Dublin. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
The two are now All-Ireland winning players and managers. There was something about them back then that stood out.
“When they spoke in dressing rooms, they just had this aura about them. The two were very similar. It was never a case that Geezer had to speak before every game. Or Dessie,” says Caffrey.
“But at half time I might have to say little. Geezer might ask me if he could say a few words. And the same with Dessie. The two of them were such strong personalities. They always nailed it in terms of what we needed to do, to get over the line.
“The two had massive interest in not just making themselves better, but making Na Fianna better. They were all the time at you, ‘Look, can we try this Pillar? What about trying that other thing Pillar?’
“They weren’t content to just come to training and then go home. They were engaged with it.”
Engaged and obsessed. Still the same, all these years on.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
'People ask, ‘What did you give Geezer to join?' - Pillar Caffrey on managing McGeeney and Dessie
PAUL ‘PILLER’ CAFFREY stretches himself out with the phone clamped to his ear and his feet up.
He looks up at a Spanish sky, where he and his wife live the majority of their days in retirement now, and he’s glad to share some of the old anecdotes.
Living in an apartment at the entrance to a golf resort, there’s a steady stream of requests to go out for a leisurely 18 holes or a swift nine. He turns them all down.
The 19th hole could be too great a temptation, but the two replacement knees, the replacement hip and the operations on each shoulder leave it too painful.
Instead, he eases himself into a pool every day for a 40-minute limber up, and he’ll slurp on a couple of beers come evening time.
“Fairly relaxed,” he says.
Has he got time for a chat? He has surely.
Time for a chat about the Na Fianna team he managed, that featured the current Dublin boss Dessie Farrell and the defending All-Ireland winning manager Kieran McGeeney, who meet each other this Saturday night along the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds sideline?
Not to mention Mick Galvin, Farrell’s selector?
All the time in the world.
First point of order. There was no money on the table for McGeeney to join Na Fianna. None.
Truth be told, and it’s not something he’s particularly proud of in this day of micro analysis and managers knowing which finger every player uses to pick their nose; but Pillar didn’t know Geezer.
Sorry, let’s rephrase that; he didn’t even know who he was. Not even in a passing sense.
But one night Dessie Farrell met McGeeney, so the story goes, in Copper Face Jacks on a national league weekend back when players socialised and weren’t petrified of the world.
The two knew each other from various encounters through the Gaelic Player’s Association. McGeeney was working for the Sports Council in Dublin. Travelling for Armagh and his club Mullaghbawn was becoming a serious grind. Something needed to change to allow him to play longer for his county.
Farrell gave the Mobhi Road club a gentle sell. Told him he should come down and train twice, see how he liked it.
McGeeney got in touch with Caffrey and he was picked up at the Halfway House, en route to training at an all-weather surface at St Peregrine’s.
They shared a common friend; John ‘Beefer’ Morrison, the madcap, brilliant and warm former Armagh co-manager who Caffrey had encountered on coaching courses.
The two bonded by trading ‘Beefer’ stories. McGeeney came the next night too. He liked what he saw.
And, he had a bonus for Caffrey. He wanted to bring another lad from south Armagh, Des Mackin of Cullyhanna.
“I certainly hadn’t heard of Des Mackin either, there was no Dr Google in those days and no major research,” laughs Caffrey.
“I liked what I saw of McGeeney and said that he would make us a better team. And I hoped we could make him a better player. He signed the forms in Nancy Hands pub about two weeks later.
“He played ten seasons for us. People miss that point. And people ask, ‘What did you give Geezer to join?’”
Others around the capital knew all about him.
In fact, McGeeney had actually trained with St Vincent’s. But back then, there was still something left of the Kevin Heffernan legacy that Vincent’s had a strict no-Culchie policy.
“I remember Jimmy Keaveney giving out shite to me, saying., ‘Ye fucker, ye robbed him on us,’” laughs Caffrey.
“I looked him up and found that Mullaghbawn had won the Ulster club and he was midfield or wherever. And then he started training with us and I thought, ‘Jeez, this fella’s a bit of a player!’”
Na Fianna weren’t sniffy about opening their doors to the country cousins.
Before Pillar took charge, they only had two Dublin titles; 1969 and 1979. There were four country fellas on both teams.
When they got to the All-Ireland final, they had McGeeney, Mackin, Sean Forde of Mayo alongside McGeeney in midfield and Noel Ó Murchú of Kerry.
“So that would have been the way we were geared and as you go down through the ranks you would have seen that, a few on the intermediate and junior teams. Nowadays with college, lads come up, they play in college teams together and get pally,” says Caffrey.
“We aren’t in the market, and nothing changes hands. But we are our own. You won’t see outside paid managers in Na Fianna, that’s not what we do.”
It’s not as if they were the only ones doing it.
In 1998 they met KIlmacud Crokes in the county final. They found Conor Deegan of Down, an absolute animal in the middle of the field, along with other huge men John Costello and Mick Leahy, as they came up short.
A quick aside about that game – please indulge us.
At the time, Na Fianna’s star forward Jason Sherlock was still scratching around at life, figuring it all out as he went along in the public eye.
He was presenting television alongside Kathryn Thomas. He was doing promotional work for designers and shopping outlets. And he had transferred from UCD to Shamrock Rovers to play soccer.
Problem was, that the 1998 county final clashed with a Rovers game away to Finn Harps in Ballybofey. Pillar went along into town one day to meet a Rovers suit in town and see what they could agree to.
Rovers had no problem with Jayo playing the Gah. But he would still need to report for duty to play for Rovers, 150 miles away, all the same.
Pillar struck the deal. Jayo would play the game, then be spirited to Marino and St Vincent’s pitch, where a helicopter was on standby. There would also be a waiting photographer and a journalist to accompany Sherlock on the journey.
The kind of stuff that would cause modern inter-county managers to have a conniption.
“They would split the costs with us for a helicopter and I would get permission from Vincent’s to land the helicopter,” says Caffrey.
“But of course, we never seen a penny from Shamrock Rovers! Woodies was their sponsor at the time and they had a photographer and a reporter on the helicopter. Jayo was in every newspaper, what a story!
“But no, we had to foot the bill for whatever it was. We got hoodwinked!”
To go back to the actual game, Na Fianna were some way off Kilmacud in 1998.
“We had a right good team and thought we had a right chance but we were well beaten,” says Caffrey.
“I thought we hadn’t anything to come back at them the following year and had nothing coming from minor. Kilmacud were still going to be capable of beating us nine times out of ten.
“Dessie came then about McGeeney and I would say that without getting Geezer and Des Mackin, who turned out to be a gem of a fella, and scored a goal in the county final that following year against Brigid’s and was (a) very aggressive full-forward, exactly what we needed. Geezer was an enforcer, with a very strong mind.”
Caffrey started watching a lot more Armagh games. He noted that McGeeney had an ability to drift into the left wing before arrowing Exocet passes to the far corner, pinging them off his left.
So, Na Fianna plopped him into midfield. Alongside him was Sean Forde of Mayo. Solid lad. Good in the air. Hungry for breaks. Off you go, Sean, carry water for McGeeney.
“The Leinster title we won (against Sarsfields of Kildare), I still quote it to people. We got Geezer on the ball 48 times in that game! He was the best passer we had. I’d say Sean Forde could have had 24 possessions and he might have handed 18 of them to Geezer,” says Caffrey.
“And he had this bullet of a pass.”
Some appreciated it. At full-forward, they had the international basketballer Karl Donnelly who had the paws to claim any ball.
Others found it a mite tricky.
“Jason Sherlock wasn’t able to handle Geezer’s passes for a long while. He was putting so much power on that kickpass and he was knocking Sherlock backwards,” laughs Caffrey.
“They were practicing and practicing at that to get the trajectory and managing to control the power of it.
“Geezer, himself and Des were similar in that the two of them never went out and had shite games. Every time they togged out for Na Fianna, you could write it in your notepad, 8/10, 8.5/10, 9/10. That’s how good they were every time, league games, challenge games, championship games.
“They were the only two I could say that about. They were incredible.”
With their addition, they won the next three Dublin titles, beating St Brigid’s in two finals and avenging that Kilmacud defeat in the other. They won Leinster in 1999 and made it to St Patrick’s Day the following year when they were beaten by – with staggering symmetry for McGeeney – Crossmaglen Rangers.
“Their presence in the dressing room. How lucky was I, a youngish fella who was a bang average player, to come back and manage my own club and have the likes of Mick Galvin, Dessie Farrell, Senan Connell, Jason Sherlock. And then throw in the Kieran McGeeney and Des Mackins?” wonders Caffrey.
“They made me look very good and I have no doubt that had I not gone on that run with Na Fianna, I wouldn’t have been thought of for the Dubs.”
The two are now All-Ireland winning players and managers. There was something about them back then that stood out.
“When they spoke in dressing rooms, they just had this aura about them. The two were very similar. It was never a case that Geezer had to speak before every game. Or Dessie,” says Caffrey.
“But at half time I might have to say little. Geezer might ask me if he could say a few words. And the same with Dessie. The two of them were such strong personalities. They always nailed it in terms of what we needed to do, to get over the line.
“The two had massive interest in not just making themselves better, but making Na Fianna better. They were all the time at you, ‘Look, can we try this Pillar? What about trying that other thing Pillar?’
“They weren’t content to just come to training and then go home. They were engaged with it.”
Engaged and obsessed. Still the same, all these years on.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
dessie Friends Reunited GAA Gaelic Football Geezer