The year was 1968 and I was a 12-year-old Irish-American kid in New York becoming all too quickly aware of how cruel the world could be.
It made Down’s winning of the All-Ireland Football final that year especially meaningful for me, then and since.
Virtually back to back, two great men I admired were assassinated: Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy.
Only weeks before Bobby Kennedy had been to our local GAA grounds at Gaelic Park and I had shaken his hand.
Finding comfort in the joys of sport came with the help of my father Frank Sr. via the GAA success of Down in the 60's.
While a proud Fermanagh man, he had followed by long distance the fortunes of the Mourne men since they emerged as a force in the late 1950's.
Dad admired individual players from great Cavan teams, but somehow he never became too excited by the success of his near neighbours collectively.
However, as a tradesman who had laboured in the construction sites of London before heading to New York, he took a particular interest in what had become the human scoring machine of one Paddy ‘Mo’ Doherty – the bricklayer from Ballykinlar.
My dad gleefully took home stories circulated on the construction sites by co-workers from Belfast back from their holidays of Doherty kicking practice penalty kicks through window frames during his lunch breaks as a bricklayer in the city.
His image was further burnished listening to Doherty’s exploits via RTE long wave radio.
But my father would find that a message from Paddy Doherty would enter our home directly late in July 1966.
Fresh in the door, covered in dust from a hard day’s work, I showed him a letter on the table addressed to ‘Frankie Costello’ with a Belfast post mark and a colour photo peering out of the corner.
It was a letter from Paddy Mo himself, written in fine penmanship.
In it, he thanked me for writing to him and telling me he was happy to be getting noticed in New York.
Attached was a signed colour photo of the 1961 Down All-Ireland final-winning team head he had captained against Offaly.
In the letter, Paddy also asked me for one small favour:
Could I send him back two John F Kennedy half dollars, as he was getting married soon and they could be used in his wedding Mass as a symbolic gift to his bride Angela?
My father sat smiling as he read the letter several times.
He also asked how it happened.
I told him I had found the writer Matt Fitzpatrick’s address in our copy of the Gaelic Weekly newspaper.
Reading how Matt covered Doherty’s scoring feats, I decided I’d send him a note asking if he could get me Paddy’s autograph.
Instead, in came the letter from Paddy Mo himself.
My father helped me with my mother Kathleen to make haste and get a quick thank you back to Paddy.
We also sent two newly-issued Kennedy dollars and wished him well.
My chance to meet see and meet Paddy in the flesh would also come, after Down’s great victory over Kerry in 1968’s All-Ireland final – a match we also listened to as Paddy again racked up valuable scores from frees and play, still on the mark, agile at the age of 34.
Those memories of following Paddy Doherty and Down in the 1960's are brought back joyously by Tony Bagnall’s endearing and well chronicled book: ‘Paddy Doherty: The Making of Paddy Mo’.
The book is affectionately written while outlining the circumstances that shaped Doherty as well capturing his still gregarious personality.
It all brought me back my own special memory of seeing his famous left foot drive in a crucial penalty near the end of Down’s second match against New York at Gaelic Park in October 1968.
It assured Down winning what was known as ‘The World Cup’ against a fine New York team made of players well-known in Ireland like Tom Furlong and Dessie Ryan.
It was after that match that I got to meet Paddy Mo for the first time.
There is only only one regret about the picture that I have from that day - my father wasn’t in it with me.
He was he was the one busy taking it.
But he did get to meet Matt Fitzpatrick in Belfast who also played an important essential role in the formation of the Bredagh GAC, the club which my wife Anne and our four sons have been part of for the past 20 years.
It was through Bredagh that our son Owen was able to play for Down at both Under 21 and Senior level, with his three younger brothers following after him at various age levels representing the county in both codes.
I am also glad that Owen and I were both able to meet up with Paddy Doherty especially at a Down awards night.
So thanks again for the great football memories Paddy and to you also Tony Bagnall for an excellent book.
* 'Paddy Doherty, The Making of Paddy Mo', is available both in print (€20) and e-book (€9.99), from herobooks.digital and in bookstores.
Dr Francis Costello is a historian and business advisor living in Belfast. He was also GAA columnist for the Boston Irish Echo 1981 to 1986.
