NOT far from our house there’s a steep hill that I discovered recently is known as ‘Kill Brae’.
‘Why does it bear such a dramatic name?’ you might ask.
Well, for a very good reason – a man was killed there in a Faction Fight over 200 years ago and the name stuck which, to be fair, is the least you might expect if you were the unfortunate deceased.
Faction fighting was common throughout Ireland in the 1800s and this fight took place in the little hamlet of Acton (birthplace of Ireland rugby captain Rory Best). Acton has never been a metropolis but the row was reported to have been between: ‘The villagers’ and ‘the countrymen’.
The rules were straightforward: groups of men, and sometimes women, from a parish or a clan would call out a rival faction and they’d meet – armed with blackthorn sticks and shillelaghs and even firearms sometimes - and beat the living daylights out of each other until either the authorities arrived to break it up, or one clan drove the others (those who could still walk) into retreat. There were some terrible injuries and, in some cases like the one in Acton, deaths.
Faction fights often broke out at funerals and weddings but the favoured venue was at town or country fairs.
Legend has it that a man arriving late at the Crossmaglen fair way back when asked a man coming out whether it was any good.
“Och, very poor fair,” he answered.
“12 o’clock and not a punch thrown.”
The rivalries the GAA is built on have roots in such hostilities: Parish versus parish, club versus club, county versus county…
In those bygone days, maybe a game of football broke out during a Faction Fight, nowadays of course a Faction Fight occasionally breaks out during – or after - a game of football.
The recent Donegal-Armagh brawl is the most recent example but you couldn’t really compare it to the old days of Faction Fighting. The worst you could say about the events in Letterkenny is that they were ‘unsightly’ - there wasn’t a punch thrown.
But there is always the risk that next time it happens someone will get badly hurt and – although occasional rows need to be kept in perspective - the GAA is coming down hard on them.
The end results is that Armagh could lose four important players and Donegal two over a needless scuffle at the end of the League campaign with the RTE cameras filming the whole thing. There was absolutely nothing to gain for either team bar getting some of their opponents suspended.
As hard as it might be at the time, the lesson must be: Walk away.
To that end, an amusing video clip has been doing the rounds of Tommy Shelby, from Peaky Blinders, giving a team-talk to the Armagh players before their next match.
“The main thing is… despite the provocation… no fighting,” says Tommy who then goes round every man in the room, jabbing a finger in his face and repeating his command.
“No fighting you, no fighting, no F**KING FIGHTING!”
Spot on Tommy.
Easier said than done of course and if the GAA is serious about eradicating these bad-tempered outbreaks then they need to crack down on a not-so-dark-art that has become prevalent in the game.
You see players intimidatingly and aggressively shoving their opponent off-the-ball, sometimes in the back with both hands trying to provoke them into retaliating which, of course, they can’t do without getting sent off.
Is there any other field sport in the world where that would be permitted?
Well, maybe Faction Fighting.
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WOULD it still be possible to do what Nottingham Forest did in 1979 and 1980?
Back-to-back European Cups? You’d need billions to do that in the Champions League these days and clubs with that sort of dosh to throw about are an increasingly select few.
Forest didn’t have loads of money when they completed their remarkable double but they did have Brian Clough and the great man’s memory remains enshrined at their City Ground home and throughout Nottingham to this day.
Thanks to the media personnel at Forest, I got to watch their game against Reading a few hours before Michael Conlan went into the ring to face local favourite Leigh Wood for the WBA featherweight title.
The packed house belted out (to the tune of Mull of Kintyre) their anthem: “Sssssssiteeee Ground, Oh mist rolling in from the Trent, My desire is always to be here, Oh Sssssssiteeee Ground…”
And it turns out I’m a lucky mascot. 17 seconds into the game, Forest had the ball in the net and they went on to win 4-0. My Irish News colleague, former Down full-forward and Forest nut John Clarke, who was also at the game, reckons it was their best performance of the season so far.
An army of Forest fans left the ground in high spirits and descended on Nottingham Arena where Wood capped off a day to remember for them.
I may never get over the finale. Midway through the last, Conlan, out on his feet, was knocked out and the last I saw was his boxing boots flicking up into the air as he plummeted through the ropes and out of the ring.
Shocking end, classic fight and Conlan wants a rematch this summer. He deserves another crack and I’d be delighted to return to Nottingham – either as supporter or reporter – to watch it.
It’s a city steeped in sport. To get to the City Ground you have to go past Meadow Lane, the historic home of Notts County - the oldest professional football club in the world.
And just up the road is Trent Bridge, home to Nottinghamshire CCC which is rocking every summer for England Test matches and One Day Internationals.
There’s rugby and ice hockey as well and after the sporting action, there’s all sorts of entertainment to choose from. If you like modern nightlife, they’ve got that covered and if you like it a little more traditional, you won’t get more ancient than the oldest inn in England – Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem.
For anyone planning a sporting jolly, stick Nottingham on Ye Olde bucket list.
