History

Founder member Barth O’Brien recalls the story of the birth of the club ..

In 1949 I put a motion to the AGM of the St. Mochta’s Branch of the Catholic Young Men’s Society (CYMS) that a football section be formed within the branch to be looked after by a sub-committee of the branch.

At the following executive committee meeting the committee asked me if I would organise the setting up of the section, I agreed to do so and immediately called a meeting of young people interested to decide on (a) whether they wanted the section to be formed, and (b) what type of football they wanted to be played? There was unanimous agreement that the section be formed and that the type of football would be soccer.

I then asked some local people with a good knowledge of the sport if they would be agreeable to come on to the sub-committee to run the club. Three of those people (all now deceased) were Joe Thewlis, Christy Somers, and Peter Proudfoot Senior. They set about the job ardently, getting all local lads who were playing football in localities on the periphery of the Clonsilla area to join the section. They succeeded in entering a team in the Athletic Union League, Third Division – Sunday, and reported to the executive committee on a monthly basis.

One important part of the organisation was amazingly let slip because of their over-enthusiasm to do the important things right. On the Friday evening prior to their first match on the following Sunday, Joe Thewlis came to me stating that they had no jerseys for the team and worse – no
money to buy them, but that they would be doing a door to door collection the following week. He asked me if I could do anything for them at that late stage and I said that I would try to get something cheap for them.

With what little money I had, which in effect was my own week’s wages and some little savings, I immediately went to see Brother Darcy who was in charge of all sports equipment in Castleknock College. He could not help with the provision of second hand jerseys as all were in use but he advise me to go to the sports section in the basement of Clery’s Store and to mention his name which might be helpful in obtaining the necessary jerseys.

On Saturday morning I went in to Clery’s with my tale of woe. The manager, a very nice man, put the first question which I wasn’t prepared for, ‘what colours do you want?’ I said I had heard nothing about colours, to which he replied, ‘I always keep a good stock of Castleknock College rugby jerseys and a set of those are readily available if you want them.’

I had seen the college play several times and knew that their colours were navy and sky blue so I said that these will have to be the colours of St. Mochta’s. “Right” he said I will give you a goalkeeper’s jersey, eleven outfield jerseys and a large carrier bag, for twelve pounds. I just had enough money to buy them and that Saturday evening a beaming Joe Thewlis got his jerseys, in the carrier bag, in the nick of time for the match. So began St. Mochta’s junior soccer football that Sunday at 3 pm.

The door to door collection the following week was a great success with the cost of the jerseys almost covered by two donations alone, one from Maxwell Arnott, the other from the Laidlaw family. Around the early 1960′ s the CYMS became defunct but the club carried on as St. Mochta’s and is to be congratulated on still being around and making a contribution.