'Seán Magic' celebrated on Boylan's 80th birthday
Gathering in Dunboyne Castle Hotel to mark Meath GAA legend's milestone
Seán Boylan is a unique character, demonstrated in the fact he is the only person to hold the title ‘Freeman of Meath'. His roots are true Royal County – from the time his great great grandfather fought British yeomanry on the Hill of Tara in 1798, to his father Sean's role as Michael Collins' right hand man in Meath during the fight for Irish independence just over a century ago.
The destruction of the ancestral family home at Tara in 1798 brought the family to Dunboyne, where Seán's great great grandmother was from, and they have been there at Edenmore ever since, dispensing knowledge of the healing power of herbs over the generations.
On Sunday, the man who could rightfully be described as the county's high king was joined by family and friends to celebrate his 80th birthday in a chieftain's banquet at Dunboyne Castle Hotel. The gathering included members of the four squads he brought to All-Ireland glory as manager of Meath's senior football teams over two decades, his immediate family, relatives, and many of those “whose lives he touched” in the words of his nephew, Les Kelly.
“You are very good at marking other people's celebrations, and marking other people's milestones,” Les, son of Seán's late sister, Gemma, told him. “So it is very nice for us to be here to be able to mark your milestone.”
His eldest nephew, godson, and bestman at his wedding to Tina Yeates in December 1990, said it was a testament to Seán to know that the room could have been filled three or four times over and still wouldn't accommodate everybody who would love to be there “because you have touched all of our lives in so many ways.”
He thanked Tina and their family for the “open door that is Edenmore, the endless hospitality and cups of tea at all hours of day and night, putting up with a steady stream of visitors coming through the doors, all of them looking for a bit of 'Seán Magic'.”
“A firm friend to everybody, if anybody in this room rang you at 3am in the morning and needed to talk, the only question you would ask is 'Where?' You'd be there. And when you are talking to somebody – anybody – you make them feel like they are they only person in the room.”
There was something about Seán's rootedness in the land, and in Dunboyne, that made everyone feel that little bit more secure and little bit more grounded, he continued, adding that the herbalism connected to the plants with which he is so passionate is the cutting edge of his concern and understanding for others.
This care for others and putting others before himself was inherited from his parents, Sean and Gertie, who were “powerful together”, just like Seán and Tina. Gertie could read problems before you told her, while Sean was a great listener.
Les referred to Seán's reputation for being late for events.
“You say you are never intentionally late, that it is other people who make you late. You are not late though – you are where you need to be, and it is because people matter to you that you give of you time so freely, and long may it continue.”
Graham Geraghty – one of the four All-Ireland winning captains present, with Mick Lyons, Joe Cassells, and Tommy Dowd - and who like Séan had his own health scares in recent years, said it was a great privilege for everybody to be able to gather to celebrate with him, adding that any time you needed to pick up the phone to ask him to see somebody, there is no hesitation.
“As everyone in this room will say, he is only a phone call away, and if he can help you with anything, he will. And that also is testament to those that went before him, to Tina, and to his family.”
The 1999 county captain said that Seán Boylan modelled Meath into the powerhouse that they were, “and we were fortunate enough to grow up with those super teams he led over the years.
“The first match I was at was the Centenary Cup final against Monaghan – I was 12 and I decided this is what I wanted to do. I got my chance some years later.”
He thanked Seán for giving him his opportunity, and for his friendship with his family ever since, toasting “the man and the legend that is Seán Boylan.”
The man himself, humble and modest, said he never felt as awkward in his life about having to celebrate a birthday “because when my life changed at 17 and a half, my father was 80, and he was 28 years older than my mother. Little did I think then that I would be working at home, that I would be working at herbs and plants, that I'd be involved in football - I was always a hurling man!"
He had returned home from college in Dublin to run the family farm in 1961, as his father was in ailing health at 80.
Every night, after putting his father to bed, he would go out in Dublin, for a social life.
“I never smoked, I never drank, but I always needed people around me, and you got that when you went out; you got all aspects of life.”
He recalled that when they won the All-Ireland in 1987, 23 per cent of Meath people were unemployed, 17 per cent nationally, but there was no problem fundraising for holidays or 'pocket money' for the lads after winning Sam Maguire.
“We were the richest people in the world,” he said. “As far as we were concerned, everybody in Meath was on top of the pile. We had the Sam Maguire trophy.”
There were so many who were honoured to play and represent who we are and what we are over those years, he said, and the thing he loved more that anything else all throughout his life was the risk.
“I loved the way they played, the way they never feared being beaten, it never crossed their minds,” he said. "That transcended the generations of sports people, and I can see it happening again at the moment, and I'm delighted.
“So many extraordinary things happened and it was an amazing honour to be a part and parcel of it,” Sean Boylan said.
“There were so many things I wanted to do when I was younger, and the crazy thing is I'm still as full of ambition as I ever was – that ambition is a collective thing. I thank God and all the people who looked after me when I was ill, and I am thankful for the knowledge I have been given, and more importantly, I thank all my family and friends for helping to share in the start of hopefully another decade.”
Seán's son, Seán, described his father as somebody who represents all the important things in life, “who makes time for people in a world where it seems that we don't have time for anything at all”.
While his father was initially hesitant about marking his birthday, everyone was so glad he did, as “tonight is about you and everything you do for all the people around you. You are someone who is always there for us, and tonight we are all here for you.”
Seán the younger, a baritone, sang 'I'll Walk Beside You' in tribute to his father, later joined by 1996 Meath captain, Tommy Dowd, for a rendition of 'Happy Birthday', before Brush Shiels took to the stage, alongside Oran Boylan and friends.