Eddie Maguire and the song about the legendary Frank McGuigan

Exploits of great Tyrone footballer recalled by Meath-based songwriter

One of the songs that got an airing on radio and TV after the passing of Tyrone football legend Frank McGuigan last month was ‘The Greenfields Around Ardboe’ which was written some years ago by Eddie Maguire who lives outside Navan.

The song - one of many written by Maguire - captures in words and music the exploits of the great Red Hand footballer and was recorded by renowned county n’ western singer Philomena Begley who put her own interpretation on the composition, helping to turn it into a hit.

McGuigan, who was one of Tyrone’s greatest ever footballers, passed away in May at the age of 71.

And what a career McGuigan had. In a remarkable demonstration of his maturity the Ardboe clubman was only 19 when he captained Tyrone to the 1973 Ulster title in what was just his second year in the senior panel.

He spent six years in the United States but after returning home in 1983 McGuigan carved out a special niche in Gaelic football when he scored 11 of Tyrone's 15 points in the 1984 Ulster final win over Armagh. The game became known as 'The Frank McGuigan final'.

A builder by trade, McGuigan's performance in the '84 final helped earn him an All-Star, but his career was prematurely ended that year by a car crash that shattered his right leg.

Like McGuigan, Maguire spent some time in the States and knows something of the loneliness of the exile. He drew on some of that experience when writing ‘The Greenfields Around Ardboe’ as suggested in the way the song starts off.

“Well here I am in Yonkers on this soft September day/My heart is sad and lonely for I am far away/From friends I knew in childhood, oh it seems so long ago/Since I was just a little girl in the green fields around Ardboe,’ sings Begley in her version of the song that is included in her album ‘Philomena Begley – Ireland’s Queen of Country.’

The third verse goes: “As you cross the bridge at Aughnacloy or travel through the Moy/And stop to rest at Omagh Coalisland and Pomeroy/Just ask for Frank McGuigan and I know that he will show/The road that leads to heaven and the green fields around Ardboe.”

Maguire, who grew up in Blacksod on the Mullet Peninsula and qualified as a teacher, carved out his own remarkable football career.

Unusually for the GAA he played in the colours of a number of counties. He represented his native Mayo as well as Carlow, Meath and New York.

At club level he also won senior county titles in Cork (UCC), Carlow (Éire Óg) and Walterstown in the Royal County.

Some years ago, he recalled representing Mayo at full-forward against Meath in a National League game in Kells in 1963 and facing the mighty Martin Quinn who was then the Royal County’s commanding full-back.

At one stage Quinn grabbed Maguire by the throat and made it clear , in the most colourful of language, that if he came into "his square" again he had to be prepared for the dire consequences. Welcome to inter-county football.

As well as carving out a unique and varied career in football, Maguire has penned many songs over the years. One of his compositions is ‘She Comes Home to Rest’ based on Meath’s achievement in winning the All-Ireland SFC in 1987. He also has written a series of books to help school students prepare for exams entitled ‘Less Stress More Success.’

In his life too Maguire, a native Irish speaker, has displayed an admirable resilience to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

While working as a teacher in St Oliver’s Community College in Drogheda he was struck by a steel door in the school and suffered from retina detachment in both eyes. For a year-and-a-half he had no sight whatsoever. He admitted later he was “in a bad way really.”

He went through intensive regeneration treatment and slowly started to recover some vision. He was deemed to be clinically blind although the regeneration process worked in that it restored some of his vision.

He also discovered blind golf and found it “transformative” in a very positive sense. Over the years he has won titles in various parts of the world including Italy and Austria. He represented Ireland in last year’s Honda World Blind Golf championships in Toronto securing sixth place.

Maguire has reason to be more interested than most in the outcome of this weekend's game in Castlebar between Meath and Mayo in the All-Ireland series having played for both counties. It's not clear who he will be shouting for!!

Every now and again something happens that brings back to mind some song or other Maguire wrote such as the recent passing of the legendary Frank McGuigan and his days around the greenfields of Ardboe.