Historic archive collection donated to Trim club
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Trim hurling officials and selectors at a media night in the old clubhouse that was situated behind the goals at the town end. This was ahead of a Jubilee Cup final in the 1990s - enjoying the occasion were Sean Gilsenan (left), Brendan Dempsey and Johnny McEvoy.Image 2 of 7
Trim GAA club officials Fergal Flanagan (back left), Johnny McEvoy and Ted Murtagh (seated) at a presentation to the local school to promote hurling.Image 3 of 7
At the launch of the first golf classic for Trim GAA club (from left) were: back - Sean Gilsenan (vice-chairman), Martin Dempsey, unidentified, Martin Murray, Declan Murray, Johnny McEvoy, (chairman), Denis O’Keeffe, Brendan Dempsey (secretary), Loman Dempsey (treasurer); front - CJ Murtagh.Image 4 of 7
Johnny McEvoy is on the right of this launch photo at the Trim clubhouse with Peter McDermott (left) and Hurling Board official Finian Englishby with Ollie Reilly, Aidan Redmond, Paddy Yore, Frank Reilly and Colm McCole.Image 5 of 7
John McEvoy collecting a sponsorship cheque from Eddie Canty of AIB Bank as sponsors of the Leinster SHC club championship.Image 6 of 7
The Trim players who won the 1994 SHC (from left): back - Alan Smith, CJ Murtagh, Denis O’Keeffe, Kevin Walsh, Frank McCann, Ivor McCaffrey, Eunan McCaffrey, Keith McEvoy; front - Martin Murray, Declan Murray, Martin Connor (mascot Connor O’Keeffe), Benny Murray, Martin Kelly, Aidan Leonard, John Andrews and mascot Ryan Andrews.Image 7 of 7
Trim footballers who were on duty at Pairc Tailteann (from left) were: back - Martin Brady, Conrad McGonigle, Martin McCaffrey, Keith McEvoy, Paul Winters, Christy Buckley Enda Markey, Paul Leonard; front - Ray Rennick, David Dwyer, Colin Doherty, Gavin O’Byrne, Peter Dunne, Kevin Meehan, Declan Murray.Popular Trim GAA club PRO John Andrews received a very welcome surprise last week when Lisa McEvoy-Rispin, daughter of former club chairman Johnny McEvoy, offered an archive collection of her late father to the club.
"Lisa asked if I would like to have a look at the collection of old video tapes that her father filmed and collected over the years," Andrews told the Meath Chronicle.
"I was delighted to take up this offer and duly went to look at the collection, I was amazed and astounded by what I saw.
"It was a treasure throve of Trim GAA games that spanned more than four decades.
"It covered football, camogie and hurling from our adult teams, but there was also the bonus of under-age matches from the 1980s.
"This is a huge historical archive of film from Trim GAA that is so valuable to the history of our club.
"The club is so grateful to Mona McEvoy who kept the tapes in pristine condition for up to 40 years and we thank Mona and her family for making this truly remarkable historical archive available to the Trim GAA club," he added.
The Trim PRO is steeped in the history of the club and is the ideal person to deal with this type of material.
As a player Andrews featured prominently for the club at football and hurling and was also a member of the 1993 All-Ireland SHC B-winning Meath team that defeated London in the final at Ruislip to finally seal a victory that was so long sought-after by Meath Hurling Board officials and supporters of that era.
In more recent times Andrews has served as a selector for the Meath hurling team and also had a stint as manager.
Referring to the archive from the McEvoy family, he outined the contribution of the late Mr McEvoy to the club.
"Johnny McEvoy had a long and distinguished career as a player and an administrator with Trim GAA club," said Andrews.
"Johnny won a minor hurling championship medal with Trim when he was part of the team that beat Ratoath in the 1953 final.
"Johnny’s children John, Keith and Lisa all played with distinction for the Trim club and were part of many successful championship-winning teams.
"Keith is the proud holder of seven senior hurling championship medals all won in the same position of left half back.
"Johnny filled many positions as an administrator for the club and he also served on the juvenile committee for over 15 years.
"He was secretary and assistant-treasurer during this time and was also on the club executive for many years.
"He had the great honour of taking the role of chair from 1992 until 1995 and was also vice-chair for seven years.
"He was a long-serving member of the club's executive committee and as a fundraiser organised the bingo for many years with his great friends Paddy Bird, Ted Murtagh and Kevin Murray.
"Johnny was in the chair when the weekly lotto draw was introduced and he was to the forefront at its launch, the weekly lotto remains to this day and is a very important fundraiser for the daily upkeep and running of the club.
"Johnny McEvoy was a man who was ahead of his time and was always thinking outside the box when new gadgets appeared, he had a great interest in filming and recording matches, in fact he was the first around the county to have the equipment required to do this work.
"He had the foresight to realise that some day that these matches would be invaluable to the club and thankfully now is that time.
"The archive stretches back to the late 1970s right up to the the early 2000s.
"Johnny’s family has kindly given the complete archive to the club to process and restore this huge historic film collection and the club is very grateful for this generous donation.
"All of the matches are filmed on VHS tape and will be converted into MP4 file format.
"Over the coming weeks and months the club will be uploading these matches on our YouTube Channel (Trim GAA Club).
"To view these old matches simply go to Trim GAA Club on YouTube and subscribe for free. The matches filmed by Johnny and carefully minded by Mona for all these years will for now and for ever be known now as the ‘Johnny McEvoy Archives.’
"On behalf of everyone involved with the club I extend our warmest and heartfelt gratitude to the McEvoy family," concluded the club PRO.
The executive committee of the club is: chair - John Birmingham; vice-chair - John Leonard; secretary - Audrey McGuinness; treasurer - Kenny Morgan.
As part of this article about Trim GAA club the Meath Chronicle features a number of photographs from the Chronicle archive.