*Donie Fitzpatrick with Dodger Considine’s 1914 medal. Photograph: John Mangan
All-Ireland final time, particularly if one’s county hasn’t been there too often over the years, gives rise to plenty of talking points and that is certainly the case in Clare this week.
One such talking point concerns Clare’s first All-Ireland win in 1914 and a special medallion which was the property of Willie ‘Dodger’ Considine, a member of the Clare team.
The medal is currently in the possession of another Ennis man, Donie Fitzpatrick who purchased it at an online auction
This week Donie told The Clare Echo that he is “trying to find out how it ended up in the hands of an auction house for military medals in London, called Noonans”.
“It was an online auction that I joined and I had to bid on it and eventually my bid was finally accepted. It started off at a fairly low price but quickly moved up and for a finish there was one other bidder, online as well, and we both kept bidding until I eventually got it”, explained Donie who started out his hurling with the Ennis Dals which was the club of Dodger Considine.
As part of his search to find more information on this medal, Donie contacted well known Ennis historian Ollie Byrnes who has written a number of books on Ennis and Clare hurling and he put him in touch with relatives of Dodger Considine.
Ennis based photographer Liam Hogan is a grandson of Willie Considine and he put Donie in contact with another grandson of the All-Ireland winner who is also named Willie Considine and who resides in Wexford and Donie arranged to meet with him.
“I saw the Munster and All-Ireland medal which he has and he saw the one I have. He had never heard of this medal which was commissioned by William Redmond, M.P. for Clare in 1914 who was from Wexford. I believe, without having seen another one, that he would have got each of the team members one of these. I would like to know if there are any others there. This would have been worn on a watch chain which was the fashion of the time. William Considine in Wexford has the watch chain as well and the All-Ireland medal and Munster medal from 1914 are both on the chain”, Donie explained.
Donie outlined that “All-Ireland medal winner Willie was 29 years of age and he had a younger brother Brendan who was seventeen and both were on the Clare team. Brendan’s medals were donated by the family to the museum here in Ennis but from my enquiries one of these medals wasn’t included in what was donated”.
He continued, “at the time in 1914, politically the first World War was breaking out and there was a drive to recruit Irish men into the British army. The Redmonds had the Home Rule party which was active and William Redmond went over and fought and was killed. The seat here in Clare then became vacant and Eamonn de Valera replaced him. The Dodger Considine was very much involved with Fianna Fail and the Republican side and Eamonn de Valera and he acted as art of the security detail when Eamonn de Valera came to Ennis and there are photographs of the Dodger controlling the crowd”.
At the moment Donie’s target is “to get a history of this. I would like to know if there is another one anywhere, amongst the families of the other players from 1914. I would love to hear from anybody who might have a medal from that time”.
Adding to Donie’s interest in seeking more information on this medal is the fact that his mother, Hannah Slattery “lived in the Turnpike and the Considines lived in that locality as well. My mother would have been friendly with a daughter of the Dodgers and she came to live in Kincora Park and my mother used to meet her often at St Joseph’s Church”.
With so much interest this week in the lead up to the All-Ireland final, Donie would love to hear from anyone who might have a similar medals from any of the team members from 1914 when Clare won the All-Ireland senior title for the first time.
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