An All-Ireland-winning father and the West Cork daughter bound for the Rugby World Cup

The 42

4 days ago

'IRELAND VERY CLOSE… it's on here now.. Breen for the line… She's got there!'
*****
IRELAND PLAYERS ARE rising to their feet after an exhaustive effort. There's lots of back-clapping and satisfied roars filling the air around Kingspan Stadium. It's a rainy night and they've just scored a crucial try against Scotland. Ireland are still one point behind but if they can add the conversion, the result will mean they avoid a wooden spoon finish to the 2022 Six Nations tournament.
The bunch disperses as the face of the try-scorer appears. Enya Breen is nodding to her teammates as she shakes off the fatigue. Her powerful leg drive was the final surge they needed to break through enemy lines. She's needed again as the ball is placed on the tee. The kick is in front of the posts but it's not dead centre.
A stiff gust blows into her face as she assesses the shot. One big intake of breath before a swing of the boot.
Enya Breen kicking the match-winning conversion in Ireland's 2022 Six Nations win over Scotland. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
*****
'Mick Mc… Anthony Davis, Texaco Footballer of the year… There were four Davis brothers on the panel…'
A father and daughter are sitting at a table, a photo of a GAA team placed in front of them. Faces from 32 years ago are looking up at him. Memories locked behind a glass frame but sill vividly recalled as if no time has passed.
Ian Breen is wearing a team jersey from that time, and he's here to take some pictures with his daughter Enya who is bound for the Rugby World Cup this year. It's still June on the day we meet, but August will come around soon.
'Throw the ball in there,' he says rubbing his hands as the jersey drops onto his shoulders. The fit is still good.
All the names fall from his lips as he brings his daughter back to a time she never knew. She's been raised on songs and stories up to today.
She knows a few things about this story. She's aware that the 1993 All-Ireland club final went to a replay and their West Cork club O'Donovan Rossa wore blue jerseys on account of a colour clash with the opponents Éire Óg of Carlow. Their trainer was the late Bobby Miller and his daughter Alison is a former Ireland teammate of Enya's.
Ian Breen was wing-half back on that Rossa team, and was man-of-the-match in the All-Ireland final replay which took place at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick.
'The absolute pinnacle of everything we did,' he says.
Today, inside the walls of the Rossa Park clubhouse in Skibbereen, Enya gets to take a glimpse into a time that shaped her father. How a small bookmaker in Macroom had O'Donovan Rossa at 33/1 odds to win the 1992 Cork senior championship, and how the players pooled their money together to place a £500 bet.
How a captain's speech from the late Mick McCarthy inspired a county quarter-final victory against Muskerry. How their supporters held a parade from Heuston Station to Croke Park on the day of the drawn All-Ireland final. How a square ball decided everything and how homecoming parades packed the streets on almost every stop in West Cork for the Skibbereen heroes.
She will hear about it all today.
Ian takes Enya through the O'Donovan Rossa team who won the 1993 All-Ireland. Anne Minihane Anne Minihane
*****
In her first summer with the Munster seniors, Enya Breen was having the same recurring thought: 'What am I doing here?'
She was surrounded by some of the greats of the game. Former Ireland international Niamh Briggs was in that dressing room as was Mairéad Kelly. It was a severe case of imposter syndrome for Breen whose own career was gathering pace. At 15, she was brought into the Munster development squad. In 2018, she was in an Ireland 15s squad under Adam Griggs at around the same time as her first Munster senior cap. She had also just switched clubs from Bantry to UL Bohemians after starting college to study physiotherapy.
Life was coming at her fast.
'I was called in to Griggsy's Autumn international squad,' she recalls of her whirlwind development.
'I was playing with all these stars of the game. You're kind of thinking, 'What am I doing here?' That was a bit of a shock to the system.
'Once you get to know everybody, it's a lot easier. And everyone was there to help as well.
'It all happened very quickly, I probably wasn't ready for it at the time. Nowadays they have Munster U18s, U20s and all these stepping stones coming up. But when I was around, it was underage interpros, underage sevens and then you sank or swam once you came up to senior.'
She made her first Six Nations start in the centre the following year at just 19.
When Griggs rang Enya with the news of her impending bow against France, she missed his call. Enya had an inkling though. Michelle Claffey had been ruled out to undergo ankle surgery and when Breen asked for permission to play a college game for UL, she was told to hold off. That was the biggest hint.
She remembers what Griggs said to her before the game that March day in Donnybrook.
''Just back yourself today, don't overthink it. You're here for a reason, so just play.''
It was the advice she needed to help convince her that she was ready for another big leap in her career. The words are still a mainstay of her mental preparation.
A career highpoint for sure, but with a 47-17 beating, France taught Enya some important lessons about life in the international 15s lane.
'One of my first tackles was against Romane Ménager and she just bounced me. I was like, 'Ok, this is what's coming for me here.'
'But they're the games you want to play in as well. It was a bit surreal but it was also great.
'My housemate at the time in UL, Deirbhile Nic A Bháird, is still my housemate. She was there and was starting hooker that day. So, to be able to share that experience with someone who's such a great friend, was great as well.'
*****
(Skip to 2:08.06 for Enya Breen's late try and conversion)
Enya takes a breath as she sees a familiar image on the screen. Ian knows what's coming too. He was there that rainy night in Kingspan Stadium when Ireland were clawing for every inch inside Scotland's five-metre line, the threat of a Six Nations wooden spoon hanging over them.
Enya watches herself kick for the corner as the clock goes red. Ireland are six points down as the referee declares that this is the last play of the game.
One phase bleeds into the next as Sam Monaghan makes a vital carry. Maeve Óg O'Leary brings Ireland closer again to the line as the ball is recycled to Linda Djougang. She pops the ball to Enya on the swivel who makes the final lunge. And when the hush comes after the try celebration, Enya nails the conversion to seal a 15-14 win.
Ian: Oh my God, that's super. I knew she had the power. I was like, 'Give it to Enya.' I would always be saying to her, 'You just put the head down and go.' She would not be a selfish rugby player and then sometimes I think that she should be.
You were just not being stopped there. It's like Ginger [Gerry] McLoughlin against England [1982 Five Nations]. Look at the leg drive. We weren't going to score there, Enya.
Enya: Ah, we were.
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Ian: God, we badly needed to win that match.
Enya: You don't need to tell me… Mom couldn't look at this stage.
Ian: The whole women's rugby country needed that win so much.
Enya: I still get nervous watching it to be honest…
Ian: I get nervous watching the conversion. Enya has loads of that in her locker to take it on a bit more herself. I think she's the best passer of the ball in women's rugby.
Enya: He has to say that.
Ian: No, I do. But there are times where the opposition are looking at that and think that Enya is going to pass it every time. But if you keep them guessing….
Ireland avoided the last-place finish in that year's Six Nations, but they would not be so lucky the following year. They went zero for five to get the Wooden Spoon treatment for the first time since 2004. For Enya, the misery of that grim campaign was compounded by an ACL injury which she picked up in the opening round against Wales.
It was her first experience with a long-term injury. And while she was working through her recovery, Ireland were working towards a revival under new head coach Scott Bemand.
Ireland won the WXV3 that October. Enya looked on with a sense of dread about the direction of her own international career.
'I was thinking, 'I'm starting to fall behind here.' And when they're so far away, you feel out of the bubble while you're still rehabbing full-time in the HPC [High Performance Centre].'
*****
Enya is commonly identified as a native of Skibbereen, but the first 10 years of her life were spent in Ringaskiddy. The youngest of six siblings, it was a busy house growing up. Everyone fighting for position.
'Fighting for the couch… fighting for the dinner!' Ian says jokingly.
It was here that Enya first became enamoured with sport. Ian was a coach with the local Shamrocks GAA club, and his youngest daughter was a regular sight on the sideline, always with either a hurley or a football in her hand.
Enya Breen pictured with some members of her family after an interpros game for Munster. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
She was introduced to rugby around this time through her older brothers Jack and Daniel. When they joined the Carrigaline club, Enya tagged along to try out minis rugby. The sport was already in their bloodline through Ian who had played for various clubs including Skibbereen and Douglas.
'I was really noted for my place ball kicking,' he says as Enya smiles across at her father.
'I'd have no bother kicking a dead ball from 70 yards over the bar.
'And so that transferred to rugby. I could kick a conversion from the half-way line.'
But eventually, the house became too small for the Breen flock. Ian, his wife Catherine, and their six children made the move to West Cork around 2009. The change didn't trouble a 10-year-old Enya though. Their family already had such a strong connection with the area.
'I think we always knew it was coming. The house was being built for about 10 years before.
'My granny's from here as well. We were down here a lot anyway. It was just a case of moving schools and everything.'
With no rugby available for girls in the area, Enya presumed her time in that sport was over before it began. She picked up basketball through her aunt who coached in the local secondary school, and began playing Gaelic football for the Ilen Rovers club near Baltimore. She took to both sports with ease and eventually followed in her father's footsteps by joining the O'Donovan Rossa Ladies club.
But then her mother Catherine spotted an advertisement in the paper. Rugby wasn't done with Enya yet.
*****
Ian shuddered when he heard that the Bantry rugby club were setting up a team for girls. Now living on the far side of Skibbereen, he thought of the rough commute that lay before them.
These were recessionary times too, with three of the Breen children attending college at that point.
'I was driving to work in Cork [city]. Catherine was driving to work in Kinsale. And here we were now, a 50-mile road trip for Enya. And the rugby pitch is at the far side of Bantry.'
Catherine was unfazed by it all and volunteered to take on most of the driving duties, all while managing Enya's football and basketball schedules too. Years later, Ian was at the wheel for what turned out to be her last game for O'Donovan Rossa. They were playing against local rivals Castlehaven in a county final replay and the rush was on to bring Enya from a college exam to the pitch.
He reminds her of her superior strength compared with every other player on the pitch that day.
'Enya, you were strong. I was thinking, 'someone's going to get hurt here' because you were solid. If you banged into a person, they're gonna know all about it. They didn't have the same conditioning.'
All that driving served as a primer for what was to come for Ian and Catherine. Rugby eventually took Enya's preference over the other sports. It just drew her in. Success seemed to find her.
The day she realised she wanted to represent Ireland is something she can recollect. She was playing at half-time of a Six Nations game against Wales when the image started to form in her mind.
'I was just obsessed with it. Once I started playing underage with Munster and got my underage Sevens cap with Ireland, you always just want more then.'
As Enya's international rugby career blossomed, Ian and Catherine continued to clock up the miles to attend her games. They were even in Vancouver for Ireland's famous WXV1 opening victory over New Zealand last September.
'What a city,' says Ian thinking back to that stunning result against the reigning world champions. He notes the unifying effect that win had on the team, while for Enya, it was a result that put some respect on Ireland's name. She also captained Ireland twice during that campaign against Canada and USA.
'Teams should probably start to take notice and respect us a bit more because we're not here to just take part anymore. We're looking to compete. We're backing up performances, which is something we haven't done before.'
*****
(Skip to 42:41 for Éire Óg goal)
****
Can Skibbereen hold out…The West Cork men hold their breath… Seconds ticking away… Floats it in… INTO THE NET
Oh but the referee has blown his whistle… He's having a consultation with his umpires telling the Carlow players to go away… Controversy at the end… He's telling his umpires to cross the flags… The goal is disallowed.
Ian shuffles in his seat to get a better look at the screen. 'Don't ask me honestly whether it was a goal or not,' he says as we prepare to press play.
It's the last few minutes of the 1993 All-Ireland senior club final replay between O'Donovan Rossa and Éire Óg.
Enya was born six years after all this. She lets her eyes adjust to the strange colour of the Rossa strip which is usually red and white. Éire Óg were were also a red and white club and the rules at the time dictated that Skibbereen's Rossa would wear the blue of Munster, while Éire Óg were in Leinster's green.
Irish News Archives (Irish Examiner) Irish News Archives (Irish Examiner)
Enya: He blew it up before it went in?
Ian: No, no, no.
Enya: Why was it disallowed?
Ian: He was in the square.
Enya: Ah, stop!
O'Donovan Rossa were fortunate to get a replay having been outsiders to even win the Cork senior championship.
Trailing by 3-6 to 1-9 on St Patrick's Day in Croke Park, Mick McCarthy kicked three late points to level matters. He even had a chance to snatch the win with a late free, but his effort was wide.
The second act was 11 days later at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Playing in mucky conditions, the sides were deadlocked at two points apiece by half-time. Pat Davis scored a vital second-half goal for O'Donovan Rossa, and with time almost up, the Cork champions were two points up when Éire Óg were awarded a free. Joe Hayden's chipped shot ended up in the net but was immediately chalked off for a square ball.
Referee Jim Curran — who also officiated the drawn game — received a Garda escort off the field to the chorus of boos from a devastated Carlow contingent.
Ian: Oh, my God…. Oh, my God…. I could not believe it. The relief. Like, that match was so hard. There was nothing in it…. Jesus.
Enya: You have to trust the referee, I suppose.
Ian: If the boot had been on the other foot and that goal was disallowed for us, I'd have been furious. I'd have never, ever forgiven the ref. But look, they're the ups and downs of the game and I would say that to Enya as well. You have to die on every ball.
Enya: It's just sport, isn't it? It just happens.
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Ian puts O'Donovan Rossa's success down to some fruitful underage years in the 1970s and 1980s. They were Cork intermediate champions in 1985 but at the outset of the 1992 campaign, the Skibbereen outfit were regarded as 'no hopers' according to Ian. They were strugglers who could barely handle the first round of the competition.
They started with a win over Imokilly, a divisional club where hurling would be considered the primary code. The second round brought a six-point victory over the reigning county champions Duhallow to send them through to quarter-finals. They were trailing Muskerry by three points at half-time in that game when their captain Mick McCarthy issued a battle cry in the dressing room.
The Breens on the Rossa Park pitch in Skibbereen. Anne Minihane Anne Minihane
'From that speech, you could hear a pin drop. We went out in the second half and we beat Muskerry well. And that really instilled a belief in us that we were a good team. Mick would have been a superb character.
'Once once we started to get on to make progress and keep training and you're building up conditioning all the time. After that we were on a roll, essentially.'
That roll propelled O'Donovan Rossa to their first senior county title after a semi-final win over Aghada and a 2-9 to 0-10 result against Nemo Rangers in the final. They conquered the province after defeating St Senan's of Clare in the Munster final and picked off the 1991 All-Ireland champions Lavey from Derry in the All-Ireland semi-final.
The impact of their run through the championship was colossal. And it extended beyond the boundaries of Skibbereen. Even the folks on the surrounding islands came ashore to support them in the All-Ireland final.
Last one to leave turn out the lights, please.
'17 buses left from the school,' Ian continues.
'The supporters had a parade from Heuston station, with the pipe band all the way to Croke Park for the drawn match. It was phenomenal, I have no idea.
'All the islanders, which you wouldn't associate with sport. The islands emptied, every one of them was gone to Dublin and Limerick for those games.
'There was such a groundswell of support. And when we came back to Skibb, I was looking at a photograph there of the political rallies that they used to have here before in the olden times, it was that type of crowd.'
Irish News Archives (Irish Examiner) Irish News Archives (Irish Examiner)
The supporters maintained that effort for the journey home. And they got some help from neighbouring lands in West Cork. The crowds made it difficult for the team to get home to Skibbereen.
'Trying to get out of Inishannon…. Bandon — open top parade,' Ian explains, still filled with amazement all these years later.
'These are all our rivals in football and hurling and rugby. Clonakilty was bananas. We were driving through the main street and there was a low-lying bloody telegraph wire, and Jesus Christ, five or six of us nearly decapitated.'
As for that £500 O'Donovan Rossa 33/1 bet, a report in the Southern Star says that the total winnings came to a princely £16,500 in old punt currency. Let the figures dance in your head to come up with an equivalent in today's euros.
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Enya has only just started to think about Ireland's first Women's Rugby World Cup since 2017. Their opening Pool C game against Japan on 24 August will quickly come into view. Two warm-up games must be accounted for first, starting with Scotland this weekend in a tie that brings up happy memories for Enya. Canada are up next to finalise the World Cup preparations.
She thinks of players like Dorothy Wall and Erin King who won't tog out due to long-term injuries. Enya has walked that road before. There's some added history involved as Breen will follow in the footsteps of Laura Guest to become just the second West Cork woman to represent Ireland at the World Cup.
This is a great time for rugby in the region, and Enya smiles as she lists off the connections. Munster star Gavin Coombes played on a Gaelic football team that was coached by Ian. And when Enya joined the Bantry club, Claire Coombes was her teammate. Gillian Coombes is another sibling making inroads with the province.
Enya is always aware of the great rugby heartland that made her.
'The West Cork rugby scene is only getting bigger and bigger between Gavin [Coombes], John Hodnett, Jack Crowley, the Wycherleys [Josh and Fineen]. So, to be able to fly the flag for the women, I love representing my community and my family.
'I probably see it most when I'm at home. You go to the shop or go for a coffee and people are stopping to ask how you're getting on.'
Her parents are already pricing and planning the trip to England. Still adding the miles with the same enthusiasm that prompted the rebirth of Enya's rugby career. All those car trips to training sessions were fuel well spent.
'You couldn't spend it better and we wouldn't do it any other way,' says a proud Ian.
'My God every time I'm walking the dog, they're stopping me… 'Oh Jesus, you've a great girl.'
'We're so proud of her. For older women they're saying, 'I can't wait for that match.' It's not a hurling match with Cork playing. This is women's rugby and they can't wait for it.'