Brendan Toner
compiled by Ciarán Crilly
The name Toner has been synonymous with Gaelic Sports in Castlewellan as far back as records go and in every generation since the foundation of St Malachy’s GAC Toners have featured prominently in Town teams. A 1916 minute book contains a register of 54 Castlewellan players including 6 Toners, Joe, John Joe, Frank, Hugh, Thomas and James, as well as 4 Cunninghams, 3 O'Flinns, and 3 Grants.
Toners also featured prominently in the "small number" games in which Castlewellan has also had a strong tradition of success. The O’Rahillys five-a-side team established this tradition in the early 1920s. The players were the brothers Johnny and Hughie "Nacker" Toner, John "Darkee" Toner, Jimmy Jennings and Willie Ferguson. Darkee’s son Jim was a committee member for many years and his grandson, Brendan played for the County senior team in the 1970’s and 1980’s, and was a prominent member of the Club senior team during the same period winning 2 SFC medals with the town in 1979 and 1982. The O'Rahillys five-a-side team was practically unbeatable then, while the full team, having graduated to Senior status won the Club's first Senior Football Championship in 1924 beating Mayobridge in the final at Hilltown.
Yet another Toner featured in this famous team, Joe Toner, a grat uncle of Brendan Toner. Joe Toner, was also County hurler and footballer. He was best known however for his soccer skills and was a professional footballer with Arsenal, and gained many Inter-national honours as an inside forward. In 1927, Brendan’s grandfather "Darkie" Toner, and Father Frank McKenna P.P. Carrickfergus won the Ulster Senior Doubles Handball championship, while Father Cullen won the individual title. They were unsuccessful in their bid to win the All-lreland championships played in Croke Park in 1928
It was in the early sixties that Brendan (Bengy) Toner first came to the attention of team mentors of the town club. There were no schoolboy teams then, and no juvenile coaching sessions or primary school teams, but as in previous generations all the youngsters of the parish would spend their summer evening playing kick-about and impromptu games in the meadow. Both soccer and Gaelic was played in the meadow then and although still only a youngster Bengy excelled in both games and his stature and height even then made him particularly suited to Gaelic football. Bengy like so many other youngsters of his generation would have been influenced then by the success of the great Down team of the sixties, in which his father’s cousin Castlewellan’s Pat Rice played such a major role. It wasn’t long then until Bengy started playing with the town U16 team and then on to the town minor team. Bengy was attending St Patrick’s High School in Downpatrick by this time and also played in all the school teams there, although these teams did not win any major honours while he was there. After leaving school and still in his teens Bengy was picked for the town senior team as the new decade of the seventies dawned.
This was an important and historic decade in the history of the club. In the early seventies the town club was in a transitional period and with the foresight of such club stalwarts as Fr. Oliver McStravick (who was curate in the parish at the time and a great GAA man), Pat Keown, Pat Rice, Dan Rooney, and Gerry Dougherty they decided that the club must be developed both on and off the field. Their plans for the development of the meadow and the development of a senior championship winning side would take almost a decade to achieve. Bengy Toner featured very much in their plans for this winning side along with town veterians such as Gerry Dougherty, Colm McGreevey, Terry McArdle, Finbar McCormick, Paddy and Owen McGeown, and Leo Flanagan. Men of Bengy’s generation had also now made a mark for themselves. Men like Danny, and Dessie Keown, Colm Crilly, Lawrence McAlinden, and Ned McCartan. Younger town lads too were beginning to earn their place on this senior squad as the decade drew to a close, John McAleenan, Donagh O'Kane, Miceal Crilly, Eamon Toner, and Donal Rooney,
In 1977 Colm McAlarney transferred to the town club from Leitrim. Colm McAlarney recalls that when he joined the club then the town were already a very strong side. Colm is on record as saying "as a midfielder I was always very aware of the importance of having a solid half-back line and that particularly your centre half back position was strongly filled. At club and County level I was very fortunate. At Leitrim you had Willie Doyle at centre half and at Castlewellan you had Kevin McElroy and Bengy Toner. For someone like myself, who liked to play adventurously from the middle of the field, it was very important that there wasn’t a space left behind me. Willie, Bengy and Kevin ensured that. Kevin McElroy, Barney McAleenan, and Sean Gallagher also joined the Club at the same time as McAlarney, and as the seventies came to a close the town team now had many skilful players and were beginning to make their presence felt in the first Division and in the County Championship. All that was needed now was a strong management team, and at the right time along came Danny Hillen and Anthony King. Bengy says that these two men were perhaps his greatest influence in Gaelic football. They injected discipline into the squad, which Bengy would agree was much needed by young men of his generation that liked to enjoy a hectic social life. These men instilled team loyalty and dedication and they possessed great man management skills that knitted this unique squad of men from different club backgrounds and age groups into the championship winning side that it became.
In 1978 the first National title was won by the club – the Kilmacud All-Ireland Sevens (click here for photo). This was a huge honour for the club and celebrated as such. The winning panel was Lawrence McAlinden, Kevin McElroy (capt) Danny Keown, Eamon Toner, Gerry Dougherty, Brendan Toner, Barney McAleenan, Colm McAlarney, and Colm Crilly. Then in 1979, under the management of Danny Hillen and Anthony King gold was struck when the senior team lifted its seventh County Championship title beating Rostrevor in the final. The town did the double that year also winning the League. (click here for photo of the winning team)
By this time Bengy’s talents had been spotted by Down’s management team of James McCartan and Val Kane. In 1977 Bengy got his call-up for the red and black and for the next seven years until 1984 Bengy was the regular centre half back for the Down senior team. In 1978 he won his first Ulster Championship medal with Down, and in 1981 he picked up his second when Down again won the Ulster Championship. Bengy is also the proud holder of a National League Division 2 medal, and in 1983 he picked up a National League Division 1 Medal when Down defeated Armagh in the National League final. Bengy is also the holder of a Gael Linn Cup medal which he won in New York.
On the Club front Bengy went on to win his second Down SFC medal with the town in 1982. Two further All-Ireland Sevens medals with the town were to follow for big Bengy, at Belfield Dublin in 1980 and Kilmacuds again in 1981. After his playing days had ended in the mid-eighties Bengy decided to up-roots, and move to England where there were greater work opportunities then in the construction business. However Bengy still continues to follow the fortunes or otherwise of his home club and County team and holds many happy memories of playing for both. He considers as his greatest achievement, winning a National League medal in 1983 particularly as he came back after a bad injury and played such a prominent role in the 1983 final.
Perhaps like many other County players of his era and in every generation he would dearly have loved to win the ultimate award of an All-Ireland SFC medal, and undoubtedly had he been of age in the 1960’s or the 1990’s he would have featured in those All-Ireland winning sides. As it is Bengy is more than happy with the success he has achieved and has many happy memories of Club and County. Like many others who enjoyed playing the game at the highest level Bengy regrets that it passes by much too quickly. His advice to people in the game today is ‘play as long as you can’.
Bengy will always be remembered in his home club and further afield as a player of great ability, a great fielder of the high ball with a safe pair of hands, and a powerful kicker of a dead ball,
Slán leat Bengy and keep in touch.
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