2001 Frankie Rooney
Like his older brothers Dan and Pat Frankie Rooney has always been a loyal and true town man. For generations the Rooney brothers have been cornerstones of St Malachy’s GAC, first and foremost as players on numerous victorious town teams. However, Dan, Pat, Johnny, and Frankie Rooney were also valued and great club administrators moulding and fashioning the club into the proud and successful club it has become in the 21st centuary. From the early 1950’s to the close of the 20th centuary there has always been at least one Rooney brother on a Castlewellan GAC committee. Frankie was Club treasurer from 1967 until 1982.
As a young boy growing up in the town Frank was introduced to Gaelic games by his uncle John King who was then a great and skilful Gaelic footballer. Brothers Dan and Pat who were fast making a name for themselves on the Town Team also influenced Frank. As a ten-year-old Frankie can recall Dan and Pat playing in the famous or infamous 1950 championship final against Warrenpoint (the year of the Burst ball), which the town won in the replay. Both Dan and Pat were also holders of numerous Feis Sevens medals for the town as well as being selected to play for the County during the 1940’s and 1950’s.
The pressure was on Frankie even before he kicked a ball for the town to live up to the reputation of his brothers. It wasn’t long however before Frankie showed his true pedigree winning his first medal with the town as a 13 year old when the team won the Down u16 championship in 1953, and collecting his second U16 medal two years later in 1955. He was also a member of the U18 team, which claimed the town’s first minor County C’ship title in 1957 beating Glenn in the final. Success on the field continued with a senior championship medal in 1958 – ‘B’ League medal in 1963 – ‘A’ League medal in 1964 – and a second SFC medal in 1965 along with numerous 7-a-side and tournament honours.
While still at the height of his playing career Frankie, like his brothers Dan, Pat, and Johnny (who was also a notable town footballer) joined the Club committee in the late fifties holding such posts as Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer before becoming Club treasurer in 1967 a post he held with distinction for 15 years. During this period his brother Dan was Club Secretary from 1945 to 1965 and then chairman from 1976 until 1986. While still a regular member of the town senior team in the early 1970’s Frankie held the important Club Treasurer post at a very important period for the club which overseen the development of St Malachy’s Park and Social Club. During this period the Rooney brothers worked tirelessly along with many other great Club men and women to turn their dream of a modern St Malachy’s Club complete with new pitch changing rooms, and a social club into reality.
It was in this latter venture that Frankie’s bar experience proved to be extremely important to the town club. In the mid-seventies no other GAA club in the County had a licensed social club, but with Frankie’s guiding hand it wasn’t long until the fledging GAA social club on the Circular road found it’s feet. The standards and work methods, including stock control introduced by Frankie were adapted by the club committee and ensured the survival of the social club through lean years of the 1970’s and 1980’s when high interest rates led to the closure of many licensed premises and clubs. In later years the success of the club continued to grow thanks to the strong foundations Frankie helped to lay. His contribution to the success of the bar didn’t end with his guiding roll and advice. He helped organise voluntary bar-teams, including experienced bar staff such as his employee’s sons, the Maginn brothers. He also did more than his share of voluntary shifts behind the bar, a task he continued for many years after the social club was firmly established.
Like so many dedicated town players Frankie donned the second’s jersey in the twilight years of his football career and continued to play for the town well into the seventies. As well as organising, overseeing and working shifts behind the bar during this busy decade he also made time to undertake numerous other tasks on behalf of the club. Frankie was one of a small band of Club bus drivers that drove the club bus all over Ireland not only ferrying club teams but school groups, parochial bodies, scouts and guides and anyone else that wanted to hire the club bus. This group of drivers give their services entirely free often taking time off work and at week-ends do this important club work.
In 1982 with an extending family and increasing workload Frankie stepped down from the Club Committee. A few years later he opened his own pub in the town – the ‘Fountain Bar’ at the lower end of the town’s Main Street. Frankie soon made the bar into a popular meeting place for Gaelic fans from all of the neighbouring Clubs and for County fans on their way home from games. During many heated football arguments he never wavered from proclaiming to be a true town-man. In the less successful years for the town team in the early 90’s Frankie accepted the mantle as official senior team sponsor and remains a generous benefactor to the town Club.
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