1983 Pat Savage
Pat Savage from Castlewellan, the son of a prominent whisky merchant, publican and grocer lived all his life in the family home above the thriving business premises at Main Street. He took over the family business in the fifties and is credited with opening the first ‘singing lounge’ in the town in the mid-sixties. Pat continued to run the family business until shortly before his death in 1995. Today the popular bar and lounge is run by Pat’s son Brian.
Pat was a fanatical supporter all his life, not only of Castlewellan teams but also Down County teams. When the club was reformed in 1940 Pat was present at the initial meeting and took on the important role of club treasurer a position he held from 1940 – 47. Pat played a crucial role in the development of the new Club during the difficult early years as the club struggled to consolidate it’s shaky foundations and build a new team, It would be ten years before the Club would once again win a SFC title in 1950. During the forties however Pat was a prominent member of the town team playing at mid-field and although the team never won a title during this decade they did contest two finals in 1945 and 1946 being beat by Clonduff and by Newry. During the war years there were numerous local leagues, involving teams that have long since dropped out of football. The town featuring Savage at mid-field was always prominent in these local competitions, although no one can remember any trophies being won.
It was not just in Gaelic that young Savage excelled. Pat was an all round sportsman, an Ulster champion in table tennis, he spent much time coaching many local young players to the highest standards. He was also a very good billiard and snooker player. The parish priest in Castlewellan during the forties was a Dr. Conway, and he decided to start boxing for the young lads about the town, probably to keep them out of trouble. The young Savage took to this new sport like a duck to water and like every sport he tackled he became proficient at the boxing in a very short time. There was nothing he liked better than to get someone into the ring to go a few rounds with, but it wasn’t too long before there were very few takers. As the years passed and his participation in sport came to an end he continued to take a keen interest in all sports. His Bar on Main Street remained a popular meeting place for sportsmen of all hues as Pat had a thorough knowledge and a keen interest in every sport from horse racing and athletics to table tennis, boxing and of course his beloved Gaelic.
With his Gaelic football days behind him Pat continued to serve on the club committee, and was ever present on the committee as each new milestone was reached. He was involved in the purchase of the first club bus, saw the establishment of under age teams and a new youth policy introduced which led to the town’s first under-16 championship title in 1953. Pat was at the centre of things as the success of the 50’s continued with the Feis sevens in 1950 and 1956, the Minor League and East Down Junior Leagues in 1951 and 1955, the All-County Senior League in 1955, and the Club’s fourth Senior Football Championship in 1958. During this period few clubs had senior team managers, and Castlewellan was no exception. The committee normally picked the team and as can be imagined this often led to numerous rows and disputes about who should be playing and where they should be playing. Pat was always in the thick of things bringing his wide and experienced knowledge of the game to bear and quite often winning the arguments.
Every club needs a fundraiser and Castlewellan have been fortunate that in every generation there has always been some person with the innovative skills required to try some novel way of raising funds. In the fifties Pat Savage was one such man. He ran weekly dances to raise club funds in the town market house (currently the library). The fact that the dances were what was classed by the GAA as English dancing and at variance with the rules of the Association then, didn’t seem to occur to Pat!!
Pat served on the club committee for three decades and was chairman in 1967 and 1968. When the club development programme commenced in the early 70’s Pat was appointed as one of the first groups of club trustees. In his latter years he always remained a loyal and enthusiastic Castlewellan supporter who was a pioneer for the current club some 60 years ago.
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