Detty Cornally: President of Mullingar Shamrocks
It has been normal, on International Women's Day, to pay tribute to the important role played by women in Mullingar Shamrocks, a club that has adopted the One Club model with great success. On this occasion, it is appropriate to pay tribute to the woman who started it all. The Suffragette. The President of Mullingar Shamrocks, Detty Cornally.
Detty's association with Mullingar Shamrocks has been traced back to 1963 when the young Detty Riggs was selling tickets in the club's Silver Circle draw, the principal source of finance at the time. Mrs Riggs from Gainstown was the winner of the first prize of £15 in week eight of the draw; the winning ticket sold by one D. Riggs according to the results published in the Westmeath Examiner. This was at a time when women had little or no connection with the GAA and signals the beginning of what has been one of many of Detty's great contribution to Mullingar Shamrocks.
Detty's fundraising began in style in the 1980s when the club organised 300 and 500 Confined Members' monthly draws. The numbers were notional and in reality the draws were limited to the amount of tickets members were able to sell. Nobody sold more than Detty. St Mary's CBS had organised similar type draws to fund the building of the school's gym and Detty was one of the leading sellers. The chairman of Mullingar Shamrocks at the time, Noel Daly, recruited Detty to sell tickets for the club in a similar type of draw. Tickets cost £5 a month for 12 months with a number of payment options available, standing orders the preferred one. Detty relied on personal contact for her sales and arrived into the Lake County on draw nights, dipped into the handbag, and produced fistfuls of fivers. The ticket selling and fundraising habit has continued without interruption. This was never more evident than in the recent Club Iarmhí draw. The Mullingar Shamrocks contribution to the success of this draw was considerable and this was almost totally due to the drive and organisation of Detty who was responsible for at least 90 per cent of the club sales.
The fashion show was a particular favourite of Detty's and with her team of helpers many successful ventures were organised. Initially modelling agencies were used but the idea of these agencies leaving town with more money than the organiser's profit was too much to tolerate and Detty quickly graduated to using local models and personnel. One show that comes to mind featured the Ross Tallon Modelling Agency. Ross, a native of Granard, was well known in Mullingar where he had been a popular hairdresser. A winner of the David Marshall Hairdresser of the Year award, Ross was hair stylist to Johnny Logan when he won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1987 with Hold Me Now and he brought a certain amount of celebrity status and interest to what was Mullingar Shamrocks first big fashion show. At the time, Ross's organisational skills did not match his skills with the scissors, Bloomfield House Hotel was packed and the show was a triumph after a few anxious days beforehand. Ross Tallon is now Rebecca Antoinette Tallon De Havalland, and became Ireland's first transsexual to have a sex change operation in 1991. Not only was Detty the organiser in chief for fashion shows it was her normal practice to lead a team of volunteers on a door-to-door ticket selling campaign for these shows. The Detty organised raffle of course was an essential part of every event: no Shamrocks occasion was too big or too small to exploit this method of extracting some additional finance from patrons (Who remembers the American Tea Parties?). Mullingar Shamrocks Golf Classics were a morning to midnight occasion for Detty. The day usually began with Detty patiently taking entries in the Clubhouse before she moved outside to cook the burgers for the golfers when they stepped off the 9th green. And then, it was back out to the Golf Club in the evening to represent Mullingar Shamrocks at the presentation of prizes.
There was no standing still with Detty and on 14 September 2006 she launched a new project: the BINGO in the Clubhouse with Johnny Corroon on hand to call the numbers on the opening night. She recruited a supporting cast for that project many of them having little or no idea that they were volunteering for the long term. Paul Doolin, Tony Irwin, Mary Curley, Ray Twomey and Marian Madden were also recruited to call the numbers. Detty's band of helpers included Pat Collins, Terry O'Dowd, Martina Heffernan, Patsy Rylands, Eillen Murphy, David Horgan, Tina McCarthy, Tricia Carter, Olive Collins, Charlotte Collins, Marion Glennon, Pearly Tanner, Mick Greene, Ritchie O'Donoghue, Sean Hynes, Barry Kelly and Debbie Doyle. An influencer before the term was invented and one who never posted on Instagram or any other social media platform. One or two of us were given special P45s (including two ex-Chairmen) and were dismissed for not reaching the required standard of presentation! Although it struggled at times, Detty, and Detty alone refused to let it die, and the Bingo continued without a break until it became the first victim of Covid-19 in the club when the session of 12 March was cancelled out of a desire to protect the health and safety of the patrons.
The Cornally family lived for a while during the 1970s in Kilcock but the ties with Mullingar were never really broken and it wasn't unusual to see Detty conducting the weekly shopping in the town. In 1977, a new opportunity for Detty to exercise her organisational and persuasive skills became available shortly after the family returned. Seán Nolan called down to Newlands and asked Detty if she could organise a few dancers to compete in the Scór competitions that were gradually becoming part of the county's GAA scene. This request began a love affair with the GAA's great cultural initiative that has never diminished. Volunteer for Scór once and it becomes almost impossible to escape from Detty's persistent and persuasive manoeuvres as she recruits solo singers, dancers, assembles ballad groups and quiz teams in what was a never ending quest to ensure that Mullingar Shamrocks was well represented in Scór Sinseár and Scór na nÓg (A few did escape the net; talk to Detty about Scór and their names will soon be mentioned with a certain amount of regret). And as a networker supreme, Detty quickly built a support team for the Scór voyages. Patsy Rylands, Dinah Whelehan, Colette Callan and Noreen Garry were close associates. Paul Doolin's reference to his mother-in-law as Mrs Scór was most appropriate. Association with Scór was in so many ways family business. Rose Longworth (never referred to as Rose), Detty's sister was the secretary of the Westmeath County Committee for several decades and Mary Cornally (Doolin) succeeded her auntie as county secretary. Mary has several county and provincial Rince Fóirne titles to her credit as both a competitor and coach. Louise has a few titles on the sideboard also. Rebecca Doolin, who at one stage in her life introduced herself as 'Detty Cornally's grand-daughter' has the distinction of winning the All-Ireland Scór Sinseár title in the Novelty Act with the daddy, Paul, playing his usual stellar role.
The Scór Sinseár Rince Fóirne dancers became something of a Shamrocks speciality and were ultra-successful winning 13 county titles over a period of 15 years, and added another 8 Leinster titles to the mix in a remarkable sequence that saw them dance in the All-Ireland finals but unfortunately the troupe never captured the big prize. The current Rince Fóirne Cup is the Rob Cornally Trophy and appropriately was won by the Shamrocks dancers just before the original lockdown. Despite the disappointments, there has also been great occasions none better than the two All-Ireland Scór na nÓg titles won in the Ballad Group and Solo Singing competitions, an All-Ireland Scór Sinseár title in Recitation and two All-Ireland Novelty Act titles. It fair to say that without Detty's perseverance and prompting none of this would have been possible. Detty has been a familiar sight in halls across Westmeath, Leinster and in various national venues maintaining a watchful vigil and no doubt all the time planning the next move to ensure that Shamrocks place in the world of Scór was secure. This planning the next move was typical of Detty. The profits from Stars in Your Eyes were hardly lodged in the account when the question was asked: 'Will I book the Arts Centre for Next Year?' And the good news is that after almost spending a year in lockdown, Detty is full of energy and ready to contribute once again. She has been making enquiries about the starting date for the Club Lotto. 'Put me down for four books', has been the word from the Cornally headquarters.
The Feis Lár na hÉireann was revived by Mullingar Shamrocks in 1984 after a lapse of twenty years and quickly developed into a week of competitions in Irish language and culture including set dancing, figure dancing, recitation, ballad groups, solo and choral singing, traditional and classical music, Irish conversation and verse, Irish drama and art. There were competitions for primary and secondary schools and for 'na daoine fasta'. It was a remarkable undertaking by a GAA club that took its responsibilities to promoting Irish language and culture very serious. The secretary of the committee was the key person in organising this challenging event and there is hardly need to mention that Detty took on this important role with husband Rob also one of the driving individuals involved.
Detty was elected President of Mullingar Shamrocks in 1992 (subject to a recount, it might even be earlier) when she defeated Michael O'Reilly in an election for the post at the AGM held in the dining room of the Lake County Hotel, the unofficial headquarters of Mullingar Shamrocks at the time. The position of president as it operates in the club is an unusual one as there is no mention of the office in the Official Guide of the GAA. Apparently, when the club adopted a constitution in the late 1970s the position became official and was included to enhance the club's status. After all if a golf club or rugby club could have a president why not a humble GAA club? It is fair to say that Detty has defined the role. We have many honorary presidents which is a different matter and a different position. Detty is a working president and has been unchallenged for the position since she was elected to the post. The lobby of the Greville Arms was Detty's informal morning office and headquarters in the pre-Covid days; the TEAM shop at the top of Mount Street served a similar function with many of those in her extensive network of contacts calling in to pay homage and receive instructions from their leader. The legendary handbag was Detty's portable filing cabinet, stocked with all the essentials needed to conduct business and a reservoir of tickets for the multiple organisations and causes dear to Detty's heart.
Detty was also a pioneer of Ladies Gaelic Football in the club and for a number of years was the chairperson of the club's LGF Committee. Ladies Gaelic Football began in Westmeath in the mid-1970s but that attempt to introduce the sport did not last long. Detty was at the centre of the revival in the club and the county in the 1990s. Supported by Noreen Garry, Marie Burke, Ann Melody, John Nugent, Liam Eivers and of course Terry O'Dowd, Mullingar Shamrocks affiliated under-age teams when the sport was revived. These were the days when Sheila Lyster was the driving force at county level and county committee meetings were held in Sheila's house. Detty and Noreen Garry were the delegates to the county meetings. As we know LGF now has a very strong position in Mullingar Shamrocks and there is hardly a LGF player in the club that has not been influenced in some way by Detty.
This level of commitment and contribution to Mullingar Shamrocks is substantial in its own right but Detty Cornally's community contribution extended well beyond the club. North Westmeath Hospice, TEAM and Teach Fáilte, Club Iarmhí and several other organisations have also benefited from Detty's talents and voluntary commitment. A Minster of the Eucharist, and with an uncle that once fought on the side of General Franco in the Spanish Civil War and later joined the Labour Party (an unusual combination!), it is no surprise that a woman with Detty's well informed social conscience was attracted to politics and the Labour Party. She was first elected to the Mullingar Town Council in 1999 and to the Westmeath County Council in 2004 where she represented the Mullingar West electoral area until 2014 ('Detty, the only place you haven't got into yet is the crib' was the greeting from one of her supporters as she began one of her election campaigns).
And it is important to recognise that these activities were always second to Detty's family commitments. Family always came first and the manner in which Detty cared for Rob in the years of his illness was truly inspirational.
There is only one Detty. And no one in Mullingar Shamrocks or indeed Mullingar town ever has to ask Detty who?
Detty, May you stay for every young.
