Obituary: A special tribute to Ballerin woman Madge Mullan

Many who knew Madge Mullan in recent years were unaware of her prowess on the camogie pitches of Ireland before her arrival in Ballerin as Brian Mullan’s wife.

Yes, she played for her adopted club while raising a family of six daughters and a son and she was very much identified with the Ballerin club as an administrator and coach. Indeed she filled many positions with the club over nearly half a century – but all that came after a quite brilliant playing career.

Born Madge Rainey in Dunloy, she was destined to play camogie and follow in the footsteps of older sister Kathleen who featured for Antrim when they won the All-Ireland senior title for three years in a row, 1945-47.

Down ended Antrim’s quest for a fourth successive All-Ireland as Madge made her transition to Dunloy seniors and an Antrim title. But she still won her own treble of titles in the colours of St Louis Ballymena.

Her school won Corn Uan Uladh, the Ulster schools’ senior cup, 1949-51 beating St Dominic’s Belfast in each of the finals. Madge was a feared forward and scored in each of those finals including 2-2 in the 1951 final when she was captain.

By then she was in the Saffron senior team and had scored in the 1950 Ulster final. Antrim had beaten two in a row champions Down in the semi-final and took the provincial crown with a 7-0 to 2-3 victory over Derry.

Over the next two seasons Antrim lost All-Ireland finals to an all-conquering Dublin team with the Dunloy forward joined by more of her school-mates and St Dominic’s opponents in the county team. But Down and then Derry each took Ulster titles before Antrim could get another crack at the All-Ireland stage.

It all came right in 1956 with Madge as captain following Dunloy’s third Antrim championship the year before. Dublin were going for their ninth title in succession when they met Antrim in a brilliant semi-final in Casement Park.

Agnes Hourigan in The Irish Press the following day described the game as "thrilling stuff from start to stop, with the lead switching from side to side in almost exact rotation …. The stars of the Antrim team were Moya Forde, Maeve Gilroy, Chris Hughes, Grace Connolly and Madge Rainey.”

The final against Cork in Croke Park did not live up to the standard set by Antrim in Casement Park a month earlier but a goal from the team captain kept them in touch at the break, trailing 3-2 to 3-0.  They drew level early in the second half and goals from Chris Hughes and Grace Connolly sealed a 5-3 to 4-2 victory that allowed Madge to become the fourth Antrim captain to collect the O’Duffy Cup.

Antrim made it back to Croke Park for the 1957 final but they lost through a last minute goal to Dublin after a goal from Madge had placed them in a winning position.

Shortly afterwards Madge married Brian Mullan who played for Derry in the 1958 All-Ireland football final. The couple settled in Brian’s native Ballerin and raised their family of seven with Madge getting involved in her adopted club and ensuring that each of her daughters enjoyed the sport that had taken her to such great heights.

Despite her advanced years, Madge remained very active and was always an engaging conversationalist with a wide range of friends. Her interest in camogie and indeed all sport endured.

Predeceased by her husband and more recently her daughter Collette, Madge died early last Sunday and her requiem Mass took place last Tuesday morning in St Mary’s Ballerin.

Our condolences to her daughters Fiona (Donaghy), Teresa, Anne (McKeague), Carmel and Sinead (Burns), son Brian Óg, her extended family and many friends

Leaba i measc na naomh go raibh aici.