Seany Burns RIP

A tribute to the late, great Seany Burns by Maria Gough

It is with a deep sense of sadness that we learn of the death of one of the Antrim greats in both football and hurling, dual player Seany Burns, in Australia.

Seany was a truly magnificent member of St. John’s GAC Corrigan Park, Belfast representing the club in both senior football and hurling in the 60’s, 70’s and early 80s..  His talents were exceptional. John Gough described him thus, “Sean Burns was a brilliant artist with the caman. He was an exceptionally talented player.  He was a quick thinking, fearless half-back and stood out on every team he played on, whether it was club, county or province, with his slight build and mop of red hair. Seany was, without doubt, one of the best hurlers Antrim ever produced. A singularly instinctive player, who relied on skill and speed of thought and action”. 

Seany was one of three brothers who grew up in Beechmount the original and exclusive St. John’s club catchment area, back then and as Geraldine, his wife put it, “Seany belonged to St John’s forever – he was “skip boy” when he was too young to play”, so Corrigan Park was his second home.

He was quiet and unassuming with a great sense of humour but on the hurling field a wizard, admired for his playing ability, his temperament and sportsmanship.

Sean attended St Finian’s Primary School on the Falls Road Belfast where he was coached in hurling from an early age by Rev.Brother Benignus a DeLaSalle brother, who was passionate about the game and passed on, not only the skills of the game but the passion for playing the game at the highest level, to Sean. 

Sean’s talents were quickly recognised and he was starring on the Antrim Minor team in the late 50s but 1958 brought the most unexpected blow to St. John’s and Antrim when Sean at 18 years of age announced that he was emigrating to Australia! Such was the shock that it was reported in The Irish News as follows.

“Many people had this past year been extolling the ability and natural skill of a young Sean Burns as a hurler, so it came as a huge hock when in March, Sean Burns the St John’s and Antrim Minor County Hurler, announced that he would be leaving for Australia following Pat Gallagher and Neil Crawford to Sydney on the 17th March 1958. This was a significant blow to the club, as Sean was recognized as an outstanding young hurler with a great future”.

However, he quickly felt at home, when he played hurling and football for New South Wales, over the next 4 years while working at the Snowy Mountain Scheme and played with fellow St. John’s men Pat Gallagher and Neilly Crawford while residing there.  He came home for a holiday in 1962 and quickly slotted back into the club enjoying his football and hurling.  Many would say that meeting Geraldine Mitchell was the reason he stayed and St. John’s and Antrim will always be so grateful to her for that!  Seany was struck by cupid’s arrow, as it kept him in Belfast for the next 22 years marrying Geraldine in 1966 and going on to have 5 children together.

Seany weaved his magical skills on both the hurling and football pitches and although quiet by nature, he was an outstanding sportsman, making him the captain that any manager would be proud to elect. Every St. John’s man of his era, repeatedly describe him first and foremost as an absolute gentleman and then go on to extol his brilliance on the pitch.

A report on a club hurling match in 1969 carried the headline in The Irish News “Sean Burns Outstanding against Ballycran in Senior Hurling League and the subsequent report went on to praise his contribution in bringing about the resulting win for the club.

“Class and experience always tells. At this belated Antrim 1968 senior hurling league game, in Casement Park, Sean Burns stood out above all the other players on the pitch. Sean paved the way to a clear cut win for the Johnnies. St John’s minus a number of regulars were still too strong for Ballycran and finished the game St John’s 3-9  Ballycran  1-7

In 1970 Denis O’Hara wrote in The Irish News

” Sean Burns has had a rare double in Antrim during the past 12 months which few, if any players in Ulster, can lay claim to. According to the records he is the first man in Antrim to captain both the senior football and hurling champions in the same season. It is a feat which may never be equalled in the county and for that reason alone he is worthy of a special niche in the Association’s Hall of Fame in Antrim”. If this wasn’t the greatest accolade a player could enjoy, Sean then went on to captain Antrim’s Intermediate hurling team who won the All Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship in the same year 1970 and for 7 years 1963-1970 was on the Ulster Railway Cup team whom he also captained. team

His role of honour includes

• He represented Antrim on the County Minor Team
• He played on five County Championship winning hurling teams for St. John’s at senior level:
• He was selected on the Ulster hurling team for the Provincial series and had the honour of leading the team as Captain.
• He played on the Ulster St John’s senior football championship team in 1964 which beat Bellaghy from Derry in the final.
• In 1965 he was on the team that won the Ulster Senior Football Championship defeating St Josephs, Donegal.
• He was a member of the St. John’s 7-in-a-row senior football championship winning teams
• He was a team member when St. John’s won five Senior Hurling Championships.
• Sean is the only player in the history of Antrim to captain championship winning teams in senior football and hurling in the same year.
•  In 1973 as a member of the team that won the Ulster Club Hurling Championship after defeating Ballycastle in Antrim and going on to defeat Ballygalget in the Ulster Final. This team was unfortunately beaten in the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final by Blackrock of Cork in Cork.
• Sean it has been claimed, that he was one of the best hurlers never to win an All-Ireland Senior Championship medal
• In 1984 Sean Burns was selected as left half back on the Antrim Hurling Team of the Century

What a finale for Sean, as 1984 also signified his return to Australia. Seany’s last match for St John’s was in May 1983 although he was supposed to be retired.  He broke his leg at this match and was due to emigrate in 6 weeks later. 

They did make it to Australia and the family immediately got involved with the Irish community in Penrith and needless to say Seany was involved again in GAA.  His first match with Penrith Gaels (which included 4 of Eamon  Grieve’s brothers) he was still limping but could still outplay most of the ex-pats.

He helped Penrith Gaels to win their first hurling championship against a team with a large contingent of Kilkenny hurlers.  His 15 year old son Sean was goalkeeper that day and he was awarded hurler of the year.

In the late 80s and 90s he helped with managing and coaching the Penrith Gaels and travelled to interstate games and New Zealand and his sons Sean, Brendan, Justin and Declan all played for New South Wales in Gaelic Football.

He worked with the Penrith Gaels members to build a licenced club called the “Wee Club with the Big Heart”, in a converted squash court. How appropriate as this name could also describe Sean Burns, ‘the wee man with the big heart”.

As you would imagine not only was Seany a great hurler he was also a star golfer.  He was President of the Gaels Golf and Geraldine too, took up golf and together they travelled around New South Wales and Queensland playing in veteran competitions.

When he retired he joined a singing group called Tir na Nog who performed at Nursing Homes and for Seniors Groups.Yes, the wee an with the big heart!)  His musical talents were established back in the 70s when he represented St. John’s in Scor as a ballad singer. Is there no end to this man’s talents?

Unfortunately, Sean was to succumb to Alzheimer’s disease in his later years and would not have been aware that as St. John’s celebrated their 90^th anniversary on 30^th March 2019, his family paid a moving tribute to him on the big screen.

The name of Sean Burns has gone down in the history of the GAA in Antrim and nationally and his memory lives on in Corrigan through his contemporaries, where he will never be forgotten.  May he rest in peace.