12/09/2026
RIP Master Casey
All of us associated with Longford Slashers Hurling Club were greatly saddened to learn of the death of Anthony Casey N.T. of Stonepark Longford. A proud son of the Kingdom, Tony came to Longford firstly to teach in St. Michaels BNS in the early sixties from where he moved on to become Principal in Stonepark NS until his retirement in 1995. Despite the fact that he came from the footballing stronghold of Kerry, Tony's first love lay with the sport of hurling. At that time there was no organised hurling of any sort in County Longford, but despite this, Tony introduced the boys to their first taste of hurling in St. Michaels, and indeed brought them on a tour to Galway for some competitive games.
Hurling remained dormant in the county until the seventies when the launch of the national Féile na nGael competition gave renewed impetus to the development of underage hurling in the county. When Slashers St. Michaels won their first Féile title in 1978, Tony was a mentor and he helped them retain the title the following year when they defeated a hotly fancied Wolfe Tones on a scoreline of 2:02 to 2:01. Tony travelled with the teams on both occasions to Kilkenny, where we were hosted by the Carrichshock and Windgap hurling clubs respectively. Other mentors on these trips included Christy Delaney RIP, Mick Wall, Donal Sheahan RIP, Paddy Prendergast, and Philip Walsh.
As well as giving of his time freely with the fledgling underage teams in the club, Tony also held numerous positions on various committees within the club. He was also involved as a selector/mentor with numerous underage Longford county teams in their first forays into intercounty hurling competitions. His sideline demeanour was always very calm and relaxed, and Tony always had words of encouragement for the young hurlers very often between a few puffs from his trademark pipe. Tony worked with and helped others throughout the county in their effort to develop hurling, and these included and are all sadly gone to their eternal rewards - John Collins and John Lawlor Noamh Ciaran Rathcline, Peter Bannon Cashel, Billy Lynn and Paddy Tighe Wolfe Tones and P.J Donohue in Granard. In the GAA centenary year 1984, St. Brendans/Stonepark under Tony's guidance won the County Féile title - a truly remarkable achievement.
Throughout his retirement, Tony would keep track of all things hurling in the Club and County and would no doubt have been satisfied to see Slashers retain the JJ Duignan cup and Longford regain the Lory Meagher cup in 2026. The Longford Hurling family is a small one really, but it continues to grow - slowly but surely - and this is as a result of the remarkable work done by Tony and a few others back in the days when it wasn't that popular. Thanks Tony - the fruits of your pioneering groundwork and labour are there for all to see.
To Ester, Tom, Margaret Mary, Geraldine, Veronica, and all the family, we send you all our sincerest condolences. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
-PÓS.
