Saints Pop-Up Museum Reveals Treasure Trove Of Club Memorabilia
By: Aidan Crowley:
It’s a scorching hot Saturday afternoon, during the recent hot spell, on Emmet Road, Inchicore. The sounds that normally accompany Friday night matchdays, such as the buzz of conversation and the clang of the turnstiles, are missing.
However, replacing the cacophony and feverish anticipation that is always part-and-parcel of St. Patrick’s Athletic home matches, is a veritable treasure trove of club memorabilia. A large selection of old club jerseys, matchday programmes, trophies and pennants are carefully laid out on hangers and tables behind the gleaming red gates of Richmond Park.
This display, organised by the Patron Saints, Saints In The Community and the History St. Pat’s Project, was the first ever pop-up museum in the long and storied history of St. Pat’s. The event was organised as part of the recent Culture Date With Dublin 8 festival. The array of old club treasures was organised in three separate areas of the clubhouse, namely, the club shop, the home dressing room and the boardroom at 125 Emmet Road.
Pride of place went to a specially produced tee-shirt, commemorating the incredible back-to-back Premier League winning sides of the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons.
The 1997-98 season was a landmark one for the Saints. Under the guidance of manager, Pat Dolan, the team developed a strong, competitive culture. Players like Eddie Gormley, Mick Moody and the Malaysian trio of Billy Boy, Martin Riley and Leon Braithwaite, created a formidable, attacking squad. Key wins against Bohemians, Finn Harps and Shelbourne helped St. Pat’s to clinch their sixth league title.
The following season of 1998-99, saw the Saints adopt a more technical approach, with new manager, Liam Buckley, at the helm. Buckley refined the team’s style, focusing on technical skills and strategic play. This evolution maintained the team’s dynamism and unpredictability, with the impact of star players, Jeff Clarke and Ian Gilzean to the fore. Pivotal wins over Cork City and a decisive victory over Kilkenny City on the last day of the season, sealed their second consecutive and seventh league crown.
Next up, was a beautifully preserved crimson pennant, presented on the occasion of the 2023 FAI Cup final, between St. Pat’s and Bohemians at the Aviva Stadium. The Saints came from behind, to clinch their second FAI Cup in three years, in front of a record crowd of 43,881. They recovered from an early Jonathan Afolabi penalty, to win 3-1, with a Mark Doyle header and a Tommy Lonergan screamer, along with a Bohs own goal, settling the tie.
It was then time to view some of the huge selection of match-worn club jerseys, which were worn by some of the Saints’ greatest players, past and present. Top of the bill was the jersey worn by former St. Pat’s striker, Eoin Doyle, who spent two seasons (2022 and 2023) at Richmond Park, before retiring in July 2023. Doyle had spells with Hibernian, Chesterfield, Cardiff City, Preston North End, Bradford City, Swindon Town and Bolton Wanderers, cross-channel and with Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers and Shelbourne in the League of Ireland (LOI).
In his first season at Richmond Park, Doyle scored fourteen goals in thirty-six appearances, finishing as second top scorer in the LOI Premier Division. In his second season, he netted four goals in twenty-one appearances. Overall, Doyle played sixty-three times for the Saints in all competitions, with eighteen goals to his credit.
Next up, was the jersey worn by St. Pat’s defender and current captain, Joe Redmond. He had a spell with Birmingham City, before returning to Ireland, signing for Cork City ahead of the 2020 season. Redmond arrived at Richmond Park at the start of the 2022 season, after a short spell with Drogheda United.
He was named Senior Player of the Year for the 2022 season by the Patron Saints supporters group and was also named in the PFAI Premier Division Team of the Season for the same year. Redmond, who has been capped for Ireland at Under-16, Under-17, Under-18 and Under-21 levels, has gained legendary status at the club, earning himself the nickname “The Rock Of Richmond” among the fans.
Next on the agenda, was the jersey worn by midfielder and club stalwart, Jamie Lennon. He is now in his eighth full season at Richmond Park, having first signed for St. Pat’s in 2018. Lennon is the club’s longest serving current player in a continuous spell and is fondly known as “one of our own” among the St. Pat’s faithful. He has made one hundred and seventy-five appearances, so far, for the Saints, one hundred and forty-two of them in the league, scoring three times.
Finally, in this section, a quirky club memento: The boots worn by midfielder and club legend, Conan Byrne, when he scored all four goals in a famous 4-0 win over Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium, back in 2013. Byrne began his career in the LOI with UCD, with whom he played for three seasons, before moving to now defunct Sporting Fingal.
When Sporting Fingal folded in 2011, he signed for Shelbourne, before making his debut for the Saints in the 2013 season. That year proved to be fortuitous for both Byrne and the club, with the Saints clinching their ninth and last league title. He spent six full seasons with the club, scoring seventy-seven goals in two hundred and forty-nine appearances in a star-studded career on the banks of the Camac.
What better way to finish-off my visit to the first ever St. Pat’s pop-up museum, then by perusing some of the club paraphernalia, curated by former Saints manager and lifelong supporter, Brian Kerr. A series of cardboard folders and large binders were bulging with old match programmes, some dating back to the fifties and sixties, old team photographs and a selection of old newspaper cuttings.
In 1992, when St. Pat’s was facing liquidation, Kerr was among a number of investors, who raised Euros 82,000 to help save the club. He left his management post with the Saints in 1996, to become the technical director of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). He then was appointed as the full-time manager of the senior Republic of Ireland team in 2003 and in 2007, he became the Director of Football of St. Patrick’s Athletic. In 2009, he was confirmed as the head coach of the Faroe Islands national team. He left that post in 2011, to concentrate on his media work as a pundit and match commentator.
Before I left Richmond Park, I asked club historian and former County Councillor, Dermot Looney, if it would be feasible to have a permanent club museum established, going forward.
Looney, who has written a comprehensive book on the early history of the club, entitled “Saints Rising: The Early History Of St. Patrick’s Athletic FC”, was upbeat, but pragmatic about this prospect.
“It would be a terrific facility for everyone associated with the club, players, management, staff and of course, fans. However, at present, we are very tight on space within the confines of the clubhouse and club shop. If we were to find a suitable space for all of these artefacts in the future, then I don’t see why a more permanent display wouldn’t be a possibility”, he said.
