Rackards gather once again as Wexford hopes stir

THREE generations of the Rackards are gathering for a reunion in the old family home in Killanne, in north Wexford, today. Apart from the usual family talk, Wexford's clash with Galway in tomorrow's All Ireland hurling semi final will be discussed at length.

The county's Leinster championship victory - its first in 19 years - ended a painful hurling famine, putting Wexford within two steps of its first All Ireland title since 1968. Throughout its towns, villages and lush pastures this week, the talk has been of tomorrow's match, as the purple and gold made their reappearance in an abundance of jerseys, Tshirts and flags.

In Killanne, the excitement is tempered by a sense of history. This small community, nestling under the Blackstair mountains, produced the four legendary Rackard brothers, Billy, Bobby, Nicky and Jim, whose names are indelibly linked with Wexford hurling in the 1950s. Nicky and Jim died in their 50s, leaving Billy, a retired businessman in Wexford town, and Bobby, who runs the family pub and farm in Killanne, the survivors of a remarkable tradition.

But the two brothers would recoil from any form of hero worship. In Bobby's pub, there are no photographs of old Wexford teams, no memorabilia to evoke past glories. And while Bobby remains a staunch Wexford supporter, and will be at Croke Park with Billy tomorrow, he will not be hanging purple and gold flags in his licensed premises.

"I think," says Billy, by way of explanation, "Bobby would be horrified if he thought our hurling achievements were ever used for commercial exploitation."

Billy's memoirs, which deal mainly with the family's intriguing history going back to 1896 - their father, for instance, bad no interest in hurling, preferring cricket - will be published in October. There will be social history, on how the first World War, the 1916 Rising and the Civil War affected Killanne and the neighbouring county town of Enniscorthy. There will be an outline of life in rural Ireland in the 1930s and 1940s.

The hurling highlights will be recalled, too, his own favourite being the 1956 All Ireland victory over Cork.

"There is the same excitement around now as there was then," says Billy, whose career at senior county level spanned 15 years. "Winning the Leinster championship was a huge boost. I don't know what was wrong with us in the lean years. I think, perhaps, it might have something to do with our psyche. We don't have that inate cunning that Kilkenny men have, for instance. But we have talent and determination.

Martin Quigley, a former county player, and now chairman of the Wexford supporters' club, has a more practical explanation.

"We won a lot in the 1960s, and we did reasonably well in the 70s, and we didn't pay enough attention to our under age players," he says. "All the focus was on the adult teams."

INTEREST in hurling declined among the young. Last year, a survey in Wexford schools found that Eric Cantona was the young people's favourite sports star, ahead of hurlers D.J. Carey and Martin Storey. The supporters' club is helping to finance a coaching scheme in the national schools, but there is a fall off in interest among the 14 to 18 year age group, says Martin Quigley.

A countywide hurling survey, of which he was part, has recommended the appointment of two full time coaches for secondary schools. "Success at county level brings good will. But even if we win the All Ireland, will the buzz continue into next winter and beyond? And enthusiasm alone will not create hurlers. They need to be nurtured from a young age," he said.

Tony Doran, a member of the 1968 team, and immortalised in those drama filled Michael O'Hehir commentaries of the 1960s as "the man from Boolavogue", always believed that the sun would rise again for Wexford. "On the law of averages, there had to be a breakthrough. There is huge interest in the game now, and you can see many more youngsters wearing the Wexford jersey."

And there was what Tony considers to be a good omen for tomorrow, when his club, Buffers Alley - nobody is quite sure about the exact origins of the name - won the under 12 county championship last week. "I think we are on a winning roll."

There is a quiet confidence that they will make it to the final. Typically, Bobby Rackard has a pragmatic view. "I was one of the many not to give them a chance against Offaly in the Leinster final. They surprised us all. If they reproduce the same form against Galway, they will beat them.

The slogan on a T shirt worn by a burly middle aged man in Enniscorthy was more partisan.

"Wexford for hurling. Galway for the races."

Tomorrow will tell.