Former Westmeath GAA chairman’s multi-faceted career detailed in new book

Before Tom Hunt sat down to write one of the latest books in the Maynooth Studies in Local History series, the paths of the Mullingar historian and his subject, Peadar Cowan (1903-62), crossed several times over the span of a decade and a half.

The first was in 2006, when Tom wrote an extensive article for the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society journal Ríocht na Midhe, focusing on the planning and delivery of a new county GAA ground for Westmeath, Cusack Park, in 1933. Although a native of Cavan, Captain Peadar Cowan was at that time chairman of Westmeath GAA’s county board and was responsible for overseeing the development of the ground.

The second occasion was when Tom picked up journalist, broadcaster and soccer pundit Eamon Dunphy’s 2013 autobiography ‘The Rocky Road’, in which Dunphy revealed that in the late 1940s or early 1950s, his family was saved from eviction by the intervention of a Dublin solicitor: Peadar Cowan. Cowan the solicitor was the latest manifestation of what Tom came to view as a “man of many parts”, worthy of a biography.

Those “many parts” are evidence of an extraordinary life – the revolutionary and IRA man, the army officer, the rumoured Blueshirt (Tom’s research disputes this) who became a Labour party activist, the Labour party activist who became a communist, the communist who became a founding member of Clann na Poblachta, the TD, the lawyer, and the progressive who called out the self-defeating cruelties of the Irish prison system. In the middle of all this, he shepherded Westmeath GAA through one of its most successful periods of the 20th century.

Tom has written what is to date the only biography of Cowan, whose life is made infuriatingly difficult to piece together by the absence of personal papers. During his research, Tom learned of memoirs of Cowan’s which have long since disappeared. He contends that there is a larger biography in Cowan – one which considers the complexities of his political beliefs in a broader context – but in this 78 pages, published by Dublin-based Four Courts Press, Tom’s analysis of Cowan is comprehensive and enlightening.

A native of Ballinagh, County Cavan, Cowan had no family connections to Westmeath, but his impact on sporting and political life here during the late 1920s and 1930s was profound. His love affair with the county began during his time stationed at Custume Barracks in Athlone, when he became heavily involved with Westmeath GAA.

“I suppose the few different places I saw Cowan mentioned were political histories,” Tom told the Westmeath Examiner. “None of them knew anything about his GAA career. I came to this book knowing plenty about his GAA career, but nothing about his political career.”

Tom wrote a brief article on Cowan for the 2016 edition of Westmeath Archaeological and Historical Society’s journal, Iarmhí, and subsequently sent a proposal to Professor Raymond Gillespie at Maynooth University for the Maynooth Studies in Local History series.

“The more I read about Cowan, the more interesting a character he became. His political career was kaleidoscopic to say the least,” Tom continued.

“He was accused of being a Blueshirt and then went on to become a Labour activist and, in the 1940s, a founding member of the short-lived Communist ‘Vanguard’ movement.

“I couldn’t pin down his Blueshirt connections. Fianna Fáil accused him of it, and he denied it vehemently, and it wasn’t pursued any further.

“As the title of the book suggests, he was a maverick. I’d categorise him as the ultimate outsider; an army officer with a political conscience. He was an unusual species as a member of Clann na Poblachta – an ex-Free State army officer involved politically with ex-IRA men.

“He was certainly on the side of the marginalised. He was the first to speak about Travellers’ rights, and he wrote a pamphlet called ‘Dungeons deep’ criticising the Irish prison system as one inappropriate for the rehabilitation of young offenders.”

Waterford native Tom speculates that ‘Dungeons deep’, written in 1960, may have been among the influences for Charles J Haughey’s reforming approach when he became Minister for Justice the following year.

Cowan – grandfather of Mrs Brown’s Boys and Fair City star Rory Cowan – served as TD for Dublin North East from 1948 to 1954. Previously, he sought election to the Meath-Westmeath constituency during the 1930s, but failed. Despite his heavy involvement with Westmeath GAA, he actually resided in Dublin after leaving the army.

Tom cites several outstanding achievements by Cowan during his tenure at the helm of Westmeath GAA.

“He restructured the entire system of GAA governance in Westmeath, putting finances in shape and developing a programme of games in both hurling and football. He also spearheaded the development and spectacular delivery of Cusack Park.

“It’s no accident that Westmeath won two All-Irelands – junior football (1929) and hurling (1936) – and reached a first Leinster senior football final while he was in charge.

“When I wrote that article on Cusack Park for Ríocht na Midhe [in 2006], I said that only Paddy Collins and the late Séamus Whelan had a similar portfolio of achievement as GAA administrators in Westmeath. Cowan was definitely one of our greatest ever administrators.”

‘Peadar Cowan (1903-62): Westmeath GAA administrator and political maverick’ is now available in all good bookshops and directly from Four Courts Press (www.fourcourtspress.ie).