BY JOHN FITZGERALD
Every town and village in Ireland guards a treasure. It may not be gold, silver, or a cache of diamonds. More often than not it can be an heirloom, a prayer bush, a defining landmark, a hand-written poem; or some object of sentimental value to locals.
A bugle takes pride of place in the Callan treasure trove. It looks pretty ordinary, though a little ancient, and it seems to have taken a battering from the passage of time.
But this is no ordinary bugle. Its present custodian, Jimmy Walsh, told me it is the one that played the Last Post for Michael Collins. Sitting in his house, I felt privileged to get a glimpse of the famed instrument.
Jimmy is one of those larger than life characters you hope to read about in fiction. But there can be no doubting his existence. For over half a century, he has been a giant on the social scene of the town he loves. Everybody knows him.
For years Jimmy was a familiar sight at the Cross of Callan, holding forth on the issues of the day and offering his own wonderfully original prognosis for whatever social, political or economic ill happens to be bothering people.
A keen sportsman and old-time dancer, Jimmy boxed and waltzed his way to success. The evidence of this is plain to be seen in his Mill Street home: A long sideboard glistens with a multitude of silver trophies; so many that there is scarcely room enough to hold them. About a third of these were awarded for boxing, the remainder for dancing prowess.
A large travelling case contains other trophies, and even that bulges with excess of silverware.
But all these well-earned prizes he would happily exchange for the bugle, if such a choice had to be made. Jimmy showed me a picture taken in 1922 of Free State troopers. In the front row of the line-up was Fusilier Dick Hogan, Jimmy’s uncle, and clasped in his hand was the self-same bugle I had just seen resting on the sideboard.
“There it is”, Jimmy said proudly; “the bugle that sent the great man on his way.”
He handed me the venerated instrument to examine. “The armoured car that Collins travelled in is a popular museum piece, and other relics of the man are to be found here, there, and everywhere, but the bugle stays in Callan”, he insisted.
Despite his attachment to this reminder of Ireland’s freedom struggle, Jimmy treasures memories far more than heirlooms, medallions, or the visible, glowing evidence of his kinetic talent.
He started boxing in 1948, trying out his skills locally. He discovered he had a flair for the sport and won quite a few battles in the ring as a middleweight fighter. His gruelling encounter with Ulsterman, Joe O’ Kane was described as a “thriller” by one newspaper.
Tape recordings of his fights were sent to Irish soldiers on peacekeeping missions in Africa. The action-packed commentaries helped to restore their flagging morale. They listened with bated breath as round followed nail biting round. Jimmy’s fighting spirit revived them as they huddled in the sweltering heat of The Congo, waiting for the fearsome Baloobas to attack.
“I’m sure they had other things on their minds too”, he conceded with a grin, “but I hope the old tapes gave them some bit of encouragement”.
To be continued…
