Con Houlihan – sports journalist supreme – an appreciation:

I wrote a piece back in 2013 the day after the All Ireland Hurling Final replay. I called it ‘what Con might have said.’ It was the first All Ireland since his sad demise. The match had been an epic and I remembered Con saying many a time that when he watched a really great game or sporting event, although he would have thoroughly enjoyed it, he was often seized with a sense of panic thinking that he wouldn’t have the words to do justice to what had been a great occasion. He needn’t have worried; Con had the ability to do justice to any event, sporting or not, but of course he was often beset with the sort of self-doubt which assails all of us from time to time. It was probably that doubt and occasional feeling of inadequacy that made him a great writer; as they say, a small amount of pressure can concentrate the mind.

Con, in his later years.

I think it was sometime around 1974 when Con started writing for the Evening Press. He had previously written columns for The Kerryman and other publications but this was his first exposure at national level. His writing style was relaxed, sometimes humourous but always extraordinarily accurate. He would take copious notes all the time and was never without his store of pens, pencils and paper. He was presumably given a free hand by the Evening Press to cover the main sporting events and through his wonderful writing and his in-depth knowledge of almost every sport, he very quickly became the most popular and well-known sports journalist in Ireland. He wrote about hurling, Gaelic football, soccer, rugby, horse racing, athletics, boxing and numerous other sports. He also wrote a literary review called ‘Tributaries,’ where his knowledge of writing, theatre and the other arts was encyclopedic. He had of course been a school teacher for many years.

But it was as a sports writer that he made his greatest impact. Even though the Evening Press is no more, Con’s writings survive in a number of books, which are compilations of his more notable columns. Although they are probably out of print now, they would be available in all good libraries. Even today, an account of some long forgotten minor football match a generation ago can read like an epic. Con had a command of language that was unequalled in my estimation. He didn’t deal in Shakespeare’s so called ‘wild and whirling words,’ or indeed in esoteric or confusing terms. His writing was easily understandable and accessible to all. His trick of course was his attention to detail and his search for perfection in every sentence. That was the key – the sentence.

Let me explain: A friend of mine who once published a book of sports articles asked Con if he would contribute. Ever eager to oblige, Con readily agreed. They met for lunch in a bar in Dublin city centre and Con produced what looked like half a ream of paper in an old plastic bag. My friend was delighted as he was a huge fan of Con. Each page was hand-written of course. Con never used things like typewriters or computers or Dictaphones or voice-recognition tools. He did it the old fashioned way; painstakingly hand written. So, my friend said, ‘thanks a million Con, but how many articles have you given me here?’ Looking somewhat confused, Con replied, ‘just the one.’ And of course there was only one article because the way Con wrote was to dedicate one full page to every sentence. He would write a first draft, he’d amend it or sometimes dump it and change it completely. The page he’d give you would be full of scribblings but would clearly contain one useable sentence at the bottom. Until he was totally happy with the first sentence, Con would not move on to the second, and of course for that, he’d select a new blank page. He’d write a new sentence and go through the whole process again. In this way, he would construct his article; he had the ability to remember each word in each sentence right to the end. He also had an uncanny way of knowing just how much to write to ‘fill’ the column which took up the left hand side of the back page of the paper. As a result, all of Con’s articles consist of short, separate paragraphs.

It’s difficult to explain now, in this era where very few people even buy newspapers any more and where sporting stories appear instantly on-line. Today, all stories appear to be short updates with very little or no depth. I recently wrote an article about the demise of Manchester United and I was amazed at the reaction. So many people who are and were Manchester Utd fans got back to me and said they hadn’t been aware of a lot of stuff that has gone on. Gone are the days when sports (and other issues) were expertly and deeply analyzed, by people who knew their sport and knew how to write about it. Con wasn’t the only one doing this of course but he was the most popular and, in my opinion, the best. He was probably single handedly responsible for keeping the Evening Press afloat for many years. I purchased it every evening as did many others but we barely glanced at any section of it apart from Con’s column.

He was meticulous in his use of language and grammar. One of his famous quotes was: 'a man who will misplace an apostrophe is capable of anything.' His attention to detail extended to his total respect for all the players who played the sports he covered. I cannot ever remember him being critical of a player. If someone had a bad game, Con would say he had had an off day or that things didn’t go well for him. He was always meticulous at getting every player’s name precisely correct. His research was flawless. He didn’t deal in nicknames either. The player was always given his proper name. The respect he showed is manifested in many of the expressions that he invented to describe situations in games. He would never say that a player was substituted; he would say he was ‘called ashore.’ If someone was injured and had to be treated on the pitch, Con would say he received ‘running repairs.’ If a player was disinclined to get physically involved, Con would say, humorously, that he was ‘a fully paid-up member of the non-tacklers union.’ One of the other expressions he quite literally invented was ‘an endangered species.’ This could refer to wingers, forwards, sports editors, practically anyone in fact. He reserved his utmost praise for the players who were brilliant but modest. A favourite saying of his was: 'The true mark of genius is the absence of fuss.'

Con was unique, to give correct use to that much abused word. I was amazed that none of the newspapers tried to recruit someone to do a similar job. There are a couple of guys in the Irish Times who are not bad but there’s no one who uses Con’s template, which I think is a pity. I know this is also an oft abused expression but where Con Houlihan is concerned, it is safe to say that we shall not see his like again. Rest in peace Con and thank you for all your wonderful work.