“The old guard and the new”, this is a classic Fianna Fail election leaflet encouraging the public to get behind two 1916 veterans (Oscar Traynor and Harry Colley), “stand by De Valera” and to put faith in two newer faces, Eugene Timmons and Charles Haughey. It is a most unusual piece, from the Dublin North East constituency.
Traynor is a well-known figure in Irish political history, in command at the Metropole Hotel during the 1916 Rising. Unusually, he was a soccer-man, and had toured Europe with Belfast Celtic in 1912. The image below is taken from a piece on his time at that club over on the excellent Belfast Celtic historical site.
Traynor (Goalkeeper) with the rest of the Belfast Celtic team in 1912.
Harry Colley had also taken part in the Rising, and the leaflet notes that he was “..left for dead at a Dublin street barricade” during the rebellion.
Ultimately, Charles Haughey would fail to win a seat in 1954, obtaining 1,812 votes. When Haughey did obtain a seat three years later in 1957, it was at the expense of Colley. The rest, as they say, is history.
Click to expand and read:
Inside page.
Inside page 2
Back of leaflet
Click on the book for more.
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 
That’s fantastic, such historic figures on the one leaflet.
You have Colley and Traynor who fought in 1916 and Haughey who was in The FCA!
Nice one there, spotting the bould Charlie was in the FCA. But I note that he only got to be an NCO, which as everyone knows means either Corporal or Sergeant. How he would have envied those officers, strutting around Dublin in crisp green uniforms with passes for lunch in the Gresham and other places….one day, one day, it would all be his
Traynon was president of the FAI at one time. I think you exaggerate the point about soccer and republicanism. The reality is that many played all codes. Dev after all was a good Blackrock supporter.
The Oscar Traynor cup is still on the go today Jim.
I’m very interested in the history of Dublin soccer in particular during the ‘revolutionary years’. Seems radicals were uncommon enough in the sport, with many opting for Gaelic games. A gem of info from Dublins Little Jerusalem, the great work on the Jewish community in Dublin by Nick Harris, is the description of a Black and Tan raid on the home of the Clerys, a family in the area with a connection to Bohemian F.C.
It’s not as simple as the ‘garrison game versus OUR games’ approach of course, but I do think men like Traynor were uncommon in the period.
[…] The Fianna Fail election leaflet mentioned in the piece, introducing a certain Charles Haughey to the fold, was uploaded here on Come Here To Me in the past. You can read it here. […]
The leaflet says now commissioned officer not non commissioned officer and whats wrong with being a sergeant or a corporal if it comes to that. Was never too fond of C.J. but like snobs less, particularly ones who don’t make the effort to read properly what they are commenting on.