Peadar Gaskins (Image credit: Colm Hughes)
Every now and then somebody will contact us with material that they think will fit nicely on the blog. I am incredibly grateful to Colm Hughes for sharing a photo album of Peadar Gaskins with me. Peadar, a Dubliner, played with a very successful Shamrock Rovers side in the early 1930s, and was also capped by Ireland on five occasions, captaining the team. He also spent some time with St. James’s Gate, a team that are now a part of the history of Association Football in Dublin. Reporting on a 4-1 victory for James’s Gate over Rovers in 1937, the Irish Press wrote that “Gaskins was impassable. His head or foot was there every time to check lively Rovers raids, and send his own forwards on a goal-hunt.”
Peadar, who was living in the Iveagh Buildings at the time of his passing, died in 1949 at only 40 years of age. This family photo album was compiled by Beatrice Gaskins, the wife of the full back footballer, and will certainly interest historians of Irish football or indeed League of Ireland and Irish national team supporters. There are images here of iconic teams and important places, and I particularly like the images of a packed Dalymount Park, a reminder that the domestic league still had huge crowd pull in the 1930s. In addition to images of Peadar himself, it includes plenty of ephemera and momentos from Irish away trips, some images of other footballers of note (including the great Jimmy Dunne) and other bits and pieces.
Jimmy Dunne is in the papers in recent times, as his record of scoring in twelve games in a row in English league football remains unbeaten. In addition to his football abilities, an obituary at the time of Dunne’s passing noted that he was “a former member of ‘D’ Company IRA who was interned at Curragh and Portlaoise where he spent a term on hunger strike.”
This is merely a selection of the images, but I’ve tried to take a mix of league football and international games.
Comments are particularly welcome sharing information on these images.
Iveagh Grounds,Crumlin (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
Shamrock Rovers with FAI Cup (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
A packed Dalymount Park (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
The great Jimmy Dunne, Sheffield United (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
FAI Cup winners (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
Ireland heading abroad, 1936 (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
Match programme, 5 May 1935 (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
Ireland in Warsaw (Image Credit: Colm Hughes
In training (Image Credit:Colm Hughes)
Representing Ireland (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
A menu from a dinner to mark Ireland visiting Holland, April 1934. (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
Peadar’s passport (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
Ireland in Amsterdam itinerary. Note the logo of the Football Association of the Irish Free State. (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
St. James’s Gate FC (Image Credit: Colm Hughes)
Click on the book for more.
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 
If that had been the GAA, there’d have been a cleric or two in some of those photos.
The man in the centre of the ‘FAI Cup Winners’ snap with the FAI cup directly in front of him (and the “hella good hair”!) is my late grandad, Alec Stewart. He’s also third left top row in the last snap of the James’ Gate team. Thrilled to see these pics, I’ve never seen them before. Have some photos from my Gran’s album I must forward on to ye – she’s now 98 and fairly frail but might be able to identify a lot of the other lads too. Will PM ye on facebook.
Photo: Ireland Heading Abroad 1936
This squad was heading for a 3-match European tour, playing Hungary in Budapest, a Rhineland XI in Cologne (no caps awarded) and Luxemburg.
Reading from the right—Sam Prole (Selector), ?, Jerry McCourt (trainer), Joey Donnelly. These three were from Dundalk and there was fourth Dundalk member of the travelling contingent, Billy O’Neill, who is seventh from the left hand side.
The trainer, Jerry McCourt, was player-coaching Dundalk at the time and is shown in the photo shaking hands with Gaskin before a Cup semi-final replay at Iveagh Grounds [Mar 4th 1936]
Class.Am sure there would be St James’s Gate officials and probably their historian in the Iveagh Grounds bar that would love to get their hands on some of those pics.
My father, Matty Waine, played Centre forward for James’ Gate around this time, 1937. I am sure he would have played with a lot of these players
This is amazing stuff he is my uncle Peadher and I knew he played for Ireland and shamrock rovers and James Gate.
These photo are fantastic I’d love to have anything you can let me have I’m a soccer fanatic and played a lot junior football he was always my hero but unfortunately my father his brother didn’t talk to much about Peadher as far as I can remember Peadher was just doing a job would be the attitude.
His sister Alice Gaskins ( Smithers ) was his sister
George Gaskins my friends grandma was alice gaskins which of peadher brother was your dad