The keeper who gave rise to a 1000 pasties
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
Walking through Temple Bar, one could be forgiven for not noticing Hanley’s Cornish Pasties, secluded as it is just off Crown Alley. Inside the shop sits a framed Bohemians programme from the 1991/92 season that recalls the passing of a Bohemians great; Sean Hanley.
Sean Hanley was a goalkeeper with Bohemians from 1948 to 1950 and also played in goal for Ireland on numerous occasions.
His son, Kevin Hanley, is the proprietor of the aforementioned Hanley’s Cornish Pasties shops (there are two more outlets on Pembroke Street and Dawson Street).
Kevin recounts some of his father’s tale to extratime.ie.
“It was around 1948. I can only remember the stories he’s tell us. He went to school at Westland Row.”
Goalkeeping, says Kevin, is something that runs in the Hanley family. “His other two brothers, I think, also played for Bohs. Certainly Laurie his younger brother went on to play for a short time for Coleraine. And they all played in goal.”
The ‘keeper got his chance at Bohs thanks to his Father, who was a renowned figure around Dublin: “his Father was a guy called Babs Hanley, he was quite well known as a tipster. I think he got my Dad a trial, but he’d only been playing in the streets and playing Gaelic Football. He performed well, and that’s how he got his place. He wasn’t really that interested beforehand though.”
Hanley went on to play for the Gypsies in Europe against the Offenbach Kickers and a team from the Gold Coast who are nameless but “played in their bare feet” according to the programme notes.
A bygone era is recalled as Kevin remembers how his Father would tell him of the perils of 1940s goalkeeping. “He said about the way, with the stitching on the leather balls, if you missed the ball it would split your head open. With the weight of the ball coming in, some of them ended up with broken collarbones and things like that. I think he broke his collarbone at Anfield playing Liverpool County.”
More of that time in the League of Ireland is prevalent in Kevin’s memories of his Father, as the Cornishman says his Father once told him of the “big crowds” in Dalymount Park for Bohemians matches.
Following his stint at Bohs, Hanley moved to Cornwall. Kevin reminisces over his Father’s retelling of the circumstances surrounding the move to Cornwall. “He said to me ‘look, I was 21 or 22. Dublin was Dublin. I was having a few drinks every night, I didn’t think anything was going anywhere. I answered an ad for Southwestern league football in Penzance and I got approached by Sheffield Wednesday.”
His Father took the job in the South western Leagues and fell in love with Cornwall, marrying and bringing up a family there.
Over 50 years later, and his son has returned to the birthplace of Sean Hanley. Kevin is well-known figure in Cornwall and is known as the ‘pastry man’ for his tasty creations back home.
Asked if he had any plans to open up a pasty-selling outlet in Dalymount Park, Hanley (who still keeps an eye out for Bohs) says:
“If I could, I’d do it tomorrow.”
Sean Hanley was a goalkeeper with Bohemians from 1948 to 1950 and also played in goal for Ireland on numerous occasions.
His son, Kevin Hanley, is the proprietor of the aforementioned Hanley’s Cornish Pasties shops (there are two more outlets on Pembroke Street and Dawson Street).
Kevin recounts some of his father’s tale to extratime.ie.
“It was around 1948. I can only remember the stories he’s tell us. He went to school at Westland Row.”
Goalkeeping, says Kevin, is something that runs in the Hanley family. “His other two brothers, I think, also played for Bohs. Certainly Laurie his younger brother went on to play for a short time for Coleraine. And they all played in goal.”
The ‘keeper got his chance at Bohs thanks to his Father, who was a renowned figure around Dublin: “his Father was a guy called Babs Hanley, he was quite well known as a tipster. I think he got my Dad a trial, but he’d only been playing in the streets and playing Gaelic Football. He performed well, and that’s how he got his place. He wasn’t really that interested beforehand though.”
Hanley went on to play for the Gypsies in Europe against the Offenbach Kickers and a team from the Gold Coast who are nameless but “played in their bare feet” according to the programme notes.
A bygone era is recalled as Kevin remembers how his Father would tell him of the perils of 1940s goalkeeping. “He said about the way, with the stitching on the leather balls, if you missed the ball it would split your head open. With the weight of the ball coming in, some of them ended up with broken collarbones and things like that. I think he broke his collarbone at Anfield playing Liverpool County.”
More of that time in the League of Ireland is prevalent in Kevin’s memories of his Father, as the Cornishman says his Father once told him of the “big crowds” in Dalymount Park for Bohemians matches.
Following his stint at Bohs, Hanley moved to Cornwall. Kevin reminisces over his Father’s retelling of the circumstances surrounding the move to Cornwall. “He said to me ‘look, I was 21 or 22. Dublin was Dublin. I was having a few drinks every night, I didn’t think anything was going anywhere. I answered an ad for Southwestern league football in Penzance and I got approached by Sheffield Wednesday.”
His Father took the job in the South western Leagues and fell in love with Cornwall, marrying and bringing up a family there.
Over 50 years later, and his son has returned to the birthplace of Sean Hanley. Kevin is well-known figure in Cornwall and is known as the ‘pastry man’ for his tasty creations back home.
Asked if he had any plans to open up a pasty-selling outlet in Dalymount Park, Hanley (who still keeps an eye out for Bohs) says:
“If I could, I’d do it tomorrow.”
About Niall Farrell
Niall Farrell is our correspondent at Tolka Park, covering the goings-on at Shelbourne. You can visit Niall's website for further information and contact details- niallf.net. View Full Profile