Almost 40 years on from being named in the 1985 selection, Pat Critchley remains the only Laois hurler ever to be named on the All-Star XV.
The Portlaoise club man was recognised after Laois reached the '85 Leinster championship final - the only time since 1951 that the county has reached the provincial decider.
On top of his status as an All-Star winner and arguably the greatest hurler in Laois' history, Critchley has spent time as both a basketball and Gaelic football coach, and managed the county hurling team for two years in the early 90s.
Perhaps most intriguingly, however, Critchley played the accordion with the Mere Mortals, who were active from the late 1980s into the early 1990s.
Critchley is the subject of this week's Laochra Gael documentary on TG4 - and he shared his memories of playing the iconic 'Féile 90' with the Mere Mortals.
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Laois GAA: Pat Critchley recalls madcap experience of Féile 90
15 January 2024; Former Laois hurler Pat Critchley attends the launch of TG4's award-winning Laochra Gael series at the Light House Cinema in Dublin as the Gaelic sport biography series returns for another season. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
The Féile music festival in Semple Stadium took place for five consecutive years at the beginning of the 1990s, before it moved to Pairc Uí Chaoímh and then Dublin's Point Arena.
The Mere Mortals were on the lineup for the first festival in 1990 and, speaking to Balls.ie and the Irish media this week, Pat Critchley shared his memories of that hectic weekend:
It was a fantastic time. We played at 12 o’clock on the Saturday morning, played about five songs for half an hour.
Around that time, the Saw Doctors would have played after us and the Stunning. We got on really well with both of those bands around that time as well. We had backstage passes for the whole weekend then. It was a brilliant time.
A crowd came down from Laois to support us and we had a ball.
We were late onto the line-up so we weren’t on the posters. But starting from Dublin, I think Cheddar and the crew put posters of The Mere Mortals the whole way down to Thurles from Dublin. They were great for that kind of craic.
I remember Tom Stapleton, I think, was the contact that Cheddar had to get us on the lineup. He was chuffed afterwards, he said, ‘that was great fellas,’ and we said, ‘ah Jesus Thomas - the Munster championship has to be played on that pitch!’ We’d always have great craic, it was a brilliant time.
Though the Mere Mortals were not on the lineup for 1991, Critchley and his bandmates returned to take in the festival as members of the audience.
On that 1991 lineup were the likes of the Happy Mondays, Elvis Costella, The La's, Van Morrison, and the Pogues.
Invited backstage that weekend, Critchley rubbed shoulders with the late Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan - and his bandmate Paul Marron made a quip at both Critchley and MacGowan's expense:
I lost most of my teeth against Tipperary in '84 in the Centenary Cup quarter-final.
[In 1991] when we were backstage in the tent, myself and Paul Marron, the lead singer, we were drinking two cans of Heineken while Shane was tucking into the vodka over in the corner. Paul Marron says, “Jaysus, there’s MacGowan over in the corner there and not a tooth in his head and he never f**kin played hurling!”
That 1984 Centenary Cup run mentioned by Critchley was one of many highlights of the "golden era" of Laois hurling.
A special screening of Critchley's upcoming Laochra Gael episode was held in his home town last Friday, with many locals from younger generations getting their first glimpse of a period in which they reached a Leinster final in 1985, as well as the final of the aforementioned Centenary Cup:
Throughout those years, we just didn’t get that break. If that team could have won a Leinster…even in ‘81, Offaly beat us by a point and then they won the All-Ireland. They beat us again in ‘85 and won the All-Ireland.
We weren’t far off, if we’d just gotten that one win under the belt it might have transformed the team and the deep down confidence of the team as well.
At the same time, they were fantastic times, that Centenary Cup run [in 1984], Limerick were National League champions and we beat them in the first round by a point. We beat Tipp in the quarter-finals by a point, beat Galway by a point in the semi-final. Then Cork beat us well in the final, and then Kilkenny in the Leinster semi-final.
But for Laois supporters, playing against Limerick, Tipp, Galway, Cork, Kilkenny five Sundays in a row and being competitive in those games, they were great times. There was a great buzz around the county at that time.
Critchley hopes to see Laois face Offaly in Croke Park in this year's Joe McDonagh Cup final, saying that a trip to Croker for the county's supporters [even if for the Tailteann Cup final] could be the spark needed to reignite passions for the GAA.
The ex-Laois midfielder also revealed that the Mere Mortals have recently returned to occasional rehearsals and that, if he can find the time, he hopes to take part in a performance or two with the band in the near future.
The O'Moore County back in Croker and the Mere Mortals back on stage? For a generation of Laois men and women, it would feel like a bygone era.
Pat Critchley's episode of Laochra Gael airs this Thursday February 29th at 9:30pm on TG4.
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