Northern Ireland Hibs Supporters' Club (NI Hibs) - Supporters of Hibernian Football Club in Northern Ireland

The Making Of Hibernian

Although Hibernian FC and its supporters are proudly non-sectarian, a few ill-informed and usually distant observers of Scottish football confuse Hibs' birth within Edinburgh's 18th Century Irish community with modern day sectarianism. Hibs are not and never have been an east coast imitation of Celtic.

In his Making of Hibernian books Hibs historian Alan Lugton (courtesy here of a resume kindly submitted by William Howie of Erin Go Bragh SC (Dublin Hibs)) shows how Celtic were, originally, an imitation of Hibs - Hibbyni (NI Hibs Secretary).

A brief resume of the first few chapters of The Making of Hibernian

by Alan Lugton

Seasonal migration by Irish agricultural workers to Scotland had long been accepted as a way of life, but after the Great Irish Rebellion of 1798 serious permanent migration began. The first immigrants to Edinburgh, settled in the Cowgate area of the City.

As this migration continued to increase, the Irish spread out from the Cowgate into the surrounding areas; the Grassmarket, West Port, Candlemaker Row, Potterrow, Pleasance, Holyrood, St. Johns, Lawnmarket, Canongate, Lower Calton and the Watergate. The time soon came when not a single Scots accent could be heard in the Cowgate, and this centre of the Irish neighborhood, along with some of these other areas, became known as Little Ireland.

By 1821, there were 12,000 Irish living in Little Ireland.

By 1841, of Edinburgh’s population of 133,962, 16,000 were Irish.

After the great famine in Ireland and with the dawn of the second half of the nineteenth century, there were 25,000 Irish in Little Ireland.

Father Edward Joseph Hannan, co-founder of Hibernian Football Club, was born in 1836 in the village of Ballingarry, Co. Limerick. In September 1855, the 19?year?old Edward went to the college of All Hallows, Drumcondra, Dublin, where his fiercely Nationalistic uncle, the Reverend Dean Richard O'Brien was principal. After five more years study, Edward was ordained priest on 13th May 1860. Father Hannan’s studies continued, and he had such a brilliant mind, especially as an educationalist, that he was appointed Professor of Classics.

Taking a break from his studies, Father Hannan came to Scotland for a short holiday and by chance met Bishop Gillis who administered the Eastern district of Scotland. The Bishop instantly recognised Father Hannan's outstanding qualities and asked him to become affiliated to Edinburgh when his studies were complete. Bishop Gillis outlined the immense problems of his flock in Little Ireland and Father Hannan immediately and without any reservations agreed to serve in Edinburgh; his life and destiny were sealed. How Bishop Gillis saw Father Hannan, the brilliant, sensitive professor, as the answer to Little Ireland’s problems, God alone knows. Likewise, why Father Hannan so readily agreed to work in such surroundings, for which he appeared to be so ill equipped, is also a mystery.

Father Hannan arrived in Edinburgh on 17th August 1861, twenty five years old. He stayed at St. Mary’s, Broughton Street, for a six-week familiarisation period, during which time he was taken by Father William Smith on tours of Little Ireland. Father Hannan was disturbed by the obvious separation that existed in Edinburgh, between the Irish exiles and most of rest of the Scottish population. He was convinced that, after spiritual needs, the only road to acceptance into mainstream Edinburgh life was through education and the acquisition of social skills. In October 1861, Father Hannan was officially appointed to St. Patrick's, and the Professor of Classics started at the very bottom of the ladder as a junior curate, the beginning of a long association with the exiles of Little Ireland.

Recognising that it was young men who were most susceptible to being led astray by the vices that were prevalent in Little Ireland, he decided to tackle the problem by opening a branch of the Catholic Young Men’s Society. It was Father Hannan's uncle, the Right Reverend Monsignor Richard B O'Brien DD VG, Dean of Limerick, who had founded the Catholic Young Men's Society in Ireland in 1849.

The aim of the CYMS was to uplift young men, and the means used were prayer, religious practice, education and social activities. Premises had to be acquired to establish libraries, lectures, reading rooms and recreational activities. All party politics was forbidden at member's meetings. The CYMS flourished in Ireland and spread to England and Wales, and in Scotland there were already branches in Dumbarton and Dundee.

Father Hannan worked hard among his parishioners to establish a St. Patrick's branch of the CYMS and the idea was well received. Soon he was able to invite his uncle, Dean O'Brien, over to Edinburgh to officially open the St. Patrick's branch. This took place on Sunday 5th October 1865 in the CYMS rooms in St. Joseph's Hall in Horse Wynd, off the Cowgate.

In terms of the founding of Hibernian Football Club, Father Hannan was one half of the partnership that was to bring this about. The second half, was one Michael Whelahan, aged twenty?one years old and who, like most young men in Little Ireland at that time, was a member of St. Patrick's CYMS. Michael Whelahan was born in Kilglass, Co. Rosscommon, Ireland, in 1854. The Whelahan family was typical among those living in the Western province of Connaught at that time. They scratched a meager existence from the soil. The great famine had traumatic effects on peasant families like the Whelahans, as their communities were decimated and their folk customs, pastimes and Gaelic language lapsed with the increased need to speak English. The only thing that remained steadfast in their lives was their Roman
Catholic faith.

At that time, Irish peasant farmers were only tenants on the land they farmed and could be evicted at will by absentee English landlords. Michael Whelahan was only four-years old when he, his sister, father and pregnant mother were evicted from their humble but happy cottage, leaving them destitute. Like over a million others in their position, the only option for the Whelahan family was to emigrate, or rather be exiled, as they had no wish to leave Ireland. They made their way to Edinburgh where a relative was already living. They put together enough pennies for the ferry to Glasgow but had to walk from there to Edinburgh.

In the spring of 1875, Michael Whelahan and two of his friends from St. Patrick s CYMS were watching the increasingly popular game of football being played on Edinburgh's Meadows. Michael's friends, Malachy Byrne and Andy Hughes, had already played a couple of games for a street team called White Star but this did not last long when it was discovered they were Irish Catholics. It was as Michael Whelahan watched the exciting football scene before him that he resolved that the CYMS should have their own football club instead of standing on the sidelines as was they usually did. Father Hannan held the key of course, as he had to endorse all their activities, ensuring that they were appropriate. Michael decided to speak to the popular priest.

Father Hannan listened to Michael Whelahan's idea with great interest, as sporting recreation had always been a cornerstone of his vision of developing fully rounded and worthy citizens from Little Ireland. He was well aware of the popularity of football and promised Michael that he would enquire about it's organisation both locally and nationally. Father Hannan's inquiries were favorable, and so it was decided that he and Michael would put forward the proposal to form a football club at the next full meeting of the CYMS in St. Mary's Street Halls, to see if it was carried democratically. The meeting voted unanimously in favour of the proposal with such infectious enthusiasm, that Father Hannan agreed to assist Michael Whelahan in making all the necessary arrangements for the football club to become a reality.

The next thing to consider, was the football club's colours, crest, motto and of course name. For Irish nationalists, the first three were easy. The colours would be green, the crest would be the Harp and the motto the Gaelic Erin Go Bragh (Ireland for Ever). Giving St. Patrick's CYMS football club a name, however, proved much more difficult, and protracted discussions were entered into. Father Hannan proposed the obvious name, the Catholic Young Men's Society Football Club, and although appropriate, it was generally agreed it was just too long?winded. St. Patrick's F.C. was thought to be disrespectful to Ireland's patron saint, and other suggestions that were rejected included Harp, Shamrock, Emerald and Celtic. The Club was almost named Young Ireland, but Michael Whelahan asked for more time to think about it, since his enthusiasm for the football club dictated that it should have a very special name.

Michael went to St. Patrick's Church to pray for inspiration and it was there he remembered that the fiercely Catholic Ancient Order of Hibernian's secret society had been absorbed into the CYMS many years before. Hibernian was the old Roman Latin word for Irishman. Here was a name that would stir the soul of every Irishman! There and then, the Hibernian Football Club was born, the Edinburgh Irishmen.

A very special occasion was soon to be celebrated by St. Patrick's CYMS, the centenary of the birth of Daniel O'Connell, the champion of Catholic Emancipation. The date was Friday 6th August 1875 and it was thought appropriate to launch Hibernian Football Club as part of the celebrations. The day started with Holy Mass in St. Patrick’s and in the evening at St. Mary's Street Hall there were speeches on the life of Daniel O'Connell and a concert of Irish song and dance. In the middle of the evening, amidst great excitement, Father Hannan officially launched Hibernian Football Club, and by popular acclaim he was elected Manager and life President. Father Hannan in turn handed over a set of strips, white with green trimming and a harp on the breast. Michael Whelahan was then elected to be the first captain of Hibernian Football Club. (A happy coincidence is that, when Hibernian celebrated their centenary in 1975, Michael Whelahan's great great, great, grandnephew, Pat Stanton, was the team captain. His elder sister Marie had married Andrew Stanton, another Irish exile living in the Cowgate).

Team training started immediately and the players would run through the main streets of Little Ireland down to Holyrood Park where they would be put through their paces. In bad weather they would train in St. Mary's Street Halls. Hibernian were already ahead of their times as most teams never bothered to train at all, but the CYMS always encouraged physical fitness and abstinence from alcohol, so the Hibernian players were a pretty fit lot.

Hibernian was run as just another of the many activities of St. Patrick's CYMS, and so this restricted them to having only practising Catholics in the team. This should not be seen as a deliberate sectarian act against non?Catholics; it was, in fact, a means of keeping non-practising Catholics out as they were seen to be a bad influence. Such was the prejudice
in those days that no one outside of the Catholic community would have been remotely interested in associating themselves with Hibernian anyway, and so the situation was accepted as normal.

At the time of their founding, Hibernian had various nicknames such as “representatives of the Emerald Isle” or “the bhoys”, but the most popular nicknames were “the Green Jerseys” and the Irishmen. On their first victory in the Scottish Cup, the local newspaper included the following column:

“Saturday night witnessed one of the great demonstrations peculiar to our Irish population of this city. About 9.30 p.m. a vast multitude numbering many thousands headed by two flute bands, conspicuous for the amount of green they displayed, made their way to the North British Railway Station to welcome home their victorious companions who had scored a great victory over the Dumbartons. Forty minutes later the procession was sighted, and seated in a four wheeled break were the victors of the day. In front of them, and behind the driver, was a banner on the front of which were the words:

"Hibernian, winners of the Scottish Cup 1886?87” and on the back, “God Save Ireland. Hurrah for the Green Jerseys!”

The rest of Hibernian’s turbulent history is covered in Alan Lugton’s 3 volumes on “The Making of Hibernian”

This includes reference to Hibernian Football club’s influence in establishing many dozens of Irish football clubs throughout Scotland, two of which have survived to this day, namely Glasgow Celtic and Dundee United (formerly Dundee Hibernians).

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