The 1935 FAI Cup final remains the highest scoring final in the history of the competition, Bohemians triumphed in an entertaining, back and forth game 4-3 over Dundalk who were playing in their second final but were still searching for their first ever Cup triumph. On their way to the final Dundalk had defeated Shamrock Rovers in the opening round, Sligo Rovers in the semi-final and in between had to overcome Leinster Senior League side Distillery F.C.

Distillery took their name from Distillery Road just off the North Circular Road, close to Croke Park and home to the DWD whiskey distillery which would operate in the area until its closure in 1941. The club Distillery FC were considered one of the greatest Irish club teams never to play at League of Ireland level, winning the Leinster Senior Cup by a 4-1 margin against League of Ireland side Bray Unknowns on St. Stephen’s Day, 1941 in front of the crowd of over 3,000. The same year they won the Intermediate Cup, the Junior Cup and the Leinster Senior League. In fact, they were Leinster Senior League Champions on five occasions from the mid-1930s through to the early 1940s.

The Distillery side that was about to embark on this period of unprecedented success was drawn against another non-league side in the first round of the FAI Cup, facing off against Cork team, Butchers with the game listed for Dolphin Park on the southside of the river, despite the northside origins of Distillery. Despite the sides being from outside of the League of Ireland they did both have several players with League experience, Butchers featured several former players of Cork Bohemians while Distillery had a number of former Dolphin players among their ranks, such as forward Joe Ward who would move to Shamrock Rovers the following season and enjoy a successful career there. The club captain was Christy “Dickie” Giles who had played in the League of Ireland for Bohemians and Shelbourne but is probably best known to history as the father of John Giles.

On a cold January, Sunday afternoon Distillery were trailing 1-0 to Butchers but the Cork team suffered an injury to their right-back Brien who had to go off. With substitutions not allowed this meant that Butchers were down to ten men and Distillery began to work this to their advantage. An equaliser was finally found when the Butchers keeper, O’Connell who had been excellent to that point was decieved by a cross-cum-shot by Charles Recusin of Distillery and misjuding the flight of the ball conceded with the game ending 1-1 and a replay being arranged for the following Wednesday to be played at Turner’s Cross.

A short note on Charles Recusin who scored the equaliser for Distillery, he had previously been a player with Queen’s Park, a team based around Pearse Street and Pearse Square (formerly Queen’s Square/Park from where the team took their name), and had enjoyed success with them in the early 1930s as a winger and had been selected for an FAI Junior international against Scotland in 1933. Recusin was a member of Dublin’s small but vibrant Jewish community. His family were likely part of the significant emigration west from the Russian empire in the late 19th and early 20th century.

For the replay there were changes to both sides, Brien who had been injured for Butchers was out, while Distillery were without Samuel Beattie at full-back and took the somewhat unusual step of replacing him with Molloy their usual centre-forward. Butchers, who had impressed in the initial game were favourites, especially with home advantage and a vocal, passionate crowd behind them. However, the match was a disappointing stalement, ending 0-0. The greatest excitement was at the final whistle, when the referee, a Mr. Dwyer from Dublin had to be escorted from the field by stewards and players from both sides after being surrounded by irate spectators.

A second replay was fixed for the following week in Tolka Park, crowd numbers suffered for this game as it clashed with another cup replay between Bohemians and Reds United just a kilometre away in Dalymount which proved a bigger draw. Beattie returned to the Distillery line-up and despite the closely contested games previously this proved to be a far easier test for the Dubliners who ran out comfortable 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Dorney, Redmond and Molloy. Distillery were solid in defence and according to the match reports could have scored four or five. After 270 minutes of football they were finally through the first round of the cup to what was effectively the quarter-final stage. Awaiting them would be League of Ireland side Dundalk.

Dundalk had been League of Ireland champions just two years earlier in the 1932-33 season and regularly included in their line-ups Irish internationals like Billy O’Neill and Joey Donnelly as well as players like “Jim Mills” and “Craig Gaughran”, a pair of Irish League players for Portadown, brought south of the border and playing under assumed names, Mills was really Jim Mailey and Gaughran was really Willy Craig. Shamrock Rovers had protested their loss to Dundalk the previous month on this point but had lost their appeal due to lack of evidence.

The match was played in Shelbourne Park on 9th February, 1935 on a pitch that was described as heavy. It seemed that the occasion had gotten to Distillery a bit, despite their win over Butchers and ongoing excellent performances in the Leinster Senior League they were perhaps overawed facing a side of the calibre of Dundalk? The Distillery tactics seemed set up to spoil and various reports mention the high number of frees given away and the “vigour” of the approach of the Distillery players who seemed more intent on stopping Dundalk from playing than anything else.

However, despite this approach it was Distillery who took the lead after mistakes from Tom Godwin and Jerry McCourt allowed Joe Ward to fire a powerful shot past Peter McMahon in the Dundalk goal to give them a first half lead. Dundalk did bounce back however and there was a good move by inside-left Jerry McCourt who beat Distilley full-back Sam Beattie and crossed for Billy O’Neill to score the equaliser. The game continued in a stop-start fashion with continuous niggling fouls. The Dundalk Democrat report mentioned that the referee at one point halted to game to converse with the two captains about the number of offences being committed. The same reporter said that the second half’s opening minutes produced the best of the football, and then about twenty minutes into the second half a ball was cleared from a corner by Power in the Distillery goal. McCourt and Beattie both clashed heads as they challenged for the ball and went down hurt.

The referee was George T. Davies of Bury, Lancashire, brought over for a high-profile cup game as was standard practice in the League of Ireland of the era, with British referees deemed to be of a higher standard and more impartial. Davies was an experienced ref who had taken charge of games at the highest level in English league football. He halted the game and both players were given a minute or two to get up and continue, no foul was deemed by the referee to have been committed and both men stated their willingness to play on.

The second half continued in much the same manner as the rest of the game but various reports said that as the game progressed Dundalk’s edge and superior fitness came to the fore. McCourt used his skill to good effect in attack before being fouled from behind by a Distillery player in the box to win a penalty, which was duly converted by Mailey/Mills to give Dundalk a 2-1 advantage which they maintained to the final whistle. It was the Lilywhites that were through to the semi-finals.

Again according to reports in the Dundalk Democrat there was some bad blood at the end of the game with Distillery players looking to confront their opponents after the game “invading the Dundalk dressing room”.

As for Sam Beattie he returned home to his family home at 7 North Gloucester Street (around modern day Sean McDermott Street and what is now Larkin College) where he lived with his parents and sisters, initially at least he seemed to be in good health. However, as the evening progressed he complained of head pain and a doctor was called. The doctor, according to the evidence provided by his sister Margaret, advised Sam to go to the hospital and called an ambulance was called but Sam refused to get in it. Later as he became delirious he was brought by ambulance and taken to Jervis Street hospital.

Giving testimony at the inquest the Jervis Street hospital House Surgeon, Dr. P.K. O’Brien stated that Beattie arrived to the hospital having lost consciousness, which he never regained and he passed away later that night. A post mortem examination found no skull fracture and proclaimed the cause of death as a cerebral haemorrhage.

The referee George Davies, Dundalk player (John) Jerry McCourt, Garda Sergeant Reidy (who seemed to have been at the match), and the Distillery trainer Joseph Walsh, who like Beattie also lived on Gloucester Street, all gave evidence at the inquest held in Jervis Street Hospital. All concurred that the clash of heads between McCourt and Beattie was accidental and that both players had agreed to play on the remaining 25 minutes of the game, McCourt stating he felt a bang on his forehead and fell to the ground and had had no grievance against Beattie and that he was shocked when he later learned that Beattie had died. Sgt. Reidy stated that he saw Sam Beattie directly after the game and that he definitely refused to go to the hospital. Davies said that there had been no foul play in the game which does seem a slight exaggeration when compared with the newspaper reports all of which highlighted the number of frees given in the game but the tact displayed in his testimony is understandable.

Various parties present at the inquest, including a solicitor representing Dundalk FC and the FAI Secretary Jack Ryder all offered their sympathies to the Beattie family, and Beattie’s father, also named Samuel, stated that he was satisfied that the collision which had caused his son’s death had been purely accidental. The inquest jury added a rider, that in their view Jerry McCourt was in no way responsible for Sam Beattie’s death.

On February 13th, Sam’s funeral took place in Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Gloucester Street, before his remains were brought to Glasnevin cemetery. The funeral cortege had passed the Level Brothers soap powder works on Sheriff Street were Sam had worked as a labourer, the 300 mostly female staff had lined up outside in tribute to their former co-worker. The chief mourners were his parents Samuel and Margaret, and his four sisters, Eva and Margaret (both older) and his younger sisters Julia and Josie. Sam, the middle child and only boy in the family was only 27 when he died.

There was of course a significant representation from the world of Irish football, FAI Chairman Larry Sheridas was in attendance as was the Secretary of the League of Ireland Jim Brennan. Many of his Distillery team mates were there including Christy Giles and Charlie Recusin and club secretary John Blakely. There were also representatives from Bohemian FC, UCD AFC, Hospitals Trust FC, Reds United, Queens Park, and St. James’s Gate. Beattie’s former clubs, Shamrock Rovers, for whom he had played at reserve at Leinster Senior League level, and Dolphin for whom Sam had represented in both the Leinster Senior League and League of Ireland for a number of years and in a variety of positions were also well represented. Dundalk who had provided the opposition that fateful day were represented by players Henry Hurst, Gerry Godwin and Jerry McCourt. There had been a minutes silence the day after Sam’s death observed by the 17,000 football fans in Tolka Park to watch Drumcondra take on Dolphin in the cup, no doubt many of the Dolphin fans would have known him well.

McCourt would go on to enjoy an illustrious career with Dundalk, born in Portadown in 1905 as John Gerard McCourt, Gerry/Jerry as he was known joined the club in 1930 from Glenavon and would eventually become the club’s record goalscorer for a time before being eclipsed by Joey Donnelly. Dundalk FC historian Jim Murphy would profile McCourt as a “universal favourite, playing his heart out for the team, yet eminently fair and clean, a real gentleman of the game”. McCourt’s playing career was curtailed just two years after the clash with Distillery when he suffered a bad leg-break in a Cup game against Waterford. He continued to operate as a trainer for the club and it was in this role that he travelled with the Irish international team on its 1936 tour to Hungary, Germany and Luxembourg.

Sadly for the Beattie family, and many others in the era, football could be a dangerous and even lethal game at the time. In 1924, Samuel O’Brien died after a touchline dispute in the Phoenix Park, in 1931, Gerard O’Sullivan, a worker for Dublin Corporation died in very similar circumstances to Sam Beattie, making just his third appearance for Bohemians he was involved in a clash of heads, went off the pitch and was apparently fine but later complained of head pain, and similar to Beattie was rushed to Jervis Street hospital where he later died. Over the same weekend as Beattie met his tragic fate two other footballers were hospitalised with injuries they received during matches being played in the Phoenix Park. Deaths from concussive head injuries, or limb amputations caused by bad breaks remained tragically common into the 1950s while the true extent of brain damage caused by heading footballs is still coming to be fully realised.

With thanks to Sam McGrath of Come here to me for suggesting Sam Beattie to me as a possible person to research