In the early 1970s Passage produced a successful under-15 team with the main feature being the presence of a number of key individuals who stood out in every game they played. One of those players became very conspicuous because he always wore red shorts when playing but it was not the colour of his togs alone that caused him to stand out. The young lad in question was Terry Howard, an all action hurler who was blessed with great striking ability.

His school Coláiste Iognáid Rís were a step ahead however as they recognised the great leadership qualities the player possessed. They afforded him the great honour of making him the captain of the schools Harty Cup hurling team. In 1975 he repayed their faith in him by becoming the only player in the school’s history to lift the most famous of schools trophies. In the same year Terry became the only player from the Passage club to win a Munster college’s senior football medal.

In the year previous to this Terry had the distinction of playing senior championship hurling with Passage against Na Piarsaigh in a game which was the last for the club in the top grade. Despite the fact that all of Terry’s early prominence was in hurling, a decision taken at the A.G.M. in 1979 was to change that forever. The decision was taken to re-grade to Junior”B” football and the subsequent appointment of Brian Geary as manager and Terry Howard as coach, was to lead to unprecedented success in the big ball code.

With the combination of Brian’s astute sideline awareness and Terry’s remarkable motivational skills, the football scene in the club spiralled dramatically upwards. Terry introduced a brand of speedy attractive attacking football and all opposition was brushed aside. Passage footballers were suddenly creating a stir in Cork football circles with success at junior “B”, junior “A”, and intermediate following rapidly in the early 1980s. County titles at junior and intermediate level and a gallant attempt at the senior title, was unprecedented and like all such achievement it did not happen by accident.

It must not be forgotten, of course, that Terry also made a huge contribution as a player on this all-conquering team. As an attacking wing back his exemplary use of possession was responsible for setting up many attacks for a powerful forward unit.

When this great run of success was coming to an end, Terry made another major contribution to his beloved Passage club. At a time when the club was facing difficult financial times, he took over the mantle of chairman and immediately set up a huge fundraising drive. Not surprisingly this venture was an unqualified success. Terry’s one year at the helm left the club in a sound financial footing for the first time in many years.

Terry, whose great grandfather, Jim Collins, was a member of the first ever Passage hurling team in 1886, is still active in the affairs of the club. His two sons, Shane and Mark, are dual stars with the club, with Mark bridging a long gap by lining out with the Cork minor hurling team in 2010.

When Passage won the intermediate county hurling title in 1960, the team was made up mainly of a group of very experienced players. The youthful ingredient in the team was supplied by two 19 year olds who occupied positions at the opposite end of the pitch.

One of the Passage clubs greatest ever players, John Barry, filled the right corner forward position while a teak tough defender, Seán Geary, filled the No.4 jersey.

When Passage moved up to senior ranks both players became leaders on the team, but shortly after this Seán Geary became involved in the under-age affairs of the club and it was here that he began to make a major impact nurturing some of the best talent ever to wear the Passage jersey.

Seán’s playing career was curtailed shortly after this when he received a serious eye injury. This mishap meant that he got even more involved in the under-age affairs of the club and there was a time he was involved in practically every under-age and minor team, hurling and football, that represented the club. Unlike the present time when each team would have a number of mentors, Seán was the sole mentor of all affairs. He was fortunate that the modern day health and safety regulations were not in place at that time, as he often had to pack up to eight young lads into his car to get them to a match. Seán had the uncanny ability to get reluctant players to line out with the club and the know-how to develop the skills of some gifted emerging talent.

Without doubt his greatest achievement was to mould together what was arguably the best under-age team ever to represent the club. The 1966 under-16 team became the only under-age team in the clubs history to win an “A” grade title when they defeated a highly fancied Glen Rovers team in the final.

The strength of this team can be gauged by the fact that four of that team lined out in the Cork minor hurling team of 1968. Seán should also be credited with discovering and developing one of Cork’s greatest ever hurling defenders, John Horgan.

Despite being totally engrossed in the under-age scene in the club, Seán also found time to be a valued member of various club committees in the 1960s and 1970s. During that period he held the now defunct position of football secretary for a number of years.

To this day Seán speaks fondly of the many, many players he dealt with and the feeling is mutual as those players will speak with great affection of the years they spent under his guidance both on and off the field.

Seán’s capabilities would spread far and wide and when Matt Aherne took on the task of writing the clubs history a few years ago, he had no hesitation in enlisting the help of Seán and Derry Doody, both of whom made a major impact on the production of a quality publication.

Over a period of forty years Johnny Ryan was a key figure in the Passage club and during that period he had several periods as chairman.

Johnny, or Seán Ó Riann as he liked to be called, was one of those very popular figures who embraced many activities in the town of Passage and he also spent a number of years as a member of the Passage Town Commissioners.The fact that he resided in the centre of the town and his work in the water department of the Cork County Council, gave him a daily presence in the locality. Johnny was certainly one of the best known figures associated with Passage.

Even though he would readily accept that he was not an expert on the finer points of hurling and football, Johnny would be an ever present at all games played by the club and he played a particular role at all those matches. In the 1950’s and 1960’s the refreshments provided for players at half-time came in the form of an orange or in some cases half an orange.

Not every team in other clubs benefitted from this half-time refreshment but it was guaranteed when Johnny Ryan arrived at a Passage match, he never came without a bag of oranges. It is also worth mentioning that Johnny never once sought any funds from the club to cover the cost of this service.

For many years he also carried out another very important function when he acted as the delegate for the Passage club at the weekly Cork County Board meetings. His political background proved an asset to him when he had to fight any issues for his club and he became well known for his qualities in this regard.

In the 1950’s when very few people in the Passage club, or any club for that matter, were in ownership of a car Johnny, once again, became a central figure when Passage were playing an away game. He had an almost miraculous ability to squeeze at least six hefty players into his mini car to enable them to get to any venue in the City or South-East divisions. When people speak of the continued progress of the Passage club over the decades the name of Johnny Ryan will always be mentioned with great fondness by all who crossed his path.