Id always thought of those terms being one and the same.
Well and truly lapsed Roman Catholic myself.
My grandfather was on the committee and a selector in the early 30s, and, although there was a heavy Freemason, and therefore anti-Catholic, influence at the time, he would have struggled to hide that his second son became a Franciscan priest.
The old man reckons that a bloke called Frank Reid was the main Mason influence and always wanted Catholics out of the team no matter, like Jack Jones, how theyād played.
I think most of the conflict disappeared after the death of Dr Mannix. He was an extremely divisive figure, and no wonder the Protestant elite didnāt trust him, or his acolytes.
By the time the likes of Madden, Foulds, the Danihers arrived, and that Allan Hird Snr was president, every vestige was gone.
And despite what youngsters think, it was a really big deal up to the 60s. By the time I started work, it was all over.
Funnily the way you could tell if someone was RC was the way they pronounced aitches as haitches, because that was the Irish way. We were always taught to pronounce it aitch to avoid the conflict.
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I remember an old guy telling me that back in the day Essendon was a Methodist dominated club. And I also have some recollection that Allan Dunn, current EFC chaplain, is Uniting (methodists became part of Uniting church).
Iām a bit vague on both those facts - so happy to be corrected.
Just a little side note. Not so much to do with religion but more to do with colours.
My understanding is Essendon and St Patrickās East Melbourne shared the East Melbourne Cricket Ground pre 1900. As a result they both wore red and black. When St Pats handed its APS position to Xavier circa 1902 Xavier took on red and black. Basically the Catholic schools had one APS position and this was the official transfer.
Hence it worked out well for me attending Xavier and passionately supporting the Bombers with both wearing red and black. As my 3 yr will tell you red and black are my favourite colours.
Red & Black were colours on the McCracken family crest, and of the Essendon Rowing Club, which they started, and also of the McCracken Brewery beers. (They used the castle from the coat of arms)
They eventually merged with other breweries in Melbourne and formed Carlton United Breweries.
The McCrackenās were Presbyterians and the Essendon Presbyterian Church was included in his will.
Although the club colours were listed as Black & Red, this was only shown on the socks.
The players wore Blue work guernseys, and added a Red sash to them.
About 1890 the club was in a position to purchase Black guernseys which they again added a Red sash to.
The players continued to wear Blue pants up to 1910 when shorts became the fashion for football.
White shorts were worn from 1910 to 1923 until the adoption of Home & Away shorts for the 1924 season and beyond. Perhaps the inclusion of White when given the option of any colour shorts was another nod to the McCracken family, however I canāt prove that.
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Michael Pickering, Liam Pickeringās dad, went to North in the 1960s from Stawell despite being recommended to Essendon by Allan Hird Snr who was the local school inspector at the time. The reason being North convinced him Essendon was ant-catholic.
This could turn into a training thread any minute now
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Thread has certainly gone pear shaped.
Herald Scum article is behind a paywall.
My grandmother told me that my great-grandmother advised her about how to tell if a man she was courting (as it was in those days) was RC.
The best way was to observe what he did when they were on the tram, when it went past a Catholic church. If he raised his hat, he was Catholic.
(My grandfather did, and he was).
But werenāt they so well mannered in those days!
Back in the good old days, applicants for jobs used to be asked about their religion. Allegedly, one of my uncles applying for a junior position asked in response if they wanted an office boy or altar boy. Did not get the job.
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A better one I heardā¦
When boys were walking past the Orange Lodge top end of Elizabeth St, if the kid spat on the doorstep, he was Catholic. If he didnāt, he was proddy.
Finnis was probably told, this was going to happen.
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Kim Duthieās eyes just lit up
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Haha.
Someone had to take the bullet for Gill.
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Well well well
Finnis that brown nosing suck up carnt has done it again for his overlord Gil.
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St Kilda to merge with Gold Coast in 5, 4ā¦
St.Kilda to get very favourable treatment with Christian, umpiring, club penalties, future TV scheduling, fixtures, or all of the above in 5, 4, 3,ā¦
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Seems like there was not a real vacancy, with Jamie Cox moved sideways.
And Finnis had to move from AFLPA when it became clear that he was representing the AFL and not the Essendon players.
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Not sure if he would have been a good or poor football manager, but given the large interest around Lethlean Iām glad he ended up somewhere else than Essendon. We have enough negative baggage and historical references to be inserted into our media stories that we can do without this one.
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In other news St Kilda also announced the appointment of their new grounds curator
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