I had a bit of a lie in the following morning and when I surfaced the odd couple were relaxing in the lounge with the days papers.
"Good night with the donkeys" says the ould lad
"Aye, it was an eye opener" says I
He looked me up and down, plainly disappointed that I had no external injuries.
"I encountered her father last night" says I
"Oh and how was he" says my mother
"A wee bit to the left of Genghis Khan, Da and him would get on well" says I
"What's her name" says my mother
"Anne O'Neill" says I
"What's her father's name" says the ould lad looking thoughtful
"Mr O'Neill" says I
"I see that it's going to be a long day" says he
He then related a story about a Tom O'Neill from Kilkee who was a boarder in St Flannan's at the same time that the ould lad was there. This passed a pleasant 45 minutes whilst myself and my mother completely ignored his monologue. Maybe we should have listened.
That evening we wandered up to the pub and had just settled in when Anne walked in accompanied by her father. FFS this was going to be a good night with us two being chaperoned by the two families.
"Well, if it isn't fecking Tom O'Neill" boomed the ould lad
"Feck me, Michael Smyth" says O'Neill
They stood toe to toe and measured each other up.
"We have unfinished business Michael" says O'Neill
"Aye, that we have" says the ould lad
I looked at my mother and she just shrugged
"Will we finish it now" says the ould lad
"Aye, why not?" says O'Neill
FFS I had just met this girl and now our two fathers' were looking to go a couple of rounds with each other. The rest of the pub had sensed this episode and were casting an eye over the proceedings.
"Will over there do?" says O'Neill
"Aye, good enough" says the ould lad
I just stared at the two of them, my Mother seemed unconcerned and Anne was looking to me for some sort of explanation. FFS I mentally calculated that if the last time these two met was when they were in Flannan's that would be fecking 1939. The barman was looking a little nervous as the two eejit"s removed their coats and pulled a table into the middle of the dance area. They positioned two chairs on either side of the table and sat down.
WTF was going on,
"Ger, over here" says the ould lad
I wander over still none the wiser.
"You can referee, the best of three" says the ould lad
"Referee what" says I
"Arm wrestle you fecking eejit" says he
Knowing better than to argue I got them to steady and said "Go". Now these were two strong men and the competition was fierce. The pub went silent and a crowd gathered around them. The silence gradually was replaced with shouts of encouragement and helpful comments. I looked over at Anne and she looked genuinely puzzled, my mother was still at the bar with a resigned look on her face.
I heard a big cheer and looked over and O'Neill had won round one.
"You got fecking lucky" says the ould lad
"Yeah right" retorted O'Neill "Round 2?"
"Aye" says the ould lad
They resumed hostilities and this went on for ages back and forth with the ould lad under extreme pressure. He pulled the ould give/shove harder trick and took down the second round. They both looked a little shattered at this stage but were glaring at each other across the table. FFS whatever it was they were contesting was over 30 years ago.
"Ger what's going on" says Anne as the protagonists took a wee break
"I have no idea" says I "Ma WTF is going on"
"I think this might be a challenge that was never finished, what over I don't know" says she.
They were about to start the last and deciding round. The place was buzzing as they took positions. This round was momentous as they vied for supremacy. There seemed to be no way of deciding a winner and maybe that's what happened over 30 years ago. Two strong men with no way of finding a winner.
Suddenly as the ould lad seemed to have the upper hand and victory was inevitable O'Neill swung his free hand and popped the ould lad clear on the chin. Reaction was, of course, swift and inevitable as the ould lad threw himself at O'Neill.
There goes a beautiful friendship thought I as I moved to stop the fight.. I needn't have bothered as they had stopped trading blows and were grinning from ear to ear. They embraced each other and headed to the bar.
"Da?" says I and Anne in unison
"Shut up" said Da and O'Neill in unison as they leant on the bar
"Same ending as 34 years ago" says O'Neill
"Aye" says the ould lad "Will we ever have a winner?"
That was only the beginning of a very strange night........
