Hibernian FC’s legacy will be set in stone

HIBERNIAN Football Club’s sesquicentennial year drew to a close with a pre-season tour of Ireland and the unveiling of two plaques in co-founder Canon Edward Joseph Hannan’s birthplace village of Ballingarry, County Limerick (see features section).

The plaques were unveiled at The Paddocks—the impressive ground of Ballingarry AFC—and will subsequently be sited on the gateposts of the Hannan family’s ancestral farm. A further plaque will also be unveiled in Edinburgh on August 8.

The sesquicentennial celebrations began on August 6, 2025, with an exhibition held at St Mary’s Street Halls in Edinburgh’s Old Town, the site of the club’s formation. Also known as the Catholic Institute, it was the home of the St Patrick’s parish branch of the Catholic Young Men’s Society (CYMS) and here that Hibernian was founded by the aforementioned Canon Hannan—priest in residence at St Patrick’s Church—and CYMS member Michael Whelahan.

Coming under the umbrella of the CYMS, Hibernian was just one of a number of social, sporting and educational activities set up by the St Patrick’s branch of the society to provide a sense of purpose and a positive outlet for the disadvantaged and disenfranchised young men of the parish.

First and second generation members of an Irish immigrant community that had settled in a part of Edinburgh that became known as ‘Little Ireland,’ most lived in poverty and faced prejudice from many of their Scottish neighbours. In what was an often hostile environment, the football club and myriad other activities offered by the CYMS, gave its members opportunities that were denied them in wider society.

Little could the original Hibernian founders have imagined that the parish team they established would become the Edinburgh and Scottish football institution we know today. One which provided the template that Celtic, Dundee Hibernian—now United—and a host of other teams in working class diaspora communities followed. One that evolved over its first few decades to become a club supported by people from across Edinburgh and beyond, and by people from all backgrounds and all beliefs.

St Patrick’s Church still survives and thrives today, located in the Cowgate, just a few hundred yards from St Mary’s Street Halls. Remaining to this day the geographic and spiritual epicentre of Little Ireland, it seems fitting that having commenced at the halls, the sesquicentennial events should conclude approximately one year later at St Patrick’s.

It also feels appropriate that the St Patrick’s branch of the Hibernian Supporters Association should be actively involved in this final event.

Established in 2010, while named after Hibernian’s spiritual home, the branch has no religious affiliations and—like the wider fanbase—draws its members from all religions and none. What unites this particular supporter group is a shared pride in the club’s early history and a commitment to acknowledge and tangibly honour it.

This manifests itself in a number of ways, including following the charitable ethos instilled in the club from its inception by Canon Hannan and Michael Whelahan. Another expression of that ethos is the series of historic projects that the club have undertaken in their short 16-year existence. These include the erection of a number of permanent memorials—both in Edinburgh and Ballingarry.

One such commemorative marker is the plaque that St Pat’s—as they’re known—installed in the birthplace church on March 17, 2013.

It was unveiled after the annual St Patrick’s Day Mass to a congregation that included hundreds of Hibs fans, the late owner Sir Tom Farmer and the Board of Directors.

As well as paying homage to the co-founders’ vision and the Little Ireland community who established Hibs in the face of widespread opposition, the plaque has also attracted an increasing number of visitors to the church. Many are Hibs fans proudly reconnecting with the club’s early history. Others are drawn by the fascinating social history which surrounds Hibernian’s origin story and the community who founded it—a community that included James Connolly and the Venerable Margaret Sinclair.

As part of the sesquicentennial commemorations, the installation of a further landmark plaque had been mooted for the external frontage of the former St Mary’s Street Halls—now the home of the Edinburgh Training and Conference Centre. Unfortunately planning obstacles stalled its progress and it appears this will no longer happen. As the project lost traction, the St Patrick’s Church clergy approached the supporters branch with a proposal to install a plaque on one of the church’s gate pillars that face onto the Cowgate.

Both parties are now working together to make this a reality and the unveiling ceremony will take place on Saturday August 8 at 1.30pm. Representatives from Hibernian FC, the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, parishioners, Hibs fans and others with an interest in the social history of the Edinburgh Irish are expected to attend.

When installed, the plaque will take the Hibernian story out on to Little Ireland’s main thoroughfare providing a public lasting legacy to those whose tireless efforts in the face of adversity changed the face of Scottish football.

Donations towards the cost of the plaque—which is estimated at between £2000-£3000—can be made to the St Patrick’s branch via their GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/7559769a4