Hundreds attend final farewell of GAA legend John O’Mahony – news – Western People

Taoiseach Simon Harris, President Michael D Higgins’ aide-de-camp Cpt. Paul O’Donnell and GAA President Jarlath Burns were among the hundreds to attend the funeral of John O’Mahony in Ballaghaderreen on Thursday afternoon.

The esteemed Gaelic football manager, former TD and Senator, passed away last Saturday aged 71, four years after first diagnosed with myeloma.

In a moving celebration of his life at the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Nathy, Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated by his brothers Fr Dan and Fr Stephen O’Mahony, and by his brother-in-law Fr Tommy Towey.

A two-time All-Ireland SFC winning manager with Galway who brought great joy during other stints in charge of Leitrim and his native Mayo too, John’s family was the bedrock upon which everything else in his life was achieved, according to Fr Stephen who received wonderful applause for a heartfelt and emotional homily.

Saying that none of John’s success in life happened by chance, Fr Stephen pinpointed the secret of his older brother’s success as being his attention to detail.

Daughter Deirdre delivered a superb eulogy of her late dad’s life, opening with a reminder of his advice that whenever you might be struggling to find the words to get a point across, “It’s not what you say that people remember, it’s how you make them feel.” Deirdre remarked that Johno’s football career was “mercifully short” because that was the gateway to his true calling as a coach, and that everything about her dad “ran deep”.

In welcoming the congregation, Fr Dan O’Mahony, two years John’s elder, admitted his and the hearts of the O’Mahony and Towey families were “very heavy” and that it was “difficult to believe he isn’t with us in body,” but that they were thankful for having had him for 71 years and that he had “lived such a full life right to the very end”.

John is survived by his wife Gerardine and five daughters: Gráinne, Niamh, Rhona, Deirdre and Clíodhna, and by his 11 grandchildren.

The streets of Ballaghaderreen were lined afterwards as several organisations provided guards of honour as John O’Mahony’s remains made their way from the cathedral to Kilcolman Cemetery for burial.

See next Tuesday’s Western People for an extensive tribute to the life of John O’Mahony, GAA hero, teacher and politician.