The late Mickey O'Neill Sunday 3rd August 2003, saw the demise of a true Granemore Gael with the death of Mickey O'Neill. It was indeed fitting that as the Armagh County team prepared to meet Laois in Croke Park in the All-Ireland Quarter-Finals in pursuit of their attempt to retain Sam Maguire, that Mickey should depart for his heavenly reward. The history of St. Mary's GFC Granemore is inextricably linked with the name of Mickey O'Neill who, along with Paddy Conroy, was the driving force in the formation and the continued success of the club. Mickey was involved not only with St Mary's GFC but could be counted on to be involved in every aspect of social and community life in Granemore. His belief that if something needed to be done, then it was the duty of everyone to get involved. He was an untiring worker for the good of the parish and the improvement of the community especially in the Granemore area, through fundraising and community involvement. When workers were needed to organise Parish events, from Carnivals in the 60's through to sports days, ticket sales, card drives, Christmas bazaars, etc, Mickey was the man to offer his service and advice. He was a willing participant and gave many unpaid hours of service on the Board of Cillchluanna ACE Development Committee. However much Mickey will be remembered for his work in the Parish and in the Community Development, it is with the Gaelic Athlete Association that his name will live forever. He could be truly called 'Mr Granemore GAA' for his tireless and unstinting devotion to St Mary's GFC. Mickey's involvement with Gaelic football can be traced back to his school days in the early 40s in St Mary's Primary School, Granemore, and the late Fr Clarke's successful school football league throughout the parish. When he left school in 1946 he joined the Tassagh football team to play in the Keady street league and with Paddy Conroy planned the formation of a Granemore team in 1949. He helped to arrange friendly games throughout the next year and in 1950 was instrumental in the affiliation of a Granemore St Mary's team to the Armagh County Board. Mickey, as everyone knows, not only played football on the St Mary's team during the next number of years, but was an active Committee member serving in every capacity from Treasurer to Chairman. He was the first Treasurer in 1951, with Paddy Conroy as Chairman and these two men were inseparable throughout the following years as they worked for the development of the club. One of Mickey's greatest memories was the success of the team of 1956 in winning the Trodden Cup on December 23rd with a notable victory over Parish rivals, Ballymacnab. When Mickey's playing career ended, he became actively involved with refereeing and as with everything in life, he gave full commitment to this new endeavour. He first refereed in 1965 and was appointed to the Armagh County Referee Board in 1968 where he gained the position of Vice-Chair in 1976 and Chairman in the years 1979 and 1980. In 1978 Mickey toured the West Coast of America with a number of Irish referees, visiting cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, promoting the ideals of the GAA and speaking to Irish American organisations. He was the official referee at the opening of the St Mary's Park (Pairc Naomh Mhuire) in Granemore on Sunday 22nd July 1984 when Armagh played Down. The Granemore Playing Field (Pairc Naomh Mhuire) and St Mary's Hall were also a fulfilment of a long held dream of Mickey's for the St Mary's GAA Granemore club to own their own field and premises. He was on the Field Development Committee from its inception after the purchase of grounds from the parish in 1980 and was one of the driving forces behind the many fundraising activities carried out to acquire the necessary cash to develop the grounds and build the new hall. Some of the more ambitious undertakings were the raffled for a new Ford Fiesta car with committee members hauling the car from Ballycastle to Ballinalsoe to sell tickets at £1 and a number of long haul sponsored bicycle rides with Mickey indeed being the person with the most sponsorship in the 1983 bicycle ride from Slane. Other activities included barn dances, guest teas, Christmas bazaars and duck races on the river Callan, with Mickey taking an active and leading part in all the activities. The official opening of the new Granemore field in 1984 was another memorable day for Mickey as Chairman of the Field Development Committee. The opening of the new Hall led to many other activities being carried out in Granemore and Mickey was for many years the driving force behind the weekly Bingo sessions. As in every respect of his life he gave full commitment to the promotion of Gaelic games and Gaelic activities such as Scor, and worked tirelessly for the betterment of the community of Granemore. In these last few years, ill health meant that Mickey was forced to take a less active part in the many activities of the community but nevertheless he kept abreast of all the happenings and was on hand to give wise council and advice when called upon. He enjoyed the victory of the Armagh team in the All-Ireland and was overjoyed to receive the Sam Maguire Cup which was brought personally to his home and to celebrate the occasion with his family and friends. To his wife Patsy, sons, daughters, brother, sisters and family circle the St Mary's GAA Club, Granemore and the wider Granemore community thank Mikey for his lifelong dedication and commitment to our club, parish and community. May he rest in peace and enjoy the fruits of his labour with all his family, friends and gaelic associates in Heaven. Joe McGleenan, Secretary Granemore GFC. August 2003 Tweet

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