The Late Joe McCaw In every parish, village and urban area across the country there are volunteers who dedicate their spare time to the GAA. People who organise and coach our youth to participate in outdoor pastimes. The late Joe McCaw was such a person. He was born in Kilcorcran, Miltown, Malbay on May 23, 1927. He died on June 11 2007. For about 50 years he was icon in his devotion to the coaching and organising of underage Gaelic footballers in the Enistymon parish. Earlier on this included Liscannor as well. At a time when phones were few he travelled the countryside in his Vauxhall collecting young lads for training and matches. In those days school children did a lot of farm work. One evening in July he went to collect a boy for an U-12 match. The mother said "We can't let him go, we have to make up hay, the football won't put hay under a cow's head next Christmas". Joe palavered her and said he himself would come back after the match to top the cocks. She relented. Joe captained Miltown Malbay to win a Clare senior football championship in 1953. He played for many years with Clonboney. This year he was an U-12 selector of the team that won the County A championship. The Ennistymon minors won the county A football championship the day before he passed away. He taught in Ennistymon Vocational School from 1957 to 1992. Whilst he was there he coached and managed the school team. He was involved with the county schools team and managed a team that reached an All-Ireland final against Wicklow. He was a founder member in 1958 of the Munster Vocational Schools Football and Hurling Championships. Kevin Marron of Newmarket-on-Fergus said to me: "he was a GAA man to the core and the salt of the earth". Joe McCaw had many strings to his bow. He was a teacher, mentor, craftsman, boat builder, concertina player, community worker, folklorist, gaelgeoir. Bhí gaeilge cruinn agus bhlasta aige. He fished, hunted and was also a sports gunman. He was a dancer, most of all he was a husband and father. He became a widower and grandfather. His workshop in the school in November and December evenings was referred to as "Santa's Workshop" as item after item was produced for his grandchildren. He joined Lahinch Golf Club when he was 51 years of age. After a few years he was down to 10 handicap. He won many trophies, The Phelps Vase, The Intermediate Scratch Cup and the Pretoria Cup, hampers and Christmas Turkeys galore. He was fearless. His own man. Not easy to turn a corner on him. I never heard him use a crude word or coarse phrase in any circumstance, or when surveying and interpreting the passing scene in Main Street, Ennistymon. This he often did from his doorway. Passer-by stopped to have a chat with him. Tessie Hill who lived near him for 50 years said he was a very conscientious neighbour. She said that he knew the name of every bird in her bird sanctuary of a garden. While the death of a friend is always an occasion of sadness, it can also be an opportunity to remember and celebrate a long, productive and honourable life. I will conclude with the full quotation of what a fellow teacher said about Joe McCaw. "Joe was a master craftsman, who depended more on his talent and skill to complete a piece of work than modern machinery or technology. This was the basis on which he developed his teaching skills and used his vast knowledge to give very definite direction to those who wished to listen. As a testament to this, Joe was presented with a concertina at a little ceremony organised a few years ago by a large group of past students who, simply, wanted to say "Thanks Joe for your effort and direction". He was a fair-minded and most approachable man who was held in very high esteem not only by his fellow teachers and students, but also by the education authority, who called on him, in his younger days, to take charge of the various projects undertaken by the VEC. Such with his dependability. He enjoyed his retirement, whether it was playing the concertina, dancing on a Sunday evening in Ennis, teaching football skills to the local youth or, most of all, working on little projects for his much-loved grandchildren. Joe, the great family man". Courtesy of the Clare Champion 14th December 2007 Tweet

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