Barry, Paddy
September 20, 2011Paddy was Mr Football and as a player he wore the colours of Kellyville and when it was decided to amalgamate Wolfhill, Fleming's fireclay and Kellyville, Paddy was at the helm and the fruit of his thinking was to bear fruit in the mid-50s.
Along with Donegal native Tony Byrne, they changed the football landscape of the entire area and the first silverware came their way in 1955 winning the under-12 championship crown. More titles followed at underage level and that led to minor success in 1967 and '68. 1967 also saw the first junior title and Kieran Brennan captained them to intermediate success in 1969.
Forty-one years ago Paddy trained the first team to contest a senior final and three years later was his proudest moment as Des Brennan became the first man from the club to bring the senior trophy to the Laurels. This was to be the golden era of the club with senior titles added on three more occasions but the dream of three in a row was denied by Billy Bohane in '79.
In that time the club contested two provincial finals losing to a powerful St Vincent's in Athy and then by a single point to Walsh Island as Paddy patrolled the side line in Croke Park in November '78.
Paddy then said it was time for a new voice but in 1982 was persuaded to manage the junior team that reached the final. After three and half hours football they lost out to the Harps and Paddy retired.
Earlier this year his wife passed away and although in his 98th year Paddy died suddenly last week. On Friday evening his remains were escorted to St Josephs Church in Ballyadams flanked by generations of former players who simply adored him, and he them.
On Saturday morning the Church was packed to over flowing as Fr Dan Dunne celebrated his Requiem Mass and spoke of a football genius who had inspired generations of great players and his likes we are unlikely to see again. He extended deepest sympathy to the Barry family.
It was a particularly sad week for the club as earlier in the week they laid to rest John Morrin who lined out on that very first under 12 team in 1955. However, a serious accident eight years later saw his talents cut short and for 48 years was confined to a wheelchair. That said, for many years he was a familiar sight under the stand in O'Moore Park. He passed away last weekend and was buried in Ballyadams.
May the sod of Loughlass rest lightly upon their souls.
Pat Delaney
- Courtesy of The Nationalist, 20th September 2011 Tweet
