Though Pat Dorgan had been ill for some time, everyone in Ballyhooly and his numerous friends and acquaintances further afield were very shocked to hear of his death early on monday morning. Since his teenage years Pat has been involved in all facets of community activity in Ballyhooly and he made a huge contribution to the various groups and clubs he was involved in.

He was of course a lifelong GAA member and an avid supporter of our national games. He played with Ballyhooly in the late 60s early yos and was on the junior hurling panel beaten by Hazelwood in the 1967 North Cork hurling final. Since Ballyhooly reformed as a club in the early 80s, Pat has been involved in various aspects of the club administration, and helped develop our facilities to what they are today. Being a trained mechanic as well as a full tune farmer, Pat was always involved in the maintenance of our equipment and due to his mechanical ability
and ingenuity, we probably have the oldest tractor in Ireland mowing our playing fields. In the past few months he was reconditioning another new "vintage tractor' for this operation. He was a great supporter of the juvenile GAA club, framed numerous combinations that included his own sons Alan, Roy and Colin to North Cork success and was juvenile chairman from 1992 to 1994.

When the lads moved on to minor level with Blackwater Rovers Pat also lent a hand at that level and he was very proud to see all three play hurling and football with Ballyhooly at adult level. Pat, following in his late father's footsteps, became an active member of The Ballyhooly Sports Committee that ran some outstanding open sports meetings with national appeal in the 60s and 70s. He maintained this interest in athletics throughout his life and was involved in organising the hugely popular local juvenile sports and of course was always on hand to present the Peadar Dorgan Shield in memory of his late brother to the leading family each year.

Pat's community activities went far beyond sport and I am sure some of the organisations he was involved with will pay their own tributes to his contribution, but I will just mention them. He was involved in the Tidy Towns for many years and could be seen working in the village regularly on their various projects in the 90s and early 00s. Ballyhooly has organised senior citizens' parties and activities for many years and Pat has been ever present on the committee and was chairman for many years. He also found time to get involved with Community Watch, and liaise with LEADER/Avondhu Blackwater re funding and organisation of rural transport and availability of finance and resources for other local activities etc. In recent years he was very involved in setting
up and supporting farmers' markets and for a time there was a successful one in Ballyhooly. Pat also helped set up a very successful active retirement group' in Ballyhooly in recent years and we all thought that he would be the driving force behind it in the years ahead - the list goes on. He also had a lifelong interest in music and played at various functions with bands etc. In recent years he has featured in Jimmy Reidy's Monday night show 'Round the Fireside' and he was a very active member of the Glenville music group 'Money for Porter'

Pat made a great contribution to life in Ballyhooly and because of people like him, our village and surrounding areas have improved facilities and are better places to live in. Reading all the various activities he was involved in might suggest Pat was the pushy type. Pat actually was quiet spoken, never raised his voice at a meeting but when he spoke people listened and he also was a good listener himself and was always willing to hear the other side and maybe go with it if he thought it was correct.

It was always a pleasure to meet Pat, have a chat with him on any subject or ask him for a bit of advice.

Most of all he was a great family man and he will be sorely missed by wife Mary and sons Alan, Roy and Colin. We extend our sincere sympathy to them, to his sister Ina, brother Battie and their extended families.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam naofa.

There was a huge crowd at Pat's removal to the Church of the Nativity in Ballyhooly on Tuesday night where Ballyhooly GAA provided a guard of honour. Again on Wednesday there was a big turnout for his funeral.

The juvenile GAA meeting scheduled during the week and Wednesday's hurling league game against Clyda Rovers were postponed as a mark of resoectto Pat.

Courtesy of The Avondhu Tweet

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