A tribute to Johnny Crowley No words of mine can adequately do justice to honour the late Johnny Crowley of Castletownbere, or "Wizzie" as he was affectionately known. He was, without doubt, the greatest clubman the Castletownbere G.A.A. Club has ever had. He was small in stature, but big in heart. My abiding memory of Johnny on match day is seeing him heading down to pick up the jerseys, making sure the footballs were pumped up, getting the team sheets, the medical kit and all the other paraphernalia associated with pre-match preparation. He did all this and more, not for any vain or selfish motive but for the honour and glory of the club he loved so much. His work at under age level was unreal. He had a great way with the youth and they had tremendous respect for him. Johnny wasn't just interested in the talented young players who were destined to grace the green award of Pairc Uí Chaoimh. Those with lesser ability, if anything, were given greater attention, as he felt they needed more encouragement. Although he was in America for the past two and a half years, his heart was always at home. He kept up to speed with what was happening at home via the internet and constant communication with his friends back home via the telephone. In many instances, he was able to tell me of happenings locally which I was unaware of. Johnny had a great sense of humour. One incident which readily comes to mind goes back just a few months when he was home for Christmas. He was doing the shopping on Christmas Eve and just for scutting I stuck a five pound bag of sugar in the bottom of his trolley. Later on that night a large present was delivered to my door and in the middle of all the packing was the bag of sugar. I will miss you Johnny as will a host of other people. However, I know we will come face to face again on judgement day and I know that it will be easy to find Johnny, because he will be the man wearing the black and white jersey shouting "Come on the town." I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to his wife Barbara, his mother Nellie, nephew, Joss, who he raised as a son, his brother Joe and his wife Sandra and their children, David and Andrew, his brother-in-law, Pat, and his son Sean, and to all his relatives and many friends. "An deis lamh De go bhfuil a anam dilis. Courtesy of the Southern Star, May 2004 Tweet

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